Posts tagged with "minimalism" - page 2


  • Giving Up Satellite TV

    As part of minimalism, we try to reduce stuff from our life every now and then. Like Bruce Lee said, “hack away the unessential”. You may recall some of our minimalism activities from the past like selling our car or the minimalist wardrobe. This time around we wanted to experiment with cutting out satellite TV from our life.

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  • On The Other Side Of Early Retirement And Minimalism

    It is interesting to know that the options for work increase dramatically after you announce that you retired. I did not know this fact. Not just that but people generally tend to have a different outlook about you. I will share some interesting observations I made after my retirement.

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  • How I Spend As A Minimalist

    Minimalism in general sounds a bit odd to most people. Most of the time they tend to think that minimalism means being too miserly or living on a tight budget. But the reality is not even close to anything like that. Of course we do run on a budget, but certainly not on tight budget. Likewise, we spend quite a bit where we think it makes sense. Where we don't see value, we tend to spend less. Minimalism is not about being a miser or not spending at all but about spending on stuff that is important to you.

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  • More Ideas On Minimalism

    I have already written a few articles on minimalism. Yet, from time to time people still ask me to teach them how to get started on minimalism. Unfortunately I don't know how to help them. There are perhaps some books and youtube videos on the topic. May be that will help. But here is one way to go about it.

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  • The Minimalist Wardrobe

    If you have read the post on my expenses, you would have noticed "wardrobe" expenses conspicuously missing. I quietly shoved them into the miscellaneous expenses. Still, a few people noticed and asked me -- "what about your clothing, shoes etc expenses". Well, I am not much of a shopper and after the brush with minimalism, the desire to buy more clothes has vanished into oblivion.

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  • What Does Minimalism Mean To Us

    Like many things in life, what something means to you may not mean the same to others. Take minimalism for example. It has a different meaning to different people, but the core tenets remain the same. Some people confuse minimalism with cheap or frugal. While it does help to be frugal, it does not necessarily mean minimalist. What does minimalism mean to us then? We'd like to think that minimalism means owning or buying the minimum amount of things that will let you lead a comfortable but simple life. That's a mouthful. Lets break it down.

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  • My Expenses Compared with MMM

    Some of you might have heard of Mr. Money Mustache (MMM), who retired at the age of 30 in the US and is quite popular in the F.I.R.E world. I have always wanted to compare my expenses with him and see if I can be as good as him with my expenses. I always believe that there are some similarities when I compare myself with him (like workouts, DIY, minimalism etc). My expenses should also be similar then? You know that I have this habit of looking back at my expenses in the past year and write a post on it in the beginning of the new year. This year, MMM also posted his expenses on his blog, so it was easy for me to compare my expenses with his. So am I better at managing my expenses compared to him? Lets find out. The results may surprise you!

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  • My Search for an Ideal Phone

    I have always used some of the more expensive android phones up until my brush with minimalism. After that, I decided I need to buy something for what it is really worth for me. I have always been a value conscious guy, which means I try to get the best value for my money. But nobody ever said that the money needs to be a small amount :) . So I used to buy moderately expensive stuff, but still with good value. I considered a $2100 gaming laptop a worthy buy because of the value of the components. Which is also the reason I don't buy Apple products. Don't get me wrong, the products are absolutely beautiful and well crafted and the attention to detail is impeccable. The engineering and innovation that goes behind those products is commendable. But I always feel that the value could be better spent at something other than the good looks and perfection. Anyway back to the point. So after trying to practice minimalism, I decided to go with things that are less expensive but still value for money.

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  • Sold My Car!

    I might have mentioned in passing on this blog that I own three vehicles. Now, having started on my minimalist journey, I have been wanting to get rid of an expensive and yet not so used car. And that finally happened yesterday! It is sort of a bitter sweet moment really. On the one hand I feel like a part of me is gone now and all I am left with are the memories. On the other hand, I am happy to have reduced "stuff" from my life. Read on to know the whole story.

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  • Practice Minimalism

    After watching my talk on early retirement, one of my friends tells me that while the audience asked a lot of questions, no one asked me "How do I practice the art of minimalism without compromising much on what your heart wishes for?". Well in this case, I am not really sure if minimalism is a personal trait or if it is something that can be acquired. You already know how I started, which was basically after reading about Stoicism.

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