Suggestion: Minimalist Living

Discussion in Suggestions & Feedback started by Victor Leigh • Dec 22, 2014.

  1. Victor Leigh

    Victor LeighActive Member

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    I like this forum.

    It has got lots and lots of good deals. However, even when buying at a 50% discount, it is still buying and buying costs money. Now, how about a new section on 'Minimalist Living'? This is a concept where we learn to live with as little as we can, spending the minimal amount of money to get by.

    For example, how about refurbishing old shoes instead of buying new ones? Or getting more mileage out of an old towel by turning it into a foot rag? Simple ideas, actually, but there may be some which somebody has used and we know nothing about. So, if we have a section about 'Minimalist Living', we can all share our ideas.

    In the end, we also save a lot of money, which is what this forum is about.

    How about that?
     
    #1Dec 22, 2014
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2014
  2. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    That's a good suggestion, but I think that can be posted in their respective categories, like in your example for the towel, it can just be posted in the home and garden section, in my opinion.
     
  3. toradrake

    toradrakeActive Member

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    I like that idea. I pretty much live like that. I have to find different tricks to reduce in some areas of living so that we can survive until the next food run (once a month). We use sustainable, minimalist, and survivalist methods to keep going everyday. A place for tips and tricks would help a lot of people out to reduce their consumption and save themselves some money along the way.
     
  4. Victor Leigh

    Victor LeighActive Member

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    Minimalist living is good practice for when things get tough. Like learning to swim. We learn to swim so that we can save ourselves should we happen to fall off a boat. Now, we don't start learning to swim only after we have actually fallen off a boat, do we? That would be too late, isn't it?
     
  5. Winnie

    WinnieActive Member

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    When I think of minimalist living, I think of stark white walls, and cold floors, and an over-all bleak environment in a lot of ways. I guess I'm thinking of minimalist decorating though, not minimalist living.
    Just the thought of discussing minimalist living is giving me many ideas, but I must confess, I like to shop.
     
  6. thenextGeek

    thenextGeekActive Member

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    I agree with your idea one hundred percent. There should be a minimalist section here in Don't Pay Full to cater to everyone who has their own idea, tips, and tricks regarding minimalist living. Minimalism isn't just about using products that simplify life, but rather it is a way of life. I've always been enamored with the minimalist lifestyle and I even join DIY websites so that I can learn how to create furniture from scratch. Becoming self-sufficient will really go a long way when you want to become financially free.

    I've heard a lot of success stories from people who threw away things they don't need that only serve as clutter in their homes. Parting with those things were not easy at first but they learned that as soon as they started living in a clutter-free environment, their stress levels started to drop and they became happier with their lives. That's why minimalism is really starting to take off nowadays and a lot of people are beginning to live a minimalist lifestyle.
     
  7. JosieP

    JosiePWell-Known Member

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    I think it's a great idea :) I don't have that need for more or better things anymore. I actually strive for less in life lol, something nobody else I know can grasp. I wish more people could.. it would change the world. So I already stretch things where I can and get crafty when it's needed, because I need our money more than some fat cat somewhere. And because it's unnecessary to be wasteful or collect things or take up space.. I love space! lol..
     
  8. Mockingbird

    MockingbirdActive Member

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    I like your idea and there probably should be a category for it, these days people are making due with less. but whether we like it or not there are times when we do have to spend money and I love to read other peoples experiences on ways they saved, deals they found or bad experiences. It is a good idea to have a working knowledge of what works and what does not work in the world.

    I like when things are re-purposed, it is a great way to extend life and use. We have a shop now that buys older furniture and updates it in very chic ways, you know that the things are re-purposed and the will do a comparison to similar item thats new. Not everyone is handy so it is a great concept.
     
  9. Victor Leigh

    Victor LeighActive Member

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    I like to shop, too. However, I try to curb myself from buying everything I like. What I do is ask myself, "Will I die if I don't buy this?" Yes, it is a rather drasic kind of question to ask oneself but it works. So, I just go window-shopping instead and go home full of pleasant memories.
     
  10. hayrake

    hayrakeActive Member

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    I'm thinking it must be a natural inclination to tend towards minimalism as one gets older. It's a subject I've spent a considerable amount of thought on, particularly in the past couple of years; and I've been gradually moving more in that direction for longer than that. It's just cleaner, you know? Less fuss. Less time required to take care of the home. I've always appreciated DIY living, anyway.
    I don't know where you live, Victor, Leigh, but in the US I think it won't be too long before minimalist living becomes the norm for survival among most of the general population. I expect things to get tough. So maybe it is a good idea to have a section for suggestions in that vein on here.
     
  11. preacherbob50

    preacherbob50Member

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    I really like the idea. An area to post ideas about how to save bucks on a day to day basis. There was a guy on TV some time ago that was really overboard on the subject. His daughters and wife were on him big time. He would buy 2 ply toilet paper and then unwind the rolls and re-roll them into single plys. The same with paper towels. There are a lot of things I would deem as extreme but it would be fun and informative to have that sort of block.
     
  12. Happyflowerlady

    HappyflowerladyWell-Known Member

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    Winnie, I can see what you are saying, and I think we all like to be able to shop and buy things we need. However, as Victor mentioned; we need to learn to swim BEFORE we fall out of the boat.
    That doesn't mean we have to be doing it all of the time; but that we do know how to survive on a minimalist lifestyle should it become necessary.
    That doesn't mean to throw away the furniture and paint the walls white (still chuckling about that one, Winnie). There are people who choose to live in that environment, and I guess that they are a minimalist in the strick sense of the word, but not necessarily what is meant here.
    Maybe more like a monk, or hermit , would describe that type better.
    I think that having a section in the forum for saving money by recycling, and similar ideas, would actually be an excellent addition to the forum.
    If it were to be spread out all over the forum, as Sydney suggests, then it would not only be much harder to find these helpful ideas; but also more difficult for us to post them.
     
  13. Victor Leigh

    Victor LeighActive Member

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    I live in Thailand. The Deep South to be exact, where bombs and bullets are very common. I do hope that the general population in the US is actually moving towards minimalist living. The reports I read about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina wasn't too encouraging. Also the reports about Black Monday sales stampedes makes me think that the general population of the US is still very much fixated on materialistic living.
     
  14. hayrake

    hayrakeActive Member

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    A tendency towards minimalism is something I choose to encourage within myself; but, if it's all the same, I'd just as soon it remained as one of many choices open to the individuals who live in this country. I am not pleased to see things that make me believe that it won't be long before a lot of people will be either drowning or learning to swim quickly after the ship goes down. No mere falling off of boats, here, so to speak. This has been and still is a great country, but things are changing and not for the better--not so prosperous and not so safe as it once was, which means that freedoms and choices are disappearing to satisfy the elite among a global economy.
    Sad, that; as only the elite will benefit in the end.
     
  15. Victor Leigh

    Victor LeighActive Member

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    Well, we are not the elite so we don't have to worry about the elite. We, however, do have a responsibility to ourselves and our families. So, even if nothing tragic happens, learning and practicing minimalist living is good for us. We should learn to do without. Like, maybe, once a month, we go totally electronicless. No computer, no internet, no handphone, no tablet. Just plain vanilla living.
     
  16. mythman

    mythmanActive Member

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    Well, it's sort of 'a dotted line in the sand'---people in 'a worldwide free-market' (I'm not sure if that's what we actually have, but --if not--ust imagine for a moment) THRIVE off of others shopping more. (This may be my American perspective here, but) I think DontPayFull was based on the fact that 'the less we pay, the MORE we can buy! (thus the more we can support others in the economy)'

    Like that!

    In my family, the way we learn to swim (if you don't count swimming-lessons in the summers at many public-pools) is 'when someone throws us into the deep end!'

    Think about it: who pays for the airtime on TV (or space-etc. in other forms of media)? Which one of those sponsors wants you to buy LESS of their product?
     
  17. Winnie

    WinnieActive Member

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    Yes, I was thinking of minimalist decorating at just the thought of minimalist living. I love interior design, and I like living lush, and full, and fluffy and yummy. (I don't even make my sentences minimalist:), lol)

    Monks, hermits? Yes, but also people who think they are so rich, cultured, and sophisticated that they feel that any type of "clutter" is beneath them. If you look at interior design magazines, you've seen the type. They have white walls.. one lone white leather couch... in one corner of the room sits one metal chair that costs $10,000; they've got some kind of "vintage" table that costs about $25, 000 from some fancy yester-year designer, with one ripe, green apple atop a silver saucer... just to give the room a pop of color (anything more than one apple would be clutter)... but I digress, lol.

    Minimalist living is okay I suppose. And having that type of section here couldn't hurt anything I don't suppose, although I kind of feel that--that is not the overall vibe of this forum. That being said, I avidly recycle, and I firmly believe in re-purposing things, I think the whole trash-to-treasure thing is a friend. I like to find new uses for things just for the beauty of it, but saving money by reusing and recycling is always a good thing too.
     
    #17Jan 1, 2015
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2015
  18. Victor Leigh

    Victor LeighActive Member

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    Yes, that's what they want us to do. Buy more in the belief that we are helping to make the economy grow. I don't see it that way. Buying more usually ends up as wasting more. There are so many things we buy that we don't really need. When we buy more, we are only creating more garbage.
     
  19. thenextGeek

    thenextGeekActive Member

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    Hey guys. I just wanna ask since we're kind of on the topic of minimalist living. Is there currently a show that's about this kind of stuff? I mean shows that talks about how to recycle or make your own furniture from basic stuff, looking for alternatives to home essentials, etc. Extreme Couponing is fun to watch and it shows how to save a lot of money by stacking up on coupons but it doesn't really adhere to what minimalist living promotes so yeah. I'm currently still on Christmas break and I'm looking for shows to watch before I return to school next week.
     
  20. missbishi

    missbishiWell-Known Member

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    A thread on minimalist living would be interesting and informative. I would certainly like to hear peoples stories of "downsizing" - they can be very inspiring. It is perfectly possible to live a happy and fulfilling life without many of the things modern society takes for granted.