Is it possible to be a prepper AND minimalist?

[Bushman]

They say the things you own, end up owning you. I find that to be true the older I get. So I started looking into minimalism. I like it, within reason. I'm in the process of downsizing things in general including preps. Starting to really feel at a gut level the "the things you own, end up owning you" saying.

I think some of the minimalist videos are a bit extreme, they have 100 items. Great, no plunger, no coffee machine, no lawn mower, etc. so you end up having to buy coffee and hire help all the time to cut your lawn, fix your toilet, etc. Or if you're in the current situation, not having toilet paper, food, water, sanitizer, self defense items, etc. you're in a bad situation...

But I feel like there is a point where too much is the opposite end of the extreme. I don't need years worth of TP, years worth of food.

Anyone else run into this and downsize a bit? Can prepping and minimalism co-exist? How do you find balance, what is the question you ask yourself for each item whether to keep or sell it?

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[Medic!]

I am constantly getting rid of things. [ Things can feel like a burden at my stage in life. ]
But I have what I need.

Also I don't regularly practice ''Retail Therapy'' .

 

[cigars]

They say the things you own, end up owning you. I find that to be true the older I get. So I started looking into minimalism. I like it, within reason. I'm in the process of downsizing things in general including preps. Starting to really feel at a gut level the "the things you own, end up owning you" saying.

I think some of the minimalist videos are a bit extreme, they have 100 items. Great, no plunger, no coffee machine, no lawn mower, etc. so you end up having to buy coffee and hire help all the time to cut your lawn, fix your toilet, etc. Or if you're in the current situation, not having toilet paper, food, water, sanitizer, self defense items, etc. you're in a bad situation...

But I feel like there is a point where too much is the opposite end of the extreme. I don't need years worth of TP, years worth of food.

Anyone else run into this and downsize a bit? Can prepping and minimalism co-exist? How do you find balance, what is the question you ask yourself for each item whether to keep or sell it?

It depends how long you want to prep for. If you get rid of everything (which is a good plan) and you have one days worth of food, then you have one days worth of prep food. Anything beyond one day and well, you have stuff again. I have a couple of these minimalist nihilists in my circle. I constantly ask myself, what exactly do they contribute to humanity? I compare them to vegans who meet you for the first time and the first thing they say is that they're a vegan. Me? I'm in a constant uphill battle against crap. I'm in the process of unloading it all. Not because I don't like stuff but because I like flat spaces. However, I also have the motivation of a drunk snail at the moment so we'll see how it goes. I also keep buying crap like a new AR and all the crap that goes with it. The Universe is quite amused with me.

 

[WAW44]

Anyone else run into this and downsize a bit? Can prepping and minimalism co-exist? How do you find balance, what is the question you ask yourself for each item whether to keep or sell it?

Yes
Yes
I have no problem affording all of it, but does it make ME happy? I don't give a flying F... what others think.

That's how I ended up with a sailboat few months ago

 

[Bushman]

Sounds like I'm not the only one that has this downsizing "need" and mentality as they get older. Most of it is just excess stuff. 25 of the same jacket. 20 of the same pack. I got deals on them and am now thinking, man I keep moving this stuff from house to house and I never use it. So now I'm getting rid of stuff. My living room is filled with BOXES of stuff. 15 donation boxes donated so far, and boxes and boxes of stuff sold and for sale.

 

[Bushman]

It depends how long you want to prep for. If you get rid of everything (which is a good plan) and you have one days worth of food, then you have one days worth of prep food. Anything beyond one day and well, you have stuff again. I have a couple of these minimalist nihilists in my circle. I constantly ask myself, what exactly do they contribute to humanity? I compare them to vegans who meet you for the first time and the first thing they say is that they're a vegan. Me? I'm in a constant uphill battle against crap. I'm in the process of unloading it all. Not because I don't like stuff but because I like flat spaces. However, I also have the motivation of a drunk snail at the moment so we'll see how it goes. I also keep buying crap like a new AR and all the crap that goes with it. The Universe is quite amused with me.

I like simplicity. In finding things. In moving, etc. If I had to evacuate due to a wildfire or riots, well all my crap would burn. It's not even stuff that would get banned. Just excess "gear". I realized when I started returning and selling stuff lately just HOW much I've been spending. It's ridiculous. I'd like to get down to a 10 foot U-Haul truck for moving. I'm ALMOST there. Especially if I eat all this food down in the next few years.

 

[TTSX]

Until I bought my home a few years back, o was very good at only having enough things to fit into one truck load of my. Full size pickup. I slept on a pad rather than a bed for years, only had one plate/glass/pot etc etc BUT I always had enough important things to last me from gig to gig. I think the longest period was 3 months without income at all.

NOW I suddenly have a permanent place to live and needed to fill it so I'm actually increasing my preps, but to get back to the original question, YES you can be a minimalist and prepared simultaneously

 

[Member 34319]

My parents own way too much stuff. I'm watching them try to decide what to do with all of it as they are too stubborn to sell it or get rid of it. Yet they want to downsize and retire soon.

Thanks to watching them, I try to live within my means. I don't need a tool chest full of every single tool to do the smallest task. I don't need a kitchen appliance to do every small thing.

Ive downsized many times. Even though I've got plenty of room for more.

I think you can certainly be prepared and own a limited amount of items.

 

[cigars]

While you can't take it with you as they say, while we're here however...crap gives us happiness.

 

[Camelfilter]

Our house:

Store what we eat, eat what we store.

Same goes for other consumable goods.

Store what we use, use what we store.

Other stuff? As deemed reasonable. By us.

It's a combination of both preparedness & savings by being frugal in what is bought & when.

Everyone's method is going to vary. We're not competing with anyone, but some folks seem to take everything as such...

 

[MannyGlocks]

If you're feeling that you have way too many possessions you can easily simplify by giving them away.

I've been doing this for the past few years and not one of the things I let go of was regretful in the least.

 

[gmerkt]

They say the things you own, end up owning you. I find that to be true the older I get.

Completely agree, especially as to the aging angle.

But I feel like there is a point where too much is the opposite end of the extreme.

Yes, you can go overboard both ways.

Anyone else run into this and downsize a bit?

I've been doing it. I don''t want my wife to be burdened by my follies. I've sold about 70% of my guns in the past couple of years. I had enough ammo and reloading materials to last decades. I let a big percentage of that go. But I retained enough of both to still have some fun in my remaining time. However long or short that may be. I've been letting go of other, non-gun stuff as well. I have to say, it does feel better. Material goods become not only a physical burden but a burden in your mind as well. It can be liberating to let go. It's a shedding of responsibilities.

I don't really want to be a minimalist. I want enough stuff around me to be comfortable. But I don't want to be a hoarder or compulsive acquirer either. Let Home Depot be the warehouse, that's their job.

Another thing, I want anything I own to be in top condition. I don't agree necessarily that more is better. Because some acquisitive people sacrifice quality for quantity. I once knew a guy who owned over 100 cars. But only a few were anything you'd want to own based on condition. His philosophy was to get what you wanted while you could get it cheap, then come back around and fix it all up later. He never got past the "getting" phase; in his case, diabetes came before "later."

I'm not guided in my life by what others have or use as a yardstick.

Remember this, a person goes out of this life with exactly what they brought in. Nothing. Preppers especially should keep in mind that they might be called upon to leave most all of it behind anyway. After all, that's their Prepper ethos. I'm old, I'm not too into the mobile prepping thing. Prepping in situ is about my limit.

 

[CountryGent]

I think they can coexist. I am a life long prepper. I also abhor clutter vehemently. If it doesn't have a use, it likely shouldn't be in one's life, lest it rob one of the most precious, irreplaceable commodity of them all: time. Or, in some cases, the existence of a particular piece of unimportant junk can have meaning.

But whatever works. There is a time to build up and a time to jettison. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter all that much, as long as one keeps focus.

I've been going through a major purge this year. I've found that difficult times (and this year has been hellacious on many fronts) tends to refocus one on what is important, and scoff at what is not. And I'm not talking about crap specifically, though that is one data point.

I see Nihilism was referenced in this thread. As it is off-topic, I won't talk about that at any length other than to proffer Absurdism as an outlook. Beetle-bop! Honk-honk!

 

[oldcorpgunny]

Do I hear the sounds of an acoustic guitar playing "Coom Ba Yah"? It's just stuff. Just don't let 'em find ya' on an episode of Hoarders.

 

[bgdawgrr]

Not really that easy of a question. I'd say "kind of".
Do you need a safe full of guns, chests of tools, closets of clothes? No.
Does it make sense to have 3/6/12 months of food, medical supplies, ammo, multiple power sources? Depends. Are you prepping for yourself or do you have family? What are you preparing for? Are you mobile, or staying in place?

Sure, you can lead a Spartan life, or have everything you need and more. Life gives us choices. I try to have a happy middle. No or little debt, but still have things. Many of those I don't need. I don't go into debt to buy them.

I own my possessions, they don't own me. When it came to the ultimate test, I found it true. With the recent fires, I had no trouble grabbing one bag with a change of clothes and a weapon bag in case of evac. I was ready to go. If an EMP or the big one hit, those choices would have been very different and harder as the world I live in would be different as well.

 

[Siglvr]

Do you need a safe full of guns, chests of tools, closets of clothes? No........

WAIT. ...........Squints.....waaht? Isn't the correct answer: yes?

 

[albin25]

Simple answer?..... Yes, yes you can.

But... if you feel the need for a room stuffed with StarWars memorabilia, ten sets of chipped dinnerware, every tire you ever bought, 4 kegs of bent nails, 3 old water heaters, 2 cracked engine blocks and a collapsed old sofa piled with leaky hip-waders and a trolling motor that might be fixable, to survive a SHTF event...
....you may not be a downsizer.

(but, you might be Redneck)

 

[Bushman]

I am constantly getting rid of things. [ Things can feel like a burden at my stage in life. ]
But I have what I need.

Also I don't regularly practice ''Retail Therapy'' .

Funny enough, I have found a NEW form of therapy. It is returns and sales therapy. Have made a mint selling or returning stuff. Feels so great, it has actually become an addiction. Literally every day I find at least one new box worth of stuff to sell, donate or toss. I'm coming up on a plateau though, but for now it feels great getting that money back and watching the space open up.

 

[Member 52301]

They say the things you own, end up owning you. I find that to be true the older I get. So I started looking into minimalism. I like it, within reason. I'm in the process of downsizing things in general including preps. Starting to really feel at a gut level the "the things you own, end up owning you" saying.

I think some of the minimalist videos are a bit extreme, they have 100 items. Great, no plunger, no coffee machine, no lawn mower, etc. so you end up having to buy coffee and hire help all the time to cut your lawn, fix your toilet, etc. Or if you're in the current situation, not having toilet paper, food, water, sanitizer, self defense items, etc. you're in a bad situation...

But I feel like there is a point where too much is the opposite end of the extreme. I don't need years worth of TP, years worth of food.

Anyone else run into this and downsize a bit? Can prepping and minimalism co-exist? How do you find balance, what is the question you ask yourself for each item whether to keep or sell it?

Yes and yes.

I think that one person's idea of being prepared for man made or natural - weather related EMERGENCIES differs greatly than another person's ideas of being prepared.

I do NOT consider myself a 'prepper' but I am prepared but NOT like many people are or what they CHOOSE to do in their lives when it comes to being prepared.

I am a Minimalist in MANY WAYS and I consider myself one too. I was like that in specific things during my life time too.

MY stuff does not own me. IT never did own me. IT does not own me now.

I will come back to this thread.

Old Lady Cate

 

[mkwerx]

Short answer - yes

Long answer - if you have the right skills, obtaining resources or doing without certain things will be far easier. That doesn't mean you need to be Chuck Norris, John Wick, John Rambo, and Dave Canterbury all in one - it means if you have a useful skill (auto repair, carpentry, welding, medical training are some examples) you can use said skill to gain resources even in an uberpandemic TEOTWAKI situation. Those with the knowledge of how to grow food crops, harvest game and fish, and prepare those items are likewise ahead of others.

Of course it depends on how & why you are prepping. Apocalypse? Can't have too much beans, bullets, or bandaids in your fortified bunker on the mountain. Live down where we do in hurricane alley - its good having a few weeks worth of supplies, but if a big storm blows in evacuation typically means leaving all that stuff behind for a while, and it might not be there when you return.

You can also have enough stuff and keep it organized and out of sight so that its easy to maintain without consuming all your time or making your home look like the loading docks at Costco.

How many people you live with likewise determine how much "stuff" is necessary and acceptable.