I identify-with and appreciate this thread. While I agree with minimizing possessions, my lack thereof is not strictly ideological; after 25 years overseas, with several year-long returns to the US, my possessions always seemed to be "self-limiting" -- what I didn't ship (books, CDs, photo albums), I sold/gifted. Even when I returned to the US this last time (2004), I began anew; then, in 2009, when I took a job in Fairbanks, AK (and moved from South Florida), I only shipped 27 small cartons via the USPS (and returned to South Florida, three years later, with the same number of cartons, again, via the USPS). Now, I live in a 1BR/1BA condo (682sq-ft), for which I paid all of $21K, sparsely furnished -- all "previously-owned", except for the bed and TV. Yes, I'm "car-free" -- I hate driving, and cannot afford to buy/run/maintain one... even a "beater".

I am, nominally, an Orthodox Jew, and, as the Mishna teaches: מרבה נכסים, מרבה דעגות (the more possessions, the greater the worry) -- we think we own them, but it's really the other way 'round. At age 61, I like things which I've had for a long time: I've got a favorite soup spoon that I "liberated" from an Israeli Defense Forces mess-hall, back in 1984, while going through their artillery training course (another story) -- where I go, it goes... "we've" been together longer than any of my ex-wives! :p

The point is, I could leave tomorrow, with what fits into a day-pack on my back, and be OK with walking away from everything else. G-d knows, I've done it before... after all, "You can't take it with you."

Lol, you are so Jewish.

It's been a year since I checked in to this thread. I guess I'm still where I was last year in most respects. Cooking is very important and I put a lot of time into preparing my meals. It's Friday afternoon and I'm doing my meal planning for the next week.

There is something heartwarming and appeasing about this thought, isn't there ? :)

I also moved across the country using the postal service last year: I found it to be cheaper and more convenient granted one has no furniture to move, which is a problem I didn't have haha.

Thank you for sharing a part of your story. :thumb:

These comments reminded me of so many people who have posted in this thread and live just fine with few possessions. There is no way I could live comfortably with only a couple of suitcases of things, however; I could live with what would fit into a van. Anything that could fit into a van would easily fit into any bedroom that wasn't too small. Since I'm preparing to move I'm going through a lot of planning and paring of items. My list of things to keep will fit into a few boxes.

An idea came to me. It isn't unique but it would be a great thing to do. I would like to build a few tall storage trunks with wheels. If they were about five feet tall they could be opened and stood on end to form closets. These would contain all of my possession. If I ever needed to move or evacuate a house quickly I could just load them, shut the lids, and remove them from the house. Such portable cabinets would even work in a customized RV trailer. They could be temporarily affixed to the walls.

I own a small storage trunk that is about three feet long. It is very sturdy. I can stand on it without causing any damage to it. Such a small trunk isn't too heavy. A five foot tall version would be hefty. The durability would be worth it. At 5' X 2' X 1.5' such a unit would fit through doorways. Each one would be fifteen cubic feet. Four or five of them would equal 60-75 cubic feet. That is probably as big as a closet in a house. Not counting furniture or my bicycle I think all of the things I intend to keep would fit into that much space.

What do you think about this idea? I find it very appealing to be able to close up four or five trunks and just hit the road at any time. Of course some type of vehicle other than a bicycle would be needed to transport them. I'm going to consider this for a summer project once I've completed my move. I don't have any woodworking experience but the internet will surely have information that can be used to help.

Sounds like a good idea. But if you fill it with heavy objects, wouldn't it end up being really awkward to transport ? Maybe 4 feet long instead of 5 ? I did think about making a trunk for my more important things, more like the one you already have. It's a nice long-term idea, for sure. :)

I do believe it would be awkward without wheels. Putting built-in wheels on one end would make rolling these big boxes easier. Luggage comes with built in wheels these days. Copying that design would make the large boxes easier to handle.

Such wooden trunks wouldn't need to be made with thick plywood. Building them with very thin plywood or composite board with a glued on Formica veneer would be stronger than any plastic totes and still be strong enough to get the job done.

Keeping the heavier items loaded near the end with wheels would also keep the center of gravity lower. I have moved a refrigerator with a big hand truck. That is a lot of work but manageable. If I can move one of those around I know I could move one of these much smaller trunks around. The wheels are the key to making it work.

Well, I'm sold ! :lol:

These should be great when you're done. Have fun with the project. :)

We get some stuff at work that is in custom made wooden shipping crates. The frames are typically 1x2 material with the side made from 1/4" plywood. The bottoms vary depending on what was in the crate. I have an old wooden shipping crate from around 1940 that originally held a theatre spot light, top and bottom frames are from 1x4 with 3/8" plywood it was converted to a tool box by my day in the 1960's it is still in use today as my carpentry tool box.

Aaron :)

Taking The Plunge
 

I posted an ad on Craigslist and I bought an ad in the local newspaper. It says; "Everything Free Sat. & Sun. 8-4 Getting laid off next month so I'm moving in with a coworker and must get rid of everything that won't fit into a small room. 801 East Riggs Apt. 3 upstairs East Helena. Serta Mattress & box, fans, radios, books, VCR, old TV, bowls, plates, utensils, small appliances, clothes, chairs, costume jewelry, art, wooden animal sculptures, and everything you might find in a home. Any donations to help pay for this ad are appreciated."

I've barely gotten through my possessions to separate the things I want to keep and sell. Everything else will be given away. My plan is to quickly go through each box and pull things into piles, keep, sell, and give away. Once the items are in piles I'll try to put similar items into the same box. That should make it easier for people to find things they want. My Friday evening and night will be very busy. I don't think I'll have time to sleep.

Two days ago I learned that my downstairs neighbor will be having a garage sale on the same day. She isn't buying any ads. She is posting on Facebook to get people to show up. I wonder what will happen on Saturday morning. She and I have agreed to keep our things on different parts of the lawn. I'll put my stuff out overnight and keep the electronics and nicer things inside where people can come to get them. I might even hide some good things in boxes and tell people about them so that the boxes get attention too.

What are the chances that more people than usual will come? With such an ad I wonder if some people will just give up because they don't want to get up early enough to wait in line. They might figure that all of the good stuff will be gone by the time they arrive. At least when things are for sale there is always the chance that something will be passed over due to its price.

My last garage sale was a failure. Not much sold because I wanted fair market value for most things. There was a line to get into my apartment. The difference besides being a sale is I didn't put anything outside. I hope it doesn't get crazy. More than that, I hope everything gets taken.

Congratulations, smallwheels! It's been difficult, but I think you've made good choices and everything will go well. Give us a full report as soon as you have rested up after the big event.

Interesting timing...

My wife and I had a looooong discussion the other day about possessions and how they can weigh you down. She has a booth at a local antique/consignment shop. She has been selling off collections of stuff she has had for years. Making pretty good money with her stuff too. We made a whole list of things we have that we don't use or really need. A lot will simply be given away to people in need.

Aaron :)

The first day of my giveaway was mostly successful. One of the things I hoped wouldn't happen did happen. I put up some signs requesting that people not take everything in each area. I had some art, bedding materials, wooden sculptures, and some other categories spread about the apartment and yard. One family pulled up with a truck and grabbed most of the art and wooden sculptures. The lady seemed to be a bit manic and not quite right mentally. I thought something like this might happen. Most of the people were respectful and didn't take everything at once. So the goal is to get rid of things quickly. Having somebody take a lot of stuff would seem to help reach that goal. I was just hoping that throughout the day most people would have the opportunity to find something really pretty and make their visit worthwhile.

Today there is a 50% probability of rain today. Right now at 4:00 a.m. there is no rain on the radar.

I've still got half of my things available because I couldn't put all of it out on the first day. I didn't sleep Friday night. I spent the evening putting out boxes and going through all of them looking for personal letters and photos. Also I needed to be sure nothing like medicines or other such items were included. This is because most of my things were still in boxes from when I moved out of a house and into an apartment several years ago.

Several people made donations to me. Those eventually surpassed my advertising expenses. I'm up $6, YAY! If I were going to have a sale I certainly could have gotten more money but I would have been left with way too much stuff to move. I have rented a storage unit to hold the valuable items until I can sell them all. The value of the things are worth the storage expenses, that is if I do sell them quickly. The unit costs $60 per month. It would cost $720 per year. I wonder how many people are spending their money on storage units that over time are exceeding the value of the items inside.

My wife and I live by this principle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XRPbFIN4lk

Quite a few from what I have seen. I have friends that do the storage locker auction thing, and it amazes me to see what people put in the lockers and pay rent on for years. My ex did...

Aaron :)

Watch some episodes of Hoarders. At least 40% of the time, halfway through cleaning out a hoard the person admits to owning (usually multiple!) storage units filled with stuff.

In the TEDx Video that tjax posted (thank you by the way for that; he affirlmed things I had already slightly been thinking and looking at). He mentions that there is 2.2 billion square feet of storage space in the US. Therefore we have created a multimillion probably billion business institution that could fit every person in the world under covered space solely in the US.

Great Ted Talk... thanks for posting. In the last few minutes he mentioned a Ted Talk by Nigel Marsh.. on work/life balance... which was actually pretty funny. But mainly pretty balanced. :)

Want to know how valuable your stuff is? Try to give it away and see if anybody wants it.

I know this to be a true insight because of your chronicling of your journey of slowly downsizing and I thank you for that. I am slowly getting rid of things and I do not understand within myself how ridiculously hard and why it is so to get rid of DVDs I have not watched in a while or books I genuinely want to read but know I will not get to with the other things I own. That is partly why I am glad there is a great used book/dvd/cd/video game store that is completely stocked by the community trade ins and can get some alright money and decent money by the fact that I can get rid of a single load in one swoop. I also realize the rest of my stuff most people would trash or sell for like a dollar and practically almost have to give away and then there is the junk I know is worth near nothing but I still keep such as the piece of petrified wood from the petrified forest my grandfather stole and various other things from my family. Those I realize will one day be the hardest to get rid of because of the supposed attachment I have made with the item. Though ultimately it is just another piece of junk what made it special was the person who at one time owned it and we keep things to "remember" them because we are selfish and think we will loose memory of them and yes the items do help but especially with like my grandparents I know I will not forget them.

For me the hardest part is looking at something that has lasted for so long such as my Grandfather's items from the US Navy during WW2, such as his towel, hat, and other items. I ultimately do not want to get rid of them simply because they have lasted and I actually used the towel as a shaving towel since I wet shave with a double edge razor. Though there will be one day that towel may still mean something to someone but not enough to warrant keeping over something else and may easily be discarded. There is this sense of temporality or a fleeting briefness. (sorry to get all existential and transcendental)

One man's trash, another man's treasure?

I have some things that belonged to grandparents or great aunts and uncles. One of my favorites is a Rolls Razor that belonged to my grandfather, I still use it to this day. We have a walnut drop leaf table that was made in the Amanna Colonies that belonged to my great-great grandfather.

I have room for a lot of stuff, and sometimes it pays off. Other times it is a PITA. We just took a huge load of scrap metal to the dump where I have been cleaning up on the farm, that was a pay off. This weekend I was mowing grass when the solenoid went out on one of the mowers, no problem just go pull one off one of the junkers up at the barn.

Aaron :)

They are both great. I <3 TED talks. They make you think out of the mundane every day living.

I really enjoyed reading your post, thanks. :) And one thing about the quote above. There are a few items that I keep only because they mean something to someone else, sadly. There's a pocket knife and a small jewelry case that my grandfather used to own, that were passed on to my father and now he wants me to keep them. I can see why, but since my grandfather passed away when I was little (2-3yo I think), I barely remember him in the first place. I guess I'll have to give them away at a later time. :o

And Smallwheels, congrats on the "garage sale". One thing though about the lady that took a lot of your wooden sculptures and such... you never know, maybe no one else would have taken them, so there's a slight chance you would have been stuck with them if it wouldn't have been for her, hehe. :innocent:

But anyway, it must be easier to breathe now. :D

Aaron, I've always admired the relationship you have with bikes, tools, and other artifacts. You're not at all materialistic but you have a deep respect for quality, value, design and function.

Also, I wish I had one of your old lawn mowers right now. Ours finally died for the last time and I'm waiting on a co-worker who says he will bring me a nice one for 20 bucks. Meanwhile, the grass is growing taller than the shrubs!

1 i eat out of can most of the time
2 i do have a towel soap shaving kit
3 i get a sleeping bag when i need one
4 i have the tools i need

Worked for me... then my wife decided I needed to be "civilized" :roflmao2:

I still eat out of cans when she isn't around. ;), just make sure to hide the evidence :D

Aaron :)

I'm seriously about 1 week from dumping 3/4 of all my crap and starting a minimalist lifestyle! Leaving the girlfriend and moving back up north where I'll be more in my comfort zone, the downside of course will be trying to pay on my tickets while avoiding the 2 traffic warrants they have on me, lol!
Pretty nuts, huh?

Quite a few pages ago, I wrote about a Living Simply issue I was having with Bedding. I wanted something like a traditional mattress but lighter and easier to move when it comes time for me to relocate. I considered a Japanese futon but I don't think it will be enough to support me on tiled flooring.

For a while I was using a futon mattress and a memory foam mattress topper ontop of it. (The following link is the exact one I have) http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Master-T...ifold+mattress

The Futon Mattress was curving down the center due to its material and because it was once used on a futon frame in bed mode and couch mode. Then, the most brilliant idea came to me, use the memory foam mattress topper folded up. I then becomes by itself enough support to be used by itself without anything else. Measurements of 3 Feet 2 Inches in length and one foot in height. I am 5'7 at 12x - 13x pounds. (Haven't weighed myself in a while.)

For this to be feasible, one person would need two of these stacked up in length for it to accomodate the majority of people. I believe when I ordered mine it was $30.00 + $20.00 shipping for one, now the price went up much higher.

But even so, when you think about it, this is much lighter and still cost effective compared to a regular mattress and you could keep stacking up in length, width and height to make all sorts of configurations, like a california king =].

Hope this helps someone.

ukoro, What about something like this? Not sure if you can buy it pre-made from them but it may be an idea, or springboard other ideas. I read a blog about Tiny houses which coincidentally is called tinyhouseblog.com. (I personally would like to live in a tiny house eventually) I remember those mattresses came up on it a while back. I hope this helps somewhat.

I Didn't Die
 

It has been three weeks since my garage giveaway. I didn't die from giving away so many things. Overall I was disappointed with the event. Unfortunately it happened on a weekend that was a holiday weekend. If I had to guess, I would say less than sixty people came by. There was no line at my door like my first garage sale years ago.

About thirty-four boxes of things were given away. I took in about twenty dollars in donations above the cost of the ads and plastic drop cloths that I used on the lawn to cover the damp grass. Some people just had to give me something for the things they were taking.

I didn't sleep for forty-three hours during this ordeal. My body rebelled afterward and I'm still not over it. I caught something like a cold but it was just exhaustion. I'm still coughing a little bit. This was all my own fault for not getting prepared weeks in advance. Instead I started just a few days before the event. That caused me to need to rush to get it done.

Was this a success? Only partially. I did not give away nearly as much as I wanted. My kitchen table and chairs went to my downstairs neighbor. My comfy padded chair and mattress set were taken. At least four big brass lamps were taken too along with some other chairs. I'm really glad those big things are gone.

I kept a solid wood coffee table, a mahogany piano bench, a four shelf metal shelving unit, a wooden stool, and a four part metal filing cabinet that I converted into a desk by putting a piece of plywood on top. These things will eventually be sold. The only one I'm using now in my new place is the filing cabinet desk.

What is left? I have nearly filled a 16' X 9' storage unit with boxes of things that weren't taken. There are about ten large boxes of things that I did not put out to give away. These contain things for sale and a few family mementos. Still, the concentration of items I really like is much higher now. There are about thirty-five more boxes in addition to those.

The physically challenging part is over. Getting rid of the remainder will be a test of will. I know what I want to sell. Those things won't require any thought. I know that I don't want those things and it is just a matter of making it happen. It's not that I don't like the things that will be for sale, it's that I don't have a place for them in the life I want to create. The challenge will be to go through the other boxes and see all of those things that have memories and feelings attached to them. They aren't junk. Just about everything could be sold if I wanted to wait long enough to find a buyer. Will I be able to let these things go? Of the things I'm willing to let go will I feel the need to get money for them or can I just relinquish them to Goodwill and let them earn some money? I don't earn enough money to use any tax deductions I might get from donating these things.

My next move is to borrow a truck from my new landlord and go through all of the boxes and separate the things I know I really want to keep from the other stuff. I made a list a long time ago so I know what I want. It's the things I've forgotten about that might creep into the things to keep pile. I don't want that to get out of control. This will probably take a few days if I work on this alone. Having helpers wouldn't really work because they don't know what I want and don't want.

On the last day of my move I over filled a 4.5'H X 6'W X 6'L dumpster. I will be bringing more things to it as I clean out my storage unit. The storage unit is just across the street from my old apartment. Since I didn't create much trash over the years I lived there I believe I've got some catching up to do trash-wise. I really don't have much trash left though.

Goodwill said that I can bring anything to them. They put everything to use. They even take old unwearable clothing because they sell them overseas for making rags.

I really don't know how long it will take to get rid of the remainder of these unwanted things. What I really should try to do is keep my digital camera charged and take lots of photos of the things I'm releasing. The photos should help with my anguish. I forgot to do that before my garage giveaway, but I'm finding that I still remember most of the things. Even if I forget them is it really a loss? The things I need to remember stay with me. Do I need to feel that nostalgia by seeing images of things about which I've forgotten? Out of sight out of mind. Are memories attachments? The biggest difficulty with letting go of things is the attachment I feel to them.

According to Buddha it is attachments that ultimately cause suffering. It is this move and purge that has proven this to me directly. If I had no attachment to the things I gave away I wouldn't have felt sorrow when they left. On the other hand I feel freer now that they are gone. I feel a bit of satisfaction knowing that they are now with people who wanted them. It is this knowledge that will make getting rid of the remaining items easier, whether they are sold for ridiculously low prices or given away.

I'll report more about my letting go of things as I make headway. I've got a way to go before I'm done.


Regarding Mattresses

I learned something interesting before my move. I had my mattress and box spring in my living room before the giveaway. So I slept on a big military style cot. I've done that before and I felt it was better than sleeping on the floor but not quite as good as my pillow top Serta mattress. This time I added some things to my cot. I put a slender foam pad from a lawn chair lounger on it. Then I put a comforter folded a couple of times on top of that. The comforter let moisture spread out and evaporate the way a regular mattress does. On top of the comforter I put a sheet and used my regular covers just the way I did with the bed. I found this sleeping system more comfortable than my mattress. Everybody who ever slept on my pillow top mattress loved it. There is something about having the two sides of the cot being elevated and holding me in place a little that made this sweet. I recommend this to anybody who wants a lightweight easily portable bed. Unfortunately my new place came with a queen size bed. I can't remove it and use my cot.

I'm keeping the cot even though I don't use it now. It cost me $80 ten years ago and didn't get a lot of use. Now that I have this knowledge it will be with me when I move (whenever that might be). There are similar brands to mine out there that are easier to put together. They come with an easy to use lever to make the cot tight. Find one of those. Mine is from Slumberjack. I don't recommend this brand because it is difficult to assemble.