A rather Jainist move. Life change planned, or an episode of extreme house cleaning?
— Jubal 
Buying a queen-sized mattress was my first step down. Up until then, I was able to move around the country with everything I owned in a car. 1980’s station wagon, but still, a car. Shoulda thought about that purchase a bit more.
Here, here!
I’m done with 5 and on 6.
— Brett
Friend: But what will I eat? Can I keep toilet paper?
Wife: Someone who gets to the end would smell.
Gross. I love my stuff :(
— Adam
But surely step 9 is death from exposure?
I’ve completed step 3. I’m still in the process of getting rid of stuff, but I’m not planning on going all the way to step 5.
— Pete
I’m nearly done with step 2 and feeling happier everyday.
Why don’t you get rid of your computer(s)?
— Rob
Sadly, I’m still working on #2.
You can live without books?
— Tim
Hey, I’m not sure if it is a coincidence, but I’m there too. Further, I sold my car 14 months ago (Europeans can afford this luxuty even living in a small village 20 miles north of Madrid. Most of you North Americans really can’t). As I use to say latetly, I’m earning and spending 6 times less than 3 years ago, and I’m at least 10 times happier. I’m thinking into going to live to Madrid and moving to 5 at the same time, but then I’m a bit older than you… :P
My problem is that my garage is huge. (1100 sq feet) and its full of crap. If only I had time to clean it out.
— matt
“It’s only after you’ve lost everything, that you’re free to do anything.” — Tyler Durden
— soho
I’d be pretty good at step two if step one wasn’t such a bitch.
— Mark M
PS. I saw ‘Into the Wild.’ It didn’t work out well.
— Mark M
I live in a studio. Forced into step 5 by San Francisco prices!
We’re on step one. The main issue is distinguishing between want and need, and aligning even the wants.
But, uh, it’d be fairly inconvenient to get rid of everything, wouldn’t it? Dishes? Bike? Pillow?
— Jeremy Dunck
I’m on step 3. Alas, I do not think I’ll go past step 5. I suppose I am just not Buddhist enough by nature. I can whittle down to a room’s worth of “stuff”, but a suitcase worth would be quite heavy with all of my books.
— Ian
Doesn’t having kids put you down a step or two (or three)?
— Dan
I’m on step 7. Just got down to one suitcase from 2.
Yeah, I have a real job too, so the money is piling up. Although I must admit, living this free makes me think a lot about what I’d do next…
— Ben
I would add another step,
9- Disconnect
…
— Benoit
I’ve been at 6 for about 2 years, and can say it requires a lot of effort to keep this trim. I highly doubt it’s practical to live a normal life from just a backpack.
— David W
if you don’t Use it – Lose it
— mom
@Benoit: no, step 9 is “give away all your money.” It turns out money really can buy happiness, as long as you spend it on other people.
— Mark
I’m glad that I’m not the only one who thought of “Into the Wild” after reading this.
— AB
Seeing as I live in a single room (as a college student), I guess I’m on step 5. It’s a crowded room, though.
One way to determine whether something is a want or a need is to place the item in a place that is accessible, but inconvenient. If after a certain time period, say 90 days, you have not used the item then it is a want rather than a need.
Of course, the above is merely a guideline that can be easily tweaked per circumstance.
— telcor
Here, here!
I’m in the same place you are. The last step was selling what turned out to be 80 lbs. (!) of unused and cast away tech junk on eBay.
We’re between 4 and 5. Sold our house, moved into tiny apartment, then moved into RV which is even smaller than apartment.
Now we just decide based on weight and room in the motorhome, or my wife’s formula: “If you haven’t worn it in a year, and it doesn’t have sentimental value, it’s outta here!”
@Santiago: Some Americans can live without a car. In San Francisco, for example, or parts of New York City. But yes, as you progress through the list, you eventually have to make some hard life choices beyond “let’s throw out this box of papers.”
— Mark
@Dan: yeah, having kids fills up the house really quickly. Doesn’t mean you can’t live simply, but like gases, they tend to expand to fill all available space. It’s more of a long-term goal. They won’t live with us forever. (Hear that, future sons-who-can-read? You. Are. Moving. Out.)
— Mark
@telcor: that is exactly how we got rid of our satellite TV service. We renovated last year and didn’t want to move the only DirecTV connection (which was right in the middle of the renovated area), so the box sat in the garage for 2 months. When we finally put the room back together, we decided to move the TV upstairs (with an AppleTV) and cancel the DirecTV service. Haven’t missed it. We occasionally watch things on Hulu or rent DVDs, but even that is less and less frequent.
— Mark
@Peter: I had to stop cleaning until Thursday (trash day) because our trash can is full. Not sure how big it is; a quick image search tells me it’s probably either 60 or 90 gallons. That doesn’t count the stuff we’ve recycled, sold on Craigslist, or given away to friends.
— Mark
@Tim: That’s what libraries are for.
— Matt
I’m working on the sentimental value bit. I can get rid of a lot of things if I detach the emotion. Once we’re finished moving I’m going to try the method of taking a picture and throwing out the item. I’ll try it on the least valuable things first. :-)
— Tyler
I’m working on step 4 too. I’m at the point where pretty much everything I care about in the garage fits into one (large suitcase-sized) box, so theoretically I could throw away most of the rest. Whether I’ll ever do that, though …
I doubt my wife would fit in a backpack. Maybe in a suitcase, although that sounds a bit uncomfortable.
— addys
I have them slightly out of order since I was getting rid of stuff and downsizing so I can pay off my loans. I love being free of stuff!
My step #9 is “Give away 90% of income, live on 10%”.
— Eliot
Did you know that “the pursuit of happiness” is Jefferson’s wording for what the Virginia Declaration of Rights called “the pursuit of property”?
@Aristotle: I am all in favor of everyone having the right to pursue property. I just want less of it now.
— Mark
What I’m saying is that knowing a bit about the history of that turn of phrase puts your choice of title in an odd sort of juxtaposition with the content of the post. (I don’t know what, if anything, one might want to conclude from that; just noting the connection.)
(FWIW, I am halfway between step 5 and the step between 5 and 6 that you haven’t listed – getting rid of the stuff that doesn’t fit in the trunk of a car –, which is my final goal.)
I’m on step 4, but the kid’s Legos are a problem..
on the backpack question,
http://dkretzmann.blogspot.com/2007/11/me-and-moominpappa.html
— Doug k
I understand Issa (formerly known as Jane Siberry) has whittled her life down to Step 6, plus a few items kept in storage.
I commend to you all Richard Brautigan’s poem, “Karma Repair Kit: Items 1-4″. I read it when I was a child, and it has stayed with me ever since.
— Allan
Doing number 2 has got me to step 5, but somehow I’m not sure that’s how it’s supposed to work! Ouch!
Anyhow, being a compulsive country-hopper forces me into a sharp review of all the possessions I’ve accumulated every couple of years. Most things become tools, rather than ‘my stuff’, but I have to admit, Hard Drives are kinda like mini-black holes in terms of the amount of crap that we can carry with us that would expand into a much larger space-time reality…
But what about my guitars? I have 2 guitars that would be amongst my last living possessions, and I can’t let them go, and I think most musicians would understand the bond that can develop…
This implies that possessions/belongings of any kind = unhappiness.
Does anyone here really agree with that?
I see the ownership of something, anything as either a matter of convenience, comfort, or sheer luxury.
I agree that going beyond debts and buying unnecessary things is vital, but ridding oneself of all your collected things?
Madness. Just take out the trash, and don’t be frivolous!
— Eric
Hi Aristotle,
lots of people seem to think that Jefferson was talking about the pursuit of wealth, but we dont have proof for that, and in fact we have some evidence to the opposite! Take a look at “What Happened to the Pursuit of Happiness?” on the Huffpo (best way to find it is through google)
PS I will not get rid of my backpack no matter what anyone says…
thank you.
— A.J.
Brilliant post mark. I love it. I just achieved #2 yesterday, paying off all of my college credit card debt (only took 6 months). I’m at step 5 because of that, I moved from Virginia to Kansas in my car after college.
Simplicity of possession also leads to simplicity of mind. An example is how nice it feels to walk into a clean room, and how bad it feels to walk into a cluttered one. It is easier to think, and we are happier in a clean room.
I buy lots of stuff I think, – but they have pretty high “happiness to junk” ratio.
Frisbee to throw around park, – a basketball. How about a pair of goggles so you can go swimming all day in the pool? I think even these thing would make buddha happy.
I threw out 3 old monitors, 2 old PCs, and an old printer yesterday though.
Mark, I’m not sure how you’re ever going to accomplish #4 as long as you have a yard and the necessary tools/supplies (I’m assuming you have a yard because I recall a post about an electric mower). They go in a garage or a shed, do they not?