5 ms·
I have noticed that people pushing minimalism...or at least the idea of "throw it away and buy it if you ever end up needing it" is a luxury that I think many p
by pfranz 7y ago
I have noticed that people pushing minimalism...or at least the idea of "throw it away and buy it if you ever end up needing it" is a luxury that I think many people take for granted. Even if you're not privileged I think there's value in consciously assessing where in your life you want to be minimal and where you don't. I just went through my old tech stuff and recycled cellphones so old they may not even connect to the network, cables and adaptors to hardware I no longer own, and piles of network cables that came free with things. I slimed them down to just a few of each with the recent free time I've had.
As I got more serious about cooking I donated a lot of extra pans and doo-dads. Previously, I would just collect things and as I learned more about what made something good and why, I could narrow down to 1 or 2 higher quality items (knives, pans, etc). As I learned more techniques, I needed fewer specialty items.
To your point, having a lawn service means not needing a mower. Hiring out a painting service means not having old buckets, brushes, tarps, etc, laying around.
I do think (at least Americans) hoard. I know there's been a few times where I know I had something, but I didn't know where and considered just buying another. To me, that's worse than donating or giving it away years before. I know a lot of people pay monthly for self-storage, but probably don't know what's in there or wouldn't take the time to retrieve something. To me, this is what the Marie Kondo book was targeting.
- voxl 7y agoThere is another side to this where "stuff" becomes a liability. If I know I'm going to be moving frequently, having stuff is expensive, minimalism becomes a frugal option. To this point, there is a certain luxury in being able to keep stuff around, to even have the space for it to begin with. If I own a studio apartment I don't have room for random 2x4's to come save the metaphorical day.
- DubiousPusher 7y agoAbsolutely. Self reliance is also a kind of luxury, that I wouldn't necessarily call better than minimalism only that the two are in contention. Those 2x4s saved the literal day for us as the time away would've cost us a day's work ;)
- hannob 7y ago> I have noticed that people pushing minimalism...or at least the idea of "throw it away and buy it if you ever end up needing it" is a luxury that I think many people take for granted. I am inclined to disagree here and will say you're not making the full calculation. One of the biggest costs that most people have in their life is paying for a place to live (be it rent or buying and maybe paying back for that). If you have fewer things this allows you to have a smaller space to live in. The reduced costs from that will more than make up for the occasional "I have to buy something that I might still have if I hadn't gotten rid of it a few years ago".
- DubiousPusher 7y agoI think this poster is generally making the argument for stocking yourself with multipurpose tools and discarding single task or infrequent task items. As a contrived example, a funnel is a tool which will come in handy in many situations. But an old baby toy will likely only come in handy when a nephew is over once per year. Heck a funnel is even a decent baby toy.
- hanniabu 7y agoSome may even say a funnel is pointless since you can create one with paper or foil lined paper for that once a year time you might use it.
- pfranz 7y agoI do think there's multiple reasons for hoarding or minimalism. I'm just saying that I've noticed more well off people in my life advocating for minimalism over the years. I do agree with your sentiment. In general, the poorer people I know aren't almost-homeless poor. Maybe they're just bad at managing everything (money, time, assets). They tend to be paying for those storage spaces. I see those storage spaces everywhere. I'm kind of curious what the average demographic is--like you say, space is expensive. I have used them, but only during transitions for a few months at a time. The terms of the contract made me think I wasn't the norm. Your comment reminded me that my brother travels significantly more than I do, but travels with so much. I travel a few times a year, but absolutely hate having extra stuff. For me it's not about the cost of having an extra bag. It's about not wanting to wait for checked luggage, slinging around another extra bag (or just one heavier one), and not carrying it around. I'm sure he has his reasons for over-packing (perhaps being prepared, having appropriate attire means more to him), but for neither it's about the money. I'm sure for some people is is, though.
- wiz21c 7y ago>> As I got more serious about cooking I donated a lot of extra pans and doo-dads. Previously, I would just collect things and as I learned more about what made something good and why, I could narrow down to 1 or 2 higher quality items (knives, pans, etc). As I learned more techniques, I needed fewer specialty items. Same experience here. Conclusion : if we'd educate people better on how to cook rather than showing them hours of advertising on the latest magical tool to cook a steak, we'd make their life easier and so much more minimalist. So, in my experience, if you learn to cook and accept that cooking takes a bit more time you mainly need (for french cuisine) : - 1 or 2 frying pan (buy a large one, multi-ply, heavy stuff, it's expensive : around 150 euro each, but will outlast you) - a cast iron casserole (for long cook) - just one teflon-like pan for frying fish (frying fish without that is possible but requires a lot of fat) - a few cooking pots (buy inox) - a short knife (buy expensive, around 60€, make sure the blade goes to the end of the handle) - a chef knife (ditto) - a big wooden cutting board (it allows you to use your chef knife efficiently) - 2 or three large bowls (inox or earthenware, no plastic) - a hand blender - a whisker - learn to use your oven if you have one, it's very useful - baking paper is very useful and cheap the rest just comes from regular stuff (glasses, regular knife, spoons, etc) with that material you can go a loooooong way. (forget about KitchenAid, Cookeo, and many other things) etc.
- dageshi 7y agoSome people just don't like cooking. I guess the magical kitchen gadgets may appeal to them in the sense of "this might make me like cooking" because it looks easy.
- ctdonath 7y agohaving a lawn service means not needing a mower. Hiring out a painting service means not having old buckets, brushes, tarps, etc, laying around. Minimalism means not having a lawn which needs mowing, nor walls in need of painting.