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Buy well, buy once

fellow.ventures

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Re: Buy well, buy once

#21

Post by nextos »

nvy wrote: post #18
nextos wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I relocated and I no longer have any hobbies that involve tools. For a different lifestyle, this list would be much longer and that is fine. There is nothing special about having just 100 items.

>There is nothing special about having just 100 items. Depending on where you are located geographically there may very well be something special. I live in the PNW and I bet if I counted all my forks, spoons, coffee cups, pots and pans, etc., I'd have more than 100 items right there, to say nothing about my tool chest. Between my home office and my wife's purse I probably have 100 pens and pencils around the house.…

I meant it's nothing to brag about. I agree that in many situations, it'd be inconvenient to own so few items as it'd leave you unprepared for e.g. emergencies.

But if you are renting a condo downtown, as it was my case, you may want to trim down your possessions as much as possible.

Nonetheless, I think people tend to own too much stuff and this prevents focusing on what actually matters, it's a bit like with bloated software.

Re: Buy well, buy once

#22

Post by rootsudo »

crazygringo wrote: post #7

> I even keep a record of all my worldly possessions in a visual catalogue spreadsheet on Airtable. 192 items at my last count. > I don't count hoodies, t-shirts, socks or usb cables but I really don't own many. I count a pair of shoes in a box as 1 item. Huh? Either you're counting things or you're not. Saying you own 192 items except for the 800 (?) you're not counting doesn't make a lot of sense. Why are shoes an…

>192 makes no sense to me. I've probably got 192 items in my kitchen alone, just from wanting to be able to cook and serve a meal for 4 people because it's nice to eat with friends. A fork is a worldly possession, after all.

You're assuming people are the same as you - I follow the same but I live out of suitcases and can travel at a moments notice for the best flights and pick up an airbnb somewhere.

But this is the life I want - literally 95% of my things fit in 2 suit cases, a third is my bike and a bike is a bike thought if you want to get really technical you can count the wheels, the brakes, the brake rotors, the frame, chain, groupset, etc as different but together it's a bike (and a bike bag!) but I do count the clothes/water bottles, etc.

It's also so cool because you can use pivot tables to group items into necessary or not - so if you want to wing just a one backpack 25-40l trip, you know what to grab and also the rolling cost of items associated too - and for more fun, deprecation, purchase cost, etc.

I enjoy it, but thats the spirit, a pair of socks = 1 or do you have 12 socks?

Re: Buy well, buy once

#23

Post by duxup »

I have trouble keeping up with the minimalist type lifestyles. I don’t necessarily buy into many of their numbers (in this article we count things… except when we don’t), and I have trouble with the “buy it for life” type groups too.

The latter groups surface goals I like but I find a lot of times they’re just interested in paying more for what are effectively pseudo luxury brands or strange ideas that because it is made of metal it will last longer…. but little in the way of anyone actually using the items much.

It’s frustrating as I like the gist of the ideas but the folks practicing that I find on the internet seem off / miss the target IMO.

Re: Buy well, buy once

#24

Post by throwaway22032 »

nvy wrote: post #18
nextos wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I relocated and I no longer have any hobbies that involve tools. For a different lifestyle, this list would be much longer and that is fine. There is nothing special about having just 100 items.

>There is nothing special about having just 100 items. Depending on where you are located geographically there may very well be something special. I live in the PNW and I bet if I counted all my forks, spoons, coffee cups, pots and pans, etc., I'd have more than 100 items right there, to say nothing about my tool chest. Between my home office and my wife's purse I probably have 100 pens and pencils around the house.…

My minimal backpack camping checklist has 25-50 items on it, and that's with counting "first aid kit" as one thing, "tent pegs" as one thing, not counting clothing I'm wearing, "food" as 1 item, etc.

There is no way that an adult has 100 things inside an entire flat they eat, work, leisure, and sleep in. I assume that they mean 100 valuable things that they wouldn't want to just lose.

Re: Buy well, buy once

#25

Post by duxup »

pers0n wrote: post #17

I’ve noticed some minimalists go to the extremes of limiting items based on numbers. In a way it’s a bit of a luxury. Many people keep items or leftover stuff (one time use tools or extra glue, etc) because it saves money and time from having to drive to the store or order it online again incase they need it again. Those just incase items build up but they can end up being handy. As someone that’s moved every year fo…

The few hard core minimalists I’ve met are single, get paid well enough to buy whatever they wish… and their parents are all holding their old stuff at home.

All extra luxuries that enable them to live minimalist type lifestyles, but it’s not quite the whole story.

Re: Buy well, buy once

#27

Post by mazugrin2 »

rootsudo wrote: post #22
crazygringo wrote: post #7

> I even keep a record of all my worldly possessions in a visual catalogue spreadsheet on Airtable. 192 items at my last count. > I don't count hoodies, t-shirts, socks or usb cables but I really don't own many. I count a pair of shoes in a box as 1 item. Huh? Either you're counting things or you're not. Saying you own 192 items except for the 800 (?) you're not counting doesn't make a lot of sense. Why are shoes an…

>192 makes no sense to me. I've probably got 192 items in my kitchen alone, just from wanting to be able to cook and serve a meal for 4 people because it's nice to eat with friends. A fork is a worldly possession, after all. You're assuming people are the same as you - I follow the same but I live out of suitcases and can travel at a moments notice for the best flights and pick up an airbnb somewhere. But this is the…

Can't people who live out of chests of drawers and closets also "travel at a moments [sic] notice for the best flights"?

Re: Buy well, buy once

#29

Post by nonethewiser »

duxup wrote: post #25
pers0n wrote: post #17

I’ve noticed some minimalists go to the extremes of limiting items based on numbers. In a way it’s a bit of a luxury. Many people keep items or leftover stuff (one time use tools or extra glue, etc) because it saves money and time from having to drive to the store or order it online again incase they need it again. Those just incase items build up but they can end up being handy. As someone that’s moved every year fo…

The few hard core minimalists I’ve met are single, get paid well enough to buy whatever they wish… and their parents are all holding their old stuff at home. All extra luxuries that enable them to live minimalist type lifestyles, but it’s not quite the whole story.

I think its a bit different. When you can buy whatever you want, you realize stuff doesn’t really improve your life.

Re: Buy well, buy once

#30

Post by lifeformed »

throwaway22032 wrote: post #10

This article, and people posting in this thread are saying that they own 100 or 200 things. I can't believe this at all. My utility room, which basically just has stuff like cleaning products and rags/cloths etc, has more than 200 items in it. It's all useful, we're talking things like bleach, deodorant, shampoo, handwash, etc. My house probably has 50 or more pieces of art on the walls and then another 50 pieces of…

Everything else is in their parents' basement.
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