Christian Financial Forums

[waterlover]

Is anyone else purposely downsizing or simplifying their lives? DH and I started simplifying our lives and lifestyle about 10 years ago. We first purged all items that we didn't use or love anymore. Like, clothes, furniture and books. Then we downsized our home from a three bedroom condo to a two bedroom condo. Each time buying the condo and living in it for three years. And each time letting go of more of our "Stuff". We sold the two bedroom condo 3 years ago and have been renting ever since. It's a lot less stressful than owning and when I've crunched the numbers we have been saving money.

We are planning on buying another home, one day, but not to soon. The benefits of simplifying is that we have been able to take advantage of a business opportunity that has been very positive. I'm able to work from the house, we both give back to our community by volunteering for non profits and I'm able to be contribute time helping out at church.

I have found out the simplifying is a work in progress and I don't think it will ever end, which is fine.

Would love to hear from others that are working or are planning on simplifying and the steps your taking.

[Bob]

I remember reading about this guy who tried to simplify his life and eliminate all but 100 possessions. I love simplicity and things to be organized myself, so I was intrigued by his idea. I am nowhere close, but I do love getting rid of junk I don't need and getting a single nice item rather than 10 mediocre ones. For example, I would much rather have a $5 pen that I love than 20 mediocre ones, or a coat that works with almost every outfit than a single coat for each outfit.

[matt]

We've sort of been doing this, or trying to. The problem is that both Anne and I are packrats by nature. We've been getting rid of stuff via craigslist for a while though mostly because the stuff was being replaced by other stuff...

[paulbrown]

I am in the process of doing this right now. At least in regard to the stuff that I own. I just moved out of a house with 3 other guys and got my own apartment. The house was cramped, and in the process of moving I realized I had way too much junk that I never used. I've made a couple trips to the Salvation Army now, and I have another pile ready to go. I also have a stash of things I need to either sell or give away. It's been a bit of a chore going through my stuff, but I continue to make life simpler by having less "things" to worry about. Next on the list will be to simplify the amount of activities I do, since things have been considerably hectic.

I agree with you, Bob, about having one nice thing rather than 20 mediocre things. I just splurged on 2 really good knives that should last me a long time if I take care of them. I wanted something really sharp, and I also wanted something that wouldn't break when cutting through a potato, like my first knife set did a couple times. And that's just one example. Go for quality when you can.

[Fryguy]

I'm a pack rat by nature and my wife is a thrower for the most part it works out very well. Recently we've gone thru my boxes that hadn't been opened since the move (which was two years ago) and also cleaned up/organized the garage. Its time consuming and not a whole lot of fun but its great to see all the extra space we have now that was filled with useless junk before.

[welikemoney]

I'm a pack rat by nature and my wife is a thrower for the most part it works out very well. Recently we've gone thru my boxes that hadn't been opened since the move (which was two years ago) and also cleaned up/organized the garage. Its time consuming and not a whole lot of fun but its great to see all the extra space we have now that was filled with useless junk before.

That's the same way my husband and I are...he keeps everything and I hate clutter. We butt heads once in a while due to this lol

[waterlover]

Thank you all for the responses.
Fortunately, both DH and I are on the same path, neither of us like a lot of clutter, so it makes it a little easier. Both times we have downsized, I've rented a storage unit for a few months. We moved items into the new place only what we used or loved. During those months we decided what we wanted to keep and what we wanted to donate or sell.

[Rose]

i love the idea of downsizing. it seems as i get older, it's harder to do this. just seems like you need more stuff "just in case . . ."
i really don't like that feeling. i'm now inspired to go home and throw some stuff away!

[matt]

I listed a bunch of my old video games (actually Anne listed them for me) that I'll never play again on craigslist this weekend we've gotten a lot of responses already and someone is coming over tonight to buy a few of them.

Next we'll have to list my old CDs.

[Bob]

just out of curiosity - how much are you getting for the old video games? And how much can you sell old CDs for?

[matt]

I checked prices on half.com for the video games, most of them are old PS2 games and we're selling most them for around $4 each or as a lot for a bit of a discount. One is going for 20 on half so that one is separate from the lot

[Bob]

I wonder what super mario bros 2 is going for these days

[matt]

if you've still got a functioning NES, I'd just hold onto it for another 30 years and sell it as an antique.

[Bob]

wow, I didn't really think any of them still functioned - can I come over and play duck hunt?

[matt]

I don't have one but I'm sure you could buy one at gencon or on ebay.

[paulbrown]

My brother still has our NES, and he plays it a lot. Mainly Dr. Mario.

@Bob: Super Mario Bros 2? Seriously? Man, that was a weird game. The reason it was so different from the others was because Nintendo basically purchased the game from another Japanese game developer and basically swapped in Nintendo characters. An interesting a fun game, though. It stands out in my mind because you could play as the Princess and you could pull up plants and throw them. Ah, the goold ol' days.

[Bob]

wow, now we are getting into some good trivia! NO, I actually agree, I was a much bigger fan of the original and Mario 3 wasn't bad - or maybe I just liked riding yoshi

[paulbrown]

ooo, yes! yoshi's my favorite. I always steal him from other people when we play mario kart wii or mario super strikers.

[coondog]

My husband thinks any flat surface should be empty...I think it's a good place to set stuff....but we have been purging for a while now. Like others say, it is time consuming. You usually end up with a bigger mess, because now you have the junk/donate/sell decisions to make. Sometimes if it takes too long for me to get something listed that I think must be sold instead of just donated, I go ahead and donate it. I never seem to miss it.

What about the problem of grandparents who give your kids 10 things for every 1 you get rid of?? Sometimes it's hard to stay ahead of that one! I'd like to put a basket by the front door for all new items that come into the house...maybe they stay...maybe they go...

[Bobarino]

My wife and I are in the process of getting rid of things we don't need or use.
This weekend we are going to get rid of most of the VHS tapes that are under our bed. There are over 200 of them, mostly kid's movies. Our 3 boys don't watch them much anymore and it's wasting valuable space.
We are also planning on moving in the spring and have a goal of getting rid of at least 30% of the stuff in our apartment. A good example of the excess: the boys have 7 basketballs between them! They don't know it yet, but when the snow flies here in VT they will each be the proud owner of one basketball!!
Also, there is a lot of stuff that just doesn't get used or is no longer needed.

[fire_chick]

My husband thinks any flat surface should be empty...I think it's a good place to set stuff....but we have been purging for a while now. Like others say, it is time consuming. You usually end up with a bigger mess, because now you have the junk/donate/sell decisions to make. Sometimes if it takes too long for me to get something listed that I think must be sold instead of just donated, I go ahead and donate it. I never seem to miss it.

What about the problem of grandparents who give your kids 10 things for every 1 you get rid of?? Sometimes it's hard to stay ahead of that one! I'd like to put a basket by the front door for all new items that come into the house...maybe they stay...maybe they go...

I know what you mean about the Grandparents who buy too much I have asked my mother in law to split the amount of money she would spend on gifts for my son in half and give a check for half and toys or clothes for the other half that way we can build his savings account faster and hopefully put him through college without him having to work just to afford books.

[coondog]

That is a great idea! My mom-in-law goes crazy at Christmas! Maybe she would go for that idea. As the kids get older, they are so into their electronics that they really don't want alot.

[HLMeeks]

I have been trying to simplify, but I can't seem to get past my hoarding.

[mcginnisrd]

I am a 49 year old who has recently started practicing minimalism (meaning I have one room, my office, in nearly perfect uncluttered condiction).

I was fortunate for 24 years I served in the military because that meant my family had to move at least every two years. There is an automatic clutter/junk disposal process that takes place with each move, and that was quite helpful.

However, we have been in this same house now for 9 years, and the clutter built up to a point of extreme stress, at least for me. And since you don't succeed with 26 years of marriage by pointing out what the other person should change as a starting point, I decided to simply work on 'my areas.' That means my office, my storage drawers, the garage, and my tiny office.

Just getting rid of untouched items in my office created a great stress relief for me. It is now a little sanctuary. Most importantly was a lesson learned by me after reading some of the online recommendations, including Leo Babauta's new eBook: "The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life." http://zenhabits.net/2009/09/my-new-ebook-the-simple-guide-to-a-minimalist-life/

One of the points he brings out is that we hold on to stuff out of fear. Worry that we may need it some day. This is not a 'Zen' attitude, and it is not a Christian attitude. Once I read that part of his book, I realized that was my primary problem. FEAR that I may need something, even though I had not used it for 10 years (not dusted it for about the same amount of time).

I spent the weekend throwing out unusable items, and recyling others. The amount of reduced stress was amazing. Just coming into my minimalist office space is wonderful.

Next, my closets. I believe I have ties in there dating back to the 70's.

Roger McGinnis
.

[4jacks]

My theory that my wife is tired of hearing is "If you won't know where it is when you need it, you might as well get rid of it now"

There has been so many times when we are cleaning up and we come to something that we could of used one year ago or something. I throw all that away. Especially things that aren't expensive! I do not see the point in saving old shoe laces. lol

[garyatk]

We downsized into a 1000sf house a few years ago. If it weren't for the real estate market being down in MI. we would probably be looking at building a 750sf house right now.

It is nice to not have the clutter!