Comments on: How I Practice Voluntary Simplicity

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:58:06 +0000

On the Hero’s DVDs – I’d wait till they show up in a pawn shop or used DVD shop. We get all our movies used (all of them – all 6or7 a year). While yes, we have to watch them as soon as we get home to check for scratches it’s been worth it. The Pawn shop recently made a shelf of pre 1995 movies for $3 so, we’ve gotten some good classics.

I read Voluntary Simplicity back in 1997 or 1998 (when I was 19) and I don’t recall new age stuff but it’s probably changed since then and I think I skipped a few chapters. Like anything ya take what you can from it and discard what you don’t need.
I have a close friend that I used to live across the street from. She is 79 & her house is full of boxes. There’s pathways around them but at 6+ feet it’s kinda freaky. She has joint & health problems & can’t unpack the boxes and someone has convinced her that instead of donating what she doesn’t need she should sell it. Ug! Seeing what the “stuff” has done to her I’ve been tossing out things left & right. The more I toss the freer I feel – like I’m not longer being weighed down.

When I do buy things I try to get the best quality used item I can (there are exceptions of course).

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 21:32:40 +0000

Or buy a DVR and record the series for later (often the entire series repeats over the summer)

Early model, used Tivos, even those with lifetime service, are surprisingly inexpensive on ebay.

>Regarding Heroes, I rent or borrow tv sreies from my local library or interlibrary

By: Diane

Diane — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:41:00 +0000

You could always get the Heroes Series DVD and then sell it on ebay. I see one right now, used, going for 31.00, then 7.00 for shipping, and it still has about 40 minutes to go.

By: rhbee

rhbee — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:50:32 +0000

Speaking of new age, I recognize quite a few activities described on this site and by its posters that remind me of my life as a hippy days. Simple pleasures, gardens, no tv, walking places, and oh yeah, stopping a War. What is puzzling to me is why this current crop of back to the land reduce the clutter take care of each others hasn’t joined hands across America to stop the war that is reducing our future personal finance possiblities to less than zero. I see plenty of talk on Bill Maher and on web sites like http://www.alternet.com and http://www.truthdig but where is the action from the streets, from the real people who say they care about the future of their children? Did anyone notice the article in the news brief about the british study claiming that a million Iraquis civilians have died? Or is everybody too busy checking their retirement accounts to care?

By: Rob in Madrid

Rob in Madrid — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:56:44 +0000

“I strongly considered buying the first season of Heroes for $36.99 … but I didn’t make the purchase. Why? Buying it would cost me almost $40, and then enjoying it would eat up many hours of sitting in front of the television.”

I actually find TV to be pretty good value for the money, particularly when with combined with a hard disk recorder. I’ve got a lot of shows I like and follow. Not so much myself but the last thing the wife wants to do after a long day at work is spend more time on the computer. For her TV allows her time to wind down. The only adjustment is when we come home (Canada) is getting used to commercials every two mins. Other than that I find TV provides good value for the money.

By: pam

pam — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:54:41 +0000

Trent, thanks for the recap.

I am arriving at that place in my life. I have WAY too much stuff. Junk. Crap. My credit card debt is a testament to the fact that I shop too much.

I’m also having a hard time letting go of said crap and an even harder time resisting the urge to buy more.

Maybe I’ll try your one-hour suggestion of making a visual reminder of the decreasing debt load.

Even though I don’t agree with every article, overall, I really enjoy your site.

By: Debbie M

Debbie M — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:06:24 +0000

I really like your concept of raising the threshold for what you will buy. This describes perfectly my main budgeting strategy. Once you have everything you really need, it gets very easy to raise the bar, but you do have to get out of the habit of jumping for joy at the discovery of cheap junk on sale, once this cheap junk no longer helps you!

Here are some examples of my current thresholds:

Furniture – must be able to last a lifetime because of durability, good usability, and timeless design. (I do still have, use, and enjoy my cardboard and pressed board furniture, but I won’t buy more of it, even when it needs to be replaced.)

Clothing – must fit, must go with stuff I have, must be flattering, must be washable, must be a good price, and pants and skirts must have pockets.

Kitchen stuff – must be durable, easy to clean, easy to store, and something I would really use. (I borrowed a friend’s breadmaker for a couple of weeks to see if I really would use it, and the answer is no. Too hard to clean.)

By: lindy

lindy — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 03:36:24 +0000

There should be a group for people who have arrived at this ‘place’ in their lives. I seem to be having this same conversation with a few friends. Some items should be the best that one can afford. Knives are like this (and saucepans, to my mind. My own preference is Swiss made Spring – Crystal brand), and other things don’t require anything special at all. For me brand is about the quality that is evident in the item, not how popular it is or recognizable a name.

I think I came to this point after witnessing my sister, time and again, buy ‘bargains’ that were poorly made, hideous in design, and not capable of performing functionally. Then watching her live with these miserable purchases for the length of the time they survived. For items that I will have for a lifetime, I like to acquire things that I will like more and more the longer I have them. Not a bad thing to consider when selecting a partner too ;-)

By: Making Cents of Debt

Making Cents of Debt — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 03:25:36 +0000

My aunt has a rule that I have tried to live by. For every one item you bring home, one must go out.

Thanks for your One Hour Projects. It has been fun to challenge myself with each posting.

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:24:27 +0000

Regarding Heroes, I rent or borrow tv sreies from my local library or interlibrary loan. It takes me longer to go through as I’m not able to watch a whole season in 2 or3 weeks, but if I have to pay to borrow (depending on the library) it only costs 4 or 5 dollars and i don’t have to keep the dvd’s

By: Trent

Trent — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:23:51 +0000

The book is pretty heavy on the New Age stuff – I just tend to kind of skim through it and dig out the pieces that make me think. I found several in that book buried under the New Age material.

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:21:13 +0000

Get Rich Slowly recommends this similar, free online book over Voluntary Simplicity: http://www.december.com/simple/live/index.html

I’m just getting into it, but it’s pretty damn good so far.

By: trb

trb — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:10:10 +0000

I also love the upgrading ideas – I recently swapped nine crappy knives for three really good ones. More space and better service. Got rid of several posters for one large piece of original art – more space, better aesthetic. It’s a joy to save up for nice things and upgrade your life this way.

By: demetri

demetri — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:22:49 +0000

i think most of your views are pretty dead on and I tend to agree almost across the board. That is why a few weeks ago when i went into the library i checked out Voluntary Simplicty… and holy moly… how do you even remotely dig through the new age philsophy to get to some good stuff. i must admit its one of the few times where i found myself wondering “what is trent thinking?!?”

Probably not all that helpful of a comment- but thought I would put it out there.

keep up the good work!

By: FIRE Finance - Turn Trash To Treasure!

FIRE Finance - Turn Trash To Treasure! — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:04:34 +0000

Simple living is a great joy. Right now we could identify with Trent’s aghast feeling when he saw the piles of junk in his storage. This week has been our clutter reduction week. We are working tirelessly to get rid of stuff. When we clear clutter and relieve the space it had been occupying its such a great feeling and eye candy too (to see the empty spaces)! Now we have to make trips to GoodWill and Salvation Army stores. Also we use swaptree to find some of our stuff a home.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:01:44 +0000

The NY Times today (9/13/07) has an interesting article about a fellow who seems to lead a life of voluntary simplicity. Very interesting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/garden/13gill.html

By: Randy Peterman

Randy Peterman — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:57:02 +0000

Voluntary Simplicity got my attention a few years back. The thing that got me thinking about it seriously (though I’m by far not truly living simply) was that the culture was driven by the stuff and I was not. I am not about separating myself from the culture, but I am about not being swayed by the culture and that is half of the value of VS to me.