When did the idea of wanting to live a less complicated life hit you? What built up to it?

submitted by forgottenpasswordguy from self.simpleliving

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[–]yayblueberries 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

When I finally left my parents house and had to gather up all of my accumulated belongings. Although, my grandparents and my parents were all pack rats, which drove me nuts over the years. Every time we moved it became a multi-day PITA because of so much junk having to be moved because nothing but actual trash ever seemed to get tossed. And every single room in the house felt cluttered no matter what was done with the "stuff" in those rooms. Who the hell needs knick-knacks all over?

I reached breaking point when I was moving out. I piled up all my belongings in the one room that had decent floor space and couldn't believe how much stuff there was. I told my packrat mother, who was mostly the reason why I still had most of that stuff ("Can't throw anything away you might need it someday!") that anything I left behind at that moment was hers to deal with. And I left MOST of everything that wasn't of practical use or truly cherished. I've never looked back and have continually pared down my belongings over time to mostly only the necessary and those needed for continued activities I enjoy.

[–]forgottenpasswordguy[S] 3 insightful - 3 fun3 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

I feel you on that for sure. I'm a hobbies guy, and hobbies often require stuff. There are a lot of things I only do a handful of times a season and it makes me wonder what's worth keeping around. I'm also big on self sufficiency, so there are even more things laying around that only get used a few times a year. When one of my good friends moved he had a tv, a couple bags of clothes, his phone, and an xbox-it was something to think about.

I still have most of my stuff, but generally it's everything I "need" and nothing I don't. I've gotten rid of a lot this year, and what I do have is quality, repairable, functional, etc-I don't have to think about upgrading or replacing things at least. Another sub I want to recreate here is buyitforlife

[–]yayblueberries 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I just thought about it and realized that most of my belongings that aren't practical everyday things definitely are for my hobbies (I like cooking when I have the appliances to do so, so I have a lot of kitchen stuff, and I have a lot of pens, pencils, and markers and papers for drawing)! What's funny is that they don't bother me, but the amount of space clothing and other fabrics (such as bedding) does, despite that those things are totally necessary. I enjoy people like your friend who can enjoy having just those few objects. Although, I did figure out all my stuff fits into a 5' x 10' storage unit with space to spare.

Having things that are quality, repairable, and functional is definitely super important! We live in such a throwaway culture, especially since there are so many cheaply made products that break in only a few years, that I think that sub would be a fantastic addition.