Post: #26

(07-17-2016 08:16 PM)Off The Reservation Wrote:  I KonMari'd my stuff and got rid of a ton.

WBALHOML

(Would Bang And Let Her Organize My Life)

Post: #27

I've been trying to live a minimal lifestyle. If it doesn't bring me joy in some way, I toss it. I own nothing but my clothes, computer, phone and cars. After moving a lot, i noticed I was lugging junk around that I didn't use. I don't even own furniture. I like the fact I could pick up and move anywhere with no worries.

Post: #28

(07-18-2016 07:39 AM)WalkingMan Wrote:  

(07-17-2016 08:16 PM)Off The Reservation Wrote:  I KonMari'd my stuff and got rid of a ton.

WBALHOML

(Would Bang And Let Her Organize My Life)

Post: #29

(07-18-2016 12:32 PM)DimeBait Wrote:  I've been trying to live a minimal lifestyle. If it doesn't bring me joy in some way, I toss it.

This is actually Kondo's main principle: "Does it bring you joy?"

You'd probably like her book. I want to pick it up as well. I'm all about the minimalism movement these days.

Post: #30

(07-18-2016 02:00 PM)WalkingMan Wrote:  

(07-18-2016 12:32 PM)DimeBait Wrote:  I've been trying to live a minimal lifestyle. If it doesn't bring me joy in some way, I toss it.

This is actually Kondo's main principle: "Does it bring you joy?"

You'd probably like her book. I want to pick it up as well. I'm all about the minimalism movement these days.

I bought and read the book. It is a well thought out method and works. There are some key points you will get. Its not a cleanup in the normal sense that you "go through" things and throw some away. You put everything in your entire home which falls in a certain category in on pile, and physically go through and keep only the items that qualify above. I can't remember the categories exactly but it starts with clothes and ends with memorabilia and papers.

Post: #31

My clothes are pretty minimal and I have a good survival hunting knife and my grooming bag, with the main things taking up space being my shavin equipment. Here in Spain they have soap sticks and a lot of stores sell razors e.g. the ones for safety razors combine these two systems and you rarely have to buy anything for a while for shaving.

Post: #32

Im glad Kondo's popped up in this thread because that one book easily transformed my shitty unlearned habits that kept my room messy. It simple and comes down to 2 things. Having a place for all your items, and putting it back there after you use it. Most people have problems with both and few just can't put things back to the designated spot after use.
I got rid of all my stuff that had no utility whatever and haven't looked back since. I'd say i've gotten more minimal with moving to cambodia and having a small room and no money. I've broken down what is a necessary and whats a want (luxury) and when I get back I will focus on my lessons and experience here and bring it to america.
overall I probably own less than 5000$ with most of it being cloth

Post: #33

I could probably run off anywhere in a heartbeat with a two suitcases tops. I don't own much, and for musical equipment I'm a horrible leech. The only real issue for me is my extensive book collection.

It's no library, but it's still larger than most. Personally not much of a Kindle person. Not to mention books let me people watch much easier than staring down at a laptop or phone.

Post: #34

I'm well on my way to being able to fit all my shit in the RV, however for now I'm going to move into a tiny apartment until I figure out what my cash flow is going to be after dumping my mortgage!

I set old shit out on the curb with a FREE sign attached and then post a "curb alert" ad to craigslist in the free section, stuff goes fast, even old tube TVs.

Post: #35

This topic reminds me of the movie "Up in the Air"



I recently adopted a minimalist lifestyle, because I want go work abroad for 1-2 year.

Sold my condo, and will invest the profit I made from the sale.

I sold all furniture, it will be easy to buy new ones when I get back (plenty of free or cheap furnitures on Craiglist anyway).

I never had a TV, I use my laptop to watch movies/series instead.

I got rid of all photos, and documents, I scanned them and backed them up on 2 different cloud (Mega, and Google Drive).

It feels good to get rid of things, you feel more free....

Post: #36

(07-25-2016 11:24 AM)Ibagemyoutagem Wrote:  Im glad Kondo's popped up in this thread because that one book easily transformed my shitty unlearned habits that kept my room messy. It simple and comes down to 2 things. Having a place for all your items, and putting it back there after you use it. Most people have problems with both and few just can't put things back to the designated spot after use.
I got rid of all my stuff that had no utility whatever and haven't looked back since. I'd say i've gotten more minimal with moving to cambodia and having a small room and no money. I've broken down what is a necessary and whats a want (luxury) and when I get back I will focus on my lessons and experience here and bring it to america.
overall I probably own less than 5000$ with most of it being cloth

You own almost $5000 worth of clothes in Cambodia?? Am I reading this correctly?

Post: #37

(07-25-2016 12:09 PM)WalkingMan Wrote:  You own almost $5000 worth of clothes in Cambodia?? Am I reading this correctly?

It's very easy to own 5000 € worth of summer clothes, if it's (genuine) high-end stuff. A mere Zegna cotton/silk polo costs 250 €, a pair of Tod's sneakers 350 €, a Diesel short jean 180 €, a Kenzo T shirt 130 €, ect ect.

For summer vacations, pack your bag with five or six polos, three linen shirts, three dressed shirts, two jeans, two short jeans, some T shirts, one pair of dressed shoes and two pairs of sneakers - et voila, if all your stuff is high-end brands, you reach the 5000 €.

Post: #38

Yeah but this is Cambodia we're talking about. There were still plenty of dirt roads when I went there. I just can't imagine doing the same.

Post: #39

......................

Post: #40

Maybe I have an irrational fear of being prostitute bait lol.

Post: #41

(07-25-2016 02:27 PM)WalkingMan Wrote:  Maybe I have an irrational fear of being prostitute bait lol.

I think I'm on your side, though more because I can't justify spending as much on clothes as a very nice used car. I don't know if I've owned $5k worth of clothes in my life. I guess I subscribe to Einstein's idea that you can get one good leather coat, and have it last a life time. I think the other side of minimalism is financial, of which a $400 polo might not fit the bill. I could likely outfit an entire backpack for that at a thrift store. Probably not as "stylish", but decent functional clothes that are stylish enough for the third world.

As for the minimalism, I truly am torn in two over this. On one hand, the throw everything into a car, or better yet a bag has it's appeal purely for the freedom and mobility aspect, on the other, a work shop full of tools, electronics lab full or random bits of wire and resistors, and a full overflowing library has tremendous value in the potential that lays there.

I forget what book it is in, I'm thinking it was "The library at Night - Alberto Manguel" but there's an exchange where he asks someone if "they think he's read all these books?" when talking about his own grand library. The replies "of course not" and goes on to explain the value of a library is in the information not yet discovered, but that has the potential to be. That potential at your fingertips is a different kind of freedom.

Post: #42

My most prized possessions are:

1) My Technics 1200 Turntable
2) My Vinyl Record collection
3) My Books

If you really think about it I can get rid of all three. I can transfer my vinyl record collection digitally by purchasing a hi fi usb phono preamp and making it digital. Nowadays with Kindle I can get rid of all my books and just carry a Kindle with me.

Post: #43

My entire life, just 1 week ago when I switched cities.
IMO it was bit too heavy. I kept a lot of small things (lotions, pills) that I didn't use for years. You always keep things that you think you're going to use in the future and before you know it it's been 2 years. Sometimes you don't figure it out until you pack it all up
.

Post: #44

Aside from furniture, everything I own for personal use could fit in a compact car.

However, I did get in the hobby of buying and selling things a few years ago, and amassed a small empire of random crap which has filled my garage to the brim. Two years later, after surviving round after round of "I'll get around to it", it finally has come to a head- if you try to chase more than one rabbit at the same time, you will catch none. So garage cleaning time it is.

Here's my favorite treatise on stuff. http://paulgraham.com/stuff.html