Category: Minimalism

Updated Aug 9

Minimalism is about simplicity, and black is a simple colour.

Black is unobtrusive, barely noticed. Nobody is distracted by your plain black shirt, or the fact that you always wear identical plain black shirts (compared to something bright, or patterned).

When you only have a small amount of clothes, you don’t need a reason to choose black. Because it is simple and classic, for all socioeconomic situations.

When all of your clothes are the same colour, then you don’t waste time choosing or thinking in the morning. You don’t waste mental energy about whether a certain outfit looks good today. I could easily get dressed in total darkness.

I am privileged to be spending my days in a relatively informal environment, where brain-power is more important than attractiveness.

My current “uniform” is $8 stretch jeans, one size too large (because I like being comfortable), from K-Mart, plus either a plain black T-shirt, or turtleneck, or fleece sweatshirt, depending on temperature. Plus whatever cheap comfortable shoes I get every few months, from a chain store.

Underwear and socks are cheap, plain black. Nobody sees those, anyway.

In the past, I have had some bizarre encounters with people who accused me of trying to make some kind of “statement” with my clothing. As if I were morally obligated to be constantly thinking about random strangers, and their opinions on this.

As long as my clothes are clean and in good condition, nobody as any legitimate reason to care.

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.

Updated May 20

The desire to eliminate the unnecessary, continues after you have already started eliminating.

I got rid of this, that, and the other thing. but still feel an urge to get rid of something else. I feel a need to go through life’s journey as light as possible and fantasise about getting to a better level of freedom.

In the most recent move to a new residence, I was very annoyed with myself, needing an entire taxicab (small, NZ-style taxi) to move all of my stuff in one trip.

I have an Excel spreadsheet, used as a detailed inventory of everything.

At some point, I over-bought socks. There were 19 pairs at the moment of Peak-Sock. All identical, thick work socks, from a chain store, of course. So I set aside a few pairs, to wear frequently, until they wear out, to downregulate to a better sock-equilibrium.

I am comfortable with five identical black-t-shirts, but wonder if the seven identical black turtlenecks is too many? I thought there were too many thermal underwear-tops, but it is cold now, and sometimes I wear two at a time, so maybe those are OK.

I bought a new bowl – plastic with a handle, safer to retrieve from the microwave when making dinner, and also lighter. The old bowl – ceramic without handle – is still OK for morning cornflakes, but maybe should be jettisoned at the next room-move?

I should probably unload those excess pads of graph paper that I don’t need in the foreseeable future. And why do I have excess pens and pencils? Maybe some first-year students would use them. Not sure about that half a ream of printer paper though. Going paperless was an excellent move, but I still need a few temporary copies of things.

I just found a free bicycle tool station, so I don’t need to buy a tyre pump.

Why do I have three different types of coffee cups? The plastic screw-top one can stay in the office, and the regular ceramic handle type can be at home, but should I dump the insulated round one?

I just briefly looked over the top shelf. What is this? One of those little folding disposable plastic forks that comes in an instant noodle container. Why do I have this item, reducing my freedom, and weighing on my mind?

Etc, etc…

What seems to happen is a sort of refinement of attention.

“I need to sort through that big pile of stuff…”

Becomes…

“I still don’t need it all, so the pile could be a bit smaller. I should sweep through everything again, for items that I haven’t used in the past six months.”

”Your Stuff” can funnel down from a large, confusing, grey, amorphous blob (or multiple blobs), down to small group of organised items/categories/containers, which you can remember and hold in your mind all at once.

I’m still working to a “sweet spot” of efficiency. The lowest, simplest amount/selection of “stuff” that doesn’t burden with the unnecessary, but which also doesn’t hassle/cost with lacking.

ETA: I just got rid of the little plastic fork. Another step towards perfect freedom.

Updated Apr 25

Maintaining this level is fairly easy.

My initial impetus for minimalism (as a teenager) was housing-based pressure. This meant, living in a small space, and relocating numerous times (both short and long distances). This has continued for a long time as an adult, and I foresee it continuing.

My basic value system (again, developed at an early age) is towards experiences and freedom. Objects are simply tools for those real pursuits.

Maintaining can come from a few angles.

First, there is the simple point of thinking carefully before you buy a new object. Do I really need it? How is it going to impact my daily life (e.g. helping efficiency and time-saving)? How is it going to further my overall medium/long term goals?

Second, some purchases are replacements. New item comes in, and old item goes out.

Nearly all of my physical possessions have practical use, and actually get used on a relatively frequent basis. It can be a good idea to keep track of usage (e.g. have I used this item in the past year?) I avoid keeping “just in case” items.

I used to be burdened with paper (old bank statements, letters, articles, printed information, university manuals, etc, etc). Scanning years of backlogged paper is time-consuming and tedious, but it only needs to be done once. Now, a lot of that starts as digital, and never takes paper form. Also, new paper can be immediately scanned, and so never builds up. Some paper (calendars, lists, notes, articles, work or university stuff, etc) is only around for a short time period and then tossed.

While I love physical books, I only own a small number, which are all for scientific reference. Otherwise, I rely on a large quantity of PDF format books, plus borrowing from libraries.

Some large/heavy items in my daily life don’t even belong to me, due to renting furnished rooms for the last few years. I have usage without the burdens of ownership (i.e. moving to a new room is quick and easy).

The last time I owned furniture, it was cheap second-hand stuff, which I donated back when moving.

I view most of my possessions as being temporary, disposable, consumable, and replaceable. This is in my mind from the moment I contemplate buying something, so my investment (both financial and emotional) will be relatively low from the start.

Disposability relates to mobility. If I moved across town, I would take a single taxicab trip to carry all of my stuff. However, the next time I move to a new city, I plan to downsize to an amount that would work for a long-distance bus/train/plane trip. Upon arrival, I would buy a few replacement items, but those would also be ultimately disposable.

Maintenance of this lifestyle is based on having a low financial and emotional investment, both when contemplating a purchase, and also when downsizing.

Answered Mar 24

Yes.

The original impetus was a situation when I was a teenager, but it still applies.

Minimalism generally saves money. The arguments against this, are cases of downsizing so far that the person lacks an object that they actually need, so they have to buy or rent one (especially if it is on short notice and/or overpriced).

Minimalism saves time. This applies to physically dealing with your pile of possessions, and also to working for the money involved.

Minimalism enables me to comfortably live in small, lower-cost apartments or rooms. This not only saves money, but increases the number of options, giving the ability to move to a high-cost city in the future (as I have done in the past). Or it could be smaller scale things, like prioritising location for a short commute, or living in a lower-crime area.

Minimalism enables me to relocate with relatively low hassle, cost, and time required. This applies to my relatively frequent local moves, and also to a number of long distance moves. It is critically important, because mobility increases your available choices and opportunities, and broadens your horizons in terms of life experience.

Finally, minimalism makes it easier to be physically and mentally organised. This means less daily stress and worry.

Updated Mar 27

Minimalism is a general approach and attitude, not a set of fixed rules for everybody.

When I lived in the middle of a large, crowded, city with good public transport, I got along just fine without a car. That’s a good thing, since it was also an expensive city, where even a parking spot wouldn’t have been economically viable for me.

In another city, I had a job that required me to use my own vehicle to go from place to place, during the workday. The vehicle was an investment and tool to generate a paycheque. The selection criteria was simply purchase and running cost.

If I lived in a rural area, or some outer suburbs, I would need a car just to get to the nearest supermarket.

Presently, I use a combination of public transport, walking, and bicycling. The bicycle is just the lowest-priced one I could find at KMart.

If I were to purchase a car, it would be a station wagon, or possibly a minivan. Japanese brands tend to be reliable. Either manual or automatic transmission (manual is lower cost, can be push-started, and, in my experience, fails one gear at a time, while automatic fails completely).

I would want it to be average-looking. Not flashy, but not too battered.

An ideal vehicular situation would have the ability to simultaneously get all of my material possessions in, and put the back seat down and sleep in it comfortably.

Updated Dec 24, 2017

If it is really a “need” then that means a survival issue.

For example, I need some clothing, to protect my temperature, modesty, social-acceptability, and ability to get a job.

I have a fairly small number of “just-in-case” items, which I haven’t used in some time. Some are just extra computer cables, and things on that level.

I have had a mental adjustment in going paperless. It is just an adjustment, and I was OK, after the initial strange sensation.

Although, with the paperless issue, I still have a stack of textbooks. Not a huge stack (I could lift it up with both hands). Regular biology and chemistry books, that would be used for university, or then reasonably just keep on your shelf for quick reference. I love books and paper.

I have a few documents of legal and medical nature, with physical paper copies that I haven’t needed in a long time (when was the last time you had to show a certified birth certificate?). This stack is less than a centimeter thick, but it would be a major hassle to replace things like my passport, which I actually need.

On a sentimental level, I have a sweatshirt with a certain design, which was a gift from a long-time friend. I think that is the only sentimental item, and I actually wear it on a regular basis.

A couple of physical scrolls from university qualifications.

One thing I do is look to the past versus now. Of my possessions, the only things that I have from twenty years ago, are that small stack of documents. Everything else has cycled into new stuff.

Lastly, I have an inventory system where I place a designation about relocating. Some things I would relocate across town. Some things I would relocate to another city or country. Each physical item has its designation, and, for the local-move-only items, I would toss them without hesitation, if I were to relocate a long distance by bus/train/plane.

Answered Dec 10, 2017

An individual minimalist needs the items to efficiently do the activity of the moment.

The time-frame can also change.

Simple examples:

If I take a shower, I need jandals (flip-flops), a towel, fresh set of clothing, and bag for the dirty clothing, along with consumables like soap, and a bag for those.

If I am archiving paper documents, I need a computer, a scanner, and perhaps a shredder.

The total items which I need in general is the total that I would be using on a regular basis, for frequent activities. If I haven’t used a physical object in a year, then I probably don’t need it.

However, priorities can change with time.

For example, if I were to move to a new city, by bus/train/plane, the need issue would focus on reducing total volume to a couple of bags of the most needed, most important things.

In that temporary moment, I would take the computer, but efficiency would require getting rid of the bulky (but cheap and easily replaceable) scanner.

I think it is OK to start this journey by figuring out what you need. Not things to buy, but rather, which things you already have and use frequently, to help understand what else is surplus.

Updated Mar 15, 2018

One of my general, default assumptions in life is that, most people I meet will spend very little time or energy thinking about me. They have their own lives to think about.

Also, when some person forms an opinion of me, it is important to distinguish whether or not I should care.

Anyway, my answer to the question is that, there seems to be a pattern of condescension, with women being worse than men.

You must be financially impoverished and pathetic. Underneath the pretense of sympathy, your lack of possessions helps them to feel wealthier than you, and thus superior.

They may deride your housing choices, assuming that a modest studio apartment is automatically a filthy hovel (even if they haven’t actually seen it).

On the other hand, they may view you as being “cheap” and refusing to spend enough money to enjoy life (by buying stuff).

A female-biased issue is clothing. Women compete on this all the time, and a woman with a minimalist wardrobe (plus simple hair and zero makeup) may be openly sneered at, like she is too stupid to know how to dress properly.

You may be viewed as somehow “not” really an adult, due to your childish refusal to accumulate an adult-sized pile of stuff (and debt).

If you show any level of geographic mobility whatsoever, the “not”-really-an-adult thing gets even worse, and you may even be ordered to “settle down” by someone you have just met. This is another one that is highly female-biased (men don’t care).

Yet another female-biased “not”-really-an-adult point of hostility is if your personal minimalism includes being single and childfree, especially if you are over age thirty, and are satisfied with your situation.

Like many areas of life, it is based on competition, and people taking personal offense, as if the “different” individual somehow owes them validation, and is maliciously refusing to provide it.