I would love to be a minimalist. Unfortunately I have a wife who is the opposite of that and a woodworking hobby.
Buy well, buy once
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Re: Buy well, buy once
#42Things I have bought well and once: Vitamix 5300 - going strong after 13 years of near daily usage, 4 family blenders from department stores failed/poor quality blending before this Zojirushi Rice Cooker - also close to 13 years, usage of a few times a week Breville Burr Grinder - decade or a bit older, frequently used Sonicare Toothbrush - $150ish or so model, probably 8 years of near twice daily usage. Presume I’ll…
Sadly, my Diamond Sonicare toothbrush failed after just over 2 years. I spent several weeks back and forth with Philips. Initially they offered me 10% off buying a new one, which I was not happy with having spent so much on a top of the line model. I asked about the possibility of repair, they forwarded me the details of several local certified Philips repairers who, when I rang, all said they only really repair TVs or large consumer electronics devices and have no idea where to even start with repairing an electric toothbrush.
I contacted Philips again and explained that nobody is able to repair it, they again offered me 10% off a new one (which I'd have to buy through the official web store, which is already more expensive than a retail store) which I declined, they sent me details of a repair shop in a completely different state. I rang that repair shop and explained in detail the entire story, they were empathetic but also said they have no idea how they'd repair a toothbrush or even why Philips would suggest I send it there.
I'd say you got lucky with your Sonicare, and based on the runaround they gave me, poor customer service and poor serviceability, I would not recommend anyone buy an expensive Sonicare unless they're made of money and don't care about the possibility of having to replace it within a few years.
Re: Buy well, buy once
#43They had me with the title but the content reads like an elder-millennial whose conversational voice got inescapably stuck in memes and referral links.
Re: Buy well, buy once
#44Reminds me of https://buymeonce.com/ . If this kind of thing interests you, check it out.
Re: Buy well, buy once
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
You also can discard things easier… knowing they can be had at will later.
Re: Buy well, buy once
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is the idea that you're renting apartments and counting the pots and pans, toilet brush etc as not being yours because you leave them with the house? So my bath mat is "mine" because I own the house and had to buy it myself, but yours isn't because it's rented? Because if we can cut that out then yeah, now I own far fewer things. It seems like a weird distinction to make.
It can be - if you do a STR/Airbnb/Hotel, the pots and pans should come with the place and they're not yours. Many hotels do include the above, especially mid to higher end ones. If you're renting on a standard long term lease - not short term rental, and it isn't furnished with them, yes they're yours because you bought them. It's up to you what you want to "count", but toiletries are like petty cash. Pots/Pans can…
So if I rent everything, I can live my exact same lifestyle but be called a minimalist?
Re: Buy well, buy once
#47I might have over 100 physical paper books. I know I have well over 100 computer parts and accessories (including cables, adapters, extra hard drives, USB drives, game controllers, webcams, old CPU fans, PCIe cards, etc)
I don’t think I’m making it to less than 500 items total. Maybe not even less than 1K.
I also don’t see anything wrong with that.
Re: Buy well, buy once
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
You never know, some people go to extremes. One fork, one toothbrush, one sleeping bag, one laptop, one credit card, done. Toothbrush doubles as a shower brush and credit card is used to scrape off water instead of a towel.
Lol. Of course, the shower isn't yours so it doesn't count. Using this, we can get rid of the sleeping bag and just roll up the carpet in the rented flat and sleep in that. What else can we cut?
Toothpaste. We have soap/shampoo.
Re: Buy well, buy once
#49I’m in the midst of a life transition and I’ve found that it’s a good opportunity to do some culling. I’m fine with some extravagances (I have probably about 1500 books, of which I’ve cataloged 1,166 on LibraryThing (my transition has paused cataloging activity as my library is mostly living in boxes now and part of the cataloging is shelving everything by Library of Congress call number). On the flip side, I have a very well-defined wardrobe now, with 9 long sleeve shirt, 9 short sleeve shirts, 4 pairs of trousers, 10 pairs of socks and 10 pairs of underwear (I make a point of doing laundry once a week, the more than 7 of everything allows me to occasionally let laundry day slip a little). I have a complete list of all the furniture in the house, which is going to end up being reduced somewhat. I don’t know that I’ll be down to 200 items (excluding books), but I think that once I’ve finished my transition, I will be definitely much more deliberate about what I allow into my home.
Re: Buy well, buy once
#50> 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…
I have two items because I count my house as one and my car as the other.
You also have keys to each so that's at least 4 items, and then your clothes and computer, i'm sure you have soap and toothbrush and toothpaste, and hopefully you have toilet paper and a bed, and having a bed means you likely have a pillow, pillow cover, sheet, blanket, and mattress, etc