Living With Less. A Lot Less.

kevink said:
I have no problem with the article's recommendation to own less stuff and take up less space, but the fact that the author is a multimillionaire using the piece to make still more money = right message, wrong author IMHO.

I know plenty of people in the U.S. who have no choice but to "live on less," and then there's the small matter of the rest of the world. Remember this slide show with the total household possessions of various people around the planet? Kinda eye-opening:

Everything You Own In A Photo: A Look At Our Worldly Possessions : The Picture Show : NPR
Click to expand...

There is a nice coffee table book with all of these photos of family's possessions in different parts of the world. Material World: A Global Family Portrait: Peter Menzel, Charles C. Mann, Paul Kennedy: 9780871564306: Amazon.com: Books I believe it is the exact same set of pics.

I checked it out from our local library (or maybe interlibrary loan from some larger library). Pretty cool pics and narratives for each pic.
 
Every time I think I got to the end of the posts... there were more. So I gave up trying.

I think this guy is a bit of a nut. It's easy to live small and cheap when you know that you can buy anything you need. Sure you can travel with 1 suitcase or whatever - and buy lots of disposable clothes...

That's the problem with this ultra-simplistic thinking. It has to be authentic. If you have very little money, you DO hold onto things because you can't afford to buy them again.

That said - we have a large comfortable house. It is more cluttered than I would like and - after seeing my parents' basement - it's not going to be that bad in a couple of years. But we have no reason not to have enough dishes to entertain a crowd, or have extra towels for guests, or whatever. The cars do live in the garage though - but it is a rather LARGE garage. :D

What the heck - we can afford our life. I don't want to sleep in a Murphy bed at my age!
 
haha said:
THe younger and hipper someone is, the more likely he is to be an idiot. And this really goes for young rich guys.
Click to expand...
Ah, but they snag the "Andorran beauties".

At first I just thought it was jealousy that got under my skin with the whole "Andorran beauty" thing.

Nah, it just comes across as pompous. Why did he have to put this in the story?

Look at me! I'm rich, my girlfriend is from Andorra, land of the rich pretty people. Have you ever been to Andorra? No? Too bad.
 
Last edited:
JoeWras said:
Ah, but they snag the "Andorran beauties".

At first I just thought it was jealousy that got under my skin with the whole "Andorran beauty" thing.

Nah, it just comes across as pompous. Why did he have to put this in the story?

Look at me! I'm rich, my girlfriend is from Andorra, land of the rich pretty people. Have you ever been to Andorra? No? Too bad.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm jealous. I wouldn't need stuff either, if I had access to that Andorran Beauty stuff.

Even if I went to Andorra and took my Amex card, I'm sure the beauties would bypass me. No fair!

This sort of inequality hurts, it hurts I tell you. My health will likely suffer.

Ha
 
haha said:
Yeah, I'm jealous. I wouldn't need stuff either, if I had access to that Andorran Beauty stuff.

Even if I went to Andorra and took my Amex card, I'm sure the beauties would bypass me. No fair!

This sort of inequality hurts, it hurts I tell you. My health will likely suffer.

Ha
Click to expand...

Cheer up! The Andorran beauty left him as soon as she realised he was a tosser:)
I'm sure if you had his money you'd have no problem landing yourself an Andorran or any other beauty looking for a sugar daddy:)
 
haha said:
Yeah, I'm jealous. I wouldn't need stuff either, if I had access to that Andorran Beauty stuff.

Even if I went to Andorra and took my Amex card, I'm sure the beauties would bypass me. No fair!

This sort of inequality hurts, it hurts I tell you. My health will likely suffer.

Ha
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if I ever heard of 'Andorra' before, but 'Andorran Beauty' conjures up magnificent images!

Yes, this inequality does hurt. Forget this other inequality stuff (income, wealth - heck, who needs that, this thread is about living with less 'stuff'), how about re-distribution of access to Andorran Beauties? Now that's some re-distribution I could support! :cool:

-ERD50
 
ls99 said:
Love the first paragraph. Edited for propriety with the **

"......You are not simply Some Fu**ing Guy Who Sold Your Internet Company For a Lot of Money; you are a lifestyle guru, with many important and penetrating insight about How to Live that must be shared with the common people."
Click to expand...

"......You are not simply Fu**ing Some Guy Who Sold His Internet Company For a Lot of Money; you are a lifestyle guru, with many important and penetrating insight about How to Live that must be shared with the common people."

Change the wording a bit and it's the "Real Housewives".
 
tinlizzy said:
"......You are not simply Fu**ing Some Guy Who Sold His Internet Company For a Lot of Money; you are a lifestyle guru, with many important and penetrating insight about How to Live that must be shared with the common people."

Change the wording a bit and it's the "Real Housewives".
Click to expand...
Hmmm, never seen the show but heard about it.

Now I know for sure it isn't worth my time. Thanks.
 
jags said:
Cheer up! The Andorran beauty left him as soon as she realised he was a tosser:)
Click to expand...
Good point!

ERD50 said:
I'm not sure if I ever heard of 'Andorra' before, but 'Andorran Beauty' conjures up magnificent images!
-ERD50
Click to expand...
Google the term. You'll see pictures of mountains -- the rocky kind. :)

I've never been there, and tend to only hear about the place during the winter Olympics. My take on it from reading is it is a "Monaco of the mountains," although Andorra is much "cheaper," relatively speaking.
 
JoeWras said:
The pattern I see from these guys -- from nobodys to Really Big Names -- is that they preach, and then ignore their own advice, usually through travel. Travel is "stuff" of a different kind and has a huge earth impact -- if that's what you are preaching.

Oh sure, they buy carbon credits. But what about those consumables at the 5 star hotel you failed to mention? Blah, blah. Meanwhile, the offset trees being planted are being cut down and mulched, with the mulch giving off gasses. Did that credit really sequester the carbon? Not trying to get political here, just saying if you really want to preach no-earth-impact, stay in your 400 sq. ft. and do a lot of walking and gardening. Invite your new found friends to start hoeing the earth with you. They should ride bicycles to your garden, BTW. Hope you didn't serve fine wine. Wine can be very resource intensive.
Click to expand...
I guess they rationalize that the cumulative efforts of those who are influenced by their message more than offsets the negative environmental impact of their personal travel habits. Perhaps it does; it's effectively impossible to say. But in my own experience, personally modelling values is at least as important as communicating them. In other words, it's not much good talking the talk if you don't also walk the walk.

I saw a recent article ("Apocalypse Now", Toronto Life magazine, March 2013, p.16) on Rob Stewart, a film director who has a new conservation / anti-consumption movie coming out next month ("Revolution"). Among his other comments:
It was incredible. I got to travel around the world and go to a slew of massive film festivals. High fives. Big parties..... The hypocrisy is there, totally.... I just flew back from a vacation in Costa Rica; I drive a Land Rover. I'm probably not living the way I should.
Click to expand...
 
Milton said:
I guess they rationalize that the cumulative efforts of those who are influenced by their message more than offsets the negative environmental impact of their personal travel habits. Perhaps it does; it's effectively impossible to say. But in my own experience, personally modelling values is at least as important as communicating them. In other words, it's not much good talking the talk if you don't also walk the walk.:
Click to expand...

A few years ago, I saw a TV special that featured a number of Hollywood stars, all attending a save the environment event. They walked into the event on green carpet to symbolically state that they were all concerned about saving the planet. The only problem?: The event was in Japan or some other foreign country across the ocean, and every one of those stars jetted over to that made-to-market-Hollywood-stars-event, and then jetted home. No one seemed to catch the irony (hypocrisy).:facepalm:
 
ChainsBeGone said:
A few years ago, I saw a TV special that featured a number of Hollywood stars, all attending a save the environment event. They walked into the event on green carpet to symbolically state that they were all concerned about saving the planet. The only problem?: The event was in Japan or some other foreign country across the ocean, and every one of those stars jetted over to that made-to-market-Hollywood-stars-event, and then jetted home. No one seemed to catch the irony (hypocrisy).:facepalm:
Click to expand...

Like the guy who lectures us about "climate change" but has a $30,000/yr electric bill?
Or the singer who lectures us to use "one sheet of toilet paper" but has an 18,000 sq.ft. home?

Yeah, those people..."YOU save the planet; take public trans...I'll be on my jet".

And there are people who actually listen to these fools.
 
My wife and I could probably qualify for that TV show, "The Hoarders". I love stuff and have more than my share, but that's my choice. We also live in the house where we raised our six kids for around $700 a month, so why would we downsize so we can move into a retirement community for $1,500 a month or more?
 
Hmmm - then there is the stress llevel of what goes and what stays.

Girlfriend - with house, car and pension/401k. Her cat and my dogs get along - everything else is a work in progress.

Decluttering is okay if you don't tighten up and take it too serious.

heh heh heh - :D soon to be less north of Kansas City aka in town.
 
jags said:
Now that's what I'm talking about. Rich girlfriend to look after you in your old age. Is she 18 with a super hot body as well?:D
Click to expand...

Er - 65 gray hair and everything works - sort of like me - we still got it just 'at that age 60ish retired pace.'

heh heh heh - :dance: :D
 
Nothing wrong with this fellow's observations, but you might as well read it in the original -
try Henry David Thoreau's "0n Walden Pond".

"Simplify! Simplify!" I read it when I was much younger and it was the inspiration for a life of LBYM. The incidental side effect is that I am looking to retire comfortably at age 57.
(Well, HDT wasn't as concerned about paying for healthcare as we are, but it has been a rewarding philosophy). I am new here. Is there a thread regarding the original American LBYM advocate?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Hello! Sorry, I talk a lot
2
Replies
26
Views
5K
threeonesix
T
ER Eddie
Good Things about Being Retired
2 3 4
Replies
88
Views
12K
Out of Steam
Out of Steam
E
PSA: Check that Sump-Pump! Plus Irony and a Question.
2
Replies
35
Views
2K
ERD50
E
B
unbalanced?
Replies
9
Views
2K
Bullwinkle
B
F
Oddball Inheritor hoping to retire in 2021
2
Replies
34
Views
5K
Beachcomber
B

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom