One of the great myths of modern society is that happiness and success are somehow linked to the size of your home and the amount of worthless garbage that fills it. In a previous post, I listed the 32 benefits of owning less. But how does one simplify one’s life? Here are the 10 commandments of minimalism.
1. No impulse buying, period
Whenever you feel like buying anything, give yourself at least a week to consider whether its benefits outweigh not only the cost, but also the hassle of owning, maintaining, moving and one day replacing it, and the diminished freedom it represents. This also applies to free things – think long and hard about whether you really need it before taking it home.
2. Items should have many purposes
Obviously, if one thing can do two jobs, you need one fewer thing. One good chef’s knife will replace half the kitchen gadgets at Walmart.
3. Hire help
Instead of buying stuff to make your life easier (which often really complicates your life) pay people to do things for you. Do you really need a carpet cleaner to use once a year? Just pay professionals. For advanced minimalists: do you really need a washer and dryer? Try a laundry service. You don’t like doing laundry anyway!
4. Buy quality
One of the major benefit of minimalism is less time wasted maintaining and replacing your stuff. This benefit is eroded by low-quality goods, so buy things that last.
5. Live in a small home with no storage
Two reasons here: you won’t have to buy things you don’t need to furnish rooms you don’t use, and having no storage will force you not to keep things you no longer need, or should never have bought. As an additional benefit, you pay less for your home. In a related note…
6. Live in an apartment or condo, not a house
Living in a stand-alone building means you have a extra things to take care of, such as a lawn, driveway, garage, patio, etc. You need a shed-full of tools just to keep a typical house from disintegrating. If you live in a condo or apartment, someone else takes care of that crap. Do you really enjoy mowing your lawn, painting your patio, sealing the driveway and cleaning the garage? I didn’t think so.
7. Focus on the present
Never mind that you might use it in 5 years, it’s taking up valuable space and funds NOW. If you haven’t used something in the past year, get rid of it. For every fifty things you get rid of, you might only need 2 or 3 at some point in the future. If that time ever comes, just got a new one, or borrow one, or rent it, or buy it second-hand and then sell it again when you’re done.
8. Focus on experience
Life is about what we do, not what we own. When you’re old, you’ll remember the trips that you took, not the kind of shoes you were wearing. You’ll remember your wedding just the same whether you bought, borrowed or rented the silly costume you were wearing.
9. Avoid gifts
This is really the hardest part of being a minimalist. People don’t understand that you just don’t want that new thing, whatever it is, because you value freedom more than gadgets. Make it clear to your friends and family that you don’t like stuff. If they insist on getting you gifts, tell them you only like four kinds: cash, gift cards, experiences, and better versions of things you already have. If someone gives you a new watch, for example, don’t forget to give the old one away.
10. Be minimalistic in each purchase
For example, if you absolutely must buy a car, buy a small car. Yes I know that once a year you want to go on vacation with your whole family, and you need than 8-seater minivan to fit them all. Do you have any idea how much money you would save by driving a compact car 51 weeks a year, and just renting the van the other week? The fuel savings alone would more than cover the rental, let alone the money you save from the initial purchase. Big cars are not a sign of wealth, they’re a sign of social irresponsibility and stupidity.
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Great post! I should post a pic of my room: the quintessial minimalist abode. =D
I felt so cramped in and isolated in an apartment. I was miserable. Sometimes I like to sit outside and have a beer and enjoy the fresh air. Patios and lawns are good for that. It just doesn’t work on a balcony.
This is a pretty good list.
3, 6: A corollary to the points raised in these sections is “How much is your time worth”? On first thought it seems silly to hire someone to perform tasks that you could do yourself–but you don’t actually do them, right? You put them off, because you have “better things to do.” So you might as well pay someone else to do it, because you can’t be bothered, it generates income for someone else, and if it were really that important to you to do it yourself it would have been done already.
6. Sometimes it depends on the kind of family you have. If you are single with no kids, a small apartment should work well for most people, especially if there is a park nearby. But when you have kids or larger animals or the adults’ parents or other relatives are sharing the home, an actual house can be much better. Of course, that doesn’t give you license to have something more than sufficient to your needs, but apartment is not necessarily better than house across the board.
9. Charitable donations in your name are also good.
@H and DDog,
Very good points. Thank you.
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i like the idea of it and it makes sense to cut crap that is unnecessary out of your life, and i agree with almost everything there, but… i would want a house. i live in a townhouse now and i hate it, the neighbors call the pigs if me and my old lady holler at all. and also having something like a smaller gas efficient SUV, especially japanese, doesnt cost that much to run and you’ll still have room for all your shit. and i live in canada where if you dont have a 4×4 in the winter youre hooped.
@asdfhjkl, the problem with your townhouse isn’t a problem with multi-family residences. It’s a problem with building codes. The building codes should be revised so that multi-family residences must be built with better noise insulation, so people don’t this problem. I’ve found that most people’s objections to living in apartment buildings are actually objections to living in badly-designed apartment buildings. If I may disagree, I would argue that there are no fuel-efficient SUVs in mass market production, if one defines “efficient” in any meaningful way.