Minimalism?

[PhysicianOnFIRE]

After quite a few moves over the years, and a couple years of reading some minimalist blog posts and a book or two, I decided to take a first step, getting rid of exactly half of the clothes in my closet, chronicled in a post today (linked). The Happy Philosopher went all in a while back, doing something even more drastic throughout his home. He wrote about his experience, too (linked).

Anyone else do some major downsizing? I feel like we constantly get rid of a few things here and there, but the massive unloading and directive to get rid of half was very effective.

Cheers!

-Physician on FIRE

 

[East coast]

No major downsizing here as we're still young and haven't had time to accumulate yet! A major benefit of living in small apartments thus far (other than generally being cheaper) is the lack of space to accumulate junk. I'll go out on a limb and say that folks in HCOL areas offset a significant portion of that cost simply because there's no where to put 'stuff'.

[MedMO]

I am intrigued by it, have read a bit about The Minimalists and have their book of essays.

Being semi-retired, to me the purpose would be to prep for potential downsizing from a 4 BR home to apartment living if I so choose.  Definitely closets and books need to be streamlined and simplified, even if I stay in place.

[drcolleen]

I am intrigued by the idea of minimalism but honestly don't understand it and how to apply it to myself.

Perhaps I am just in the accumulation phase with some effort put forth to have minimal accumulation and one day will shift into the reduction phase.

[VagabondMD]

I have converted, mentally, to minimalism, but the physical conversion is taking some time. One obstacle to living a minimalist lifestyle is that it requires the people with whom you live to also be on board. Minimalism, or any lifestyle change for that matter, is impossible to impose upon someone who is not receptive.

This winter, I hope to do what PoF recently accomplished--rid myself of half of my wardrobe. I have already started and am enjoying selling some of the desirable items on eBay--I like the activity and the few extra bucks in my pocket.

[Hatton]

My current project is to fill a box or two every Monday and take it to a nearby animal rescue thrift store.  The problem is that I can't even tell anything has left the house.

[Hatton]

The post on POFs blog about his closet is inspirational.

[VagabondMD]

drcolleen wrote:

I am intrigued by the idea of minimalism but honestly don’t understand it and how to apply it to myself.

Perhaps I am just in the accumulation phase with some effort put forth to have minimal accumulation and one day will shift into the reduction phase.

Click to expand...

The Minimalists podcast has given me an excellent framework and perspective to devalue and eliminate "stuff".

[VagabondMD]

hatton1 wrote:

My current project is to fill a box or two every Monday and take it to a nearby animal rescue thrift store.  The problem is that I can’t even tell anything has left the house.

Click to expand...

The average household has 300,000 items. I would guess that the average physician household (likely a larger house with more disposable income) has upwards of 500,000 items. A box or two is a "fart in a tornado". (Am I allowed to say that here? ) That said, it is a good start.

[Zaphod]

Having moved a few times in 3 years and spending time in a small apartment during fellowship and first couple years at job, where half my resident house stayed boxed for what ended up as years I learned I probably dont need all this junk. Now I dont think anyone would confuse us as people with all kinds of stuff, but the truth is you simply cannot use so many things in the little time you have. Lots of stuff you keep because you may use it, or it has some sentimental value, but really its just taking up space and could be used elsewhere. Kid toys seem the worst, there always seems to be a new one.

Like many people, with every move I enjoyed and took the opportunity to rid ourselves of garbage and unnecessary items. This past year or so we have kept an eye out around the house for anything we dont use or really need. For specific items that might be desirable to someone else we've put it on ebay, and we've done over 5k on ebay this year. The rest of the stuff goes to good will. We even downgraded to one car this year, which Im sure wont be permanent but it seems to work out just fine (I live less than 10 mins from work).

Although I dont have too many extraneous clothes, I have a lot that I dont wear anymore, and shockingly I still have some from high school/college (mostly sports event shirts). I have been planning to rid myself of a bunch of old clothes and this inspires me to continue doing that.

We just cant stand clutter, and realize theres no need for it after life taught us you'll not make use of it anyway. Getting rid of it just makes things seem and feel better, more organized, etc...I have no desire to be a MMM type or anything like that, but everyone has some clutter they could clear. For us its about making use of stuff that makes us happy, and realizing you only have so much time.

 

[VagabondMD]

Like many people, with every move I enjoyed and took the opportunity to rid ourselves of garbage and unnecessary items.

I have long said that we should move out of our house every five years, and back in, just as an impetus to get rid of all the crap that we don't need. Unfortunately, we have lived in the same home now for 17+ years, and "the stuff" continues to accumulate.

[PhysicianOnFIRE]

Zaphod wrote:

Having moved a few times in 3 years and spending time in a small apartment during fellowship and first couple years at job, where half my resident house stayed boxed for what ended up as years I learned I probably dont need all this junk. Now I dont think anyone would confuse us as people with all kinds of stuff, but the truth is you simply cannot use so many things in the little time you have. Lots of stuff you keep because you may use it, or it has some sentimental value, but really its just taking up space and could be used elsewhere. Kid toys seem the worst, there always seems to be a new one.

Like many people, with every move I enjoyed and took the opportunity to rid ourselves of garbage and unnecessary items. This past year or so we have kept an eye out around the house for anything we dont use or really need. For specific items that might be desirable to someone else we’ve put it on ebay, and we’ve done over 5k on ebay this year. The rest of the stuff goes to good will. We even downgraded to one car this year, which Im sure wont be permanent but it seems to work out just fine (I live less than 10 mins from work).

Although I dont have too many extraneous clothes, I have a lot that I dont wear anymore, and shockingly I still have some from high school/college (mostly sports event shirts). I have been planning to rid myself of a bunch of old clothes and this inspires me to continue doing that.

We just cant stand clutter, and realize theres no need for it after life taught us you’ll not make use of it anyway. Getting rid of it just makes things seem and feel better, more organized, etc…I have no desire to be a MMM type or anything like that, but everyone has some clutter they could clear. For us its about making use of stuff that makes us happy, and realizing you only have so much time.

 

Click to expand...

You're doing gangbusters on eBay. I do have an eBay pile separate from the many donation boxes, but it's pretty small (mainly because I don't buy a lot of expensive stuff to begin with).

I sold 20 to 30 items on eBay last fall - netted under $1,000 and it was time consuming, but it's hard to give away things that could easily net $20 to $50 without a lot of effort. The eBay pile is growing, and I'll probably sell a bunch this winter again.

I kept one high school wrestling tee shirt. I was on the last team to make it to the state tournament from our hometown. A better minimalist would take a picture and move on, but I'm not there yet!

 

 

[TheHappyPhilosopher]

I am certainly not a minimalist in the classic sense of the word, but we did a massive decluttering purge last year. I have to say it was pretty awesome (the actual experience was painfully exhausting, but the end product was wonderful). We probably eliminated half our clothes, most of our books and got the point where out garage was not embarrassing to look at. We still have plenty of stuff, but the interesting thing was this: After multiple van loads of stuff donated to charity I actually felt like I had MORE than before. I think the reason for this was I was now surrounded by stuff I truly loved. It was liberating and I didn't really miss any of the things I purged. It also inspired me to start getting rid of all the non-physical clutter in my life and simplify overall.

[Zaphod]

TheHappyPhilosopher wrote:

I am certainly not a minimalist in the classic sense of the word, but we did a massive decluttering purge last year. I have to say it was pretty awesome (the actual experience was painfully exhausting, but the end product was wonderful). We probably eliminated half our clothes, most of our books and got the point where out garage was not embarrassing to look at. We still have plenty of stuff, but the interesting thing was this: After multiple van loads of stuff donated to charity I actually felt like I had MORE than before. I think the reason for this was I was now surrounded by stuff I truly loved. It was liberating and I didn’t really miss any of the things I purged. It also inspired me to start getting rid of all the non-physical clutter in my life and simplify overall.

Click to expand...

I like that term. Declutterist, thats more where I am at as well.

[conniebird]

I'm moving soon so this will be a good opp to throw stuff/give away stuff. Moved only about a year ago cross country. Amazing how much I have accumulated in one year.