I would like to start living like this. I read a book recently called No Impact Man. I've taken a good hard look at my life and how I buy, consume, and of course waste.

I have been slowly getting rid of stuff by donation or selling off if it has any value. I can't stand clutter at all! I would love to do away with at least half the stuff in my apartment.

Lately I've also been getting rid of a bunch of things I rarely or never use, mostly in preparation for an upcoming move. The interesting side effect of that is I'm also starting to see how much unused space I have in my house without so much clutter. I could live comfortably in a MUCH smaller place! I mean probably a quarter of the size, and my house is 1000 square feet.

I'm curious, what is preventing you from getting rid of your unwanted "stuff" now?

As I read the post, he IS slowly getting rid of stuff already.

I never realized you were interested in the topic of this thread. What progress have you made in living a simple life, or are you here as usual just to ridicule and criticize?

What makes you think that "living a simple life" is a necessary or desirable goal for anyone interested in Living Car-Free?
What makes you think that "living a simple life" is a mark of "progress"?

There is an awful lot you don't realize beyond your own narrowly defined parochial attitudes.

^ You should be a politician as you are very good at flipping around things people say.

What you call "flipping around," I call outing hypocrisy and vanity.

For a lot of people in the Living Car Free subforum, going car-free or car-light is the natural extension of living simply. The philosophy of living simply may lead them to car-free living.

However, if someone has started out by going car-free without the philosophical or ideological idea of living simply, then a simple lifestyle will not necessarily be the extension of a car-free lifestyle.

To put it another way, if you lived in a place where car-free living made more sense than driving, then you'd adopt a car-free lifestyle but not necessarily a simple living mindset. And there are some places such as New York City, some of the densely populated cities in Europe and southeast Asia among others where driving simply does not make a lot of sense. That is not at all the same thing as living simply.

In many parts of North America, if you had chosen to go with a simple lifestyle, for any number of reasons, car-free living could easily be part of the journey towards simplicity.

The journey to go with a "simple lifestyle" in North America, including car-free-living, is more likely "chosen" for the individuals by their personal economic circumstances.

As you point out, individuals, with the economic means to do otherwise, choice to live car free in densely populated cities with sensible options for transportation is hardly a commitment to "living simply", but rather a matter of convenience.

IMO, this simple life thread is about individuals who conflate their personal moralistic views on the high value of asceticism with the mechanics of living car free. Why anyone should feel a need to testify about their "simple life" credentials, or expect/demand others to do so on on this list is a construct of a few self righteous ascetics who dominate this particular list. It is certainly not about Living Car Free.

IMO, posts about the spiritual journey to "a simple life" would be more appropriately placed in the Religious section of P&R.

I've noticed there is a section called 'Trollheim', which has been set aside, I do believe, for just the type of puerile behavior you seem to be so fond of. Why don't you run along now, little boy, and let us adults carry on with our conversations here?

How to block users you don't like: Click the users name. Click "View Profile". Read the left column on the new page and select "Add to Ignore List". You're done. The only time you'll ever see what they type is when others quote them in threads.

Everybody should do this. It really makes your visits to this site very pleasant. It removes the useless and unproductive posts that consistently come from certain users. Please use this feature. You will enjoy the forum so much more than before you blocked the unpleasant posts.

A number of years ago, I started culling things I no longer needed. Thrift shops got a lot of my stuff. With every load I removed, I felt happier, freer.

At this point in my life, I could live quite happily in a smaller place. If my house were configured a little differently, I'd set it up so I could live in a portion of the place and rent out the rest.

The title of the thread clearly indicates its content. If it's not something that interests you, just skip merrily along to the next thread that does interest you.

Typical non responsive duck and weave answer from my pal, Roody.

Care to answer my questions on the subject YOU raised?

Care to say why a person who would "love to get rid of stuff", can't? Rather than challenge me on my progress towards meeting YOUR goals?

These questions are answered many time in the thread. Or you could read books about it that have been listed here. I'm not going to waste any more time with somebody who obviously has no serious interest in the topic.

Group think is SO simple! And pleasant too for those who wish to never have their precious beliefs challenged, nor have to answer a question!

Seems to me I-like-to-bike simply loves to play devil's advocate. Never does he actually post about HIS beliefs, only attacking others.

As Roody asked, I-like-to-bike, please tell us what you have done to live more simply. OR if you don't care to live simply, why? Or maybe if you don't really care about the topic just skip the thread as Ekdog suggested. But me thinks you will continue as before.

I-like-to-bike, been around awhile, trolling since 2004....
Do you even ride a bike?

Apparantly you don't read my posts, even the posts on this thread without your blinders. Read 'em and answer your questions.

Too much stuff
 

I think it's just really getting around to planning it, and doing it. I spent sometime today since it was raining cleaning off a bookshelf and posting it on craigslist, also boxing up some things for donation.

It's a work in progress to figure out what's needed and what isn't.

That is my general take on life...:P

I took a bunch of stuff to a storage locker a few years back,then realized that about 7/8's of it was never missed, down the road it went. I still have too much and am cutting back on some things. But it can be hard, especially in a culture that embraces consumerism.

Aaron :)

About a week ago, our theatre group did a clean-up project. I felt like the mean drill sergeant, going through almost every piece and asking if we could realistically expect to use it within the next five years. Too many wanted to hang onto things just in case the need arises. But some of the props were specific to plays will will not stage again.

Whew! Finally finished reading through the whole thread and I'm really amazed at all the responses...I'd reply to some of the comments above which have made me twitch, but I know it's a waste of my time.

Let's see...I have a fair amount of stuff I could easily get rid of but haven't felt the need to do so yet. I mostly collect books and clothes, and I have a pretty well-stocked kitchen (my parents' default gift for me is kitchenware). My hobbies are fairly clutter-free: reading, computers, bikes...my boyfriend is another story. He's a gearhead and has a really impressive collection of stuff to go along with it, plus a bunch of old mementos he's carried around from his parents. You'd think a guy who moved 12 times in 25 years would have tried to reduce his load...

We like to live comfortably though. I can't stand to give away books and I'm still working on a functional wardrobe, but I have a few boxes of stuff in my parents' house I need to go through and an old box in my closet. Perhaps those will make their way onto my to-do list this summer...

What does everyone think of the habit of filing away old paperwork long after it's needed for auditing or any other records? The main reason I haven't gotten rid of that stuff is that I don't have easy access to a shredder.

A few years ago, I went through and shredded a lot of old paperwork. By the time I was finished, I had filled 25 large garbage bags. All the paper went to the recycle depot. Until then, I had kept almost every document, just in case I'd need it for future reference. In the years since then, I've let some of the paperwork accumulate again, but if I went through it again, I'd have far less to shred.

In the USA the IRS accepts digital copies as originals these days.

There are scanners that work very quickly that come with programs that can automatically sort and file documents of different types. I don't have such a scanner yet. The type I own is just like a copy machine. It would take a month or two of sitting at my machine to get everything copied. It is slow. One of these days I'll get a super fast scanner and put everything into the digital form. Doing that will help me get rid of several boxes of records.

My community has a day every year when you can bring in old documents and they shred and recycle them for you. They usually do it late in April, right after tax time. I don't know if this is done in most places or not.

Also, I vaguely remember hearing that one of the office supply stores will shred stuff for free. I think it was Staples but I'm not sure. You could call around.

You can also find web sites that tell you how long you should keep records. It isn't as long as most people think.