Budding Minimalist...

[l82start]

I've found that traveling a lot for work really influenced my minimalist tendencies.  Living out of a carry-on for weeks at a time gives you a good perspective on what is really necessary for happiness. 

For family heirlooms, I've found it helpful to give them to other siblings.  You don't always have to get something out of your life to get it out of your house.

LOL my sibling and i didn't fight over who got stuff like most kids do, we argued over who "had to be responsible" for keeping stuff..  we also made jokes about how estates with family heirlooms really should come with small castles to keep them in...
its tough on us apartment dwelling offspring...

[doodle]

Mrs rat and I have always lived like college students, but our kids compare our lifestyle to their friends and lament a lack of chocolate, crisps, iphones, TVs in bedrooms and so on.

Kids don't do Sparta.

Maybe thats why the spartans tossed so many off of cliffs..

[Pointedstick]

Mrs rat and I have always lived like college students, but our kids compare our lifestyle to their friends and lament a lack of chocolate, crisps, iphones, TVs in bedrooms and so on.

Kids don't do Sparta.

I had similar complaints growing up. No TV in my bedroom, no game console, no handheld gaming device, no internet, later no private internet, etc. I got over it. And now looking back, I recognize the wisdom of my parents' approach. Too much electronic gadgetry can be really isolating and overstimulating to kids who haven't yet developed personal boundaries.

By way of illustration, years later my folks eventually broke down and got my younger sister an iPhone and she used it to check Facebook every 5 minutes, introducing substantial unnecessary stress to her life. It was definitely a net negative, in my opinion (I'm sure she would beg to differ).

[WildAboutHarry]

I have more than I need but less than I want of just about everything.

[doodle]

I have more than I need but less than I want of just about everything.

I have the opposite feeling. I have more than I want of everything. Im constantly trying to offload things. Everytime I get rid if something I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

Im very envious of animals who are born into this world with all the tools they need for survival. Humans on the other hand strike me as such burdened and needy creatures forced to maintain so many material items for their survival.

[Pointedstick]

Im very envious of animals who are born into this world with all the tools they need for survival. Humans on the other hand strike me as such burdened and needy creatures forced to maintain so many material items for their survival.

Can't have it all. If you were one of those animals, you might be killed and eaten by a human using some of those clever tools!

Personally, my minimalist philosophy leads me to seek out mostly useful objects that enhance my capabilities and get rid of frivolous ones that only provide greater comfort or entertainment. The computer, guns, and 3D printer stay, while the big screen TV, DVDs, and big speaker system go. I enjoy being a tool-using human too much to reduce my capability to alter the material world around me.

[Kriegsspiel]

And come on, you don't need much to survive. A lot of humans are past the 'just survive' stage.  Especially us merkins.

Even my definition of "survival funds" is warped. At this point, I consider them to be having enough to pay for a small apartment with electricity/an RV, and basic cheap foods (rice, beans, milk, eggs, whey powder, peanut butter, oats, and spices).

Pretty much everything after that is a non-essential luxury, to me.  But I usually want SOME kind of luxury. I like to think about the money I earn after hitting the baseline all being used to pay for my future travelling, gym memberships/equipment, different/better housing, beer, whatever, indefinitely.

[WildAboutHarry]

I have the opposite feeling. I have more than I want of everything. Im constantly trying to offload things. Everytime I get rid if something I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

What about knowledge?  The acquisition of knowledge and the acquisition of material things often goes hand in hand.

I like old tools.  I occasionally use old tools.  I have more old tools than I need (but not as many as I want).  But in the process of tool acquisition I learned how to use them, sharpen them, repair and align them, etc.  I now know about using electrolysis in rust removal.  I know what japanning is.  I know about tempering steel.  Etc.

I like Accutron watches.  I have a pile.  I know how they work, how to repair, etc.  I rarely wear a watch.

I would argue that acquisition of material things and the acquisition of knowledge are part of the same human virtue (or flaw, depending on your point of view).

And least we forget, there are cultures presently and in history where acquisition of knowledge was not encouraged.

[Tortoise]

It sounds like some folks on this forum are pretty extreme minimalists (aspiring to have no furniture, live out of a single bag or automobile, etc.).

However, like most areas in life, I think clutter-reduction is subject to a variant of the "80/20 rule" from which even mere mortals can benefit. Specifically, most of the stuff cluttering up our homes is stuff we haven't used in a really long time. So applying the "Have I used this in the past X years?" rule that Craig described, even with a pretty big value for X (say, 5 years), will dramatically reduce the amount of clutter in most people's lives.

For example, a lot of people who own houses in Southern California seem to use their garage to store an inordinate amount of old junk--even to the point of not leaving room for their car(s) (which they choose to park on the driveway instead of in the garage). For those people, simply applying the 5-year rule would clear most of the junk out of their garage, allowing them to park their car(s) inside. That alone is a huge improvement.

[dualstow]

For example, a lot of people who own houses in Southern California seem to use their garage to store an inordinate amount of old junk--even to the point of not leaving room for their car(s) (which they choose to park on the driveway instead of in the garage).

If I leave myself too many hours to pack for a trip, I somehow fill the time packing.
If I were given a bigger house with more rooms, I'm sure I would fill it with junk.
I'm very glad I live in a small home.