Rational Minimalist.

I'm in for the jetboat.

Streetwiseguy wrote: I have been telling myself "No new projects" for 20 years or so. I even tried a "must sell at least one to make room for another", but that didn't take either. Some of them are so darn hard to turn down, though.

The only way I know to solve this is to not look. Craigslist, Evilbay, Amazon, all off limits. As are the classifieds here. Seriously.

I bought a engine and transmission from Strike Zero a couple of months ago. It's still in the trailer, covered up, because I literally have no place to put it. I've got 2150 square feet of garage or storage space under roof. It's all full. That doesn't even include the stuff I have stored at my office.

Need a 18" sub-woofer and a 200 watt amp? I've got one I haven't used in 5 years. It's at my office, in the warehouse. Hate to sell it, don't want to throw it out. I gave it to my son, but it bounced back. It will give you more than enough bass to piss off the neighbors on the other end of the block. (Pick up only. It's too big to ship.)

How about a bass guitar? I've got two that I don't even know how to play and the amp that goes with them.

Maybe a sitar? Yep, I've got one. Look it up, it's a beautiful instrument.

Sax? Nope, I can't play that either, but I have one.

bgkast wrote: I'm in for the jetboat.

The F350, the Samurai, and the Jet Boat are staying, but that's about it. Everything else is negotiable. I've got a 17' Key West and a 20' Sea Ray if you want a boat. The Key West is perfect, the Sea Ray is a project and cheap.

I need to talk to Curmudgeon about the Lemons Civic since we kind of co-own it, but it's out of here.

The Abomination, I haven't decided. I know if I sell it, I'll hate myself sometime in the future. But, it's too small for my fat ass and I haven't driven it in almost a year. Still thinking on that one.

The E24 is going to my middle son if he keeps his grades up and he fixes it. If not, it's gone too. I have no interest in working on it and it's been broken for 3 months.

having just helped get rid of the belongings of two deceased family members and having moved in the past month.. I more than understand the need to minimize.

in a couple of years when I pull up the anchor for good, if it does not fit into a boat shaped 28x10 space... I am getting rid of it

I've been thinking along these lines for almost a year now. Yard sale goes off later this month, followed by Goodwill. Winter is Craigslist for the garage. By spring I want to have ONE project that isn't the house.

The trick is to know when something has become more or less worthless to you.

I've learned that I need to use stuff, otherwise any money for them is enough money, and sometimes free is enough as well. Take for example some of my bicycles. I love having my pop's old 1990 Marin Team. It's an iconic bike from the hayday of neon mountain bikes, and I do use it occasionally as a city bike, but honestly if someone offered me $100 for it, I'd let it go in a heartbeat.

I've got so much stuff like that. Stuff I really enjoy having, but I'd like to replace with someone better and more useful, and I won't do that until the old thing is sold or broke.

Clothing is really hard to do that with. I gained a lot of weight since getting into the corporate world, and went from a tight 36 to a tight 42, and since moving to Flagstaff I've now dropped back down to a 38 (despite not losing any weight?) So now I fit back into pants I couldn't before. Good thing I didn't donate them.

I've learn my lesson with electronics. Broke is broke. Get a new one.

A LED TV takes up so much less space and so much easier to move than a tube tv, and you can put it on a wall. Awesome.

I've got a bin of power tools. I really want a radial arm saw, but it won't fit in my bin, so it waits.

Car parts? EFF THAT NOISE. I'm done with that crap. Buy a car, modify what you need to, scrap the rest or list at loss prices on Craigslist immediately. What a waste of space most car parts are.

Honestly the hardest part is paperwork. Never know when you might need last years insurance policy or tax returns from 10 years ago. We've got to hit that filing cabinet at least twice a year or grows exponentially.

I like this thread. I share many of these thoughts, and I am a minimalist by many 'car guy' standards.

The big project thing I want to get rid of right now is my house. Apartment makes life so much easier.

In reply to Toyman01:

Same here. I realized within the last year that I'd gone from an empty 8800 sq-ft building to damn near being a hoarder within 5-years. The auctioneers have 1-load left to haul off, and if there's any money left after the sale they'll send me a check. If not, at least I didn't have to pay for a dumpster or haul it all out myself.

We have a yard sale every year and this year we are going to do a second one. Living in the same house for 39 years means we probably wouldn't be able to move in the house it we didn't do the yearly yard sale.

In reply to Hal:

Our first move, when we got married, everything fit in the back of a truck. 6 months later, we moved and that took 6 loads in the same truck. Our next move was 25 years later to our current house. We donated/threw out tons of stuff. One of the neighbors actually thanked me for throwing out enough scrap metal to pay their electric bill for the month. I just didn't have time to deal with it. That move took a POD and three trips with my 20' enclosed trailer, plus assorted loads with the truck.

We've been here for 3 years and the accumulation has been off the charts. I'm done with it.

I guess there is a silver lining to never having enough money to buy a bunch of stuff

In reply to petegossett:

How hard was the auction to set up, and what would they take and not take?

I parted out a 1971 240Z and kept a lot of parts in my attic and crawl space and one guy unloaded some more Z parts on me - new set of aftermarket fenders.

At one point I realized my job and family are before this stuff and I listed it on Craigslist with a note stating the money is going to Missions work and I'm not keeping any of it for myself. I priced it all to sell. The fenders guy gave me $20 over my asking price for the missionary. it all ended well and my wife doesn't have to carry a 5-speed tranny out of the basement when I fall over dead at work. M

So am I the only guy to immediately look at Toyman's profile to see where all this stuff is?

Ballast brother, if you raised a family you getchusum. Dolls, tools, more tools, beds, boxes bigger barns more sheds .layer upon layer the kids don't want. Ballast

In reply to logdog:

No, I did too. Sigh.

When I moved back to KY everything I owned fit in a Dodge Charger. And the now ex and I moved in together. A tiny 500 sq ft apartment. A few months later we decided we needed a house and rented a 1000 sq ft place. Moved using a borrowed truck in two trips. We looked around at all the space and just knew we'd never fill it up.

2 1/2 years later the house was bursting at the seams and we bought a house. 1500 sq ft with a two car garage. Perfect! Over the next couple of years, added an attic, dining room, and another bedroom. Plus a kid and we had to find something bigger. So it was out to the luxury neighborhood for a McMansion. 2,400 sq ft with a full unfinished basement, got that all finishe and the house was just over 4,000....... And totally full of E36 M3!!

Here is the trick to getting rid of a lot of stuff: get divorced. Away with 3/4 of the things I'd accumulated over the years and a fresh start.

Back to about 2,000 sq ft, mostly full. Stuff I should get rid of but after losing so much it's tough some days to be too draconian about tossing what's left.

Welcome to the club! I had a financial epiphany in 2000 and a stuff revelation in 2005 and both lead to better things. Real changes did not happen because I discovered what was good for me but because I became pissed off about the things that were bad for me.

I was remembering earlier tonight that a few years ago I spent 2 days moving junk so I could open the 2 garage doors on my shop. Tonight I installed a transmission and showed off to my brother how I could roll a figure 8 around the 2 cars with the transmission!

Be more ruthless than you are comfortable with...if 1% of the stuff you get rid of is thought of again, remember that this is the exception to the rule. Move it on to someone who will use it or even just get it out of your hair! If you worry about overworking the trashmen, you are close to doing it correctly!

I still have too much stuff, but it is better!

Go for it!

Bruce

Nick (Not-Stig) Comstock wrote: I guess there is a silver lining to never having enough money to buy a bunch of stuff

Most of the stuff I had was free/nearly free.

cmcgregor wrote: In reply to petegossett: How hard was the auction to set up, and what would they take and not take?

Pretty darn easy. There's an area auctioneer who does monthly online auctions, I didn't want people rummaging through our place for a day or 2, so I called them up & asked them to come haul it away: http://www.lenhartauction.com

Much of this stuff was the remnants from our antique/junk store(which was all the unsold crap), and other than some glassware and decorative plates they took it all. They have about 1/2 a load left here(about 25 boxes of records, some furniture, and other crap), then about 1/2 a load from the garage/shed at our old house - which includes a combination of new/used car parts, manuals, old toys, and more random junk.

petegossett wrote:

Nick (Not-Stig) Comstock wrote: I guess there is a silver lining to never having enough money to buy a bunch of stuff

Most of the stuff I had was free/nearly free.

This. Someone would ask if I wanted something. They answer was always, "Sure." The rest of it was bought cheap.

I love minimalist threads like this. It allows me to acquire more crap for cheap.

My hope is that a minimalist and efficient lifestyle would allow me to cut back my working hours and take more vacation, but it seems like corporate America is geared towards always wanting more money, more stuff, and less personal time.

PHeller wrote: My hope is that a minimalist and efficient lifestyle would allow me to cut back my working hours and take more vacation, but it seems like corporate America is geared towards always wanting more money, more stuff, and less personal time.

Yup . So the solution becomes... maintain minimalist lifestyle, pursue more money, invest it, retire early, get personal time.

PHeller wrote: My hope is that a minimalist and efficient lifestyle would allow me to cut back my working hours and take more vacation, but it seems like corporate America is geared towards always wanting more money, more stuff, and less personal time.

It certainly is.

I've been living this particular lifestyle (minimalistic) for over a year now, following a big life change. I do own a home, which is mostly empty. My furniture consists of a bed, 2 tables, and 1 couch. I do not own a television, only a computer. That computer is mostly useless due to lack of internet access (yes, no internet/cable at home for over a year). I prefer to spend my time learning new tasks, exercising, having fun, and working on projects.

In addition, I've cut the garage back as well as my fleet of vehicles (recently down from 3 to 1). It feels great to live in a minimal manner, and I am still working on ridding myself of additional crap (clothing, tools I don't use, etc.). Friends don't seem to get it, although they are amused by the lack of "things" in the house.

The end goal is to have very few items when I sell the house, which should provide an easy transition into my next plan (whatever that may be).

-John

I'm interested in the MS if you want it gone.