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I have drastically minimalized over the last couple years. I sold my stupid big house, now I rent. I got rid of most of my stuff. I have minimal furniture, empt

I have drastically minimalized over the last couple years. I sold my stupid big house, now I rent. I got rid of most of my stuff. I have minimal furniture, empty walls, I started biking everywhere instead of driving. I am much happier.

hammyhavoc 5y ago
What I've noticed is this: People who own "everything", including owning a house, plenty of belongings, a car et al, are more happy to pursue minimalism. People who own "nothing", including renting a house, not much in the way of belongings or a car, are more likely to pursue maximalism. I think what we can establish from it is that people want different things at different times of life in different circumstances. What suits a young person who loves to travel doesn't necessarily suit someone with a family of their own. What demographic do you fall under?
- jacob019 5y ago
  I am in my 30's, am married, have a first grader, I love to travel but don't get the chance much these days. I agree with your points, different tokes for different blokes, just wanted to share my experience.
  - sjtindell 5y ago
    You have a wife and a kid and yet just rent, have minimal furniture and empty walls? How does that work? My partner loves making spaces “cute” and need some plants, art, etc. which I’ve come to appreciate.
    - jacob019 5y ago
      It works for us. Our daughter's room is probably the most decorated part of our our home. My wife loves gardening, but has found new hobbies. She doesn't share my enthusiasm for minimalism, but she has embraced it and is also happier these days. Caring for a big house was like having a 2nd job. There were nice parts, but I don't miss it. We have a nice home, we just try not to fill it with stuff. I know it isn't for everyone but I like the clean minimal aesthetic, it's calming. Renting is a luxury in some ways. Now that we don't spend as much time on the nest, we have time for other things, and much less stress.
    - jandrewrogers 5y ago
      Some people prefer to rent. It has distinct advantages and in big cities you can often rent beautiful places that you'd never be able to buy. You can have plants, art, etc in a lovely minimalist space that doesn't need a lot of stuff to be inviting and livable. I don't understand why it wouldn't work with a wife and kid. Owning a place doesn't change that. Renting does not imply a shoebox apartment or a mediocre house in the suburbs.
      - jhbadger 5y ago
        In a lot of developed countries (Germany, for example) renting is as common or more than buying. It's pretty much America that has this stigma that associates renting with not being successful.
      - sjtindell 5y ago
        When I think of adding additional people it adds stuff - now you need space for three or more people’s hobbies, preferences, etc. and when I think of renting I think smaller spaces.
        prmoustache 5y ago
        That's usually the point. I´ve moved something like 12 times in my life, as a kid, as a young adult, maried man with kids, now divorced one with shared custody. I've lived in studios, appartments, houses, most rented but 2 owned. My conclusion is whatever space you have you might end up using all of it and only because it is available, not because you are using all that shit. I got back to renting close to a large city center because I wanted to get rid of cars and be able to go anywhere with my bicycle, have the kids walk to school , to their friends place or outside without me having to drive them left and right. Leaving in family do not mean you need so much things/space, hobbies don't have to require space. Also a lot of things can be shared with neighbors.
- Thorentis 5y ago
  I also find that people tend to enjoy things more when they aren't forced upon them. For instance, people who can afford to buy and maintain a house enjoy not buying one and living minimally, whereas people who can't afford to buy one wish that they could. Minimalism, ironically, is pursued almost entirely be rich people.
  - hammyhavoc 5y ago
    Astute observation!
  - redisman 5y ago
    I don’t think I’ve ever seen a minimalist with a cheap Ikea coffee table and a 10 year old laptop. I’m sure some exist but for any that bother posting about it online it seems like an excuse to buy expensive things that align with the “aesthetic”. I barely own anything! Except this Herman Miller armchair and this 2022 MacBook Pro and this set of hand blown Japanese drinking glasses and this $2000 rug.
    - jdavis703 5y ago
      There’s nothing wrong with having a few high-priced objects vs. many cheaply priced ones. My dad has maybe a dozen desktop PCs. I have just one laptop, but my 1 MacBook is probably the same cost as several of his PCs.
      - redisman 5y ago
        Sure, I mainly meant that if someone posts their minimalist stack and it’s a mattress on the floor and a cardboard box with a old ugly computer on it, they’ll most likely get made fun of at best even if they’re actually embodying more of the tenets of “minimalism”. Basically it’s just a classier version of consumerism unless you do it in a very unsexy way
      - prmoustache 5y ago
        I won't go into the PC/MacBook debate but there is a thing about having less, but expensive and durable products, than tons of shit that keeps breaking down and being replaced.
- Ostrogodsky 5y ago
  I used to own a lot and now I have almost nothing (not by choice), and I still prefer it that way. Money, big properties, even cars bring lots of headaches and worries that I am not so sure are really compensated by the upsides. I am not trying to be edgy here, of course having money is better than starving but I am pretty sure that most people could cut their "ideally fuck you money" amount down to 20-25% and still be very happy, saving the time and miseries of trying to get the other 75%. I was there, I risked a lot trying to get that other 75%, lost almost everything and now I realize I could have perfectly retired with what I originally had, by just implementing a few POSITIVE lifestyle changes. I am not preaching here, every life is different but that has been my experience.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- Jansen312 5y ago
  It is more like reaching nirvana and enlightenment stage. When you're young probably fire is fascinating until you touch it and got burnt. People who own "everything" and go for minimalism have seen they really don't need those. People who has nothing hasn't realized they they are blessed already (a bit like Alchemist) and decide to embark a long and ardous journey to hoard as much as possible. They end up worry about their "things" and never got to enjoy it. They end up taken so much debt for the junks they acquire from a big eastern country. Is like Tiger Woods, go on satisfying his libido in the process destroy his family as he seek the plessure he lost his happiness. Junks hoarded are exactly like Tiger's sensual escapedes, ephemeral and yet extremely addictive...and destructive.
  - birtoise 5y ago
- kingcharles 5y ago
  I own (almost) literally nothing except my laptop and mobile phone that I bought with my pandemic stimulus cheque and a bunch of random clothes strangers gave me or I found in the trash. Yet, every day I seek to minimalize my life as physical things just cause clutter and my brain stops functioning when there is too much clutter around me.
hanselot 5y ago
acchow 5y ago
I noticed that people who have the ability to have either everything or very little can be happier having very little. People who don't have the financial means to have anything they want may not get the same joy out of having very little. Someone once told me that there are some homeless people in Berkeley who actually have trust funds but find the homeless experience liberating. Not sure how true that is.
- jdavis703 5y ago
  They’re probably thinking of this wrong. Some people may indeed have trust funds. But the funds come with strings: stop doing drugs, stop being gay, go in to the family business, etc. The liberation is having an autonomous life from controlling family, not the act of being homeless.
- season2episode3 5y ago
  I can see that urban legend catching on for the same reason that "welfare queens" did.
mcbishop 5y ago
I had a closet full of clothes that I mostly didn't like. Now I have one pair of clothes I wear almost every day, and one backup pair for laundry day. I love every item I have. This is much better for me, and I don't smell bad. I suspect most people don't realize that I'm always in the same clothes.
- iLoveOncall 5y ago
  > and I don't smell bad You think you don't smell bad.

hammyhavoc 5y ago

What I've noticed is this: People who own "everything", including owning a house, plenty of belongings, a car et al, are more happy to pursue minimalism. People who own "nothing", including renting a house, not much in the way of belongings or a car, are more likely to pursue maximalism. I think what we can establish from it is that people want different things at different times of life in different circumstances. What suits a young person who loves to travel doesn't necessarily suit someone with a family of their own. What demographic do you fall under?

jacob019 5y ago
I am in my 30's, am married, have a first grader, I love to travel but don't get the chance much these days. I agree with your points, different tokes for different blokes, just wanted to share my experience.
- sjtindell 5y ago
  You have a wife and a kid and yet just rent, have minimal furniture and empty walls? How does that work? My partner loves making spaces “cute” and need some plants, art, etc. which I’ve come to appreciate.
  - jacob019 5y ago
    It works for us. Our daughter's room is probably the most decorated part of our our home. My wife loves gardening, but has found new hobbies. She doesn't share my enthusiasm for minimalism, but she has embraced it and is also happier these days. Caring for a big house was like having a 2nd job. There were nice parts, but I don't miss it. We have a nice home, we just try not to fill it with stuff. I know it isn't for everyone but I like the clean minimal aesthetic, it's calming. Renting is a luxury in some ways. Now that we don't spend as much time on the nest, we have time for other things, and much less stress.
  - jandrewrogers 5y ago
    Some people prefer to rent. It has distinct advantages and in big cities you can often rent beautiful places that you'd never be able to buy. You can have plants, art, etc in a lovely minimalist space that doesn't need a lot of stuff to be inviting and livable. I don't understand why it wouldn't work with a wife and kid. Owning a place doesn't change that. Renting does not imply a shoebox apartment or a mediocre house in the suburbs.
    - jhbadger 5y ago
      In a lot of developed countries (Germany, for example) renting is as common or more than buying. It's pretty much America that has this stigma that associates renting with not being successful.
    - sjtindell 5y ago
      When I think of adding additional people it adds stuff - now you need space for three or more people’s hobbies, preferences, etc. and when I think of renting I think smaller spaces.
      - prmoustache 5y ago
        That's usually the point. I´ve moved something like 12 times in my life, as a kid, as a young adult, maried man with kids, now divorced one with shared custody. I've lived in studios, appartments, houses, most rented but 2 owned. My conclusion is whatever space you have you might end up using all of it and only because it is available, not because you are using all that shit. I got back to renting close to a large city center because I wanted to get rid of cars and be able to go anywhere with my bicycle, have the kids walk to school , to their friends place or outside without me having to drive them left and right. Leaving in family do not mean you need so much things/space, hobbies don't have to require space. Also a lot of things can be shared with neighbors.
Thorentis 5y ago
I also find that people tend to enjoy things more when they aren't forced upon them. For instance, people who can afford to buy and maintain a house enjoy not buying one and living minimally, whereas people who can't afford to buy one wish that they could. Minimalism, ironically, is pursued almost entirely be rich people.
- hammyhavoc 5y ago
  Astute observation!
- redisman 5y ago
  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a minimalist with a cheap Ikea coffee table and a 10 year old laptop. I’m sure some exist but for any that bother posting about it online it seems like an excuse to buy expensive things that align with the “aesthetic”. I barely own anything! Except this Herman Miller armchair and this 2022 MacBook Pro and this set of hand blown Japanese drinking glasses and this $2000 rug.
  - jdavis703 5y ago
    There’s nothing wrong with having a few high-priced objects vs. many cheaply priced ones. My dad has maybe a dozen desktop PCs. I have just one laptop, but my 1 MacBook is probably the same cost as several of his PCs.
    - redisman 5y ago
      Sure, I mainly meant that if someone posts their minimalist stack and it’s a mattress on the floor and a cardboard box with a old ugly computer on it, they’ll most likely get made fun of at best even if they’re actually embodying more of the tenets of “minimalism”. Basically it’s just a classier version of consumerism unless you do it in a very unsexy way
    - prmoustache 5y ago
      I won't go into the PC/MacBook debate but there is a thing about having less, but expensive and durable products, than tons of shit that keeps breaking down and being replaced.
Ostrogodsky 5y ago
I used to own a lot and now I have almost nothing (not by choice), and I still prefer it that way. Money, big properties, even cars bring lots of headaches and worries that I am not so sure are really compensated by the upsides. I am not trying to be edgy here, of course having money is better than starving but I am pretty sure that most people could cut their "ideally fuck you money" amount down to 20-25% and still be very happy, saving the time and miseries of trying to get the other 75%. I was there, I risked a lot trying to get that other 75%, lost almost everything and now I realize I could have perfectly retired with what I originally had, by just implementing a few POSITIVE lifestyle changes. I am not preaching here, every life is different but that has been my experience.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Jansen312 5y ago
It is more like reaching nirvana and enlightenment stage. When you're young probably fire is fascinating until you touch it and got burnt. People who own "everything" and go for minimalism have seen they really don't need those. People who has nothing hasn't realized they they are blessed already (a bit like Alchemist) and decide to embark a long and ardous journey to hoard as much as possible. They end up worry about their "things" and never got to enjoy it. They end up taken so much debt for the junks they acquire from a big eastern country. Is like Tiger Woods, go on satisfying his libido in the process destroy his family as he seek the plessure he lost his happiness. Junks hoarded are exactly like Tiger's sensual escapedes, ephemeral and yet extremely addictive...and destructive.
- birtoise 5y ago
kingcharles 5y ago
I own (almost) literally nothing except my laptop and mobile phone that I bought with my pandemic stimulus cheque and a bunch of random clothes strangers gave me or I found in the trash. Yet, every day I seek to minimalize my life as physical things just cause clutter and my brain stops functioning when there is too much clutter around me.

hanselot 5y ago

acchow 5y ago

I noticed that people who have the ability to have either everything or very little can be happier having very little. People who don't have the financial means to have anything they want may not get the same joy out of having very little. Someone once told me that there are some homeless people in Berkeley who actually have trust funds but find the homeless experience liberating. Not sure how true that is.

jdavis703 5y ago
They’re probably thinking of this wrong. Some people may indeed have trust funds. But the funds come with strings: stop doing drugs, stop being gay, go in to the family business, etc. The liberation is having an autonomous life from controlling family, not the act of being homeless.
season2episode3 5y ago
I can see that urban legend catching on for the same reason that "welfare queens" did.

mcbishop 5y ago

I had a closet full of clothes that I mostly didn't like. Now I have one pair of clothes I wear almost every day, and one backup pair for laundry day. I love every item I have. This is much better for me, and I don't smell bad. I suspect most people don't realize that I'm always in the same clothes.

iLoveOncall 5y ago
> and I don't smell bad You think you don't smell bad.