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Ha Ha, I can sure relate to that. My 2,000 sf townhouse is full of "stuff" and I have no idea where it all came from. I sometimes laugh at myself because in my 30's I lived on a 36' BOAT and I had zero "stuff".
Sounds like you still love the money driven world. That is fine for you. Whatever.
I only work part time now. Not for the money anymore, but because I love what I do and it's so easy.
I have no choice but to keep it simple. My whole world the last 5 weeks has been physical therapy, couch, TV. Repeat 2 to 3 times a week. It's making me crazy. I can't wait to get back to my complicated life.
No microwave? Wow. I've never known anyone who didn't have one. I like technology. Especially the GPS.
Feel better soon, animalcrazy!
GPS has definitely changed my life for the better! Such a convenience - no more getting out the city map or writing down directions: "Turn right at the Exxon, go through two lights, cross over the bridge, it'll be on your right." Or worse: "Do you know where the Methodist Church is? I think it's Methodist. Well, turn left there, then you go for a little while and you'll see a McDonalds, or maybe it's a Burger King."
I was initially resistant and a late adaptor of GPS, but I love it now. Not only for directions, but being able to see which roads are backed up where and how badly during a commute, if applicable, so I can choose an alternate route. And I've actually discovered alternate routes even without traffic incidents that I was previously unaware of.
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Originally Posted by jaminhealth
I have NOT used a dishwasher in probably 30 yrs...this older lovely cozy apt I am fortunate to have this this great city has no dishwashers. Plus it's only me and something theraputic about soap and water and washing out a few dishes and pots. Since I'm somewhat disabled with the knee issue my activities are more limited than ever.
To each their own, but I cannot imagine life without a dishwasher. We run ours at least every other day. I barely fit in all the other chores, I don't know when I would find time to wash all the dishes by hand every day.
My in-laws do not have a dishwasher, even though they renovated their kitchen several years ago. "I am my own dishwasher", my MIL likes to say. My FIL always called dirty dishes "the inevitable aftermath". If/when we inherit or take over that house, installing a dishwasher is going to be the first home improvement project.
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Originally Posted by jaminhealth
Love my frost free refrig.
Yeah, I've never wanted a stainless steel fridge with ice maker/water dispenser. I seem to hear a lot about those features mis-functioning. I'm OK with ice cube trays and tap or bottled water.
I'm pretty anti-technology. I think most of it is evil, or at least unwholesome and corrosive. I DO love my TV (watch mostly classic old movies) and microwave (don't cook), but those have been around for decades. Basically, I haven't bought into anything new on the horizon. Drive a basic car with manual windows and locks, own just a cheap buy-the-minutes phone for emergency use only, and SMH at everyone chasing the next new gadget. I do use a computer at work, but because it was forced on me. Am unsure if I'll get back online after retirement. Wholly recommend the Luddite life!
]Agree. Much of the thread content here just describes minimalism. It can be a sort of reverse-brag[/b]. Simplicity is a lot deeper than that. Consider religious groups that practice "plain" living or follow doctrines like the Quaker Testimony of Simplicity. Gandhi's ascetic life. His physical life appeared simple, but his mind and the work he applied it to certainly wasn't.
I was kind of wondering about that too.
We have 'stuff'. We have gadgets. In many ways, that 'stuff' HAS made life simpler and easier. For instance, I LOVE listening to music, especially when I'm driving. I have a BUNCH of CDs. But that's about to change. I have a smart phone, so I have Pandora. My husband just bought me a Bluetooth speaker, so with a simple push of a button, I can listen to MY music, and I don't have to have my car littered with CDs.
I have a Kindle. I LOVE to read. But it matters not one whit to me, to have a pile of books on shelves. I'm not in love with the physicality of books. I don't need to turn a page, don't need to smell the paper, etc. I know people who DO like the tactile aspects of reading, and I get it, but I'm not one of those people.
For me, ONE kindle is simpler than a bunch of books.
We have a place out in the country. We have electricity, but not plumbing. Let me tell you, plumbing can NOT be over rated. It's a hallmark of civilization. ;-p BUT we have a good time out there. It'd be better with plumbing though. lol
To me, it seems that an uncluttered mind and stressless life would be the simple life. I don't think anyone can totally escape stress, but it seems like that's the goal...
GPS has definitely changed my life for the better! Such a convenience - no more getting out the city map or writing down directions: "Turn right at the Exxon, go through two lights, cross over the bridge, it'll be on your right." Or worse: "Do you know where the Methodist Church is? I think it's Methodist. Well, turn left there, then you go for a little while and you'll see a McDonalds, or maybe it's a Burger King."
I am the opposite. I don't like GPS. I sometimes use it but you just follow the instructions without even having an idea where you are. You follow it and end up somewhere where you have to be.
Back in the good old times you got your map out. You looked at it and wrote down where you have to go. And you knew exactly which areas you drive through and most likely still know it ten years later. And next time you know exactly where you can get a milkshake on the way to where you have to go
An added thought about minimalism and living simply: after I'd been in my new house for two years, my mother and I had a yard sale (she's in the process of paring down the things that one accumulates while living in the same house for fifty years). What wasn't sold at the yard sale then went away via Craigslist (both on the "Free" and "For Sale" sections), Freecycle and to my favorite thrift store. Having a house that only contains things that are either useful or attractive to me (often both) is very freeing. The added bonus of selling my unused things was that the proceeds from their sale were enough to pay for two new storm doors and their installation *and* I got to meet more of my neighbors. Nothing attracts the neighbors like a yard sale!
I am still getting rid of things whenever I see that someone is looking for something specific on the local Freecycle group. It's very easy to pause, think if you're actually using something or not and pass it along if you know that it's going to a place where it's going to be used.
I am the opposite. I don't like GPS. I sometimes use it but you just follow the instructions without even having an idea where you are. You follow it and end up somewhere where you have to be.
Back in the good old times you got your map out. You looked at it and wrote down where you have to go. And you knew exactly which areas you drive through and most likely still know it ten years later. And next time you know exactly where you can get a milkshake on the way to where you have to go
I don't like GPS, either. It's fun finding new ways to get around places both familiar and unfamiliar. It helps that I love to drive, inherited my father's good sense of direction, and live in an area where GPS systems can be borderline useless at times. Getting there is all part of the adventure!
Still, there are several paper maps in my car and I will Google Map directions to places that I've not been before just in case my sense of direction fails me.
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but I do love to use the BBQ 
