Guess I would have to consider myself an "affluent minimalist." Affluent because we keep two dwellings which are 5000 miles apart. Minimalist, because each is furnished primarily with cast-offs, hand-me-downs, garage-sale finds and Goodwill pieces.
Between the two places we don't own a single lawn mower (or chain saw). All outside maintenance is performed by those hired to do so. We do own two cars - average age 12 years+.
Guess it just goes to show, most of us don't fit neatly into any niche.
I had to chuckle about this description of "homeless" people.
Homeless people don't own a backpack, because they don't have enough stuff to need one or have enough money to get one. They drink coffee that is free from one place or another.
The homeless that I see nearly every day have almost as much stuff as I do. True, it tends to fit into shopping carts and plastic bags, but on "moving day" (recent APEC summit here) the homeless could be seen trudging down the streets pushing one over-flowing cart and pulling another, while family members did the same - occasionally taking a break to drink Starbucks. I've forgotten the figures, but the city moved out quite a number of our homeless for APEC and the trash disposal costs were in the multiple 10s of thousands of dollars. That is how our homeless "downsize". They move occasionally (or get moved) and leave behind what they no longer wish to keep.
I absolutely agree that this is a miserable existence (at least, it would be for me) and I'm not poking fun at the homeless. Just suggesting that the lines drawn between the various groups can get blurred when it comes to the volume of their possessions. YMMV