Minimalism at other people's expense

missprice

I have gone more minimal after a house move. We moved the contents of a smallish house that i lived in for a veeeery long time. I was aghast by the amount of 'stuff" accumulated. So i gave most of the stuff away. I have half a small wardrobe of clothes and some lidded tubs with photos and baby stuff that i can't throw.
My new rule is one thing in, one thing out. It means i have few clothes which is a bonus, cos not much to choose from, but is also horrendous because i have nothing to wear :rotfl:

Sadly OH has filled this house with more "stuff" than you would imagine, but that's ok, it's not mine. And he can't ever tell me to move my carp.

FreeBear

Livelongandprosper wrote: »

Does anyone really need 15 jackets and 12 hats?

How many shoes and handbags ?

Livelongandprosper

FreeBear wrote: »

How many shoes and handbags ?

Lol

I can't carry a handbag so just a small purse on a strap that takes my phone and cards and shoes? Possibly around 6 pairs.

Livelongandprosper

Biggles wrote: »

Oh dear, I wish you hadn't said that! I'm going to need to know why you save butter wrappers!

Oi! Hands off his hats, hats are endangered, didn't you know? If he gets rid of any good ones, I might give them a home. I only have 40-odd but add to them most years (esp when abroad).

Butter wrappers are for greasing cake tins - waste not wont not

The hats I don't mind cos they don't take up much room compared to the rest of his clutter

I've come home today to find yet another pile of nails sitting on the kitchen table :rotfl:

Hermia

littlerock wrote: »

My son and my sister were both boasting about their minimalist life styles at a family gathering recently. I got a bit annoyed and pointed out this has been achieved by my son parking his "archived stuff," in my roof space whenever he moves to a new flat and my sister doing the same to her partner. So really they are taking advantage of us and then criticize how crowded our houses are. I told my son he can have all his stuff back......My sister says she cannot store anything herself because she has to rent out her flat as she needs the income from her flat to live on ( she is out of work. )

Anyway it got me thinking. Is it really possible to be totally minimalist? If so how? I know two people who have achieved it and they have nothing in their houses to read and no collections and no ornaments and all presents are taken round to the charity shop and they have only a few clothes. It all takes a degree of ruthlessness I could not manage. Does anyone out there manage it?

Do you really have nothing in your houses or is the spare stuff all stored away somewhere? Do you throw away your clothes regularly, only read Kindle books, only watch films on Netflix? How to cope with children's toys for example? Do you have no hobbies that require storing anything? I would really like to know how you organise your house and stuff as any tips would be useful.

I have become more minimalist over the years. I have probably reduced my possessions by about 70% over the last few years and still have a way to go. I have to say that I think the media image of minimalists having an almost empty house is not very accurate. If you read minimalist blogs etc you find that the majority do keep items related to hobbies or ornaments they especially like etc. The ones who boast of living with nothing are seen as being quite 'out there' even by fellow minimalists.

It is more about just looking at your possessions and asking yourself if you really need them and are you really using them. If you are not using them why are you keeping them. It is the asking questions that is the important part IME. Why do you keep clothes that you never wear? Why do you have shelves and shelves of book you never read? Why do you have a craft room full of materials that have sat there for ten years? Once people go down the minimalist route they often end up going further than planned because the realise they don't really need all that much. I am a huge bookworm and used to have 1000+ books. I initially decided to cut it by half, but I am now down to one small bookcase. I don't often reread books and so getting books free from the library makes much more sense. If I really desperately needed something to read in the middle of the night there are e-books!

The reason I got into it was firstly a practical one. I wanted to live in the best location in my area and the sacrifice was only being able to afford a small flat in that location. I chose location over having stuff and TBH I spend so much time out of the house (because it is a lovely area) I don't need so much stuff. I also feel a lot lighter and less stressed with less stuff around me. Plus it massively reduces the amount of time it takes to clean and maintain my home.

BTW, I do agree with you re: people who boast about being minimalist whilst dumping their stuff on other people. It is quite common!

d0nkeyk0ng

I wouldn't call it minimalism if someone is hoarding there stuff other than in their own home. The wife and I bought our first home a couple of years ago. She left all of her old stuff at her parents. I chucked all my secondary school, sixth form and university stuff before moving. I've kept a few things from primary school. I still have yet to part with my textbooks (I spend hundreds on them over the years).

With clothes, if I haven't worn it in the past twelve months, I'm unlikely to. It now gets chucked out (charity shop).

Biggles

littlerock wrote: »

I know two people who have achieved it and they have nothing in their houses to read and no collections and no ornaments and all presents are taken round to the charity shop and they have only a few clothes. It all takes a degree of ruthlessness I could not manage.

But what's the point? Is it just so they can show their house to visitors (as a kind of show home) and say 'look, we're minimalist'? They may as well live in a very small tent, then, with all the same benefits.

I feel sorry for one of them.

Doozergirl

Livelongandprosper wrote: »

IDoes anyone really need 15 jackets and 12 hats?

Ugh! My husband has a jacket thing. H buys jackets that look like his other jackets!

His car was broken into last year and they stole his favourite jacket, but I still don't know which one that was because he has others that look the same to me.

We were in a shop the other day and he wanted yet another coat because people might notice that he wears the same winter jacket most of the time to rugby and then proceeded to try on jackets that looked the same. DS had to ask him how people were even supposed to notice it was the same one.

Women against wardrobes full of jackets!

Doozergirl

Biggles wrote: »

But what's the point? Is it just so they can show their house to visitors (as a kind of show home) and say 'look, we're minimalist'? They may as well live in a very small tent, then, with all the same benefits.

I feel sorry for one of them.

True minimalism is the exact opposite of having an empty house to show off. We attach ourselves to material possessions and we end up geographically and financially bound to those things when we have to fund bigger houses and can't travel etc.

It's also about living in smaller spaces. People buy bigger and bigger houses to put all their stuff and have so many places to sit with different functions, but you can only sit in one place at a time. Big houses feed the ego, not the soul.

We have two more rooms in this house than we reasonably need. I've designed our new house to be 'just right' when I eventually get round to building it. I'm not ready for minimal but I am ready for organised.

littlerock

Both the minimalists I know live in small modern houses (by choice) and have as little stuff as possible. The first one has no children or grandchildren, the second has hers living in the next street and goes round there to see them. The first one has no books or newspapers or magazines in the house. "If it's not on Kindle i don't read it.". I said what about looking at pictures of things? Not interested if it means having paper in the house. The second has a single small bookcase, for her and husband and if anything comes in, something goes out. so really could not live like that.