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There was one line about cutting down the kitchen but the facebook group is private - do these people cook much at home at all? I don't need a lot of gadgets b

There was one line about cutting down the kitchen but the facebook group is private - do these people cook much at home at all? I don't need a lot of gadgets but at minimum one needs a couple of shelves of different pots unless one goes for camping style cooking for every meal - though I would be happy to be corrected.

michaelmior 9y ago
You can cook a very wide range of food with one pot and one frying pan.
- candeira 9y ago
  But some people have a family, and sometimes we cook for 20, most times for 8 or 10, occasionally for 1 to 4.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- Sacho 9y ago
  And at least one cutting knife, a set of utensils, some dishes, a place to store long-term products, spices and leftovers...oh look, I need a shelf now. Poor families need space to store stuff, because they stock up during good times to go through the bad. My family had a huge basement stocked with pickled vegetables and fruits, bought during harvest when they are cheap to use during winter when everything is expensive. We also had tons of bookshelves, filled to the brim with aged books from parents, cousins and other relatives, because we could not afford buying school materials every year and school libraries were usually picked clean. You need a place to store all the stuff from your parents - your crib, clothes, toys, so you can use them for your kids too... I don't know how you get around all that with minimalism - from my POV, owning a big house is the best investment a poor family can make.
  - dagw 9y ago
    owning a big house is the best investment a poor family can make. You'll notice that it's mostly rich people preaching minimalism.
  - NiklasMort 9y ago
    unpopular opinion: poor people shouldn't have big families to begin with, it is highly irresponsible to have children without proper financial savings and a good career
  - tedmiston 9y ago
    One idea is to not hold onto all of the things. An implication that stems from poverty is an understandable hoarding mentality. I would ask instead, "How could I possibly know whether my child will even want this same thing 5–20 years from now?" then donate it to a thrift store or sell it. And focus on free activities like going to the park over object ownership. I don't consider myself a poor person but I grew up lower middle class and practiced habits like stocking up on consumables in bulk when they're on sale that you'll definitely use before they expire — things like soap or shampoo or toilet paper. I still practice that today because to me it's fiscal responsibility, but it is easy to go overboard as well. I just always try to optimize for reasonable unit economics which can vary quite a bit from thing to thing. Sometimes buying the cheap disposable version makes more sense than a BIFL.
legulere 9y ago
You don’t need a couple of shelves. Pots with different sizes can be stacked together. I can’t think of anything that needs more than 3 pots. Add maybe two small ones and you’re at 5 pots stacked together in a shelve. Another topic is knives. Everyone tries to sell you sets of 5+ knives. For 90% of the tasks the chefs knive will do. For the rest a small knife and a bread knife will mostly cover you.
dagw 9y ago
do these people cook much at home at all? I love to cook and I have a kitchen full of stuff, but if I'm being honest with myself I have most of that stuff because I like to have it rather than because I need to have it. I could throw out most of my knives and and pots and pans and basically all of my kitchen machines and still cook some pretty good food. It would just be a bit more work and a bit less fun.

michaelmior 9y ago

You can cook a very wide range of food with one pot and one frying pan.

candeira 9y ago
But some people have a family, and sometimes we cook for 20, most times for 8 or 10, occasionally for 1 to 4.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
Sacho 9y ago
And at least one cutting knife, a set of utensils, some dishes, a place to store long-term products, spices and leftovers...oh look, I need a shelf now. Poor families need space to store stuff, because they stock up during good times to go through the bad. My family had a huge basement stocked with pickled vegetables and fruits, bought during harvest when they are cheap to use during winter when everything is expensive. We also had tons of bookshelves, filled to the brim with aged books from parents, cousins and other relatives, because we could not afford buying school materials every year and school libraries were usually picked clean. You need a place to store all the stuff from your parents - your crib, clothes, toys, so you can use them for your kids too... I don't know how you get around all that with minimalism - from my POV, owning a big house is the best investment a poor family can make.
- dagw 9y ago
  owning a big house is the best investment a poor family can make. You'll notice that it's mostly rich people preaching minimalism.
- NiklasMort 9y ago
  unpopular opinion: poor people shouldn't have big families to begin with, it is highly irresponsible to have children without proper financial savings and a good career
- tedmiston 9y ago
  One idea is to not hold onto all of the things. An implication that stems from poverty is an understandable hoarding mentality. I would ask instead, "How could I possibly know whether my child will even want this same thing 5–20 years from now?" then donate it to a thrift store or sell it. And focus on free activities like going to the park over object ownership. I don't consider myself a poor person but I grew up lower middle class and practiced habits like stocking up on consumables in bulk when they're on sale that you'll definitely use before they expire — things like soap or shampoo or toilet paper. I still practice that today because to me it's fiscal responsibility, but it is easy to go overboard as well. I just always try to optimize for reasonable unit economics which can vary quite a bit from thing to thing. Sometimes buying the cheap disposable version makes more sense than a BIFL.

legulere 9y ago

You don’t need a couple of shelves. Pots with different sizes can be stacked together. I can’t think of anything that needs more than 3 pots. Add maybe two small ones and you’re at 5 pots stacked together in a shelve. Another topic is knives. Everyone tries to sell you sets of 5+ knives. For 90% of the tasks the chefs knive will do. For the rest a small knife and a bread knife will mostly cover you.

dagw 9y ago

do these people cook much at home at all? I love to cook and I have a kitchen full of stuff, but if I'm being honest with myself I have most of that stuff because I like to have it rather than because I need to have it. I could throw out most of my knives and and pots and pans and basically all of my kitchen machines and still cook some pretty good food. It would just be a bit more work and a bit less fun.