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It's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate when you're not paying attention. I had so much stuff and it didn't help me at all. It only prevented me from mov

It's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate when you're not paying attention. I had so much stuff and it didn't help me at all. It only prevented me from moving when I wanted. So I recently sold all my stuff, threw out all the rest and moved country. I live a just as luxurious life as I did before. I just find solutions to stuff that doesn't require owning the physical goods. Keep in mind half of this stuff is only possible because i'm living in the US now. And the rest is pretty obvious. eg. - Rent a furnished apartment. - Use car sharing services - Buy ebooks instead of physical books - Use Netflix/Hulu instead of owning a tv - Use pdf digital signing software instead of owning a printer/scanner/fax And really the only physical things I need now are some clothes and my laptop.

Volpe 14y ago
To add to your qualification: you are living in the US AND you have money. I don't mean this as a criticism of you, but instead the minimilist movement in general: There is something self-indulgent about middle class, talking about how "cool" it is to throw away stuff, and be minimalistic... It's almost a statement about how privileged you are.
- coenhyde 14y ago
  Yes i'm privileged now ... But I grew up in a shed and a caravan in regional QLD, Australia. Went to shitty public schools. Slowly I worked my way to Silicon Valley. It took a LOT of hard work running business in Australia to get the cash to move here. Life isn't fair. VERY few people are raised in a life privileged enough to move country. Your post makes me angry. You are privileged and you have no idea. You're on the goddamn internet. You have the opportunity to make a lot of money if you get your shit together. STFU
  - Volpe 14y ago
    > Your post makes me angry. You are privileged and you have no idea. You're on the goddamn internet. You have the opportunity to make a lot of money if you get your shit together. STFU Sorry to have upset you like that. I meant the comment as something to reflect on (I myself have thought "How can I be more minimal")... As a side note: Australia (in general) doesn't have 'shitty public schools'. If you were to compare its schools on a global scale. You were born into privilege and became more privileged. It is difficult to see it that way (as I'm sure things were never 'easy') but the "bottom" in Australia is much much much, higher than the bottom elsewhere in the world.
- tych0 14y ago
  I don't see how it is at all related to privilege; in almost every case he cited, it's cheaper to go minimalist. Let's look at his (perfectly reasonable) list of examples: - Rent a furnished apartment. This one you do need more $$ for. I don't have a furnished apartment, but I've spent less than $100 on my furniture (including getting some off the side of the road). I will feel no qualms about leaving it on the side of the road when I move. - Use car sharing services This depends. If it's more economical to use a car service, do it this way. For me it's not, so I own a car (but not a nice one, which keeps insurance and body-work costs low). - Buy ebooks instead of physical books Here there's no privilege either, since in my experience e-books cost about the same as regular books. (Maybe slightly less, but that will only offset the cost of the reader.) - Use Netflix/Hulu instead of owning a tv Again, no privilege. A reasonable cable subscription in the US is going to be $30, a hulu plus subscription is $10. Plus, you can sell your TV. - Use pdf digital signing software instead of owning a printer/scanner/fax This doesn't work all the time, because you still do have to print stuff every once in a while (trust me, I've not owned a printer for the last 7 years). However, usually you can just print stuff at work, or in a pinch, at kinko's. I've probably spent less than $5 over the last seven years at professional printing places, and their printers are much nicer than the crappy ink jet you get at best buy.
  - Volpe 14y ago
    I think my definition of privilege and yours are at very different levels. > - Rent a furnished apartment. You have your own place to sleep at night, with (nice) furniture. > - Use car sharing services You have access to cars!? > - Buy ebooks instead of physical books > - Use Netflix/Hulu instead of owning a tv > - Use pdf digital signing software instead of owning a printer/scanner/fax You have access to high speed internet, and advanced electronic devices, and live in a society that supports them. Most of the people in the world, don't have these things. It's easy for us to sit in 1st world countries and talk about how we aren't privileged because we didn't go to private school, or we buy cheap ebooks on our iPad... but even these things are out of reach for most of the world... that is what I define as "privilege".
    - alwaysinshade 14y ago

Volpe 14y ago

To add to your qualification: you are living in the US AND you have money. I don't mean this as a criticism of you, but instead the minimilist movement in general: There is something self-indulgent about middle class, talking about how "cool" it is to throw away stuff, and be minimalistic... It's almost a statement about how privileged you are.

coenhyde 14y ago
Yes i'm privileged now ... But I grew up in a shed and a caravan in regional QLD, Australia. Went to shitty public schools. Slowly I worked my way to Silicon Valley. It took a LOT of hard work running business in Australia to get the cash to move here. Life isn't fair. VERY few people are raised in a life privileged enough to move country. Your post makes me angry. You are privileged and you have no idea. You're on the goddamn internet. You have the opportunity to make a lot of money if you get your shit together. STFU
- Volpe 14y ago
  > Your post makes me angry. You are privileged and you have no idea. You're on the goddamn internet. You have the opportunity to make a lot of money if you get your shit together. STFU Sorry to have upset you like that. I meant the comment as something to reflect on (I myself have thought "How can I be more minimal")... As a side note: Australia (in general) doesn't have 'shitty public schools'. If you were to compare its schools on a global scale. You were born into privilege and became more privileged. It is difficult to see it that way (as I'm sure things were never 'easy') but the "bottom" in Australia is much much much, higher than the bottom elsewhere in the world.
tych0 14y ago
I don't see how it is at all related to privilege; in almost every case he cited, it's cheaper to go minimalist. Let's look at his (perfectly reasonable) list of examples: - Rent a furnished apartment. This one you do need more $$ for. I don't have a furnished apartment, but I've spent less than $100 on my furniture (including getting some off the side of the road). I will feel no qualms about leaving it on the side of the road when I move. - Use car sharing services This depends. If it's more economical to use a car service, do it this way. For me it's not, so I own a car (but not a nice one, which keeps insurance and body-work costs low). - Buy ebooks instead of physical books Here there's no privilege either, since in my experience e-books cost about the same as regular books. (Maybe slightly less, but that will only offset the cost of the reader.) - Use Netflix/Hulu instead of owning a tv Again, no privilege. A reasonable cable subscription in the US is going to be $30, a hulu plus subscription is $10. Plus, you can sell your TV. - Use pdf digital signing software instead of owning a printer/scanner/fax This doesn't work all the time, because you still do have to print stuff every once in a while (trust me, I've not owned a printer for the last 7 years). However, usually you can just print stuff at work, or in a pinch, at kinko's. I've probably spent less than $5 over the last seven years at professional printing places, and their printers are much nicer than the crappy ink jet you get at best buy.
- Volpe 14y ago
  I think my definition of privilege and yours are at very different levels. > - Rent a furnished apartment. You have your own place to sleep at night, with (nice) furniture. > - Use car sharing services You have access to cars!? > - Buy ebooks instead of physical books > - Use Netflix/Hulu instead of owning a tv > - Use pdf digital signing software instead of owning a printer/scanner/fax You have access to high speed internet, and advanced electronic devices, and live in a society that supports them. Most of the people in the world, don't have these things. It's easy for us to sit in 1st world countries and talk about how we aren't privileged because we didn't go to private school, or we buy cheap ebooks on our iPad... but even these things are out of reach for most of the world... that is what I define as "privilege".
  - alwaysinshade 14y ago