I’m on my minimalist journey, and I was going through my basement when I found about 12 boxes of old stuffed animals. They are in very bad shape and should be trashed. However, when I tried lifting them out of the basement the boxes broke. I gathered up the stuffies that fell and left them out on the curb. I like the idea of leaving them loose on the curb (not bagged or boxed) because, although they are in bad condition, someone might still rescue some. It’s pretty typical in my neighborhood to leave loose stuff out on the curb however I don’t know if this is appropriate given the sheer volume of stuffies I’m getting rid of. I’m in a difficult situation because I don’t know how to get them out of the basement to my curb. I’m also not sure if I should just leave them loose on the curb or if this would be innaproproate. I’m also open to other homes for them besides the trash, however they aren’t in great shape (many have mold and the ones that don’t smell horrible).

We’re going to Disney right after Christmas.

We have twin toddlers, and they’re not aware of gift giving occasions yet. We’re asking the grandparents for Disney gift cards and will do a stocking for the kids.

What do you all do for gifts for your kids and partner when a trip is the gift?

Hit me with your favorite compact printers.

I print things often enough that I benefit from a home printer, so getting rid of one entirely and only using the library isn’t an option.

My current printer is 10+ years old and ink is getting hard to find. Plus, it’s rather bulky and I’d like something more space-saving and less obtrusive to the office-space environment and more minimal for the frequent moves that we make.

Cheaper ink-cartridge replacements are a bonus.

Thanks in advance!

Any tips for living in an ugly rental house when you don't like to have many/any decorative items?

Wondered if anyone used this for their setup and what their experience was like with it - they boast that they want the phone to be the product rather than the user but not sure if there's any merit to that claim

I’ve been trying to declutter my home lately, and I keep running into this dilemma. A lot of the things I own still have some life left in them—like clothes that don’t fit anymore, books I’ve already read, and old gadgets I don’t use. I hate the idea of just throwing them away because it feels so wasteful.

I’ve been thinking about donating them, but even that feels overwhelming sometimes. There are so many organizations, and I don’t always know what they’ll accept or how to get the items to them. Plus, I want to make sure they actually go to someone who can use them and not just end up in a landfill.

What do you guys usually do in these situations? Do you have any favorite donation programs, upcycling ideas, or other creative ways to deal with stuff you no longer need? I’d love to hear what works for you!

Hi! I started a while back getting rid of things and paring down my stuff. I live in a home with a hoarder and plan on moving next year, but I'd like to start really getting everything taken care of now so the move will go a lot more smoothly. I find it hard to motivate myself and wondered if anyone might have some advice, especially for people who have low energy. What are some ways you guys stay motivated during the purging process?

Mini story: In 2012, I bought a very nice laptop with some extra money I had. I never replaced it because I wasn’t using it much lately and wanted to sell it, but it was hard to sell something so obsolete. A 12-year-old computer is very hard to sell.

Present day: Yesterday, someone broke into my apartment. They broke the building door and my door while I was at work, an hour away from home. When I got the call, I felt extremely nervous, just thinking about strangers in my home, the uncertainty of not knowing what had happened, and my two cats—my biggest fear was that they might have escaped.

When I arrived, I had to enter with a police officer, and they wouldn’t let me touch anything. Everything was a mess, my drawers emptied on the floor, my apartment in total disarray. My cats had hidden themselves. The only thing they stole was that old laptop. My only “loss.” I have absolutely nothing else of value, because I simply don’t consume for the sake of consuming. This is what I wanted to share, which is why I’m posting in this sub. I can imagine the bitterness I would’ve felt if they’d taken a MacBook, an iPad, expensive jewelry or other stuff... all the things thieves usually look for. Even the police were surprised—they couldn’t believe that three people had broken into my home, and my only loss was a shitty laptop.

I wanted to share this because the feeling I was left with was that the minimalism I maintain in my life made this horrible moment so much easier than it might have been for the average person. It reinforced my belief that very few things are essential, and I already have them. And that makes me feel, despite the situation, very calm, at peace with the lifestyle I lead.

Just wanted to share my experience. 🙂

i know most of the time we dont miss the stuff and its worth it to live as a minimalist. but have u ever gotten rid of something u wish u hadn't?

Would you like to take a shower in this tub? Marble with metal design is so nice!😗

I am in the market for a new bed, but I want it to be one that is: minimal, lasts, is easy to move and works for various apartments and their weird often small layouts. I am debating on the size though, between a double bed and Ikea's Utaker stacking bed (solid wood), which becomes roughly a king (76 by 78 inches). A double (54 by 75 inches) would fit fine in any apartment.

For context my partner stays with me most (99 percent) nights, and we have three cats. The old bed was a full and doable mostly. The cats take up a good portion of the foot though. The Ukater offers more flexibility, but I am not sure we need such a large bed and don't want to regret buying it. And as a minimalist, I try to avoid excess and waste.

Does anyone have advice or experience on the matter?

Here in London for an year, I am prone to cold weather, I would like your suggestions about the minimalist wardrobe for the winter season here including jackets, thermals or whatever. Thank you so much in advance!

This is the total amount of clothes owned, is this an acceptable amount or is this amount too many to be considered minimal?

Hello this is my first time posting here and I don't know if this is the right sub to air these thoughts but I'm seeking advice on the following situation. Here's my background history of where this all started:

Ever since I can remember I was raised in a family that without question would just compulsively collect just about anything. Be it movie related memorabilia, collectibles/antiques, out of state souvenirs, family related heirlooms, etc. You name it we probably had it at one time.

We used to go out of our way to go antiquing and thrifting just for the thrill of collecting more stuff. Adding to this pretty much everyone we knew and hung out with was also caught up in this mentality and would always give us stuff or encourage us to buy certain things saying it'll be worth money decades down the road.

I spent 20 plus years being raised in this mentality so it's like second nature to feel drawn towards certain things as I struggle with a compulsive need to collect but also feel nostalgic for things that bring me closer to how I used to feel before dark times came into my life and the lives of those around me. There have been so many times I've had to walk back into a store to return something or years after the fact try to re-sell it to a third party just to recoup at least a third of what I spent just to recover my losses once I realized this was an impulse buy and that I didn't need it to begin with.

I think a lot of this became unhealthy coping mechanisms for whenever family dysfunctions occurred or when tragedies happened this became the go-to distraction to preoccupy our minds rather than getting to the root of the issue. Thankfully they've started to recognize the habit for what it is but unfortunately they are mandating a complete 180 and have become basically anti-collecting and expect me to let go of pretty much everything at the drop of a hat threatening to either throw stuff out without my consent or force me to rent a storage unit to put it all in.

I feel like they are not owning up to the role they played in raising me by enabling this situation in the first place. Also feel like they aren't giving credit for the progress I have been making.

I've called them out on this and have even taken it a step further to say the collecting issue has been a Band-Aid solution and that we aren't really addressing what caused this habit to begin with. I've tried stressing to them many times the importance of our family understanding the root cause to help solve the attachments in these areas.

But whenever we've had a sit-down conversation they don't take full responsibility for their part or don't want to get into the nitty gritty behind these mentalities. They just want to see more progress ASAP. It's getting to a point of not only getting on all our nerves but borderline OCD with how clean and decluttered everything has to look at our house--and even when there isn't something to nitpick they gripe about how much cleaner it could look especially if we had guests over.

As a side note having company over is something we haven't done for literally many years because of aforementioned issues. This makes it very hard to want to invite anybody over because it becomes such a mental exercise as my family insists the house has to look a certain way even if guests aren't judging us or nitpicking whether there's dust on the counter or shoes that were put into a corner most of the people I know are pretty easy going and they themselves don't have a very clean house and yet my family will obsess over this stupid standard (an entirely different issue unto itself).

I think a lot of this can be chalked up to my family doesn't have enough healthy hobbies to engage in or they're stuck in a rut and take out their misery on me but when I tried to call them out on it they evade the question.

Because of this I rarely go shopping with them. One time recently we came across a t-shirt that looked cool but I ended up putting it back because I specified I don't need it/ it's not that important. But family kept insisting I buy it even though I kept saying no and putting it back.

This got to a point where my family literally brought it with us to the checkout stand and by that point had convinced me in the thrill of the moment to get it even though I flat out kept saying no and had a total disinterest in buying it and trying to explain that this is part of the mentality we've been talking about but they completely ignored what I was saying.

Or often times they put it back on me when call out similar patterns that they are struggling with in this area I've tried encouraging gently to tackle some of these areas but almost immediately they get defensive and put it back on me by saying "you need to focus on your own stuff!"

Or if there's a weird collection involving a literal pyramid of empty containers piled up in a corner they justify its existence by saying it's for shipping purposes which never happens. Other fallacies in their logic has included but not limited to items in the freezer and refrigerator or cd/movie/book shelves that -- no matter how many times they are 'definitively' reorganized-- somehow always manages to get cluttered again and then we go through the whole spiel of arguing about why stuff is out of order yet again.

It's at a point where I would honestly like to seek family counseling and medication to specifically address this reoccurring issue. The closest thing was least one member attended regular counseling for a couple of months which I was highly encouraging of but after the last few visits this member stopped going on the basis that they keep crying during sessions and is tired of being embarrassed -- even though it's a one-on-one counseling session every two weeks.

It frustrates me because the person was on the right track and admitted how they could see good progress came of it but totally copped out and never returned back to it even though they keep saying how I need to attend counseling, namely claiming that I am a hoarder -- the new 50 cent word that my family has called me several times which I do not appreciate especially if they're not going to be part of the solution as with other issues it will continue to fail.

On other occasions I finally had a peace about letting go of certain things and as soon as a family member saw some of the stuff I was getting rid of he would lament oh you're getting rid of that? Do you know how much trouble I went to to find that for you blah blah blah which in turn makes me feel like a horrible person for getting rid of something he got for me during a special time in our lives even though I had very little attachment to the item in question.

I can't preface this enough: I want to maintain permanent progress in my life and let go of possessions-- only keeping absolutely important things-- however the progress I am making my family doesn't recognize because it doesn't meet their brand new standard and I feel like they are constantly verbally attacking me for it.

Just for additional context they've acted this way towards me with other situations when it comes to expecting instant results or unreasonably high expectations conjured up in a very short time frame despite ingrained habits that should have been curbed a long time ago (including leading by example and not just taking everybody else's word for it when it comes to making life-altering decisions or following after trends-- I've noticed this many times how easily swayed they are by other people/trends AKA subjective versus objective of other thoughts and ideas).

I'm stuck in a toxic cycle and I don't know how to get out of it. I've made some good progress in my life and I am striving to become more of a minimalist because of how liberating it feels but between having to overcome my personal demons with some of this stuff as well as my family's black and white mentality extremes mixed with hypocrisy I'm not really sure how to approach this.

All I know is I'm angry at my family for raising me with this mentality and then demonizing me for having a collecting issue, while still enabling these tendencies.

Any advice concerning this is very much appreciated!