Veganism and Minimalism

[AvocadoTrees]

I'm not vegan (yet), but I do find an attraction to minimalism. At least in a sense?

I want to be minimalist, but I also enjoy material possessions. Quality over quantity in that way.

Yet, I do also have hoarding tendencies due to trying to save money/not buy, in the "oh I could reuse this (someday) for (some project that never gets done)" sense. Currently, I have too much stuff I don't need, and not enough stuff I do need, if that makes sense. It's an interesting conundrum to navigate.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

I'm somewhat minimalist now. I did indeed go vegan/vegetarian first, and then move on to minimalism after that, maybe not immediately after. Not sure how much connection there is, if any.

I was never into excessive consumption but I reached a point in my life when instead of the amount of physical possessions I own steadily increasing they now decrease slowly over time. My belief is that you should only buy something that you really, really want or need.

I've also found that if you cut down the things you buy, presents people give you can cover most of what you need.

 

[bluegirl123]

Awesome thread

 

[Freesia]

Bulk buying places are great too...

 

[Deleted member 3018]

After Söpö passed away, I went on a serious declutering mode and sold most of my books. I also gave away to a shelter some of her things: those that she didn't really like in the first place. But saved her favourite things.
I guess that after experiencing the loss of one of your most loved person, you see more clearly what you don't need.
There are still some scraching posts that I'm planning to give to a shelter, but it's painful because she really loved those. But the cats at the shelter need those, not me.

 

[Lou]

After Söpö passed away, I went on a serious declutering mode and sold most of my books. I also gave away to a shelter some of her things: those that she didn't really like in the first place. But saved her favourite things.
I guess that after experiencing the loss of one of your most loved person, you see more clearly what you don't need.
There are still some scraching posts that I'm planning to give to a shelter, but it's painful because she really loved those. But the cats at the shelter need those, not me.

My sister has had about 5 cats and 5 dogs over her lifetime. (she is almost 70). Somewhere along the line, she decided only to keep the animal's last collar. She has an old tin box (like for Xmas cookies) that has all the old collars. Everything else (but the photos and memories) gets given away.

She says she is not going to get a new cat. I'm not sure I believe her. Although up until a few years ago she always had 2 cats. or sometimes 3.

 

[Deleted member 3018]

My sister has had about 5 cats and 5 dogs over her lifetime. (she is almost 70). Somewhere along the line, she decided only to keep the animal's last collar. She has an old tin box (like for Xmas cookies) that has all the old collars. Everything else (but the photos and memories) gets given away.

She says she is not going to get a new cat. I'm not sure I believe her. Although up until a few years ago she always had 2 cats. or sometimes 3.

I'm sorry to hear that your sis is struggling.
It's true that the most important things aren't necessarily material, but still... it can be hard.

 

[Raven]

I'm getting rid of another load of stuff this weekend. This will include cat boxes as we don't need so many anymore.

 

[thinman]

My wife and I have never been into just buying stuff like some people do and when our kids moved out we decided to sell the house and move into a nice apartment building. We got rid of a lot of stuff and went minimalist, we don't even have any pictures on the walls. Nothing to do with veganism or being cheap.

 

[thinman]

When my mother passed away she had moved to a senior hi-rise and got rid of a lot of stuff really not needed. My mother inlaw's house is full of photos on the walls, ornaments etc, she's 97 and when she goes there's a lot of stuff that nobody really wants and we don't want anything. When we go, my wife and I, our kids won't have to deal with selling the house and getting rid of a load of stuff. So we did it ahead of time for them.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Good for you. The honest truth is that most people only want a very small number of momentos, plus things of actual value. Anything that you can sell for about $20/£20/€20 is actually worthless by the time you factor in the time involved in selling it, placing ads, having people over to view it etc. So leaving a large number of small items is actually just leaving someone a job to do at a time when they´d rather not.

I´ll hopefully learn from your example as I get older.

The only issue with selling and moving into an apartment is that you could live to 100 and run out of money. However, I´m sure you have though this through and made the best decision for your case. But this isn´t for everyone of course.

 

[thinman]

We gave what we didn't want to Good Will charity, sold my home gym with 300lbs of cast iron plates. Had a lot of collector vinyl LP's just gave them to my kids.

 

[Sproutskies]

More and more becoming a minimalist. Just moved to a 450sqft apartment by a trail to nature. Have always wanted to save up to build a tinyhouse in the woods. It seems like as society continues to become more crowded you will see more people going towards a minimal lifestyle.

 

[Lou]

i know its counterintuitive to buy stuff to be a minimalist. but most of the stuff in this article is made to replace disposable items we already have in our homes.

check it out.

Just 21 Eco-Friendly Things Under $20

Be kind to the earth and your wallet.

www.buzzfeed.com