How do I start living a minimalist life?

Answered Jun 20

  • Take an inventory. Here is an idea for that.
  • Rent a really small room. I do this, and it helps to show the volume that works out well. Also, some housing situations may let you share a common kitchen, vacuum cleaner, etc, so you have access without having to own the items.
  • Digitise, and go paperless. Scan your paper to multi-page PDF format, at 300 dpi. This helped me a lot. Get books in PDF format. Scan personal photographs at 600 dpi, and save to disk. Set bank statements, power bills, etc, to electronic delivery.
  • Get simple with clothing. And with breakfast. This helps to avoid “decision fatigue” starting early in the morning. I wear basically the same outfit every day – jeans and plain black shirts, with style just depending on the temperature. Duplicates hang in the closet, and I just pull out the next identical shirt. These don’t have to be expensive.
  • Think of things being disposable. This will help you to be mobile, and dramatically reduce the hassle/time/cost of relocating or travelling. It doesn’t have to be wasteful. Anything that I want to get rid of can be put out in common areas, with a “Free Please Take” note, and will be useful to someone else.
  • Disposability doesn’t really have to be expensive, since you wouldn’t be buying very much stuff, anyway.
  • Some people are into counting all of their items. However, I focus more on total volume and weight.

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