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Make digital copys and back them up on an external hard drive.
Thanks for your response. Don't you need to keep originals in some cases? If so, which ones? I'm thinking receipts for any tax write offs might need to be original, or is a digital copy good enough? I'd love to go completely digital, but my guess is that you have to keep some originals.
Thanks for your response. Don't you need to keep originals in some cases? If so, which ones? I'm thinking receipts for any tax write offs might need to be original, or is a digital copy good enough? I'd love to go completely digital, but my guess is that you have to keep some originals.
I never send in original copies to the IRS or State Revenue Department, so I would say a copy is all you need. You may want to check with the IRS or your States Revenue Department (if you have one). I personally just keep digital copies. Good luck.
I just wanted to add my 5 cents to say, don't just "toss" the originals, but to shred them!
Good point. I need to buy a new shredder before I begin my new year purging. I never just toss anything that has personal information on it, but for a big job tearing paper into tiny pieces won't cut it.
Good point. I need to buy a new shredder before I begin my new year purging. I never just toss anything that has personal information on it, but for a big job tearing paper into tiny pieces won't cut it.
My fireplace likes paper, just another alternative.
While I was never what I would consider a "mass consumer" (I certainly have purchased my share of "stuff" - both necessary and unnecessary), several moves have prompted me toward "owning" less and less over the years (and note that I have really only moved about 5 times in the last 20 years -- which may or may not seem like a lot to people -- but I like to experience living in new spaces/places). And, as I prepare to move from the frigid temperatures of Western New York to the milder Winters of the South (North Carolina) in 2015, I'm feeling the desire to become even more minimal.
I'm finding I would rather live a small space (like a tiny home or studio apartment) and have few things (but have them be high quality so they last) than I would have a 3BR and lots of extraneous "stuff".
I am selling or donating about 75% of what I currently have as I gear up to move.
Can anyone else relate to this?
The "movement" is really well explained here: The Minimalists
Anyway, I'm interested in talking to others who are into this lifestyle/ideology, and to also get support; it can be difficult to be a minimalist in a HIGHLY consumerist society.
~ Jeffrey
You own few or no tools and you hope that one of your friends owns a pickup truck. Am I right?
Your point is well taken, but I'm not certain why a person would require friends with such items, when in many locations they can be rented for a modest amount. Some public libraries even maintain tool libraries, so if you need a drill and a set of bits, you just just check them out.
Im sort of interested in it, but it seems cold. For me my home is sort of my nest, so I like various mementos, knickknacks, etc....they're sort of mnemonic devices. Lots of prints and stuff on the wall, comfy chair, warm wood furniture, tableclothes and coverlets, books I can browse, old beersteins and pint glasses and coffee mugs and a mason jar for ice tea, a bunch of souvenir refrigerator magnets, etc....cozy not minimalist...that Spartan thing would leave me cold.
I am pretty minimalist on wardrobe. I adopted this sort of rustic southern preppy style in college and have stuck with it, so buying a lot of clothes and fashion usually doesn't work for me (tho I have done that on occasion just for grins). So no following fashion.
Pretty minimalist on electronics and media. Just a radio preset on classical and certain more folkier and local alternative public radio and an old discman and analog receiver for when bike riding. No TV, computer, cable, net, minimal connection to the ciommercial media.
Not too minimalist with food. I have a set breakfast, but vary dinner. I do nearly all my own cooking, too.
You own few or no tools and you hope that one of your friends owns a pickup truck. Am I right?
You bring up a great point, there are some things some of us need. In my case I'm not willing to give up my motorcycle or my sialboat so in some senses I have to keep a place to store those and can only get so minmal ie gettinga tiny house isn't an option for me right now.
I'm all for minimalism but dont allow yourself to be minimalist by just leaching off everyone else's stuff. If your a woodworker you gotta have tools, dont just use your neigbhors tools and say cool i dont gotta buy or store any tools
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