• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Minimalism + Simplicity

Status
Not open for further replies.
E

Emily Chu

Banned
Minimalism - A life with less stuff to worry about
Anyone here actually practice this sort of lifestyle choice ?

Over the past 3 years since the financial collapse and after graduating college, I've been pairing down my life and possessions because honestly how much do you need ? it feels like a liability after a lifetime of hoarding possessions and trinkets of sentimentalism.

when in fact...

you lose it all in the end.

following is all I really own
Laptop - + 1 External HDD for Backups + a Dropbox account
Thinkpad T430 14"

Smartphone -
Galaxy Nexus jellybean 4.12+ unlimited 4G vwz rooted tethering
For offline GPS capabilities to find lakes and rivers


Thats about the bulk of what I own to be honest that and the following and a backpack.

my place is empty just a bed + desk + chair + pillow + Bed Cover.

a pair of sneaks and about 14 pairs of clothes pants + shirts + underwear + socks

I can't really find the need for anything else

Laptop for Internet + Smartphone for Mobile Internet.

both provide a source of income via online etrading.

relocating becomes a non-issue (throw everything in a backpack get into a car and drive off into the sunset where ever you please.

What about you GAF?
 
Minimalist would be having a patch of land to grow some crops on and a cow or a goat. What you have is a laptop, a smartphone and a gun.
 
OP this is like your second existential crisis what is my life thread in a week or two. The last one emphasized your love of pornography, this emphasizes your love of your firearm. :p

RSP said:
Minimalist would be having a patch of land to grow some crops on and a cow or a goat.
Click to expand...

That's homesteading or self-sufficiency. What he's describing in the OP is a form of minimalism.

---

I read a lot of Minimal / Decluttering / Simple Living blogs. A few I'd recommend are:

http://unclutterer.com/ <-- mostly about household clutter and organization

http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com <-- emphasis on low maintenance, zero waste generating living (imagine throwing out a handful of garbage every six months for a family of 4, and yet still living upper-middle class and not really sacrificing anything)

http://www.minimalmac.com/ <-- emphasis on Mac/tech stuff, which I only mention because the OP seems interested in living a minimal life through technology

http://zenhabits.net/ <-- this one is more hippie-dippie self-help mental improvement stuff.
 
I'll go through fits and starts. I'll buy up a bunch of different gadgets and misc items and then figure out the ones I use and which ones have no place for me and then sell off the rest to minimize my setup as much as possible.

I'm in a paring down phase now.
 
No cooking utensils? Lights? Stove? Washing mashine(how do you wash)? No extra chairs or a couch for company? (Electrical) toothbrush? Plates, glasses(plastic?)? Closet(built in ey!)? Books?
 
I have begun doing this as I am about to emigrate and need to get rid of whatever I'm not taking. It's quite liberating.

I think there's a lot to be said for really thinking carefully about what items you really need in your life and freeing yourself of clutter. It also enables you to spend more money on things you do need, so that you get items of the highest quality that will last a lot longer and serve you better.
 
Thank you for validating my lifestyle. I live this way despite earning some decent cash ($86k/y after taxes) and managed to saved quite a bit in the last 3 years.

What sucks is people asking questions like, why don't you have a car, bigger apt etc etc.

Most of all I've realized that this lifestyle minimizes your chances of getting a girl.

I feel like creating a change, but not the flashy type.
 
Stumpokapow said:
OP this is like your second existential crisis what is my life thread in a week or two. The last one emphasized your love of pornography, this emphasizes your love of your firearm. :p
Click to expand...

Welp, I'm 24 and I've begun to question the very foundation of everything and everyone I've come across.

It's cemented to me that the fact of the matter this in life you NEED Money pretty much above all else. and with less stuff and desires you need less of it.

basically less to worry about and spend money over

game console - tons o games etc

old man yells at cloud :p

Is this a common phenomenon ?
 
I'm moving in with my gf in two days and we have to somehow squeeze two fully furnished apartments into one.

When you actually want to live with some comfort (and not eat out every day), you end up acquiring a lot of shit over the years.
 
Emily Chu said:
old man yells at cloud :p

Is this a common phenomenon ?
Click to expand...

More like young and naive. Yes, it is. Some call it quarter life crisis (because it's so common), but once you hit 28 or so, your mind will slowly STFU and stop interrupting your life with existential questions that don't mean anything.
 
teruterubozu said:
More like young and naive. Yes, it is. Some call it quarter life crisis (because it's so common), but once you hit 28 or so, your mind will slowly STFU and stop interrupting your life with existential questions that don't mean anything.
Click to expand...

And at 35 you start questions the choices you made at 28. I think it goes on and on....
 
Stumpokapow said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg9qnWg9kak
"Tiny Hong Kong Apartment transforms into 24 rooms" (344 square feet)
Click to expand...

Amazing.

Second one is impressive too, but the guy's a bit obnoxious and contradicts himself. "You only need a mattress, a stove, and fridge to live" then goes on to show all kinds of trivial things and calls them "important"... Also he keeps stressing the "action" part of his apartment, then goes to say "What's really cool is that everything is within reach, I can open the fridge from the bed and grab something without walking!"
 
I've been taking a very minimalist approach to my lifestyle for a couple of years now, but I still can't help but buy games and CDs.

And I really want that "lego" apartment!

daviyoung said:
It's easy to live this when you only have to think of yourself.

And live with your parents.
Click to expand...

This man is 100% correct lol.
 
I've found that people with a lot of stuff are often time filling a void in life experiences.

My brother-in-law makes an absolute killing (high six figures), but he has no interests outside of his job. He buys tons of stuff that he never uses; a pool table I've seen him use once in five years, a five-figure home theater with shelves full of BDs and PS3 games still in the shrink-wrap, a new Camaro SS that he sold back to the dealer after putting 500 miles on it in a year's time. He and my sister rarely travel if it's not for some sales conference.

I sat next to a middle manager from Microsoft on the plane yesterday. Mid to late 40's. She was talking about all of the things she's doing at work, and that she's started to make her "list" for what she wants to do in retirement. I wondered why I didn't have a "list" at 33. Then I realized I'm living my list... surfing in hurricanes, scuba diving, skydiving, running marathons, riding motorcycles, building a race car, living in Africa, visiting Europe, getting married, getting divorced, falling in love again, etc.

Sometimes I think I'm not living up to my potential because I'm just an engineer and should be something more by now, but more often than not when I meet people who are "ahead" of me their lives are very empty.
 
teruterubozu said:
More like young and naive. Yes, it is. Some call it quarter life crisis (because it's so common), but once you hit 28 or so, your mind will slowly STFU and stop interrupting your life with existential questions that don't mean anything.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you simply lack the intellectual capacity to sustain intellectual curiosity. It's always worthwhile contemplating life in all its wonderous complexities, even if you don't find definitive answers.
 
Asceticism is overrated.

Not that my lifestyle is extravagant, but I don't see the point in depriving myself of the physical things that aid in happiness. I appreciate simplicity, loathe clutter and despise complexity for it's own sake. I find myself semi-consistently getting rid of possessions that I don't really want. It's not out of a longing for asceticism, however, just a way to streamline and maintain my simple bucolic existence.

With a relative plethora of video games, of course.
 
i'm going to do a vast overhaul of my clothing. going to throw out, minimise, and replace so much shit. there's going to be order, structure and a plan.
 
I don't mind enjoying creature comforts as long as my happiness isn't based on them. The only thing I come close to hoarding is PC parts, but I actually do come back and use those to fix my family and friends' computers.
 
I started this about a year ago. Digital media is a godsend. I got rid of my 400+ movie collection, traded in all my videogames, and donated all my books.
 
I share the OP's philosophy to a degree. I personally have a disdain for clutter and "stuff". Stuff that is just unnecessary, and taking up space for no reason.

For example, I'm not one of those people who jumps on any videogame sale I see, just because a game might be fun. I'm the type of thinks most purchases over, and only buys what I think I'll truly play.

I also can't fathom the idea of living in a huge house, even if I was rich. I like in a reasonable size home, and don't have any real aspirations of ever living in a larger one, and I'm 35 now.
 
travisbickle said:
What did you even possess to begin with before you went through this phase?

Did you do a Michael Landy? or is everything in your Mother's attic?
Click to expand...

Just started using Criagslist + Ebay like crazy the past 3 years

PS3 + 360 ? gone

stuff like more then one laptop + netbook - paired down to just one Traditional Laptop.

Gaming PC ? gave to Younger Bro

Psychical DVDs, CDs, Books, and, Magazines all converted to Digital.

took a policy of will I need this in 5 years approach to everything I've own and just began pairing down.
 
travisbickle said:
What did you even possess to begin with before you went through this phase?

Did you do a Michael Landy? or is everything in your Mother's attic?
Click to expand...
This is me. :lol

I have no regard for my parent's attic space.

I sometimes think I'd like to be minimalist, but I ended up buying really nice furniture when I moved out of my parents' place. It's sort of convinced me to not move around much since, but when I get in my bed at night it feels really worth it. Best bed ever. And it's gorgeous wood. Just gorgeous. I still don't own much stuff and it'd be straightforward to move, just don't want to be bothered and my roommates are good enough.
 
I often think about instead of starting a second career after retiring from the Navy, instead moving to somewhere like the Philippines. I could live the rest of my life and never work again. I could have a big home with a live-in maid. Enjoying everything the country has to offer. They speak English there too, so bonus.

All at 38...

Then again, I could make some decent scratch for a few more years while I'm in my working years in the US.

Either way though, I guess that's not minimalist. I think minimalist lifestyle would wear thin on me. At least buy a small projector to add to that stuff in the OP.
 
I don't need many goods, very rarely buy clothes, don't have a car (public transport is very good here), don't have loans, make rather little money (less than 35'000 CHF) yet still can get a nice surplus every year.

Yeah, minimalism rules, it makes living less stressful. Still, I want to make more money and to get a nice apartement. Some luxury isn't bad if you have the time to enjoy it.
 
I am and have been for a long time now. It's always been natural though rather than a conscious choice. My only exception that contradicts this is my semi-large DVD collection, though it's been at my Mum's for many years and I've gone fully digital at any place I've lived.
I think it's remarkable that advances in technology allow us to be so free.
 
Jo Shishido's Cheeks said:
I am and have been for a long time now. It's always been natural though rather than a conscious choice. My only exception that contradicts this is my semi-large DVD collection, though it's been at my Mum's for many years and I've gone fully digital at any place I've lived.
I think it's remarkable that advances in technology allow us to be so free.
Click to expand...
I think that's the key. I couldn't imagine living somewhere in the middle of nowhere back before the Internet. Now with streaming movies, skype, digital movie collections, entire music collection in an iPod, etc, it becomes much more possible to live without needing to shop at a mall or go to a movie theater or video store.
 
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but lower morals; we have more food, but less appeasement; we build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology has brought this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to make a difference, or to just hit delete...
Click to expand...

Thought this might somehow fit in here.
 
Metroid said:
Thought this might somehow fit in here.
Click to expand...

That was kinda cool, thanks. I enjoyed it and found it alarmingly true. Until the last paragraph when essentially it turned into one of those chain e-mail things.
 
Acullis said:
That was kinda cool, thanks. I enjoyed it and found it alarmingly true. Until the last paragraph when essentially it turned into one of those chain e-mail things.
Click to expand...


It's called the Paradox of our Age and written by the Dalai Lama.

You're welcome :)
 
Metroid said:
It's called the Paradox of our Age and written by the Dalai Lama.

You're welcome :)
Click to expand...
Probably ghost-written by the Dalai Lama.
 
I'm moving from Atlanta to San Francisco in about three weeks and will be leaving many of my possessions behind. I'm not really doing it to be intentionally minimalist--I'll still take objects that have sentimental attachment and video games and so on. But I'll be leaving behind almost all of my books and the worthless plastic cases for all my games and movies that people obsess over so much. Going to try to ship as few boxes as possible.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

$20 minimum wage for fast food workers in California
6 7 8 9 10
470
38K
Durien replied
  • Locked
  • Poll
What are your thoughts on California's new minimum wage?
Opinion 
2
2K
DKehoe replied
You can minimize the Youtube app now on iphone/pad without it closing out? They FINALLY added this feature it seems
14
7K
lukilladog replied
  • Poll
Minimum-wage rant
Drama 
17
3K
StreetsofBeige replied
The Art of Japanese Minimalism
30
2K
wondermega replied
Top Bottom