Minimalism

  • Thread starter Thread starter LiE
  • Start date Start date
Eight years ago I moved into my (now) wife's flat with:
  • A car
  • A guitar
  • A backpack containing a camera and a laptop
  • A small suitcase of clothes
  • A set of bedding
  • One houseplant
Two house moves later and a baby on the way… let's just say I have considerably more **** than that now.

I'd be quite happy with a minimalist life, but my wife… not so much.

I think over the years I've tamed her chaos and she's mellowed my punctiliousness, so we've found a happy medium, but I'd always be happier with less stuff.
 
-westy- said:
You may find it difficult to move to Canada/Australia then unless you REALLY like boats :D

There's nothing wrong with expanding your horizons - if you fancy the idea of a van, why not just rent one and travel in that, that saves the initial outlay?
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You don't need to love boats. It takes less than a week to do the journey on something like the Queen Mary 2. Not exactly roughing it, and a lot of people do it. :p
 
I try buy as little stuff (that I won't use) as possible, and get rid of/sell what's unused. Also have no music cds, about 10 games and a couple cooking books (generally don't like physical media but for games it's cheaper )

I know I fall foul of this with clothes. Must have bags of clothes under spare bed with no idea what's in them.
 
LiE said:
Over the years I have found myself being quite minimalist in my life but still strive to be better. Do we have any OcUK members who this resonates with?
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A friend of mine does this and it works for her. She got burgled once and the burglars couldn't find anything to take!

It doesn't work for me. I like having stuff, mainly books and DVDs, but also reminders of the past.
 
Quartz said:
A friend of mine does this and it works for her. She got burgled once and the burglars couldn't find anything to take!
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Other than my cheap laptop, a TV, and three gaming consoles, I'd have nothing to take either! :D

Quartz said:
It doesn't work for me. I like having stuff, mainly books and DVDs, but also reminders of the past.
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Most of these could be digital, very easily.
 
I live minimal and enjoy it, even with a wife and 2 year old child.

Sure we have toys everywhere and my wife likes 'nice knickknacks' for the house but i'm happy with this as i'd never try to push my minimalism on others.

My folks were not well off when we were growing up, so the luxury of lots of 'stuff and things' never really had chance to take hold of me.
 
LiE said:
My office is my head space, a messy and cluttered space would negatively impact my mood. The rest of my home is a constant battle to keep it presentable, time is quite limited and I have a 3 year old. My wife does what she can but again time is limited. I think one of the benefits of having a simple, clutter free living space is the amount of things you potentially have to tidy away.
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I try to keep my man room nice and tidy but with so many projects on the go its hard work... I'd love to get it to the point of how your office looks. Good work! :) Like you i also have a 3 year old and a (messy) wife so the rest of the house is a losing battle although i try my hardest. I'm always noticing new toys appearing... Lol
 
Life is variety. I have so many books and pictures and tools I would emotionally crumble if I was forced to lived the minimalist life. I like doing a little of lots of things woodwork, cooking, reading, brewing etc, etc. The requirement to limit my choices implicit in a minimalist lifestyle is just at odds with who I am. Maybe if I focussed on one craft to a high level like art or music but I'm much more the polymath.
 
Thread has inspired me to clean out and throw away junk sat in my bedroom cupboards that have accumulated over the years.
 
I like the minimalist style of furniture. I'm not much for having a lot of ornaments and stuff around. When it comes to belongings I'm a bit worse, but then most of my belongings are books and clothing. As I go for a lot of gigs I tend to buy a tour t-shirt from the band I'm seeing so I have a quite big collection of them. Otherwise than that I don't have that much belongings. I got a printer and scanner to my computer, a pretty good Bluetooth speaker, office stuff (pens, paper etc) and a lot of books. But I think my limited space (flat sharing) helps keeping things to a minimum as well. I'm as it is now trying to reduce the amount of things I have as well to make it even more tidy.
 
PlacidCasual said:
Life is variety. I have so many books and pictures and tools I would emotionally crumble if I was forced to lived the minimalist life. I like doing a little of lots of things woodwork, cooking, reading, brewing etc, etc. The requirement to limit my choices implicit in a minimalist lifestyle is just at odds with who I am. Maybe if I focussed on one craft to a high level like art or music but I'm much more the polymath.
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Minimalism =/= throwing away or not buying things that you use or otherwise derive pleasure from.
 
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feel i should also follow a use it or lose it attitude ,attic sunhouse utility all full of stuff i rarely use ,not that i buy much just from the past .suppose if you get rid week after week it goes eventually ,maybe more at xmas to compensate for new stuff
 
Quite an interesting thread this, I've often thought that if I was in the bones of my **** I wouldn't need much to still enjoy my free time. From a pencil and paper to draw, to a bit of metal or plastic for model making.

I guess I don't possess a great deal of "stuff", I have tools which I would struggle to get by without for DIY and model making but not really much else. I barely touch my PC these days so that could quite easily go too.
 
Minimalism to me is more about intentional living, with things that you value and have purpose. Doesn't mean you need to get rid of everything. In honesty, you don't need to get rid of anything that isn't "clutter" to you. I have been listening to "The Minimalists" podcast over at https://www.theminimalists.com/ who worked with Matt on their movie on Netflix. Really cool, down to earth guys. Even if you think this is nonsense, they do give you food for thought on some matters.

When I found these guys, I was at a crossroads in life. I had so much junk, stress and not living right. The wife and I ended up selling 40% of things (and still going) that we don't use and I tell you that when I get home now and I see a clear, organised space, the feeling you get is amazing, especially after a hard day at work. But also when I see a house with lots of items, such as the house I was raised in, it still feels like a place of calm and excitement. What feels good for you?

Even thinking about work now is easier as its not worth stressing over and instead make it intentional to work the best you can and have fun doing it. My boss even said I have changed because i'm calmer.

I have some good ideas if anyone wants to know, on how to be a happier person with less (mind and physical).
 
I like minimalism to an extent. Like I'll have a messy desk in my study and nothing else apart from some storage boxed stacked up in the corner containing clutter.

I don't go for the trendy minimalist with a random guitar on display or purposely placed plant on my desk or out like that.
 
I like the idea of this but not so sure in practice. Currently I live in a house that has a living room with two giant bookcases filled with books and a porch full of DVDs and CDs accumulated over the years. These days I have books music and film covered digitally but I really don't feel I could bring myself to part with the physical media I have collected and spent large amounts of money on over the years. That said I would feel better with the extra space and I couldn't tell you the last time I actually watched a DVD or took a book out of the shelves. How did people square that circle? Did you all just write off the money spent acquiring things?
 
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