Has Minimalism bitten anyone?

[misshathaway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJ_Native I have spent my life accumulating stuff (read trappings). Since I am 6 months away from FIRE, I have this overwhelming urge to downsize almost everything.

Overwhelming is the right word. There is the practical reason of doing it so someone else won't have to in the future. Also most of us would not have had time to do it during the working years. The practical reasons don't completely explain the intensity of this urge for me but I guess it doesn't matter why. Yesterday there were boxes of culled items everywhere and I was thinking that I was moving myself out of the house, even though I am not actually selling yet.

[HadEnuff]

DW is 4'11", 100lbs, but she is like an ant in that she can lift about 300 times her body weight if she's carrying my stuff to a dumpster.

I am trying to unload stuff, as we intend to leave the two home lifestyle and move into a lake house with about 1600 sq. feet of living space and not much storage space. Some I give away, some I've sold on eBay (not much) and some I've sold on Craigslist.
We are getting there.
Of course the stuff that is still around is the hardest to deal with. That's why it's still around.

[FIREmenow]

Our last move 5 years ago was from a 2200sqft house to a 1000sqft (town)house. MAJOR downsizing and reducing of "stuff"

We instituted a "statute of limitations" on the boxes. If it wasn't opened in 6 months, we obviously didn't need whatever was in it, and it went right to the curb - unopened (if we opened it, we likely would have changed our minds).

Next year, we'll be downsizing again to a 34ft boat for FIRE. Another round of severe trimming is coming!!

[Ticker]

Many years ago I learned that you can only own so much stuff, then your stuff owns you. Every possession that we have comes attached with some obligation.
we are currently getting ready to sell the house, and I am having no issues with getting rid of things that I will never replace. Our hope is to travel extensively with a few remaining possessions stored somewhere in a small mini storage cube.

that will also make it easier for the kids once we are gone.

[athena53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREmenow We instituted a "statute of limitations" on the boxes. If it wasn't opened in 6 months, we obviously didn't need whatever was in it, and it went right to the curb - unopened (if we opened it, we likely would have changed our minds).

Interesting timing- this morning I was looking for some little-used items and went through the 3 unopened boxes remaining from our move 2 years ago. One was labeled "light fixtures". The newspapers surrounding them were from 1992, which means they were from when DH moved after his Ex sold the marital home and gave him the proceeds so he could buy a house, then they were moved to that house and never opened, then they were moved halfway across the country after we married, then they were moved 2 years ago when we downsized. The fixtures are in the trash- the glass globes will probably disappear after I list them as Free Stuff on Craigslist.

[FIREmenow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athena53 Interesting timing- this morning I was looking for some little-used items and went through the 3 unopened boxes remaining from our move 2 years ago. One was labeled "light fixtures". The newspapers surrounding them were from 1992, which means they were from when DH moved after his Ex sold the marital home and gave him the proceeds so he could buy a house, then they were moved to that house and never opened, then they were moved halfway across the country after we married, then they were moved 2 years ago when we downsized. The fixtures are in the trash- the glass globes will probably disappear after I list them as Free Stuff on Craigslist.

LOL!
Went through similar things with my parents as a child in a military family moving all over the place - you just move "all the boxes".

[Fermion]

We downsized from a house into a RV but recently bought some land to have a place to chill for awhile at low cost ($29 a year tax on 28 acres).

The downsizing has bit us in a couple of things. I gave away some things that I really could use right now (14 foot ladder, some tools that were too large for the RV but would be of use on this property, etc.).

It is not a lot of stuff, maybe $2,000 worth but it is annoying to rebuy something you just gave away last year.

[Paracelsus]

Decluttering seems to be one of my regular new activities since I retired this year.

I've gone through the closet and removed clothing that no longer fits (unfortunately gained weight in the past few years and wouldn't wear office wear if I lost it), gone through the linen closet and got rid of sheet sets from previous house bedroom colors that I haven't used in 15 years, and went through kitchen supplies I haven't used in decades (coffee mugs collected as gifts, glasses never used, etc.).

I've gone through book shelves and got rid of books I bought when I was a club member in the 90's and never read and no longer interest me and went through TV recorded VHS tapes and got rid of them (kind of fun to see Twin Peaks tapes as they're currently being shown on TV).

I passed my crafting supplies (used to do cross stitch 20 years ago, but can't see details now) to a local neighborhood craft group, passed my pet supplies for species I'll no longer be keeping (birds, cats) to rescues and wildlife rehab places, and went through a sea shell collection I did as a kid and made a shadowbox display of keepers and just pooled the rest in a big urn for a display. Went through and organized my garage, sheds, tool chests and cleaning supplies - got rid of broken appliances that I'll not fix and use again.

I'm sure I'll have more projects in this area in the future, but am satisfied currently with where I'm at. Part of this is motivated by needing to go through my parent's house several years ago and decluttering their keepings to move them to a smaller home - that was a lot of work that I don't care to pass to anyone else.

[brett]

Absolutely. We downsized, travelled for seven months, and then rented for a few years.

Our habits changed considerably. First off, what sort of home we thought we wanted to buy when we sold the larger one is not the home we wanted after travelling and then renting. We opted for something smaller. Nothing to do with financials. It was all based on preferences. The second car went on the basis that we could always rent if we needed/wanted a second one at some time. This has never happened.

Now we do not care very much about accumulating things. Our focus has turned more to experiences. We no longer keep stacks of books around. We use the library and on line resources extensively. We find that we shop less, buy less. More and more of what we buy is purchased on line. Not interested in shopping malls.

For travel, we switched from 25/26 rollers to 20 inch carry on rollers. Does not matter if it is a week or three months this is what we take. And...there is more room left open in the smaller bags than there was in the larger ones.

We are in the process of packing/moving. We shook our heads as we were packing some china that had not been used in five years. Indeed, some in still in boxes from our last move five years ago. And prior to that, very seldom. Same with the boxed silver. Looking back we feel a little foolish for buying it. Very little utility. We should have used the money for a vacation instead!

[RobbieB]

I love my stuff, my various toys.

Home theater that's better than the cineplex, vacuum tube stereos in the office, bedroom and garage. Motorcycles. 4 different outdoor cooking appliances. Firearms for target. Fishing stuff and a boat will be added when I get the house done.

I'm just a big kid who likes to play.

[Teacher Terry]

Rustic: if you have ever had to clean out a house of someone you love after they die it is horrible when it is filled to the brim. I urge you not to leave that mess to your kids. That is one of the reasons I have been downsizing a lot through the years. I don't want to burden my kids. Also if your kids live somewhere else or both have full time jobs they may just hire a company to dispose of everything.

[Souschef]

EastWestGirl,
Your post struck a nerve for me. My dad had a bunch of movie films, including some taken at the 1938 NY World's Fair. We were continually nagging him to transfer them to video, but he said he would do it himself.
Well, it never got done, and a lot of the film was old nitrate stock.
After he died, my Sis and BIL were going to do it, but the film had deteriorated so badly it could not be done except by a very expensive conservator.

[dvalley]

I'm accumulating more and more tools and you couldn't pry them out of my cold dead hands. I have close to $30k in tools, mostly automotive, fabrication and machining tools. It's the main thing I have to look forward to in retirement, my only major hobby. Nevermind the fact that cars will long have been replaced by flying pods by then but hey I could get a sweet a deal on a Veyron.

[dvalley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadEnuff DW is 4'11", 100lbs, but she is like an ant in that she can lift about 300 times her body weight if she's carrying my stuff to a dumpster.

[Walt34]

It would be a stretch to call what we're doing "minimalism" but we are trying to get rid of little-used stuff. Last week I gave DW's nephew two lawn mowers and I gave a drill press and parts washer to a cousin and his SIL.

And we're making an effort (not always succeeding) to fill a trash bag a week with excess stuff. The general guide is "if we haven't used it for a year we don't need it".

[O2Bfree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJ_Native Great points... A tip that the wife and I do: We try not to buy each other things. After 15 years, we learned it ends up in a closet or unused somewhere. Sometimes, we even try to out-do each other and that's a whole other topic. Anyway. We try to gift experiences and not things.

Same here. We stopped exchanging birthday and Christmas gifts years ago. DH bought inexpensive little things for a year or two before he was confident that I wouldn't be upset if Santa didn't come or if I didn't get a birthday gift.

I do however still like the look of a pile of presents under the Christmas tree. So, I've accumulated a collection of Christmas tins and decorated boxes to put under the tree. They were all free from various places, and don't take up much space, fitting into each other and into a couple grocery bags for storage. And they'd be easy to toss if necessary.

[Fedup]

My husband and I only buy stuff that we need, but my kids are not minimalists. They don't like their books thrown away, well at least one kid who is a book lover. So now we have to have some storage in the garage for the books.

[unclemick]

I never made Buddha happy. Came close once post Katrina when everything we owned fit in the back of a 99 Chevy Silverado.

Stuff wise it's been downhill/or uphill depending on how you put it ever since.

We keep trying. One house down. Farm auction over two Saturdays in September.

Heh heh heh - Basement and Garage semi cleared out. De-clutter nauseatingly resembles WORK! an no no for a happy ER type.

[aja8888]

If anyone is planning on decluttering an early or mid 2000's corvette convertible in great condition for a great price, PM me. Must be automatic trans so DW can drive it.

[Katiek]

When I was in my 20's and 30's, I moved a lot which helped me declutter as a natural part of life. But I've been in same home for almost 20 years now, and I've accumulated so much stuff. One of the things I really want to do when I FIRE is go through everything and keep only the things I really use and enjoy.

I expect to move at some point again in my life, and if will be even harder to declutter 20 years from now.