I feel like an instant expert on this subject, because I'm sitting in a house that's ~30% smaller than the previous one surrounded by boxes that filled the previous one up, nearly. And those boxes, before, in the dry summer heat of the New Mexico mountains, were quite dessicated; here they're greedily sucking up the humidity and taking on that peculiar wet cardboard odor -- so, like those demented hermits you read about, we're living amidst piles and piles of smelly stuff with little paths between the rooms.

And, compared to many folks, I'm certain that we really don't have that much stuff -- most of it is books, it seems. No matter how hard I try, paring down the number of books just doesn't work very well. And then there's the electronics -- computer boxes and audio/video equipment boxes and so on. Hell, there are at least four boxes of just cables! But how do you live without computers (of course, you wouldn't be reading my whining in that case...)? And just because I'm still toting around a pair of loudspeakers that I got in college...well, they still sound great (Dynaco A-25s)...and they're teak, for heaven's sake.

Anyway, every now and then, like now amidst the boxes, old Henry's admonition to simplify hits home. Fewer clothes, less kitchen gear, only critical reference books, less electronic gear -- it begins to look like an attractive approach.

This time, it's underscored by our success with living light for our trip from Los Alamos to here in the S. More clothes than it turned out we needed and the laptop worked just fine. But we sure did get tired of restaurants all the time.

So what's the sentiment out there? Do we own our stuff, or does it own us? HPH

 

Dr.,

You're writing on a forum dedicated to a car...

 

Ah, yes. Everytime I move, I am in the same boat. We will probably move again in a few months and it will be a nightmare all over again. I keep telling my wife to get rid of 50% of what we have but she will not budge. She keeps buying plates after plates and I've given up. I often look at the austere room of Vincent van Gogh's with a simple bed, wash basin table, a chair, and few paintings hanging on walls and imagine how wonderful simple life might be. However, my penchant for old stereo system with tons of old vinyls doesn't help.

 

We start out owning it, but in a very short period of time it takes over and owns us.

We've been trying, my wife and I, to simplify our lives but for every step we take forward, we seem to fall two behind. Sometimes I look around at all the things we own and all of the clutter in our lives and wonder when did we accumulate all of this.

Right now I am on a quest to replace my TL TypeS. The TL is my daily driver, and it is a bit more than I want. The new Civic is looking more and more attractive to me. The best part about it is that it is less car than the TL, not more. I just want to simplify things a little. Sometimes less is better.

 

I wrote a long reply, then decided to keep it simple.

Look at the dashboard of the S. Simple rules.

 

that simple is good.

With that stated: I now flash back to "reality". We have been in our house since 1987 and it is "AMAZING" how much smaller the house is now than when we moved in, even though we have added a 17' X 30' garage and an 16' X' 18 foot four season room in the past two years.

I am amazed at the number of self storage places that pop up all over the place around Northern Virginia. It reminds me of George Carlin's old routine about "STUFF".

We have a neighbor up the street from us that has $180,000 worth of cars sitting in their driveway because their two car garage is full of about $600 worth of junk!

If we proceed with our retirement plan we are going to have to have some serious yard sales over the next few years, to be able to scale down to fit ONLY what we need into a 40' or so motor home.

 

Great thread. I have been thinking about this quite a bit lately. I have some crap that I had back in my early 20s. I haven't used it yet, what makes me think I ever will? I need to do a serious yard sale, but I think there is a broader oppoertunity here.

I'm guessing most baby boomers are finding themselves in this same position. At the same time, the cost of living is making it harder for younger folks to get started. Maybe I need to start a chain of upscale second hand stores....

 

The thing is, as soon as you throw out, or give away, or sell, whatever it is you've been holding on to for years and years, you will finally find the need or use for it.

My excuse for some of the stuff I keep is that I want it for the grand kids, I may someday have. Like the grey cowgirl boots I bought in 1982. My daughter clumped around the front yard in them and undies, and I just have to save them for the chance that my grand daughter might do the same. Or the ultra cool, wrap around, golden-brown suede skirt with fringe I wore in 9th grade. I just know it will be the most awesome skirt for a grand daughter. Or the boxes of Dr. Seuss books that I could read to the grand kids.

But then there's the old paintings that I made, or lots of old photos, and I can't throw them away. I only look at them every few years but I just can't toss them.

 

I've always been a book and magazine hoarder.

I have at least 6,000 books in the house, and I get six monthly car magazines.

I bought 17 bookcases from my job when we moved buildings, and I now have an attic that looks like a library.

I guess we'll just have to buy a bigger house next time

 

There's an emotional piece to letting go of our stuff too. It's hard but I've got to get rid of most of my junk in case I move back to Texas in the future. My 38-year-old upright GE freezer finally died this week (they don't make them like that anymore) and as part of my paring down, I'm not going to replace it. Hey, it's a start.