A big topic for folks today is downsizing their lives (at home), and how to get to a minimalist lifestyle. I agree that if you have too much stuff and it is sucking the life out of you, then yes, get rid of it, but I am proposing a much more critical technique when it comes to downsizing, and I am hoping it revolutionizes how people think about downsizing.
As an example of this new concept, say you walk into a store and you see an awesome new tablet computer that you are sure will help you wow your neighbours, make you irresistible to women and help your internet experience be that much better, remember these simple words, “You don’t need it”. (YDNI)
The reason I call this revolutionary concept Orthogonal Downsizing is that it is the opposite to downsizing (or perpendicular to the downsizing plane of existence), if you never buy all this stuff, you don’t have to worry about downsizing (and you have the money you didn’t spend, but that is a pronounced side effect).
If you stay on the Orthogonal Downsizing plane of existence you have the added benefits of:
- Not having your basement full of stuff that might catch fire and burn all your nice stuff (and maybe you).
- You won’t have to pay rent on a storage unit, because you have that much stuff, that it doesn’t fit in your “Stuff Holder” (be that your house, apartment, parents’ basement, trunk of your car, etc.,). I am unsure which industry has faster growth potential, Pay Day Loan places or You Storage Units, but I digress.
- The danger of being crushed to death by a pile of stuff you no longer use, when it falls on you is diminished a great deal.
- The word downsizing isn’t needed in your vocabulary (you can replace with a cool word like Orthogonal).
Is YDNI the New YOLO?
If you want to get YDNI tattooed on the knuckles of your right hand (or your spending hand), good! This might slow down that urge to buy the deluxe cheese straightener that you feel you simply must have. Stop the urge to buy the granite mortar and pestle set to make sure your curly basil is prepared correctly. YOLO? No YDNI!
Stop buying crap, and if you rent a storage unit, you are in trouble. You need to get rid of stuff. You don’t need it (YDNI)!
Sigh… I have too much stuff. AND two storage lockers. Need to declutter big time, let alone get rid of crap! Problem is I am a worse salesperson than anyone I know. I can barely be bothered to put stuff on Craigslist/Ebay. I have a ton of stuff just waiting for me to take pics to be able to sell the stuff, but just haven’t been bothered enough.
I am sure it stems from not having stuff when I was a kid, so it is psychological in nature, but getting from knowing it and doing something about it is where my problem is. Don’t know what to do about that though…
Don’t worry about selling stuff, give it away!!!
Why don’t you just flood your basement again?
That’s where the idea came from, flooding your basement is a drastic solution, but it does work too!
There’s a lot of truth in this post. I have always been a chronic hoarder. I have tried to make my mantra for the last couple of years that if I don’t love it, it doesn’t come into my home. I’m not 100% with this yet but it has greatly put a dent in my spending habits. Now I am trying to focus on decluttering.
I find our kids are responsible for most of our accumulated stuff. As they grow older, everything they want eventually distills down to a pocket-sized handheld device though, so out goes everything else. Case in point: this weekend our church hosted an electronics recycling weekend. We managed to get out 2 386s complete with CRT monitors, towers and base power supplies; one b&w portable tv; a 486 with monitor, gaming tower, and peripherals (can you say zip drive?!). All of this equipment came to us used as donations so we didn’t worry about the cost but it sure did take up space. It served its time well hosting Reader Rabbit and Dr. Seuss.
Once they take flight and take their furniture with them we will be back to our original Japanese minimalist. That’s a few years down the road, though. And it pre-supposes we manage to set them on route that leads to gainful employment. Having spoken to many friends/relatives whose children are still trying to find that first ‘real’ job, I think that’ll be a major challenge.
You can also return that stuff to your Local Future Shop or Best Buy (and if they say no, point out they charge folks for the “Eco Fee” so they should take your electronic crap back too).
True, we have taken stuff to Future Shop before (although I’m pretty sure it ended up in their dumpster out back.) What surprised me when our church organized this drop-off day, is that it’s actually a fundraiser. They get paid per weight for the stuff collected. It’s the same reason we have paper recycling bins on our property. Much of the paper comes from newspaper distribution agents who dump huge quantities of unsold papers.