Do you consider yourself a minimalist?

[Cypher]

In terms of possesions, no. In terms of relationships and the number i'm willing to expend energy on, I'm definitely minimalist and have always been so.

I havent been to the home of anyone I'm not a blood relative of in well over a year. And I've not had any nonrelatives to my home. I'm pretty fine with that. Small circle or whatever the cliche is.

-Cory

Two or three years ago I did an experiment, I quit calling everybody in my circle. I wanted to see who would make an effort to get in touch with me. To make a long story really short I ended up cutting most of them loose.

I didn't make a big deal about it I didn't call them out. I just quit trying to contact people that weren't trying to contact me. It's made my life a hell of a lot simpler.

I work third shift as a security guard in a shipping hub. One of my "Rules for life" is that I don't start non work-related conversations with client employees. If they start talking to me that's one thing but as a general rule I mind my own business and I confine myself strictly my duties. Most of them don't even know my name I'm perfectly fine with that.

[Darth_Uno]

SWMBO.

Seriously we have my mom's fine china that we inherited when she died in 1999. It's still in the box in storage I'm almost positive we have never used it certainly not in the last 10 years. I asked her if we could just throw it away a couple of days ago and she said no she wants to find somebody to give it to

Same. I have my grandmother’s heirloom silverware set. I know it was her mom’s, and it may be from a generation before that, or more (or not, I have no idea). So that’s kind of neat.

It’s also completely useless to us, but my wife says keep it. She’s a bit (a lot) more sentimental than I.




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[Duelist]

SWMBO.

Seriously we have my mom's fine china that we inherited when she died in 1999. It's still in the box in storage I'm almost positive we have never used it certainly not in the last 10 years. I asked her if we could just throw it away a couple of days ago and she said no she wants to find somebody to give it to

Sell it, if you don’t find someone to give it to. Old china can be valuable.

[jtcarm]

Compared to my wife, I’m an extreme minimalist.

Compared to the average person, I’m sort of a minimalist.

Compared to somebody who actually practices minimalism, then, no, not really.

That describes me perfectly.

[Cypher]

Sell it, if you don’t find someone to give it to. Old china can be valuable.

You'd be surprised there's almost no market for it

[Paul Blackburn]

Excess is is defined as an amount of something that is more than necessary or desired. Trimming excess is not only liberating you from the stuff but also freeing you from the burden of physiological attachment.
When I die my kids will get a more substantial and cleaner inheritance. Not a ton of work sorting through junk.

[mmc45414]

I am for sure not minimalist, but am another person (trying, IMO) simplifying. I have always liked stuff, I say if it combusts gunpowder or gasoline I want the stuff. Right now I am between boats, but have a motorcycle, an ATV and two snowmobiles. And for the first time in my life I have managed to have a nice truck and a nice car at the same time, and that has been worth the squeeze to me. I have what I would call a bunch of guns, but not what I consider a collection, where I have stuff just because it is cool and of no other use.

With the vehicular stuff I got more and more and more and wanted even more. At one point I ended up with five motorcycles, and in some aspect they became a bit of a PITA, but the only reason I culled them was because my wife and I were laid off from long term jobs at the same time, I really didn't "want" to sell them. And man I love boats, but that was probably my wakeup call. Part of the way I could accumulate a lotta stuff was to be a bottom feeder and do my own maintenance. At one time I could say I had two motorcycles, an ATV, a snowmobile and a cabin cruiser that cost less combined than my neighbor's Harley. Problem with being able to do your own maintenance is you end up doing all your own maintenance and the Carver became like a boil on my taint. I spent more time trying to keep it functional than I ever spent enjoying it. While I have some great memories (enclosed cabin, clothing optional...), I have more bad ones. But that woke me up to the fact that I didn't need so much shit and I have been more careful. The snowmobiles probably don't make any sense, but I enjoy it and have a group that I hang with that I like hanging with. And it happens in the middle of winter when not much else is competing for my time, and it happens in a part of the country I like to visit.

With guns I thought I not only needed the gun of the month, but I needed them in a variety of calibers as well. Then I realized I was just shooting the M&P, so I sold the Glocks and XDs. And their magazines. And their holsters. Now I have probably as many of the M&P as I used to have of all the others combined, so I am not minimalist, but am simplifying. I am back into shooting the 1911 and have a (reasonable?) number of them. And several J-Frames, and a few ARs, and some stuff I like because I like (Sp-101, yada, yada, yada). But I am not running out and buying a bunch of alternative striker guns, just because I think they may have merit.

The more difficult one right now is my M1-A. I bought when Clinton got elected, because I always wanted one and figured I would always want one. I have it all set up the way I want one, and I like it and have hunted with it and it is just all around cool. But I really do not do anything with it that I couldn't do with something else I have. A few weeks ago a buddy floated the notion he was thinking about selling off something he wasn't going to use (M&Ps) and I replied I felt the same way about my M1-A and we maybe hatched a plan to maybe trade. As I was packing the thing up to go show him I had second thoughts, until it took me almost 40min to find the damn magazines for the thing. If I can not even just walk to the shelf and lay my hands on the bin with the magazines in it I do not need to keep the thing around.

[NH Shooter]

In terms of firearms, yes. My meager "collection" is quite small compared to most other shooting enthusiasts, but each piece has an intended role/purpose and is of as high of quality as I can afford. I like things that have purpose, everything else just takes up space and/or locks up resources that could be used for more useful things.

I'm pretty much the same with the rest of my possessions, and I have always preferred a simpler lifestyle. This has become even more so with age. So while I may not consider myself a true minimalist, I do prefer minimal clutter in my life, both materially and lifestyle-wise.

[ubervic]

I used to be a big spender. With age has come some (long overdue) wisdom, and the notion of having enough to live on through retirement has risen to be a major motivator towards my minimizing a lot of expenditures.

Still, I'm not opposed to spending on things that bring genuine joy or which are lasting. I still go out with my wife and/or my kids to enjoy a good movie, or a good dinner, or a fun vacation, or even a brisk hike. These are experiences that create and build memories. They are well worth the effort and cost, as they add to my life rather than drag it down.

[CCT125US]

This is something that has been on my mind lately. Recently I have been made aware of several friends of friends, who are attempting to liquidate their firearms. One gentleman in his 60s, developed a severe case of emphysema. My friend offered about $10k for the entire collection, a fair trade in my opinion. He will make his money back should he decide to sell unwanted items off. It got me thinking about what I have, vs what I actually use. I get enjoyment out of having certain things, but I often ask myself if my life is better because of them. For instance, I have several P7M8 pistols. Not practical by my standards, I would never carry them, and one gets shot several times a year. One is unfired, and I would probably hang onto it, but the other could go. Is the weekly thought of "that is really nice" worth having it sit there? Doesn't the other one fulfill the same roll? I have several other duplicates, do I really need 2 of everything? Looking at my father's collection, he also has copies of certain things. His idea was that it would give us something to do together and bond. We live 2 minutes apart, and I have to drag him to the range (on our property). Another neighbor purchased numerous Smith and Wesson revolvers, hoping his kids would take to shooting. The grown kids now have little, to nothing to do with them and don't own a single firearm. Had a client who was beside herself after her husband suddenly passed away. Had about a dozen firearms, and plenty of accessories. Some of the deals she worked out, she clearly got taken advantage of. Not really sure where this is all going, but wanted to get some thoughts out there. I do my best to encourage my kids (12 and 10) in there own areas of interest and not drag them along to my interests. When I ask them if they want to go to the range, my boy could care less, and my daughter is always enthusiastic. So far, I have only bought one firearm with the kids in mind. Another thing I see is the justification of purchases being placed on the kids. Part of me gets it, but come on, that tricked out AR is not really for your newborn. It's fascinating how we can justify things. A good friend and I will occasionally go back and forth on this. Is it practical, or will it enrich your life? A lot of us are way past the level of need, and firmly into the want phase. Looking back over the past year, I have daily carried my USP9c, and the J frame when I am lounging around the house. Haven't "needed" anything else. Not at the point where I'm planning on selling everything off, but I'm thinking about thinking on it. What other goals could be advanced by thinning the heard? Not neccessary financially, but time wise. Perhaps more thoughts later.