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2008: My year of living smaller

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Re: 2008: My year of living smaller

#31

Post by ahoyhere »

Prrometheus wrote: post #8
endtwist wrote: post #5

Though this article isn't all that well written, it brings up what seems to be a (very good) trend lately: people exploring the idea of living with less. I'm only a college student right now, and already have limited expenses, but I've been exploring the idea of reducing the amount of things I own; a more minimalist lifestyle. I've realized something that Jelliffe points out towards the end of his article: "Simplicit…

I think the idea is simplistic. I have had the same $10 Wal-Mart cooking knife for a few years now. I'm sure it won't last more than a few more years. However, I bought it in poverty, and it will last me through poverty until I am making good money. Then I will buy a nice knife. There is nothing wrong with that. Grad school is hard. It requires a lot of my time. A sewing kit is not cheap, and sewing is time-expensive…

You're right that it does often come with a moral tone, but comments on HN aside, I think this guy's post is the least moralizing, least preachy, least "magical" article I've ever read on the subject. If you keep reading down to the comments, you'll find this backed up by his responses.

Re: 2008: My year of living smaller

#32

Post by ahoyhere »

I read this essay yesterday (thanks, HN! my addiction pays off!) and got to thinking.

I used to live in a prosperous, expensive, beautiful, poorly kept up 1900s suburb of Washington DC called Takoma Park. I had downsized to a 500 sq ft apartment that I fell in love with -- it had such great design, craftmanship, and big trees outside every window, so idyllic (sigh). My wooden deck, out in the trees, was far bigger than my bedroom, and that was a plus too. It felt wonderfully like home.

I had to go shopping all the time for various things and spent a ridiculous amount of time in the car because everything was about 20-30 minutes away, the roads were bad, and the traffic was incredible.

I lived there just over a year. Then I moved to Vienna, Austria.

Now I live in an apartment in an Altbau (old building), built in the late 1800s and renovated last in the 1970s. And the 1970s here were a lot less prosperous than in the US. It's got an ancient pull-chain toilet. It's got a totally 70s custom wood built-in kitchen with large tile countertops and a broken built-in fridge, replaced with a standalone on the end of the countertop. It's got door handles that pull off, sagging floors (they're like 110 years old) that need refinishing, a couple ancient windows that barely open/close, and lots of 30- to 120-year-old furniture, courtesy my new husband.

This should drive me nuts.

I read this essay and I thought: I haven't really bought any thing in nearly 2 months, with the exception of books (Kindle) and small xmas presents. I've bought lots of food, and I've bought some experiences (museums, etc.), but not... stuff.

It wasn't on purpose. It doesn't really feel strange. I walk by lots of stores every day. We even go grocery shopping every day or two, because the stores are every few blocks and the daily bread is real, without preservatives.

My feeling of "needing" to go shopping just sort of slipped away, even though some things about the apartment irritate me & could be fixed with a trip to IKEA. Getting to IKEA is a fair amount of work since we don't have a car, but that's not really why I haven't done it. I just don't care. And I used to be a person who, once she entered a store, would take 3 times the amount she intended because shiny things caught her eye.

It's very strange, but also nice. I didn't set out to be like this, it just happened. I welcome it, but I don't entirely understand it.

Re: 2008: My year of living smaller

#33

Post by seano »

endtwist wrote: post #5

Though this article isn't all that well written, it brings up what seems to be a (very good) trend lately: people exploring the idea of living with less. I'm only a college student right now, and already have limited expenses, but I've been exploring the idea of reducing the amount of things I own; a more minimalist lifestyle. I've realized something that Jelliffe points out towards the end of his article: "Simplicit…

Which makes more sense: owning one quality $100 knife for 30+ years, or going through 10 $20 knives over the course of 30 years?

It depends. The $100 knife could become lost, stolen or damaged. Improved or cheaper knives, or even a new technology to replace the knife as we know it, could appear in the next 30 years. You could even keep two cheap knives so you have a spare whilst the other is in the dishwasher.

Re: 2008: My year of living smaller

#34

Post by sc »

hs wrote: post #20
mdasen wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which makes more sense: owning one quality $100 knife for 30+ years, or going through 10 $20 knives over the course of 30 years? But living with 1 $100 knife requires certain behavioral changes. You must take care of it, sharpen it, transport it if you're moving. Really, these are positive changes and I totally agree that we should be buying more durable goods and maintaining them. In fact, this behavioral change is…

spot on for the behavioral changes i'd use the $100 knife LESS than the $10 counterpart -> that's why i use $1 knifes because i cannot care less if it breaks even google doesn't use sun blades, that's pretty telling about home ownership, there are correlations that countries that are low on home ownership level(e.g, swiss) is richer than ones with high level (e.g, spain) those examples are correlation, not causality…

I don't think you can make the call on which knife you'd use till you had both. If you enjoy cooking or if you hate cooking but have to, the $100 knife will likely become your choice knife: preparing food becomes quicker and easier -- you're investment returns in time and peace of mind.

The $100 knife is also usually quite indestructible compared with the $10 counterpart. Even a $100 knife in the poorest care is salvageable with a professional sharpening.

Re: 2008: My year of living smaller

#35

Post by sc »

seano wrote: post #33
endtwist wrote: post #5

Though this article isn't all that well written, it brings up what seems to be a (very good) trend lately: people exploring the idea of living with less. I'm only a college student right now, and already have limited expenses, but I've been exploring the idea of reducing the amount of things I own; a more minimalist lifestyle. I've realized something that Jelliffe points out towards the end of his article: "Simplicit…

Which makes more sense: owning one quality $100 knife for 30+ years, or going through 10 $20 knives over the course of 30 years? It depends. The $100 knife could become lost, stolen or damaged. Improved or cheaper knives, or even a new technology to replace the knife as we know it, could appear in the next 30 years. You could even keep two cheap knives so you have a spare whilst the other is in the dishwasher.

Even if you never go through 10 $10 knives and "save money", you lose out in time and happiness (dull blades perform poorly, and every day you prepare food is wasted time with a poor knife, and a blow to your own mood, because dull blades are more apt to slip and cut you, mar your food, and generally put you in a fowl mood).

If you don't cook, though, no worries.

Re: 2008: My year of living smaller

#36

Post by seano »

sc wrote: post #35
seano wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which makes more sense: owning one quality $100 knife for 30+ years, or going through 10 $20 knives over the course of 30 years? It depends. The $100 knife could become lost, stolen or damaged. Improved or cheaper knives, or even a new technology to replace the knife as we know it, could appear in the next 30 years. You could even keep two cheap knives so you have a spare whilst the other is in the dishwasher.

Even if you never go through 10 $10 knives and "save money", you lose out in time and happiness (dull blades perform poorly, and every day you prepare food is wasted time with a poor knife, and a blow to your own mood, because dull blades are more apt to slip and cut you, mar your food, and generally put you in a fowl mood). If you don't cook, though, no worries.

You can get a decent knife for $10 and I've honestly never had a knife put me in a fowl[sic] mood.

Re: 2008: My year of living smaller

#37

Post by mynameishere »

seano wrote: post #36
sc wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if you never go through 10 $10 knives and "save money", you lose out in time and happiness (dull blades perform poorly, and every day you prepare food is wasted time with a poor knife, and a blow to your own mood, because dull blades are more apt to slip and cut you, mar your food, and generally put you in a fowl mood). If you don't cook, though, no worries.

You can get a decent knife for $10 and I've honestly never had a knife put me in a fowl[sic] mood.

^ Only sane comment in this whole stupid thread. Anyone who pays 100 dollars for a knife is a sucker.

Re: 2008: My year of living smaller

#38

Post by decode »

dionidium wrote: post #16

"I don't particularly feel I need my mobile, but my friends consider it unfriendly not to be at their beck and call" I didn't own a wireless phone in 2008 and noticed the same thing. For example, nobody wants to arrange to meet at a specific place/time for a public event; they want you to call when you get there and walk toward them pointing out landmarks that betray your location. I already knew that this is how mee…

Probably around 2004 I started noticing that many young people had forgotten (or never learned) how to arrange a meeting without a mobile phone. Several times I had conversations like this:

"Just call me when you get there."

"I don't have a phone."

"Umm... so what do we do?"

I had to explain that we needed to agree on a time and exact location to meet. It was very strange, as I hadn't had this problem in the previous decade when I was meeting people.

Re: 2008: My year of living smaller

#40

Post by josefresco »

I love how some people can 'experiment' with living smaller while many in this country and the rest of the world have no other choice.

This experiment would have meant more in 2004 when everyone was living high on the hog.

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