Topic: Living simple

[K-man]

Something I've pondered for a very long time.  It started when Willa was born and amped up by 1000 when my dad died this past June. 

My 20's post-college and up until around age 31 was a perfect storm of sorts.  I grew up sort poor but had everything I needed.  Once I got a real job and real expendable income, I guess I sort of decided that if I had the money I would have the things I wanted.  And so it was.  Anything hobby that caught my interest I dove headfirst in.  By the time I hit 30, I had a sizable game collection and physical proof of hobbies I had and lost interest in.  I had tons of "collectible" stuff, some of which was worth money. 

It was so bad that when we moved into our house from our 2 bedroom apartment we actually was able to fill the house up completely.  I still didn't want to part with anything.  Maybe it is the "hoarder" in me.  My mom and dad are/were both notorious for keeping any little thing, even to the point of installing an office trailer in their yard to hold stuff. 

Then Willa came along...and suddenly I began to realize that not only did I not have time for all these things I was going to "get to one day", I didn't have time to enjoy the things I really enjoyed and was interested in.  My view started to take a bit of a different turn.  If I can't enjoy it, why have it?  I was still apprehensive, though, because I've always had a weird thing about PayPal (and still do), so eBaying was sort of out of the question.  The types of things I owned would not sell local.  Although I did manage a few trades/sales on Craigslist to obtain things I really wanted like a new guitar amp.

When dad died, I inherited his small truck.  1996, very low mileage, but found out quickly that a vehicle used for light duty can be a very bad thing.  I started driving it daily and shit started going wrong on it.  I ended up having over $2,000 in a truck that was given to me in the span of a month.  I saw this money just being drained out of our savings and I panicked.  Then I saw dad's possessions being given away, sold, etc.  Shit he worked his whole life for.  And it really just underscored the true value of possessions for me.  Those of you that know me know that I've been a collector.  But something snapped in me and that held zero value.  I decided to start selling off my game collection, only keeping what I was nostalgic about (gaming was my thing as a child/early adult so those games stay), or really want to play.  Everything else was fair game.  I started seeing my shit as dollar signs.  So I started selling.  Did almost a grand on eBay last month, with another 3-400 sold locally.  It was hard at first.  But I found that the more I got rid of the better I felt.  Now I just scrounge the house looking for stuff I can sell.  It has allowed me to put money back into savings.  And I've sort of expanded this viewpoint to encompass my life as a whole.  And it got me to thinking.  Do I want to spend more time working, getting raises, buying newer vehicles (to be fair, something I've really NEVER been interested in), bigger houses, etc etc?  Or do I want to find a happy medium and spend time doing things with people that really matter?  For me the answer was simple.  I've bought into the rat race much, much more than I am comfortable with.  And if I raise my cost of living I have to buy in that much more.

And honestly it's not something I'm so interested in buying into any more. I've got a wife, kid, a house, a truck that runs (Finally!), a spare car in case the truck doesn't run (paid for), and a handful of hobbies.  I have what's left of my family.  I'm happy with that.

I mean sure there's things I wish we had.  Things that would make life more convenient, or add to the fun, or whatever.  My entire adulthood I've been mentally trained to always want more more more, bigger, better, newer, faster, etc.  But I'm learning to be happy with what I have.  It's a real good feeling.  And it's also a very good feeling becoming less and less burdened with possessions, while seeing my savings account rise again.

Wall of text, I know.  And probably rambling too.  Sorry bout that

[Cobra951]

As we mature, we get to different plateaus on how we feel about life and possessions.  I think this comes from sudden realizations about the future, often precipitated by dramatic or traumatic events.  When we're young, we think we have so much time to continue being kids that it may as well be eternity.  Then something sets us straight, something we can't ignore.  It seems you're now taking a better look at what lies ahead.  That's a good thing.

My one caution about what you said would be shooting for the middle rather than the top.  It's like a cannon shot.  If you shoot straight ahead, the shell hits the ground too soon.  You need to aim high just to go forward.  If you're not going up, you're going down.  But on the whole, I like the way you're thinking.  Your family and your future as a family--nothing matters more.

[Cools!]

Priorities change. It's all good.

[K-man]

My one caution about what you said would be shooting for the middle rather than the top.  It's like a cannon shot.  If you shoot straight ahead, the shell hits the ground too soon.  You need to aim high just to go forward.  If you're not going up, you're going down. 

While I agree with you, if I can live simply and still make enough money to save/invest, then I've effectively aimed high.  At least that's the way I see it.

Unfortunately now even with spending wisely we're in survival mode.  Damn babies and their "needs"

[Quemaqua]

Totally with you, man. I've been feeling similarly lately. The only thing I really collect anymore is books, and while I buy the occasional game, that's more or less stopped now because I just can't spend money on basically anything. And I've realized that my career as a writer is what's important to me, and those I care about, not a "job" and not financial or material gain. It does feel better to let go of baggage, be that physical crap that's in our way, or mental crap that's loading us down (and very often the two get wrapped up in our material stuff).

Anyway, kudos! I think that's great. Hope you can keep up that mentality, I think it's a lot healthier.

[Ace_O_Spades]

The concept of simple living is something that I aspire to, but never seem to accomplish. My one major vice is books and comics. Two things that I could very easily read digitally but I love having a mini-library in our room.

However, I really do like one particular sub-section of the simple living movement: tiny houses. My brother-in-law lives in one, it's ~375 square feet based on the tumbleweed design. It has all the basic necessities and encourages you to spend far more time outside. I had a dream about buying a medium sized lot on Vancouver Island and building some smaller structures around a central garden / patio area. In certain municipalities, building codes change when you drop below 500 square feet so you could build your main place (I found some nice plans that hover around 700 square feet, as well as have an office / guest area based on one of these designs.

We did a huge purge of stuff when we moved into this place we're living in now, but still have lots left to purge. Tons of old nostalgia that I have to shed my attachment to.

[idolminds]

I've actually been looking at building my own tiny house.

[gpw11]

I'm a constant purger.  I don't hold on to anything - especially money.  The last part of that statement is a huge problem for me.


And those tiny houses look pretty sweet.  It's funny,  was just browsing apartments as I'm moving in a few months and like to get caught up on whats out there.  There are places in downtown Vancouver going for $700-$800 a month.  Strange, right?  ~100 sq ft.   Shared bathrooms.  Crazy.

[ren]

I'm a constant purger.  I don't hold on to anything - especially money.  The last part of that statement is a huge problem for me.


And those tiny houses look pretty sweet.  It's funny,  was just browsing apartments as I'm moving in a few months and like to get caught up on whats out there.  There are places in downtown Vancouver going for $700-$800 a month.  Strange, right?  ~100 sq ft.   Shared bathrooms.  Crazy.

It's weird because I think a part of me would be willing to pay a premium for lower square footage. A 2000 sq ft house with a yard means so much stuff to buy and maintain. I'd be happy with a tiny condo in the sky if it meant I didn't have to do any of those things.

That said 100 sq ft is kind of ridiculous. This is Canada - we have plenty of space. The only reason people pay that much for places that smaller are poor zoning and building regulations. In Toronto, you'll see a series of 30-50 story buildings lining a street and then kilometeres of 2 story residential. Zone the smaller streets for mid-rise and we'll all be winners.