Becomeing a Minimalist

[Twelvefret]

Originally Posted by RP

I know that you're not trying to sell the concept and sorry if I implied otherwise. I suppose as I think about it, the notion of minimalism as a relative concept rather than an absolute makes perfect sense to me.

I own just the one Casio, and will return to Walmart for a replacement if it stops running. Being retired, my primary need for a watch is when I go to the pool 4-5 days a week for therapeutic swimming...

Casio watches are great products and have a consistent legacy. So, I think the minimalist in my OP would say he would prefer to have one quality Casio than a half dozen knock-offs.

[fitness1]

In my experience, another big part of this is taking care of the few, quality things you have. I see so many people buying expensive items and using them in a way that they appear to be disposable.

I've always taken the best care of all of my belongings I possibly can, and as a result, have had some things for many, many years.

[Twelvefret]

Originally Posted by fitness1

In my experience, another big part of this is taking care of the few, quality things you have. I see so many people buying expensive items and using them in a way that they appear to be disposable.

I've always taken the best possible care of all of my belongings I possibly can, and as a result, have had some things for many, many years.

Great point. I do the same and I've seen it pay off.

[D. Shelton]

Originally Posted by fazool

I am a huge advocate for this belief. A lot of the "stuff" I have all has different, additional uses (like a gigantic assortment of hand tools - each with a different purpose) but the duplicate and unnecessary stuff is more of a curse than a blessing.

For my workshop, duplicates are a necessary evil, and both a curse and a blessing. Small hand tools, specifically, places at work areas where they will be used often, saving lots of walking around either putting tools back in "their place", or walking around looking for tools.

But backing up, I do like getting lots of use out of things, as long as I have a use for them , but I'm also a bit of a hoarder, which makes it easy to collect things I don't actually need, but "may , at some point, and won't I be glad I saved it !?" .

Thinning the herd, so to speak, has become necessary , though, so I force myself to not-buy some things, and also go out and get rid of things that , realistically, will never be used, but it's hard sometimes !

[fatt-dad]

nobody wants my stuff!

f-d

[RP]

Originally Posted by fatt-dad

nobody wants my stuff!

f-d

That's what you think. Tell everyone that you're leaving AGF, and we'll jump on top of each other to be first in line....

[jdmulli]

I practice minimalism.

I started with clothing. If I didn't wear something for a season, away it went to the donation bin. I paired my footwear down to just the essentials. It felt good.

The music side of my life wasn't really that much more difficult to cull to the necessary basics. I've been playing the same surf green Stratocaster since I was 18. Electric guitar - check.

Effect pedals were a bit more painful. I can still hear the screams the pedals that I deemed superfluous as I shipped them off to their new owners, but I noticed something about my simpler setup. I played more, much more. All the time I used to spend perusing for the next great pedal, I now dedicate to playing. Instead of turning knobs, I play. Understandably, its not for everyone, but minimalism sure does work for me and my electric guitar playing.

I don't want to talk about acoustic instruments. I did say I practice minimalism.

[Mr. Jelly]

Personally I like to spend my time doing other things than taking care of "stuff". The only thing I wanted out of wealth was the freedom of not having to take care of "stuff". So that points out that I like robust quality "stuff". It takes less care. I also don't like clutter. So that means I get rid of "stuff" that I don't use. But that's me. I don't know if it has anything to do with minimalist.

[Swamp Yankee]

The journey to minimalism can begin with a single tiny step - such as dropping the extra "e" from "becoming"

[ManyMartinMan]

Minimizing anything you do becomes an exercise in self-evaluation at its core. Everyone has a different idea/opinion about what they "need". However, too many today have so much that their garages (yes 2 and 3 car garages) are full of "stuff" instead of cars and these are garages attached to 2,000 plus square feet of other "stuff". Forget the hoarding mentality of folks who think they need 2,4,6,10... of something in case something happens to the other 1,3,5....

Whatever one's personal beliefs on what they are accumulating, I think that periodic self-examination is healthy on many fronts. For those who have the strength to invite an outside, unbiased person (pastor, friend, life-coach, therapist...) to help with this "inventory" I applaud them. Generally we are too close to our stuff/life/relationships/possessions to really objectively evaluate what we need vs. what we want. Most people I know who have been able to successfully downsize their lives have become far more productive in life than they previously were. I, for example, don't hoard or store or accumulate things but I just realized I have 4 sets of salt & pepper dispensers in my kitchen.....I'm such a mess. Time to downsize.