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Do you guys buy things or are you minimalist

3K views 44 replies 43 participants last post by  harrison 
#1 ·
How much money do you waste /week?
 
#3 ·
I don't have money and pretty much have to ask my parents for anything I get so I can't afford to waste anything.

I'm not exactly a minimalist and my room is pretty much a mess but that's because it's just a small room and I have to pack everything I own (and everything I have ever owned and kept up to this point) into it. If I had a basement or a garage or something like most people do there wouldn't hardly be anything in here.

I don't really buy many things I don't actually need. My biggest problem is I don't have a lot of storage space that's out of sight. I could do it but I'd have to buy (relatively) expensive stuff to make it happen. And that (according to my mother) is wasteful spending. I have a few large items that were just not meant for a small space. A full sized bed takes up a huge chunk of space, for example. But there's not much alternative. A bed isn't really a luxury item. It isn't unnecessary or wasteful. EXCEPT when you're not using it.

Actually, I probably do tend to keep some things that are basically junk simply because my parents are so stingy and I often do find that random things that can be reused do come in handy later on. I try to keep that to a minimum though. If I can't see myself using it within a month I throw it away.
 
#9 ·
I don't have any money, so I don't really waste anything. Aside from my Netflix subscription, I spent about $50 on myself last year on "non-essentials" -- I bought some used books.

But I'm a materialist at heart. I'd have a lot of things if I could afford to buy them. I have over 1,000 books and I'd have at least 1,000 more if I could buy them. And shoes, dolls, houses, robots, genetically modified animals ... sigh. So many things to buy and so little money.
 
#10 ·
I buy very little. I haven't bought anything since Christmas except groceries. My clothes and shoes I buy cheap. What's ironic is just before my husband got laid off, I finally got used to the fact that we had extra money now, between his promotions and the kids being gone and out of school. I was planning to buy a few luxury items. I did buy a new floor for the downstairs and my husband bought a new sportscar. Then we were laid off. That was back in April, and he found about 2 months work in the fall, and besides that, nada. If you go to put gas in your car and the price has gone way up, know that we'll be celebrating here, because the oil companies will finally start hiring again.
 
#11 ·
I don't even have a sofa or a television. And I sleep on a mattress that is directly on the floor. The flooring is wood and I have not bought any rugs. I don't see the point in rugs. Just seems like clutter and would be a pain to clean.

I hate knick knacks. Knick knacks are just clutter that gets dusty and takes up valuable counter/table space. Any decoration should go on the wall, so as to not take up space.

I like to put everything inside a drawer or a cabinet. I do have one coffee table in the living room that I leave paper, mail, pens, etc. on. But other than that I don't like leaving stuff out on counters.

I'm not as extreme as my former roommate, the neurotic middle-aged Japanese neat freak. She wouldn't even let me leave my shampoo bottles on the edge/corners of the bathtub. When you get that forgone or anal retentive, you really should not live with roommates. She also took offense to having 2 hand soap dispensers next to the bathroom sink. It bothered her greatly....hahahahaha....LOL....you can't make this sh*t up. I won't even get into our tense toilet paper discussion.
 
#13 ·
I'm kind of a minimalist. I'm really into interior design and rooms only look good if you're selective about what you have and they're not packed with junk. I also hate holding onto stuff from my past; it accumulates over years, and it's just more stuff to lug around, clean etc. If I'm not using it, it gets sold or donated. It's very liberating and refreshing to get rid of stuff. I could have written that Marie Kondo book. I read it, and I basically already do everything she suggests.
 
#20 ·
I'm not that materialistic. I've been told so by just about every gf (and ex-wife) I've had lol. I don't spend much money on myself. But I guess it's a matter of perspective also. I mean, I do have a nice 42" flatscreen tv, a queen size bed, laptop, Playstation...I do spend money on clothes occasionally, but I think I spend less than most guys probably. I really don't spend much on myself at all on a weekly basis. Material things don't do much for me, and I don't get that "high" from shopping that some people do (not normally, anyway).
 
#21 ·
I barely ever shop or buy anything. If I'm spending money, it's usually because I'm going somewhere. I have stuff and parts for stuff I use that's built up over the years, but outside of that I'm not a big spender. Every now and then I'll buy something that needs replacing or that I've been wanting for awhile, but yeah. I do have a surplus of random bits and bobs from projects I've worked on that I need to sort through though! Stuff like that seems to collect over the years. I think I place more value on experiences than things; if it's not something I use, then I don't feel a need to own it. My most used stuff consists of my coffee maker, truck, tools, my bike, ski's and my fencing stuff. :)
 
#23 ·
I live out of a suitcase a lot of the time for work and live between 2 houses when not working one house is fairly minimalist with only the normal house hold stuff but no dust collecting crap it more like a house no one lives in much which is exactly what it is , the other is the same except for the shed which is full of toys , cars , boats , motor bikes , camper trailer heaps of **** which all does get used and is most definitely not minimalist .
So I guess I'm a contradiction as I live minimal for half the time and in excess the other half but the two halfs never mix . It's a all or nothing .
 
#24 ·
I try to. But I always like to jump on good deals on things I think I might need. Usually I end up not using them and they get stashed away and piled up. I am not as bad as before though. A few times I tried going minimalist mode, I often run into situations where I would lack something I urgently needed.

I think people can get away living as a minimalist if they live very close to stores, where they can just get something in a jiffy easily if they need. Realistically, living as a minimalist is hardly practical.

As long as I don't become an insane hoarder, I will be satisfied enough.
 
#25 ·
Retail

when I know what I need

metal tools
electronics

front-facing staff never have a solution. I had this at age 9
nobody knows, or approaches me by touting oiffers

Food
never requiring assistance
but told I can't checkout...

big scramble between people
employer and employee too
 
#26 ·
If I had control of the money I would be careful with it and save some but probably not a whole lot. I usually had $100s set aside just as a teenager that I occasionally spent all of on some new hobby but I had no bills I had to keep something aside for then. Since my husband controls the accounts and he can't plan 2 days in advance (sometimes 1 is a stretch) I just spend whatever until he complains. He won't give me any money info and he's inconsistent on what we have so I tried to establish a budget but then I got in trouble despite staying within my budget he agreed on. To hell with it. Might as well do what I want until he snaps at me. Then I argue I have no info to go on as to where we stand and we do it again in a month or 2. Although it's getting to the point of us both giving up and he just says whatever until "we're broke this week and eating cheap pizza". Thanks for the warning and cheap pizza and macaroni it is. Just keep buying my mountain dew throwback and I'll figure the rest out.
 
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