Vegan Forum

I am the latter. I love to divest myself of items I rarely or never use. I also go through letters and cards that I've saved over the years and often get rid of many of them. Hopefully, my memory of the people who'd sent them will serve me well and allow me to get rid of clutter.
I get a sort of high when I unburden myself. I wonder, ofttimes, if I have a form of OCD, lol.

I love freecycle for this reason. I also bring the items to the goodwill or savers that free cyclers don't end up wanting.

Most people have a problem with hoarding and/or not getting rid of items. I wonder if there are any people who are minimalist types like myself.

A few of my friends tease me good-naturedly about my propensity for getting rid of stuff, lol...

lol - you're not alone! My boyfriend and father are both minimalists! It's a nightmare trying to stop them throwing out records and books! When my parents got divorced, my Dad's house had no carpets, no central heating, no TV, no microwave, and he bought me a beautiful wooden rocking chair instead of a sofa It was a lot of fun: I think it's good to live like that for a while My boyfriend hates my books, films and CDs - he wants everything on computer

I'm a hoarder but I try to keep only the things I really like or have sentimental value: I think it's better to buy a few good quality things, rather than buying bags of stuff every weekend I also have a few interesting old things like film cameras, teapots, stuff like that - you rarely use them but I like knowing how to use them Besides, it's sad that young people don't get to play with these things any more! I went to a museum last year, and some of my old cameras and computer were on display!!!

Of course, I like freecycle too - I am the person who wants your old bookcases

'becka, my mother used to get rid of my and my siblings' stuff. But I'd retrieve my stuff from the trash! But i bet I've inherited getting rid of things from her, though.

Wow, now, that was certainly minimalist in your dad's house, lol!!! Even my apt isn't quite that sparse!! And I do have central heating, even if I don't receive a ,lot of heat... And I just can't live without a microwave!!!!

You know, it intrigues me that your boyfriend wants everything on the pc. I worried about the HD getting wiped, and a friend told me that CDs and DVDs can get wiped if exposed to a magnetic source, just as a pc's HD can. I had been worried about DVDs and CDs, too, going the way of the dinosaur now with the advent of digital. He said I could store stuff on flash drives, which are getting bigger with mOre gigs of storage space all the time. Food for thought... I like the idea a lot, but feel bad that I have sooo many CDs, most of them pirated, lol, and a couple hundred DVDs, and I think of the money invested, and the media and their players, too, becoming obsolete some day. Anyway, the minimalist in me has said DVDs and CDs and soft wear discs in those folders with slots for the discs; they take up far less room than the jackets do; in fact, all 6 folders fit on one shelf!!

Wow, that museum sounds facinating!! Imagine a place where old computers are exhibited. Whew, now that makes me feel old as dirt!!! BUt, yeah, I k ow what you mean about cameras, etc. I have an old brownie I'd gotten at a rummage sale and I display it. My mom actually had one when I was a kid...

As for bookshelves, it's wild that you mention you want them, as a person posted on our freecycle here in western mass that they want bookcases. Coincidence indeed!

I'm a quasi minimalist. I'll throw out everything except for a book. (By throw out, I mean donate or recycle, of course.) I married a quasi-hoarder though. She's always packing things away, rotating the thing she keeps out, and I often find myself losing the few things I know I have, which drives me nuts. She usually finds what I'm looking for in the end though, which is great as I can't stand losing something, oddly enough given my proclivities for getting rid of things!

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yes. absolutely. i have quite a collection of items that are practically worthless, candles, broken guitars, articles of clothing long past their prime, books that i scavenged on a whim, you know the routine. yet these lost and misplaced items only have intrinsic value to me. i need to go on a rampage to toss the stuff, i always have second thoughts.