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There are a bunch of comments that this guy actually owns more than 15 things, and that others cope with less, and he isn't in the 3rd world etc. All true; his

There are a bunch of comments that this guy actually owns more than 15 things, and that others cope with less, and he isn't in the 3rd world etc. All true; his system isn't as extreme as the headline would have you believe. However, I see the takeaway is that he gets by with a lot less stuff than the average person in his demographic, and I think that is something to be applauded. I know I wouldn't relish doing it like he has, but it has made me think I could get by with less.

Avshalom 15y ago
That he doesn't actually seem to get by with less is people's problem. He's essentially just renting everything, very inefficiently at that. It's ridiculous to applaud the idea -of buying coffee at a restaurant every day instead of owning a coffee maker- as "doing with less"
- mechanical_fish 15y ago
  Not ridiculous at all, in context. It's all about marginal costs. If owning something would require you to rent a room that you might otherwise not have to rent, its marginal cost could be hundreds of dollars per month. There are portable coffeemakers for backpackers, but there's no such thing as lightweight portable coffee beans, and buying coffee beans in one-cup units on an as-needed basis is pretty expensive, in time if nothing else. As for whether traveling constantly and renting all your stuff is "inefficient": Well, sure. But to be alive is to be inefficient. Dead people are maximally efficient. But they also aren't having any fun. There's no prize for having lots of leftover money when you're dead. As they say, you can't take it with you.
anamax 15y ago
> However, I see the takeaway is that he gets by with a lot less stuff than the average person in his demographic Except that he doesn't. He merely doesn't own the stuff that he uses/consumes.
- TomAnthony 15y ago
  Sure, for some of the things that may be true. However, he doesn't have a basement full of junk, kitchen cupboards full of slowly perishing food, or a car etc.; things that most people do and could do fine without. Whether or not this all balances out as an overall plus, I cannot fathom. As I said - he isn't doing it perfectly, but he is doing some of it better. The main problem seems to be it is being oversold by him/the media.

Avshalom 15y ago

That he doesn't actually seem to get by with less is people's problem. He's essentially just renting everything, very inefficiently at that. It's ridiculous to applaud the idea -of buying coffee at a restaurant every day instead of owning a coffee maker- as "doing with less"

mechanical_fish 15y ago
Not ridiculous at all, in context. It's all about marginal costs. If owning something would require you to rent a room that you might otherwise not have to rent, its marginal cost could be hundreds of dollars per month. There are portable coffeemakers for backpackers, but there's no such thing as lightweight portable coffee beans, and buying coffee beans in one-cup units on an as-needed basis is pretty expensive, in time if nothing else. As for whether traveling constantly and renting all your stuff is "inefficient": Well, sure. But to be alive is to be inefficient. Dead people are maximally efficient. But they also aren't having any fun. There's no prize for having lots of leftover money when you're dead. As they say, you can't take it with you.

anamax 15y ago

> However, I see the takeaway is that he gets by with a lot less stuff than the average person in his demographic Except that he doesn't. He merely doesn't own the stuff that he uses/consumes.

TomAnthony 15y ago
Sure, for some of the things that may be true. However, he doesn't have a basement full of junk, kitchen cupboards full of slowly perishing food, or a car etc.; things that most people do and could do fine without. Whether or not this all balances out as an overall plus, I cannot fathom. As I said - he isn't doing it perfectly, but he is doing some of it better. The main problem seems to be it is being oversold by him/the media.