MINIMALIST LIVING

[Lady Blue]

Ditto.

[summersong]

Not everyone is expected to live out of a suitcase, true. Like I said, there are people in the planet who take minimalist living to heart and to the extreme, and just live on the barest of essentials. A change of clothes, one pair of shoes, a set of clothes for work, the most basic of toiletries. No tv, no paper, no jewelry, no eye cream. No one will essentially die if they own just one set of clothes -- that's what I meant by some people's definition of minimalist living. And I'm not that kind of minimalist.

What's being discussed in this thread, and correct me if I'm wrong, is the kinder, more people-friendly version of minimalist living. It's another way of coining a streamlined lifestyle, free of clutter and excess. It's wiser and more selective spending, it's keeping your affairs in order and hassle-free (including social calendars), it's arranging your lifestyle so that your financial status is kept in the black and out of debt. If that is the case, then I've always been a minimalist, at least in most matters. And I've always been in favor of minimalist designs, which may be part of or separate from a minimalist lifestyle. Minimalist living is a 21st century term. Decades back it's been called many other names. I just referred to it as simple living.

[rae]

^ I think you're a true minimalist too. And I agree, some people think minimalism is having no jewelry etc, just like what you said.

There's no one way to live a minimalist lifestyle and I  don't think there's such a thing as more minimalist or less minimalist coz we are different in where we place value or importance.  Minimalism is very relative.

It's very likely that many of those who live in a suitcase put very high value on travel or mobility.

[kaiz]

question: what do you do dun sa mga giveaways? actually hindi ako kumukuha ng giveaways sa weddings, binyag, etc but can't say no na kapag talagang inabot na sayo diba? and nung pasko, ang dami kong na receive na figurines and mugs i can't just throw them away naman.

[pinklilac]

I am glad I found this thread. 


And I am so glad that my boyfriend has the same principle in life; less is more and only spend when really necessary. I have learned a lot from him pagdating sa simple living at pagtitipid. We grow our own vegetables, we have tomatoes and peppers and some herbs on our 2mx2m garden box And sis, do you know that you could make yoghurt from powdered milk? Yes, pwede! Amazed at first. BF knows a lot about being cheap, tee hee!! Although matipid kami, I don't feel deprived, which is important.

And we splurge on our houseboat that is being built and the equipment that will go into it.

hi sis.. i agree with your sytle,.ganyan din kame ni fiance.simple living pero hindi i di deprive ang sarili.. OT.. paano gumawa ng yoghurt  from powdered milk? btw, can u pls share (one matapos) some photos of your soon to be houseboat.sounds interesting.
tia

[rae]

Kaiz, yan din problem ko. Nung last holiday season, I kinda implied to many of my close friends and family na I want to get together instead of receiving gifts.

Nabawasan yung gifts pero madami pa din akong natanggap. I gave many of them away to charity nung bumagyo. Yung iba naman, binigay ko sa mga tao na makaka-appreciate talaga nung item. Pero I didn't "re-gift" it. Tipong, random bigay lang and sinabi ko talaga na I got this as a gift and I have no use for it. I know you've been wanting to get one of these for the longest time... Something like that.

[kaiz]

^yung mga figurines nga binigay ko na yung iba sa helpers namin. hehe. pero meron pa din. yung mugs nalang

[joyzee]

nice thread! i've been trying to adapt simple living too, it is only through this thread that i have learned that MINIMALIST is the term used for this kind of lifestyle.

Collecting stuff has really been my hobby for as long as i could recall.. basta kung ano ang interest ko at a particular moment, talagang i'll make a collection out of it, mga makeup, shoes, dresses, bags, accessories, etc. supershopaholic ako during my teenage years, mga parents ko pa bfore were payin for d bills.. i never really learned the value of money then until i got married.

when i met my husband, sa kanya ko natututo ng pagiging practical, kasi very simple sya and he make sure that he is living within his means.. during early part of our marriage, hindi pa din ako totally nakaka-adjust, but latter part of Last year, nagaudit ako of my personal expenses (credit card bills ) and thats when i realize something's got to change na talaga.

I am just thankful na kahit papaano debt free pa nman kami when i get to realize this,  and we still have savings and sources of income... kasi it would be tougher if umabot pa sa ganung point.

now, i make sure that what i buy are necessities but of good quality. it has been almost 5mos pa lang since i've been undergoin this process, but so far im feelin good and much happier, mas nagkaroon ng meaning and focus ang life ko now.

[lonelymiss28]

rule dito sa bahay, pag hindi ginagamit ipamigay, pag kakasya sa balikbayan box, ipadala sa pinas.

Lahat ng mga gamit sa kusina yun lang yung everyday namin ginagamit. I dont even have a china cabinet or china plates kasi ayokong magtago ng mga plates na mamahalin then maalikabukan lang. Isa pa yun sa lilinisin ko.

Same sa lahat ng room, and most of our furniture custom made para tama lang sya sa laki ng room at panghabangbuhay ang tibay(asawa ko gumagawa kasi he likes carpentry).

Sa mga kids kung ano lang ang toys na nilalaro nila yun lang ang nasa room nila lahat sa pinas ko pinapadala. Saka isa pang rule sa lahat ng gamit (toys, shoes, kitchen stuff, bags etc.) pag may stain, butas, kupas ay itatapon or ibibgay sa salvation army pag pwede pa naman.

It was 4 years ago when I decided to be minimalist so I have to give away a LOT of my stuff. That year I sent at least 20 pairs of shoes (half of them new), 30 bags and 3 garbage bags of clothes...4 na balikbayan boxes. I feel like crying but then I felt better after seeing my closet with lots of room.

So ngayon, hindi ako bibili not unless 75% off or more (new). or 50% off kung ukay (grabeh noh!!! ultimo ukay). Even a lot of our furniture I buy it sa ukay then refurnish ko na lang ang ganda ng dating at matibay pa. All the furnitures and everything  (paintings, lights) in the guest room are all ukay and my friend told me that it looks like a model room of a condo.

So being a minimalist doesnt mean boring, it depends on us how we are going to make the space pretty.

Because of this kind of living we saved so much na instead of paying the house for 20 years mababayaran namin in 15 years and 5 more years to go AND naipon na namin yun pang 5 years na bayarin so thank God for that.

[rae]

^
^^
Thanks for sharing your stories. They inspired me.

I really noticed the value of simple/ minimalist living when we had to move. I live in the city very near my workplace and malls. Nakakatuwa na nagbawas ako ng super daming stuff and furniture and clothes and shoes... All of our stuff was able fit in a 40sqm floor space. A small floor space also means rent is cheap.

I realized that if I hadn't disposed of a lot of my stuff, baka kinailangan pa namin maghanap ng bigger space which would cost us more.

[patriciaheart]

di ako bumibili ng kahit ano except yummy food pero yun lang, at mas gumanda buhay ko

[kaiz]

@LONELYMISS28 -- pano kung may parties? hindi ba kukulangin your plates and other utensils?

[rae]

^ if I may (we have just enough plates and glasses for the 2 of us in the house)

Minimalist living is a lifestyle choice and it will depend on your needs. If you throw a lot of parties. You might need a lot of plates and glasses nga or just use disposable ones. E.g., if you invite people every week, keep those extra plates coz you actually need them.

Pero if you're really decided on living a more minimalist life and you don't have people over that frequently, you might change a lot of habits in your life talaga. Like, you might just go out na lang instead of throwing a party in your house. It really depends on what you need.

A lot of plates and glasses that are used just once or twice a year take up so much space. And when I think about it, since dinispose ko na a lot of our "extras", I haven't encountered a time na I badly needed them.

[melmedrano]

same here, we have set of plates and utensils for 8 people only... we don't throw parties sa bahay... the only one celebrated so far was the house blessing and the food was catered... kaya di talaga namin naging problem yan. Also, small lang ang family ko, both sa side naming mag asawa kaya kahit pa may dumalaw na kamag anak carry pa rin... friends ko naman usually meet na lang kami sa labas, layo rin kasi ng house namin. Given such situation, ok lang na enough lang yung plates and utensils for daily use. But if you have a big family and lots of friends who visits you always, you might consider an x number of plates and utensila that are for them, plus serving plates... if you do not want disposables. Just keep it to a minimum para di naman masyado mag-occupy ng malaking space.

[quennna]

kami nga, no sofa..
just two monoblock chair and 1 swivel chair for pc table..
kaya di kami allowed magkabisita... lol

[michi247]

^i can relate, after namin bahain nung milenyo 2k6, hindi na ko bumili ng sofa kaya pag may gusto pumunta sa min, sinasabi magmeet na lang kami sa labas. pag sinabi nila na "ayaw mo ba magpadalaw". sasabihin ko talaga na wala kami sofa so wala kayo uupuan. hehe! ayaw pa nga maniwala nung una. =)

pero meron na ko sofa ngayon nung lumipat na kami bahay, paranoid kasi ko dati na baka magbaha ulit at masira sofa, which is nagkatotoo nga, bumaha ulit nung ondoy pero buti nakalipat na kami 2wks bago magkaondoy.

[rae]

 ^ Haha, michi247, nakaka-relate ako. Just last week, tinanong ako, "bakit di mo kami iniinvite sa bahay nyo?"

E naisip ko, wala silang uupuan Haha, pwede upo sila sa bed or ipaglalatag ko sila ng banig tapos indian-sit na lang.

Ayaw din maniwala

[chefron]

after experiencing something unusual we have to transfer to my sis house. i only packed our clothing.
even if i have a cabinet full of clothes, all i can say is nagkasya sa isang box ang "essentials" ko. na kung iisipin, tama yung linya sa movie ni julia roberts, "all your existence would only fit inside a box" (something like that)

as of now im quite sure that we are a minimalist family. no excess toys, gadgets or clothes that hang around or not in use.

i can relate sa flatware, pang 8 lang [textspeak!] amin tas pang 12 [textspeak!] baso.

ayoko din ng masyadong maraming gamit sa bahay.

[tenshi26]

I'm a minimalist too, kung ano lang talaga ang importante and necessary na gamitin. For example, bakit pa bibili ng latest phone? Kung meron ka na naman, diba? Dahil lang ba sa kaligayahan na hatid nito kung mapapasakamay mo na ito? Well, for me, panandali-an lang naman ang happiness na hatid nyan. The important is nako-contact mo family & friends mo. Sa panahon ngayon, dapat practical talaga..

[showermist]

I am a minimalist.  And I have the latest smartphone.  The smartphone alone is a form of minimalism: I dont have to carry books because I have the iBooks; I dont need to buy my morning papers because I can access the news on my phone; I don't have to carry with me my planner because i have my iCalendar; i don't have to carry around my laptop just because; i don't need to get myself a sudoko or crossword puzzle because i already have some games downloaded on my phone; the list can go on...

It's not at all the kaligayahan that the 'latest' smartphone can give me--but it replaces a tremendous lotsa.

Having the latest phone doesn't always mean being impractical. It is the exact opposite for people who have a busy lifestyle like me.