jakub.ner

Not sure if it has much to do with intelligence. I think it has more to do with lack of ignorance. If you're aware enough to realize what is happening to you with all the crap, you will realize to minimize.

Those technologies mentioned are attempts to be improved upon. We're still growing and learning. Hey we've just recently decided on human rights and banished slavery.

kjohnnytarr

I'm a college freshman, so all my possessions fit in my half of a tiny room. I didn't leave much at home that I value, except some extra camping gear and a box of heirloom elephants. I'm sure I could live out of a backpack, so yeah, I guess I'm simple.

OneArmedScissor

I moved to another country. I sold my car, and most of my posessions. I don't really have all that much crap, but the way my apartment looks you could never tell. I'm either at work or out riding my bike. I never have time to clean up here.

jamesdenver

I just thought I'd say hello after posting on this thread a year ago. Scanned through a few pages. Still good subject and good read!

ciadelle

Living simply is an art and sometimes a drug! I'm addicted. How much simpler can I get? Maybe I should throw away all of those free shampoo/conditioner bottles my mom collects from hotels and funnels my way. She knows I'm cheap and likes becoming the SUPER MOM.

I just got back from a Florida to Belize solo tour. I called myself the Gringa Loco and introduced everyone to Miss Sutra, my "mobile home". Now I'm back on my 31 foot wooden boat without running water and a questionable head.

These are the things that make me happy. I like the person I am and not the bling, bling I own.

Doing things just a bit different is fun and rewarding.

531phile 

My sister and bro-in-law came by to visit. They think I'm the second coming of Sanford and Son since I won 25+ bikes in a 450sq. foot studio.

I am pro-complicated life.

smilin buddha

Live in Wpb. Would live to see pictures of the boat. Thanks

cyclezealot

Today enjoyed the advantage of living simply. Last 2 or 3 trips into Perpignan. Wanted to check out an Indian restaurant. Overlooking the river and Perpigan itself. Wanted to mayb have lunch there or at least check out the menu for future possibliies. Love Indian food. Heard they have great vegetarian. Curry, ginger , yum.
So three times, wanted to park to check it out. Circle the block, up to four , five blocks away. Not one parking space. Two large parking lots. All 3 times, we just gave up.
Today went into town on the bike. I was into town at about the same time it took to circle the restaurant hunting for a parking spot. Looks promising. We will be back, should we be able to find a spot to park.

MyBikeGotStolen

I first off want to start by thanking everyone for sharing and giving me inspiration on some things that I can do to reduce clutter in my life. I am by nature allways trying to reduce excess things in my life and get down to the "core" of what I need to live. But also, my nature doesnt want me to waste anything. I hate throwing away anything that might be seen as usefull in anyway (come on, I might need this pack of markers one day!). Partially to keep things from going in the trash and partially to keep me from needing to buy something later on.

My main concern lately has been with my massive amounts of clothes. I do construction work so I am able to wear clothes that homeless people wouldnt even wear. So donating is not really an option. The problem is, that I have a life time supply of "work clothes". I actually counted something like 130 things hanging in my closet the other day. So lately I have been just trying to keep them at least organized so its not just a cluster*** of clothes! Other then that I have been just trying to see how low I can get on electricity usage in my house.

FXjohn

Pretty much the most myopic post yet

eofelis 

This is a good post. I've been aware of this lately also. I've been getting rid of stuff, but it still looks like I have too much! My mind keeps going the the "caveman" analogy, what is essential to live, and what is just luxuries?

wahoonc

I work construction too. Fortunately my company provides us with uniforms. Before this company I used to buy used uniforms at a local thrift store. Typically I had about 7 sets and did laundry once a week. All of my other clothes would fit in no more than 2 dresser drawers.
As far as simplifying it all comes down to needs and wants. You need clothing, but you want Levi's, Carhart's etc. You need shelter, but you want 2000 sf of heated and cooled space Around my house the basic rule is: "If it isn't medically necessary or you can't eat it, you probably don't need it!" Not to say we don't purchase other things but we look long and hard at what we do buy.

Aaron

kjohnnytarr

Word, for sure. But I'm just sayin': You misused the term "social engineering" horribly.

Bikepacker67

I'm glad you added that caveat.
For a moment I thought you were some chocolate-banning luddite!

Roody

Just wondering .... You rode a bike from Florida to Belize? Or sailed?

Either way, it's pretty cool, to say the least.

Nightshade

https://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news...ns_secret.html

Roody

Good one, tightwad. And he even is carfree and rides a bike!

wahoonc

Nope Chocolate is medically necessary

We don't live like poverty stricken hermits, but we don't rush out an buy the latest and greatest gadget to impress our friends and family. We do take vacations and travel but on our terms and not usually to the tourist infested places.

Aaron

heywood

I rush out and buy the latest cool gadgets but only after someone has depreciated the price for me.

"Never Buy New!"

eofelis 

For sale: All he has so he can hit the road

Friendship man puts his life on eBay -- all for a lump sum

link: https://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07076/770288-85.stm
ebay auction: 250093359092

Saturday, March 17, 2007
By Chico Harlan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Pam Panchak, Post-Gazette
Kevin Boyle in his Friendship apartment -- "Parting with all these things will be genuinely hard. I cry when I break a mug. ... I'm unbelievably materialistic."
Click photo for larger image.



On May 1, if all goes as planned, Kevin Boyle will leave Pittsburgh in a state of pure tabula rasa.

He will own only a half-dozen items, including a 2001 Ford Taurus station wagon. He will keep just enough clothing. Everything else will be gone, sold on eBay in one lump sum. His life -- like everybody's life, a summation of things -- will belong to somebody else, auctioned away for perhaps no more than $6,000.

Mr. Boyle has always loved his things. His current desire to sell everything doesn't represent, he warns, some Thoreauvian desire for material detachment. By habit, he collects, evidenced by the five remote controls on his coffee table; by the three clocks in his living room wall; by his 100 DVDs; by his 15 scarves; by his seven dinosaur figurines; by the four presidential busts that rest on his flat screen television, Rushmore atop a Toshiba.

He owns thousands of things, all crammed into his one-bedroom apartment. He's 24. He lives in Friendship. He dislikes his "meaningless office job." And two weeks ago, he made a decision.

"I was in my cubicle, listening to the hum of computers," he said. "And I thought, It's time."

He decided to take a road trip -- 180 days of solo driving across the United States. This required money, which, by his logic, required a radical step. Last Saturday, he photographed his possessions and compiled a list, now appearing in eBay auction No. 250093359092 ("Everything I own in one lump sum"). He's parting with items both practical and novel, the by-product of his love for antiques and his save-a-holic tendencies. (Even after deciding to sell everything, he has continued to purchase, most recently a DVD copy of "V for Vendetta.")

Of course, after enough collection and enough diversification, the mass of one man's things becomes just as unique as the sensibilities of the owner himself. Bidding on Mr. Boyle's items ends next Wednesday, and so far, nobody has bit. As several have told Mr. Boyle via e-mail, they would love to bid on a piece of his life, but not his entire life.

As it stands, you get everything. You get his size 10 shoes, even if they don't fit. You get a harmonica, even if you can't play. You get a Sears catalog, just in case the other items -- a fire hydrant from Beaumont, Texas; a full kitchen of silverware and cookware; eight lamps; a "genuine" Dunkin' Donuts rug; a bed; an IKEA bookcase; nine vintage chairs; a computer; a digital camera; a taxidermy alligator dressed as a waiter; an Astroturf sample book -- don't satisfy your every taste.

"I love my things so much," Mr. Boyle said. "This is just the only way. Parting with all these things will be genuinely hard. I cry when I break a mug. ... I'm unbelievably materialistic. Materialism -- people use it as a dirty word, but I don't. I love things."

The complete detachment from his comforts, Mr. Boyle hopes, will force a discovery. "Not to sound too Dr. Phil-y," he said, "but this is so radical, I can't think of a better way to force yourself to learn something."

"There have been previous incarnations of this idea," said Jenna Woginrich, a college friend. "He used to say he wanted to get an old Studebaker and drive around the country with a dog. You know, the whole Steinbeck thing. There were days in college where he said, 'Let's drive to the Grand Canyon and back.' So I wasn't surprised about the trip. But he's such a wonderfully materialistic person; he uses a lot of things to define himself. I was surprised that he was willing to give up his stuff."

Mr. Boyle has lived in Pittsburgh for six months and worked at his current job -- which he doesn't wish to name, but which he doesn't hesitate to criticize -- for three. He knows he is creative, but beyond that, Mr. Boyle has no idea about career ambitions. His family lives on the other side of the state. His aunt has agreed to care for his cat. He has no significant other, no children. He is, by his words, "directionless."

The yearning for the cross-country trip arose after years of thinking about it. The wanderlust first struck him as a seventh-grader in Langhorne, Bucks County. Finally, the fear of not doing it outweighed the fear of doing it. Once on the road, Mr. Boyle wants to combine both the tourist stops and the out-of-nowhere adventures. He'll stop at the Grand Canyon. And, to hear him imagine it, maybe "I'll sit down in some small-town diner, and have Mavis tell me a story about the town, how they make doorknobs down the road, and maybe that's their claim to fame."

Only a few items will remain in his possession, post-auction. He's saving a hanger from an abandoned shoe factory where he and his friends used to break in. And he's not letting go of the old tangle of melted nails, pulled from the rubble of a general store in Lancaster that burned to the ground. Those things, spared entirely for sentimental value, along with the station wagon, spared for everything but sentimental value, will represent Mr. Boyle's net worth come May 1 -- his target departure date.

"I hope to realize something in the 180 days," he said. "Maybe that time can change something in me. But even if I discover nothing, at least I had 180 days where I did exactly what I wanted."

wahoonc

Well I think he got his price on ebay....but it came from a buyer with a -2 rating So I guess this means he isn't leaving May 1?

Aaron

Mashu

This is the first time I've ever thought of the concept of simplifying my life by eliminating the non-necessities or otherwise useless items I possess. The idea of only purchasing items that I need to survive (or live in a minimalist fashion) seems novel and lucrative when I stare at the numerous piles of stuff strewn about my apartment. My parents were pack-rats and thus, I've become one as well. What is a good place to start?

Only keeping Seven pairs of pants, shirts, etc.?

I suppose I'll make a list of all the things I own and figure out what is necessary and what is not. The problem will come with the things I'll want to keep for the sake of materialism despite it's apparent lack of functionality (For instance, keeping my music CDs even though I have them digitally copied to my computer).

Roody

My advice would be don't worry so much about the old junk, just don't get any new junk.
Keep the old stuff as long as it works OK. If you don't ever use something, give it away or sell it rather than throw it away.

awc380

I live so simply that I am just plain better than everybody else.
How do I do it...?

Mashu

I don't think anyone is saying their life is better than anyone else's. There is certainly something to be said for collecting things throughout life as well. It's just a matter of preference. I think I could do with simplifying things a little. Life seems cluttered sometimes, and spring cleaning has always felt good to me.