Do you consider yourself a minimalist?

[RevolverRob]

FWIW - For those who have unwanted objects that you can't let go of for 'sentimental reasons' - I've found that the sentiment is that the object allows me to access memories, I wouldn't otherwise remember, even if I tried. Often just seeing the object in question triggers the memories. So, one thing I've been experimenting with, is taking pictures of the objects and storing the objects out of sight. Periodically, I flip (digitally, of course) through the objects, 99 out of 100, I remember precisely the memory I wanted. For the 1 in a 100, it's usually something else about the object (the smell, the texture, etc) that triggers the memory. In those cases, I simply store it in a box with the other 1 in a 100 items and get rid of the other 99 items, where I've 'transferred' the sentiment to a digital image.

It is a hell of a lot easier to carry around a terrabyte hard drive than it is to carry around a storage unit full of crap.

Someone mentioned up thread a wife who can't let go of baby clothes for a kid who is 19 now. Try taking pictures of the various outfits and making a photo album (physical is best in many ways) of them and give it to your wife. For her, it may be that an outfit triggers a very specific memory of your child when they were growing up. Some folks have a very hard time letting go of memories and/or finding them again.

I think that's something that we have let go of, in our digital age, is photo albums and the importance of maintaining an archive of memories. I'm not saying everything has to be photo-fucking-documented. But taking the time to curate memories and maintain them - can and does make it easier to let go of material objects.

[okie john]

After a divorce and a couple of breakups, I don’t have much stuff left. The possessions that I’ve actually used over the last year could fit into a single 55-gallon drum. It’s an interesting way to live and I’m at the point where it’s time to start bringing in some more stuff, but I’m being very selective about what (and who) I replace.

I've said this in other threads but a year or so ago I decided to go out and buy 5 roughly identical pairs of pants and 5 similar shirts. They are hanging my closet like Granimals and when I'm going somewhere I just grab the next one in the line and put it on.

I'm amazed that more people don't do this.

As for my guns, my goal is to have the smallest number of guns that I can and still cover the bases that I want to cover. I want to keep my caliber footprint as small as I can. And I want my guns to be as compatible as possible. I really don't ever want to have to stock more than five different types of magazines.

My working guns are in 22 LR, 9mm, and 30-06. I have a 44 Magnum and a 7 RM, both of which I'd drop tomorrow but for their sentimental value. I haven't shot either in years.


Okie John

[octagon]

Interesting thoughts on minimalism. About 20 years ago we were living paycheck to paycheck, had over $40k in credit card and other debt not including house and cars and I came across the book " Your money or your life" I read it and thought it was a bit new age hippy kind of ideas but decided to try the steps to fix our situation. Long story short we followed the first 6 or 7 steps which include figuring out how much you have made your entire life and what your current value or debt is. We had just broke a million dollars total income between the 2 of us and had zero value and 10s of thousands in debt. That didn't feel good but it was important to know and then let go of it. That was step 2 IIRC. We continued and in 2 years we only had 1 car payment and our mortgage. My wife went to grad school for her Phd and even with 2 households for 10 years of school, post doc, and her first job out of state we managed to save for retirement and pay everything off except our house. I retired at 46 and even with a disastrous housing market crash (we bought our house for $131k and 17 years later with lots of upgrades sold it for $132k due to the housing crash of 2008).

We now live comfortably on my income in a 1600sq/ft home on an acre, I have a fun car for trackdays and car shows, a trailer to tow it on, a 15 Ram to tow it with and no debt except our mortgage which with escrow is $900 a month. During our transformation we let go of a LOT of stuff that we hadn't used in years or at all, things in storage in the basement,attic or garage, and just plain stuff that did nothing to enhance our life. By selling, donating or getting rid of things and not getting new things just to have or try something our moves to different apts and from home to apt to our current home were easy and done with a small rental truck or a couple trips with a pick up if we were moving short distances.

It is easy to get lost in stuff and end up working for things instead of things working to improve your life. Boats, RV, cottage, jetskis, guns, ATV, project car, clothes, shoes, jewelry etc all add up and many times are not really enjoyed in any amount near what they cost in money and time. A huge part of living more simply or a minimalist type of life is continuous de-cluttering. We do it every year and sometime twice a year. Anything we haven't used in a year gets sold, donated or thrown out. Closest are clean, we have 4 boxes of holiday decorations and nothing else in the attic and no more basement. I can easily park my car and fullsize truck in the garage and still work at the workbench. It is so freeing.

[Darth_Uno]

They have this thing called the radio it's free

[emoji23] Now that’s minimalist.

For 10 bucks a month, I get all my rock, she gets all her...whatever...and the Recommended songs have shown me some artists I wouldn’t have heard of otherwise.


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[Cheap Shot]

Apple Music, bro. I’d suppose Amazon, Spotify, etc may be similar. $10/mo for unlimited downloads and streaming.

Not long ago my wife and I had over 500 CD’s between the two of us (granted this took us 20 years to accumulate)...and eventually never listened to any of them, since all our music was now “on the computer”. Even the recent albums I bought were on iTunes so I never had a physical disc. Sold all the CD’s at a yard sale; $1 each at first, then someone offered a lump sum for the rest. Got pennies on the dollar of course, but enough to pay for a couple years of Apple Music.


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500 - 600 CD's = thousands and thousands of songs. That that level of unconscionably conspicuous consumption seems profligate in the extreme. I'm currently in the process of reducing my playlist from 200+ songs down to one. Eventually, I'd like to get that song reduced further to just one musical note.

[O4L]

I'm very frugal and don't want or have much. If that makes me a minimalist, then yes.

[Duelist]

They have this thing called the radio it's free

Reception here sucks. I frequently drive around just listening to the wind and the tires and engine instead of static-filled nonsense. Or put on a CD.

[spinmove_]

Reception here sucks. I frequently drive around just listening to the wind and the tires and engine instead of static-filled nonsense. Or put on a CD.

If I wasn’t in the Metro Detroit area I’d have barely any stations to listen to. That’s why podcasts, audio books, and cloud storage for music has been extremely handy for me. I do occasionally like a silent car as well though.


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[Peally]

Even now, when I can often afford to buy what I need, I will first attempt to build what I need from the remains of previous tools/projects.

On second thought, the motorcycle is a good idea. Post pictures

Also for the love of God don't ride it on the highway.

[RevolverRob]

On second thought, the motorcycle is a good idea. Post pictures

Also for the love of God don't ride it on the highway.

I was thinking more about tools, furniture, etc. Some things, even I know, should be bought, not built.

Ex: When rebuilding the transmission for my Sunbeam last winter, I needed a specific wrench ('spanner') to remove the lock nut holding the mainshaft in place. Unfortunately, it was a wrench made, specifically for Rootes Motor Co. (who made Sunbeams) for this express purpose and was last produced by a now defunct British toolmaker in the early 1970s. There isn't a lot of call for rebuilding these transmissions in the United States and people in the UK and Australia farm the work out to the few shops that specialize in rebuilding the gearboxes. So, I was left with a choice of locating and buying said wrench or making a wrench of my own. I did locate the correct wrench relatively quickly, but at a cost of £350 shipped from the UK, I figured I'd try making one first (because fuck it, I'm cheap). Long story short, I successfully made a wrench out of some all thread rod, some steel tubing, a couple of flat pieces of steel, four grade 8 nuts, and an angle grinder. It took me a few tries to get it right, but it worked just fine and cost me 10 bucks in materials, plus a new grinding wheel for my grinder.

I'd show you the wrench, but the parts that went into making the wrench were subsequently repurposed to help build the track gear for my friend's robot that she is using as part of her dissertation. See? Waste not, want not.