Has anyone else considered living a minimalist lifestyle?

[CyberCubed]

So this is very common in Japan due to how small the apartments are over there, and Asians like living a minimalist lifestyle in terms of possessions:







As I've gotten older and am heading toward middle age, I've decided that I am not a material girl and I don't live in a material world.

Over the last number of years I've sold off a ton of stuff I had since I was a kid/teen and my early 20's, only keeping a small amount of valued stuff as part of my personal collection. I've gone digital only in most forms of entertainment, and then I realized, "why am I keeping all this stuff in my home?"

I'm really considering doing what the Japanese do, and live with the bare minimum of possessions in my home. Anyone else try this?

[frank_one]

I can perfectly understand this. The less stuff you own, the more free you are. For the most part the stuff we leave behind after our passing will end up in the trash anyway, unless you have kids and you are able to share your interests with them.
I wouldn't like to live in an empty home though, that's a bit depressing. I would keep stuff like books, magazines, family photos, trip souvenirs, art pieces. The stuff that talks about my passions, my family, my friends... I want those things around me to inspire me or to keep me up when I'm sad.

[sdp]

Yes, I started about 5 years ago or so because I realized all the stuff I had was only making me stress about it, instead I started selling off stuff especially collections of stuff. Yeah it's cool to have but not worth the space that it takes and the trouble that it is, especially since I travel a lot.

For geek stuff I decided having one bookshelf worth of stuff is more than enough, and no need to hold on to old outdated technology either? Video games? just emulate them, no need to hold on to everything. Books? Will I ever re-read them? I only keep ones I would. Clothes? If I don't change it since I can still wear the same stuff from 10 years ago, if I don't get rid of it I'm wearing decades old fashion and look ridiculous. I'm not a hardcore minimalist, but definitely not a "mancave" or future hoarders episode guy anymore.

Seeing collections online while I think is cool also makes me feel how happy I am not to have all that sh-t. Now I am a happy digital hoarder, mp3s, games, comics, books, movies, shows. Hell yeah, it doesn't occupy much space and I can still have all the stuff I like without it taking up space.

[Leo656]

Cubed, I honestly already imagined that this is how you lived.

Not me. Full-blown materialist. I love Things more than People. I don't do drugs so I rely on buying stuff for that constant Serotonin hit.

[Leolead]

You mean like a one-room apartment? Yea

[CyberCubed]

I think people brought up above why this is a good move. You don't have to have *nothing* in your house, some small collections are fine, of course, but I just realized buying stuff is meaningless:

1. You can't take stuff with you after you die. So either whoever you lived with will just sell your stuff off or if you have kids pass it down to them, and even then most of your "collections" will either just be sold off or tossed in the trash anyway. Basically everything you buy will be given away in the end anyway.

2. The early 2000's when people had huge shelves of DVD collections and videogame piles is pretty much over. Now having a huge nerdy DVD collection on your shelf seems like a waste of space.

3. People tend not to revisit old stuff too often. I personally do, I replay old videogames all the time, but I know others do not. I also rewatch my favorite shows all the time, but it's just more convenient to watch stuff online. Same for movies which a lot are "one and done" for me besides my very favorite movies.

4. I never felt the need to decorate the walls with pictures or models or whatever. People buy these huge art pictures or stuff just to hang on their walls, for me, an empty wall is just as fine (with the exception of mirrors and stuff like that).

5. I realized how much money I wasted when I was younger. When we were all in our early 20's we suddenly had a lot of freedom to buy what we couldn't afford when we were teens, and we went crazy. I bought a ton of old TMNT toys I never had as a kid, tons of videogame stuff, etc...and I realized most of this stuff just sat in my closet for 10+ years. I'm now in my 30's so I realize I have had this stuff for 10 years and never really looked at all of it more than once or twice.


Besides all this, I literally made around $15,000-$20,000 just selling old stuff online on ebay. You'd honestly be surprised how much money you can make just getting rid of your old stuff.

[IMJ]

I wouldn't want to live as minimalist as is in those pictures. But in truth, this is a huge part of why I've been selling. Between my collection and the things that were intended as inventory, I would like to live a life with fewer things.

There are a few ways to do that: literally get rid of your stuff, or have extreme organization tactics. Like filing action figures into drawers where you could literally fit a few thousand in a small dresser thingy in your basement that takes up no more than 2 sq ft footprint, which is what I've been doing.

Best of both worlds:
-let the stuff I don't truly care about go to collectors that do
-have extreme organization for the things that I keep
-have a finite display instead of expanding my display and then rotate themes in and out periodically to get use out of my "things".

It's just a much better way to live than continuously acquiring things and filling spaces with them like a cancer.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I don't think all physical media should just be given away.

Imagine if you watch a Netflix series, and one day it suddenly disappears because of some legal dispute between Netflix and the production ocmpany. That never happens when you have home video.

[frank_one]

Living in an empty house? The funny thing is that there are people who go even beyond that. They sell all their stuff AND they sell their house to live in a van.

[IndigoErth]

Not really.

To decide to lighten the load and give yourself more space is one thing. But imo, those empty rooms make those people look like they are little more than robots for whatever job they do. There is nothing there to show that they are building a life for themselves, as if their life consists of going to work then leaving and sitting in a nearly empty room as if putting themselves away in a closet until the employer needs them again the next day... like a vacuum cleaner.

Aren't some parts of Asia also incredibly expensive though? Some "minimalist" people might also just not be able to afford much more than the roof over their head.

I like my stuff. Yeah, there's papers and junk I need to go though. Clutter I will clear out eventually. But as for regular belongings... it's things that are important to me or other relics of the life I've lived. If I still like them in my life, then I'm keeping them. Nothing wrong with that.

Granted I'm not one of those people who hoard massive collections of things so I'm not overwhelming myself in that kind of way.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

There is space for bookshelves and wall paintings in those apartments seen on the pictures.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I think people brought up above why this is a good move. You don't have to have *nothing* in your house, some small collections are fine, of course, but I just realized buying stuff is meaningless:

1. You can't take stuff with you after you die. So either whoever you lived with will just sell your stuff off or if you have kids pass it down to them, and even then most of your "collections" will either just be sold off or tossed in the trash anyway. Basically everything you buy will be given away in the end anyway.

When I die, I die. I'm gonna enjoy my material posessions til I die.

2. The early 2000's when people had huge shelves of DVD collections and videogame piles is pretty much over. Now having a huge nerdy DVD collection on your shelf seems like a waste of space.

I'll always keep my collection. Nothing beats running your finger down the aisle while looking for a movie to watch or game to play

3. People tend not to revisit old stuff too often. I personally do, I replay old videogames all the time, but I know others do not. I also rewatch my favorite shows all the time, but it's just more convenient to watch stuff online. Same for movies which a lot are "one and done" for me besides my very favorite movies.

I do, or else I eventually get rid of it or sell it. Most of the time when I buy something it's for keeps. That's why I'm very selective on my videogames. Going back to review them or show them off to friends is also the perfect excuse to dust them off.

4. I never felt the need to decorate the walls with pictures or models or whatever. People buy these huge art pictures or stuff just to hang on their walls, for me, an empty wall is just as fine (with the exception of mirrors and stuff like that).

I do. I love my wallscrolls and my Displayed.

5. I realized how much money I wasted when I was younger. When we were all in our early 20's we suddenly had a lot of freedom to buy what we couldn't afford when we were teens, and we went crazy. I bought a ton of old TMNT toys I never had as a kid, tons of videogame stuff, etc...and I realized most of this stuff just sat in my closet for 10+ years. I'm now in my 30's so I realize I have had this stuff for 10 years and never really looked at all of it more than once or twice.

you only live once. One of the best parts of being an adult on the internet is being able to find and buy the stuff you were denied as a kid.

Besides all this, I literally made around $15,000-$20,000 just selling old stuff online on ebay. You'd honestly be surprised how much money you can make just getting rid of your old stuff.

You and I are polar opposites Mr Cubed.

[Hamato Yoshi]

I bought Dino Riders Ice Age mammoth , I was a bit sad I didn't have that as a kid so when I could afford it as an adult then why not ?

Not everything I've got has $$$ value (Bonbon figures , similar to Kinder) but they mean something to me besides the monetary value

[neatoman]

If those images are anything to go by then **** that noise. If you're gonna live like that you might as well rent a closet to live in.

[Roseangelo]

I've been going through cycles of downsizing for like the last 20 years. Then some shiny new collectibles I like catch my eye and I buy more stuff.

I can't live in an empty room, so I will always have stuff. But in general, I am working toward having less.

[ABrown]

Unfortunately, my wife is WAY to much of a hoarder. She does a little better with me in her life. But without me, she'd be on the TV show Hoarders.

[Prowler]

I mean, I don't have a lot of things in the first place. As long as I have a TV, a computer and videogames and necessary furniture like sofas and beds, I'm fine.

[IndigoErth]

Is that their kid sitting on the floor in the background of the first image? It might teach kids not to be materialistic, but what a way to raise a numb, lifeless child. Imagination can go only so far... Almost forces a kid to be a tv addict if they have nothing else.

Though it could have the opposite affect on them when they're older, being too clingy to things after growing up not being allowed to have hardly anything.


And about that sort of disturbing far right quarter of that image...

Originally Posted by neatoman

If those images are anything to go by then **** that noise. If you're gonna live like that you might as well rent a closet to live in.

If I clean one out can I rent it to a minimalist? We only have small closets, no walk-ins, wonder if that's enough.

[frank_one]

I'm sure there are people out there who would be more than happy to be able to sell their wife and their kids on ebay to live a more minimalist life.

[newfan]

I plan to have a sort through but do I want to go minimalist? Nope. Nice balance of having things I like without feeling too much clutter will do for me.