Aspiring Minimalist, getting stuck on keeping items just in case.

[Lance22]

Going back to van life soon. Everything I own can fit inside my minivan.

However...

I feel like im still stuck on clutter and chaotic mess. I don't think I can "live out of a backpack" however I feel I should be easily able to live out of the back of my minivan again and live out of a series of bags and backpacks and storage bins. I'm putting in a freezer and a bigger fridge and will have 3-4 bins for my food storage and cooking supplies, my toiletries is down to 2 bags. One daily use bag and one that I want to keep in a storage locker to refill and restock. ( I noticed minivan lee, does that uses a storage locker to store bulk purchases and to keep some storage , im not concerend about the added cost since I will be giving up my 800+ rent apartment completely )

Clothing I have it down to 4 duffle bags but plan on downsizing that further. Extra blankets and seasonal clothing also be great to keep in storage locker as well.

I have old taxes and w2's that I need to rip up and other papers and stuff I need to let go as well.. I have a desktop computer I need to switch to a laptop and let that go as well. Been draging my feet on that, also I have two bikes I been hanging on likely just keep them in the storage locker as well since I want to keep at least the mt. bike, the fat tire bike for winter biking might be let go but.... kinda don't want to...

I have some power tools and cheap wrenches and stuff as well likely will hang on to them. I got a nice clearance bag to store my cordless drill I used to build and mount my 400 watts of solar on my roof.

I'm really excited to cull a bunch more junk out of my life and I have been buying things to replace old falling apart tools and things I kept for too long. I know minimalism is different for everyone. I've kept what is important. My dogs ashes and her blanket so she will always be ridding in the co-captain chair.

However I really want to make some breakthrough in ways of thinking to help get me to less clutter.

There is a channel on youtube by the name of NanoBytesInc that is so inspiring.
The content he has put out recently he seems to own next to nothing. It's a very different lifestyle and not exactly what I want to live for myself given I want food storage and a means to cook food but I still find it fascinating! and inspiring.

Maybe any other minimalists know of some good concepts or books to help inspire such a more aggressive approach or better understanding of such what the concept is or what...

I'm not really sure what im asking for but, I feel like I have already made it to a high level of mininalism but I just want to get to a much more advanced level.

 

[SunshineVibes]

Following. I'm trying to whittle down my possessions. Very challenging! I respect how far you've gotten!

I'll check out NanoBytesInc later!

 

[maki2]

Sorry, there is no solution to the problem of having stuff. But you could start reading the “Jack Reacher” series of books. He is nomadic and travels with just the clothes on his back and a toothbrush and wallet. But no cell phone or charger. Obviously a fictional story book character.

 

[WanderingRose]

A good rule of thumb is to take with you what you use, get rid of or store the rest, and reassess that every time you visit your storage unit..

With our first RV, an old Class C, I had every nook and cranny stuffed to the gills, just in case I needed something.

When we went to a van, storage space in here is so minimal that it required carrying much, much less, and whenever possible items that could serve multiple purposes.

 

[bullfrog !]

I found it useful to use a time limit that things could be stored without using them. If I put a box in storage I would write on it the date it was stored. If I hadn’t got it out of storage within a year I didn’t need it, and realized storage probably was costing me more than it was worth to replace it if I did have a need.

 

[mbrasseau]

I found it useful to use a time limit that things could be stored without using them. If I put a box in storage I would write on it the date it was stored. If I hadn’t got it out of storage within a year I didn’t need it, and realized storage probably was costing me more than it was worth to replace it if I did have a need.

Many people are jumping onto this mindset, but I could not make this realistically work. First, I have many items for use in emergencies. Those emergencies might happen once a year, or once every several years. Either way, having them saves me thousands of dollars. I have many of these items. I pay a bit over a single thousand a year to keep them... to save MANY thousands at each emergency event by having them.

But for things like clothing, toys, impulse buys... this certainly can work. But doesn't solve the problem of why they were bought in the first place.

Simply "not buying" has worked better for me. Just being content with what I already have, and only buying if something can be useful long-term. But it did take me a while to get to that place.

 

[mbrasseau]

A good rule of thumb is to take with you what you use, get rid of or store the rest, and reassess that every time you visit your storage unit..

I'm in a sedan, and this reassessment happens on the daily. I have a "transition" bag in the car, one in the trunk, and a couple transition and miscellaneous totes in storage. These are specifically for me to put things in when they are incoming, outgoing, or I'm just deciding where or if I want the item.

Every time I am at my storage (which is daily or every other day) is about an hour or so of reorganization and sorting.

 

[WanderingRose]

That’s a great idea, and I do that at home with a box for when the grands have their own places, and also an area for things to go to Goodwill.

We can accumulate soooo much stuff.

 

[mpruet]

In addition to setting a time-limit on ‘when was the last time you used something’, sometimes it will help to ask yourself something like “If I didn’t have this, would I now go out and buy it?” If the answer is ‘no’, then toss it.

 

[Frood]

Simply "not buying" has worked better for me. Just being content with what I already have, and only buying if something can be useful long-term. But it did take me a while to get to that place.

I find myself "un-shopping" more and more frequently as I evaluate the plans for whatever I placed
in my cart and consider... If I never use it, then it doesn't matter how much of a sale-price the item was.
It's still not a good discount.

I've also found that grocery shopping while hungry and planning to make dinner is absolutely the
WORST time to be in a supermarket...

 

[towboater]

In addition to setting a time-limit on ‘when was the last time you used something’, sometimes it will help to ask yourself something like “If I didn’t have this, would I now go out and buy it?” If the answer is ‘no’, then toss it.

In addition to setting a time-limit on ‘when was the last time you used something’, sometimes it will help to ask yourself something like “If I didn’t have this, would I now go out and buy it?” If the answer is ‘no’, then toss it.

My problem is I know I have the item I need in stock in my shop. But I can’t remember where I put said item. So I run out and buy new and then a week later find what I had previously been looking for. I need to have a sale and start over. It’s hell getting old!

 

[Carla618]

My problem is I know I have the item I need in stock in my shop. But I can’t remember where I put said item. So I run out and buy new and then a week later find what I had previously been looking for. I need to have a sale and start over. It’s hell getting old!

Me, too!

 

[mpruet]

My problem is I know I have the item I need in stock in my shop. But I can’t remember where I put said item. So I run out and buy new and then a week later find what I had previously been looking for. I need to have a sale and start over. It’s hell getting old!

Do you prefer the alternative?

 

[towboater]

Do you prefer the alternative?

 

[Michael11]

... It’s hell getting old!

My view is that, "I may be old, but I'm on top of the dirt." Hope that brings a smile to someone's face.

 

[LoveCareThinkDo]

Every time the subject of minimalism comes up, whether in this forum years ago, or on Reddit, almost every week, most people seem to jump to the mindset that minimalism has some sort of virtue in and of itself. That leads them to practicing minimalism for it's own sake, rather than for the benefits it provides. I am well known as a pretty extreme minimalist amongst people who know me, but I believe in a different mindset. I wrote about it best in a Reddit comment a couple of months ago:

A minimalist doesn't make 475 YouTube videos showing how minimalist they are in 1,472 different locations. A minimalist doesn't buy a $175 gadget so that they can throw away four $3 gadgets. A minimalist doesn't sit on the floor of a $5,000 a month apartment to prove that they have no stuff in that four bedroom apartment for one person.

I made a different post about this a year or so back. People going to so much more trouble to prove that they are doing less of something is actually more. It is more status signaling. It is more trouble. It is more of almost everything.

True minimalism is simply feeling less need for stuff. You might have a lot of stuff. But you don't need that stuff. Or, you got the minimum version of whatever that stuff is. I have an apartment full of furniture. Every single piece of it was free, and only two pieces match, and that's absolutely accidental. Most of it I got when a guy down the hall died and his family didn't want to mess with his stuff. So the apartment manager just opened up the apartment and said people can come in and take stuff. Because most people already had their apartments stocked with furniture, it just pretty much fell to me by default. I spent exactly zero time picking out which furniture I wanted. I just drug it down the hall and stuck at where it would fit.

I tried really hard to find the previous post that I mentioned, but Reddit's search seems to only go back so far in time. I went on and on about how I think so many YouTube "minimalists" are fake. And how their so-called "minimalism" was just so much more of everything. More Instagram posts. More purging rituals. More followers.... you get the idea.

I have since given away almost all of that furniture, and the rest will go to a friend in a couple of days. It wasn't some big catharsis for me. It was merely a setting down of something I had in my hand, so I could do some other thing that I wanted to do more.

I don't believe minimalism is something that you can consciously do. You just allow it to be. There are no procedures. There is just acceptance of less.... if that is necessary or convenient at the time.

 

[Geneeus]

I feel exactly as you do. I only wish I could have written it as well.

 

[mpruet]

I have a condo in Colorado at 650 sq. Ft. I also spend a lot of time in the summer in my van build. So I classify myself as a bit of a minimalist. But I don’t spend so much time in smaller living spaces because of the magic of minimalism, but because I can clean up my entire living space in less than an hour.

 

[LargeMarge]

... stuck on clutter and chaotic mess... bins for my food storage and cooking supplies...
Clothing [in] duffle bags...
...power tools and cheap wrenches...
... to make some breakthrough...
Maybe any other minimalists know of some good concepts or books to help inspire such a more aggressive approach or better understanding of such...

.
a)
We are the same way, we abhor clutter.
After anything gets used, it immediately stows back into its crate or cubby.
.
Instead of bags for your duffle, we use translucent flip-top totes for our duffle.
.
2003, we built our ExpeditionVehicle.
If I was to re-model, I would consider a raising bed-platform.
This would give much easier access to everything we stow under our current permanent bed.
.
Thinking about a raisable bed platform, I wonder about tilting, so the bed could be a recliner?
.
.
b)
Instead of books and videos, we do better with Real-World use.
Hands-on, with months of living with a change... partly to verify its interaction or interference with our other established routines.
.
Example:
Closing-in on two decades full-time live-aboard in our ExpeditionVehicle, we slowly considered mounting a permanent exterior shelf for cooking during warmer weather.
For months, we measured and debated, setting the energy in motion.
.
One day after meeting with a chum, we bopped into the used restaurant equipment store.
Back in one corner in a pile of scrap metal, we discovered three oddball wire shelves for a rack unit.
Thoughtfully pre-rusted and pre-crusted by the former users, we snagged them in a sec!
.
Their rancidity perfectly matches our diesel-punk exterior 'theme'.
.
.
Short version:
Give it time.
Necessary stuff will be obvious.
Unnecessary will be equally obvious.
.
.
Our introduction with plenty of portraits, plus our reasons for our decisions:
https://vanlivingforum.com/threads/expeditionvehicle-build.44908/#post-576110

 

[Cy_5th]

Love this! I think I am minimalist. It all started of course at a home with the parents. It all started just trying consolidate things, like clothes. It's probably more of a learned trait than anything. Just donating the old and keeping what you use and what to clean a on scheduled basis. The more you have the more you use and later have to deal with later instead of now ie clean etc. If that makes any sense. Coming from parents who "hoard" made me really think about this. You should see my parents garage. My dad though (I know I have his skills dna wise loll) is a handy man and built cabinets to keep all the 'treasures" AND I understand where my parents are coming from though. They hoard because they never had stuff growing up so they cannot let things go like I can. Ok I'm getting with emotional.

Thank you for this thread.