De-Materialize

And less still...

2012-01-23T16:14:00.000-08:00

I continue to shrink the material footprint. Most of my personal stuff now fits in a 10X12 foot room. Still too many computer-ish things, but it's controllable.

I'm looking at two mac mini's.. one hooked to a 40" flatscreen mounted on the wall, and the other hooked to two 27" monitors. An iphone, ipad, some NR headphones and a Mac Air laptop. A small fridge full of yogurt, protein drinks and veggies. A desk with a chair. An air bed with a foam topper and linen. Jeans, shirts, sport coats, socks, underwear, 2 pair of shoes and an overcoat all in one closet. Oh.. an one car (a 2011 Kia Sportage EX) parked on the street.

An internet connection. No cable or phone, just Internet.

That's about it. Some boxes (mostly old records and old pictures) in storage at my parents in the crawlspace.

I.. think... I'm pretty much there. I love it.

And it continues....

2010-11-10T18:41:00.000-08:00

I'm finding the 'less stuff' life is a good one. I rent a small loft, about 750 SF, close to work (very close, like, 100 yards close) in an area rich in places to eat, things to do and things to see. When you only have 750 SF to fill, it doesn't take long, and it doesn't take much.

I've pared down the clothing to 3 pair of jeans, 2 pair of black pants, an assortment of black shirts and a couple of black sport coats. 1 brand of black socks (no more keeping matched socks in order!) and basic under garments from that iconic Fruit of the Loom bunch.

My one weakness is still technology and I have too many computers, but I'm slowly getting rid of them as well. Eventually, I'll get down to a desktop, 1 laptop and a tablet, but it's going to take a few months (it is, afterall, an addiction of sorts).

Overall, very happy with the simple life when it comes to material things.

Next up: food. How much, really do you need in the kitchen? I'm going to find out!

De-meterializing online

2009-03-09T15:02:00.000-07:00

I've found that maintaining an 'adequate' online social presence is almost as demanding as owning alot of stuff.

Blogging requires weekly (and preferably daily) entries to keep your audience coming back (or subscribed to the RSS feed) for more.

Just BEING on facebook, myspace or any of the other sites out there requires 'a few hours' to a day or two, per month (for some per week) to keep up with the 'social interation' required to be an active user.

Twitter... don't get me started. And the social pressure it creates ('you should get on twitter more often'... got that again this Saturday from a dear friend).

I'm very tempted to shut down all the online social interaction stuff as well (including this blog). I've largely done it but it keeps poking at me, trying to pull me back.

Like owning stuff and feeling owned by it, owning a blog/twitter/facebook account also feels like I'm owned by it (it, literally, requires you feed it). If you don't feed them, they start to yell at you (usually through your friends).

Renting money

2008-12-31T11:10:00.000-08:00

I love this quote (from http://patrick.net/housing/crash3.html):

"If you don't own a house but want to live in one, your choice is to rent a house or rent money to buy a house. To rent money is to take out a loan. A mortgage is a money-rental agreement. House renters take no risk at all, but money-renting owners take on the huge risk of falling house prices, as well as all the costs of repairs, insurance, property taxes, etc. Since you can rent a house for 2% of its price, but have to pay 6% to borrow the equivalent amount of money, it is much cheaper to rent the house than to rent the money."

It's true.. you can rent a place to live, or, you can rent money, at a higher cost and alot of risk, to get a place to live.

That's why I sold my pr0perty and now am a happy renter.

Black Friday

2008-11-28T10:39:00.000-08:00

Today is Black Friday, that day after Thanksgiving when the American Christmas Shopping season kicks into gear. It is an orgy of consumer consumption. I wonder how much of this stuff that's bought today really matters very much. How much improves a life (how many different ways home food processors chop a carrot, afterall?).

I'm not even leaving the house today. Those shoppers are like hungry packs looking for the best parking place, the best deal and the shortest line. Aggresive, hungry and intent on winning.

Safer to just watch the crappy after Thanksgiving TV, write some, read some, game a bit and relax.

less is more

2008-08-01T17:21:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a simple presentation is all you need.

Less is more

view presentation (tags: meditation development sustainable more)

Life, explained.

2008-06-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

I know this has been around a few times, but it's a useful little story to read every so often just to keep things in perspective.

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

"Not very long," answered the Mexican.

"But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?" asked the Mexican.

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the Mexican.

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

And the moral of this story is: ......... Know where you're going in life... you may already be there.

The New Survivalists

2008-05-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

OK, this is a bit weird, and I'm not in this camp at all, but I find it interesting that there's a movement of survivalists, a growing group, sort of spontaniously appearing, across the country.

I think it's related to de-materialism, but more extreme.

This article from the Associated Press, titled Energy fears looming, new survivalists prepare outlines it.

An excerpt:

BUSKIRK, N.Y. (AP) — A few years ago, Kathleen Breault was just another suburban grandma, driving countless hours every week, stopping for lunch at McDonald's, buying clothes at the mall, watching TV in the evenings.
That was before Breault heard an author talk about the bleak future of the world's oil supply. Now, she's preparing for the world as we know it to disappear.
Breault cut her driving time in half. She switched to a diet of locally grown foods near her upstate New York home and lost 70 pounds. She sliced up her credit cards, banished her television and swore off plane travel. She began relying on a wood-burning stove.
"I was panic-stricken," the 50-year-old recalled, her voice shaking. "Devastated. Depressed. Afraid. Vulnerable. Weak. Alone. Just terrible."

I get where she's coming from, but I don't have the same belief that society will crumble and fall that a survivalist has. I think we're heading toward a time of less available resources (due to higher costs, not availability; the rich will always be able to get what they want by virtue of being rich). It'll be a slow grind down for the middle class.

I think these folks are, as noted above, being driven more by a sense of fear and 'how do I protect myself' than anything. I get it, really. I'm just not sure that's the best way to focus things.

De-materializing, for me, is more about freedom than fear. It's also more about doing a tiny bit of good by being aware that one human doesn't really need to be consuming so much space, energy, housing, fuel and food as well as expelling so much waste (carbon, trash and wastewater, as a start).

I have read that we, as Americans, are about 3% of the worlds population, but consume 23% of the worlds resources and expell about 27% of it's carbon waste. (not 100% on those numbers... but I believe they are close).

Think about that. 3% of the worlds population chewing up One Fourth of everything, and spitting out an equivalent pile of waste.

I don't want to disappear, I just want to get more in balance with what a person needs to be happy and comfortable vs. what a person wants (or thinks they want) as taught to us by future generations of rich.

The rich I know from my silicon valley (and to a degree, here in Boulder) technology company days seem to believe in multiple cars, multiple homes, frequent air travel via commercial or even private jets, huge 3rd houses in the form of boats, used, at most, 4 weeks a year... you get the idea). The amount of wasteful use of resources that a tech geek with too much money can create is almost unimaginable.

I just no longer get the value of that way of living. The overhead and cost to the person maintaining it is huge, the return of being owned by all that stuff is questionable and the impact on the planet of consuming the resources of a small village in China, all by yourself is, well, more than a little selfish.

I know this is just my own opinion on this, and I know a fair number of people that live this lifestyle, some I consider good friends. It doesn't make it OK though.

I just wish people would stop more often and think about what they need, really need, to live a happy life.

I doubt all the excess stuff they own really does much to answer that question.

Gadgets

2008-05-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

This dematerializing has been going on for me for about 9 months now and going well.

What I'm finding is I really do need alot less than I thought I did. It wasn't just an experiment, it was, and is, a true simplification.

I have one primary weakness: Hardware. in particular, gadgets. I love gadgets and there's always a new one. that means if I'm playing with new stuff all the time, the old stuff accumulates. And I'm loath to get rid of the old stuff because there's a sense of history there (sort of like books), but in a shorter timescale.

So, I'm going to start getting rid of the gadgets as well once I don't use them anymore. I think I'd like to see how few things I can get it down to and still feel like I'm not limiting myself. I just gave my OPLC (the One Laptop Per Child linux PC for kids in poor countries) to an old friend for her kids. I'll be giving (and in some cases selling) things to folks that need them as they flow through my life. Most gadgets are good for 6 months (for me... I've learned all I can in about that time) so, like books, I can pass them on to someone else who can use them for their pure functionality (recording audio, video, media. Creating art. Whatever is is they do with it).

When I was about 20 or so a friend came over to my apartment and checked out my computer room which was full of Apple II's running BBS software and (at the time) advanced graphics software. He said: "What that hell do you need all this gear for?" (he was a gear freak himself, so this was both damning and great praise, at the teim).

I didn't have a good answer then, and I still don't. I really don't need all this gear. Some of it, yes, but not so much all of it.

One of each of the things I regularly use is plenty. For now, I'll still buy the new as it comes out, but I'll recycle the old to places it'll do good.

You have too much STUFF

2008-04-20T22:10:00.001-07:00

The genius of George Carlin on 'your stuff'. He pretty much sums it all up here in a little under 4 minutes.

Why Bother?

2008-04-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

There's a great article in the New York Times Magazine called "Why Bother?". It's longish (4 web pages) and you can read it here. (warning: login/free signup required).

I get alot of 'wow.. I wish I could do what you're doing' and a few 'seems I read about the downsizing 'trend' alot Scott.. you're ahead of the curve again' type comments. Most are well meant, but a few are a bit condescending.

The reality is, this is reality. It's real kids.

The article talks about all the usual things, but centers on the need to actually do something about climate change (and all the related ills that have created it.. the biggest being cheap energy), even if it's small and may seem like it doesn't matter because my 'evil twin' in China is more than happy to offset any good I do. It lays out why we (all of us) need to do this, if we ever want big change to happen.

I won't go into the article more than that, but I encourage you to take 10 minutes and read it.

Collapsing American Power due to.. too much stuff? hmmm...

2008-03-29T23:18:00.000-07:00

Read this today:

The collapse of American power - Would you want to hold the debt of a country whose imports exceed its industrial production?

As of March 17, 2008, one Swiss franc is worth more than $1 dollar. In 1970, the exchange rate was 4.2 Swiss francs to the dollar. In 1970, $1 purchased 360 Japanese yen. Today $1 dollar purchases less than 100 yen.

If you were a creditor, would you want to hold debt in a currency that has such a poor record against the currency of a small island country that was nuked and defeated in WW II, or against a small landlocked European country that clings to its independence and is not a member of the EU?

Would you want to hold the debt of a country whose imports exceed its industrial production? According to the latest US statistics as reported in the February 28 issue of Manufacturing and Technology News, in 2007 imports were 14 percent of US GDP and US manufacturing comprised 12 percent of US GDP. A country whose imports exceed its industrial production cannot close its trade deficit by exporting more.

The dollar has even collapsed in value against the euro, the currency of a make-believe country that does not exist: the European Union. France, Germany, Italy, England and the other members of the EU still exist as sovereign nations. England even retains its own currency. Yet the euro hits new highs daily against the dollar.

Noam Chomsky recently wrote that America thinks that it owns the world. That is definitely the view of the neoconized Bush administration. But the fact of the matter is that the US owes the world. The US “superpower” cannot even finance its own domestic operations, much less its gratuitous wars except via the kindness of foreigners to lend it money that cannot be repaid.

The US will never repay the loans. The American economy has been devastated by offshoring, by foreign competition, and by the importation of foreigners on work visas, while it holds to a free trade ideology that benefits corporate fat cats and shareholders at the expense of American labor. The dollar is failing in its role as reserve currency and will soon be abandoned.

When the dollar ceases to be the reserve currency, the US will no longer be able to pay its bills by borrowing more from foreigners.

I have to ask.. do we really NEED all these imports? Is more stuff really the answer?

More on renting vs. buying

2008-03-24T14:18:00.001-07:00

I just found a GREAT website (Patrick.net) that outlines better than anything I've seen in a long time why owning a house is, at best, a questionable idea. It's here. Or...click on the link there at the top right of this page. It's worth spending a hour or two reading as much of it as you can.

Some humor around owning a house:

Lowering interest rates will help the housing and stock market for about as long as peeing your pants will help when you have to go. It will give a warm feeling for a minute.
Everybody hates house-agents because they have everybody at a disadvantage. All other callings have a certain amount of give and take; the house agent simply takes. -- H. G. Wells
Nick Naylor, in Thank You For Smoking: "99% of everything done in the world, good or bad, is done to pay a mortgage. Perhaps the world would be a better place if everyone rented."

Renting vs. buying

2008-02-12T20:55:00.001-08:00

Yea.. I bought the whole own vs. rent thing, but this post "rent vs. buy myths" makes some very good updated points about the current housing market. I particularly like this one:

The reality is that housing is not an investment. It's shelter. That is all housing has ever been. Self-serving organizations like the National Association of Realtors like to tell people that buying a home is a good way to build long-term wealth, but this statement couldn't be further from the truth.

Although home prices can go up (and down), the rate of appreciation on housing does not surpass inflation levels over the long-term. Between 1890 and 2004, the real return on housing was a pathetic 0.4 percent per year over the last 100 years, according to Robert Shiller, a housing expert and Yale economist.

Real estate investments aren't that much better over the short-term. The gain in new home prices over the last 20 years has been a mere fraction of the Dow's gain. The average person investing in stocks between 1987 and 2007 would have made more money than the average person who bought a new home in 1987.

Downsizing is good. I've been living a far less material life the last 6 months and loving it. I'm currently renting as well (a 600+ SF place 2 blocks off the Pearl Street Mall here in Boulder). I could buy something like this, starting at around half a million dollars. Rent? $500 a month. No HOA fee's. No taxes. No upkeep.

I'm thinking renting is the way to go; at least for now.

Consumed

2007-12-24T16:44:00.000-08:00

Great interview with Benjamin Barber, author of the book "Consumed- How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole".

Here's one quote from Barber:

You know, everyone loves Wal-Mart as a consumer. So do I. Lots of goods, cheap prices. But it has social consequences that, as a consumers, we don't think about. We know it means low wages, it means low wages without pensions. It means wage earners who don't have proper healthcare. But, worse than that, it means the destruction of mom and pop stores. The destruction of retail. The destruction of those very little shops you were talking about that are at the heart of America's villages and towns.

Bill Moyers interviews Barber on his Journal show. Watch it here, you might get a different view of how you consume in the future.

At first, I thought you were weird...

2007-12-09T23:44:00.000-08:00

I've heard that from several people lately. They then finish the comment with 'now I think you're onto something'.

I was talking with my Mom tonight and the whole de-materialization thing came up and she took it a step farther. She said "I thought you were nuts". She figured I'd already paid for all that stuff so why get rid of it now? I told her that I had to have a multi-thousands of square foot house to HOLD it all and that made her stop and say "I didn't think of that".

If you have stuff, you have to have a place for all that stuff too. That's a large part of the 'it's owns you' problem. Owning property as an investment is one thing, but owning a home (or homes) that are just stupidly big because you have all this 'stuff' means you have to worry about all the upkeep, the mortgage, the insurance, security, the HOA fees and the difficulty in just moving away if your neighbor is a dickhead (harder if you have to sell it instead of just handing it back to a landlord).

I've also had a few people say there were 'proud' of me. DeAnna, and old friend, told me this over lunch on Friday and my own Dad told me the same thing. When I ask 'are you going to do it?" they back off though. I understand it. It took me a couple of years of thinking about it and about 6 months to actually do (de-materializing is hard work. Seriously).

Now though, it's pretty much done. I have what I need at my fingertips and no more. If I buy something new, I get rid of sometime that it replaces. (bought some new shoes this week, took them home, took a pair of shoes I wear the least and dropped them off in the shoebox the new shoes came in at the Salvation Army).

Some habit's die hard though. My mom asked me if I wanted one of the comforters that she'd 'saved' for me when they took a bunch of my stuff away.

Mom's, it seems, will always want to make sure you're safe and warm.

Less stuff seems to equal more time

2007-11-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

I wonder how much time we spend actually buying things.

Most people I know think about what they want. They spend time researching it, comparing it to other competitive products, going to look at it (often multiple times if it's something like a car or furniture or technology) and then spending more time trying to get the best price possible.

I would bet each non basic purchase (food, to a degree clothing) takes at least an hour. Maybe a few hours and in the case of big purchases (like a car or house) it can add up to days or more.

And if you're just 'shopping', not 100% sure what you want, hell, that can be 1/2 a day at a mall on a Saturday.

I think this because I find I now have more time on my hands. Most of what I buy now is the basic and those don't really change much for me. Food is pretty routine. Cloths (does it fit? do I have room for it in the closet? is it black?.. I'll take it) are similar. I don't really have the room for more than what's there already so I just walk past all the other stuff.

I used to spend 2 hours whenever I went to Costco for milk and that damn milk always ended up costing me at least several hundred dollars of 'discovered.. gotta have... been looking for that' stuff. After my last 3 visits to Costco where I looked around for an hour decided I didn't need or have a place for that, say, telescope I've been hankering for and will use maybe twice in a year, and still walked out with just milk (OMG!) I realized I didn't even need that Costco card.

Now I just get 1/2 gallon at the Ideal Market down the street when I'm running low. In and out. Done.

I'm guessing I gain about 6-8 (conservatively) hours a week because of this.

And it's a little odd. I actually find myself, some evenings or weekends, wondering what to do. I think I'll learn how to cartoon, or speak Manderin. :)

A few weeks in...

2007-10-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

There's something pure about this process.

At a personal level, I've effectively taken it down to close to almost no material possessions from where I was 60 days ago. I think I can make the list from memory here:

One car
A twin bed
1 sitting chair and 3 stacking chairs.
1 desk and 1 deskchair.
1 desktop computer
1 laptop computer.
3 plants
A Senseo coffee machine
A tea kettle
A blender
Silverware/plates/glasses/cups
Food
Cloths (shoes, shirts, pants, socks, etc.- all fit me, all useful)
Towels/razor/electric toothbruth

I think that's about it. There's other stuff here. (Fridge, W/D) but they're part of the place I'm renting, not mine.

Sparse would be the operative word. Nothing on the walls. Large open swaths of floorspace.

This is very different than how I've tended to live. I'm neat but cluttered by nature. I tended to pile things around me, stick things up on the wall, stuff items in drawers. Stack layers of things on bookshelves and fill rooms with 'stuff' because, hey, I have the room.

No drawers, bookshelves or extra rooms anymore. And the walls: clean, empty and white.

You'd think this would drive me slightly nuts being so different but it's interestingly calming. Peaceful.

I'll start to add things back in as I need them. Little things at first. A few days ago I had to add 'salt and pepper' to the list. I didn't bring any along from the old place. It's an incredibly useful exercise in defining and identifying what's really needed in your day to day life.

I no longer just buy something if I like it (or want it). I really can't. I have no place for it without consciously thinking through what I'll use if for, where it will go when I'm not using it and why, really, I want it.

I'm keeping a list of things I need on the kitchen counter. The first few days it filled up fast (oh yea... dishsoap), but that only lasted a few days. It's been pretty close to empty the last week.

I think I have all the basics nailed down.

Yea. I do.

Now, to slowly, carefully and consciously start to bring back into my life the things I only need to live comfortably and happily, and no more.

I'm smiling as I write all this.

and it's done... sort of

2007-09-30T00:54:00.000-07:00

Sold the house. Closed on Friday.

Officially living in my 'shabby sheik' place on the same day. My friend Lizzie dropped by today and said 'wow.. you really are doing the monk thing'.

True indeed.

I've got a bed, 4 chairs, a desk with my mondo home computer system on it, some silverware, plates, a Senseo coffee machine, cloths, shoes and 3 plants. Took me 6 weeks to empty out that house of stuff (and about 20 people I know are quite happy right now, especially the person who snarfed the 40 boxes of books for his personal library).. THAT was hard. Much harder than simply moving.

You have to let it go and that sounds easy, right? Try it sometime. Even the people taking your stuff ask you 'are you sure?' about 10 times, then try to talk you into keeping it (whatever it is) before, finally, carting it off.

We really are geared as a species to acquire.

Walls are white and clean. It's very serene right now.

I'm sure I'll add things as time passes, but for now, I love the simple emptiness of it. When I do add things, it'll be after asking myself 'do I really need that?'.

I suspect, most of the time, the answer will be no.

Junk to the world, but still, my treasure

2007-09-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

Ack. Getting down to it now.

I've thrown out dozens of bags of 'packrat' stuff that looks like you should save it, but will never get used again (think: computer stuff from the last 25 years, like SCSI hard disks, serial port keyboards, memory and harddisk components, manuals, software, work records, presentations, business plans, product plans, 8" FLOPPYS.. god.. 8"" floppys....etc. etc.).

This is somewhat painful. Giving away $2000 suites I never wear anymore? Easy. Throwing away the 1GB SCSI hard drive that has all the records I used to run The OneNet Member Network (a global Apple BBS system I ran in the late 80's and early 90's) ... way hard.

There's HISTORY in them thar drives damnit! I just can't, ya know, turn em on cause nothing runs them anymore.

Sigh.

I think part of what makes giving up stuff like this is it's one of the things that ties us to our past. Things that are just junk to everyone else are oddly precious momento's of your life. Each piece of equipment or hardware part or sofware disk of this junk has a story. Much of it you were involved with (i.e. you help build the damn thing).

Being a computer and software guy vs. a car guy, or instance, can kinda sucks if you think much about it too much.

Why? Your work requires pretty hefty intellectual lifting and is very quickly devalued by a product cycle that lasts, at most, months. A 59 Chevy is still cool to pretty much everyone- even almost 50 years later. A 1GB hard drive with the software and a snapshot of all the postings and messages of an early pre-internet global store and forward BBS system? Not so cool. Yea, to a tiny fraction of the population, maybe. But even then 'cool' isn't the right word. more like 'interesting'.

Of course there's the ethereal reality that what you did has been built on by others and you have, for instance, the internet to show for it. But no one knows that really but you and a samll group of your friends and colleagues.

And all the thought stuff. Business plans, presentations, product plans, strategies... just throwing them out.

A sampling:
- Here's Apple's Online Services business plan... Imagine if Apple had gotten behind this in earnest? There would have been something very different than AOL dominating the online world for half a decade or longer.

-Hmmm.. General Magic's long term strategy. Still secret I see. Not only do I throw it out.. I can't even TALK about it.

- Paramounts "The Gateway" plan to build small local servers into every Blockbuster store (both companies owned by Viacom at the time) to create a low cost 'local dial in' alternative to AOL and a way to eventually distribute media (music and movies) as infrastructure built out. -

Trash.

- MCI's strategic plan to build a Global Network Operating System on top of it's massive IP network. Global services that you can just plug your business into to get directories, security, voip, etc. etc.... 3 years of work there.

Here's an Apple Newton with prototype eWorld messaging my group designed and built into it.

Trash.

Lots of good stuff in here to that actually became successful products and services. But all, still, long gone. Replaced by better, faster, cheaper.

In the end: Trash. Trash Trash. All of it trash.

Certainly puts everything in perspective eh?

I think this is one reason people don't de-materialize. This is frakin hard to do. It's litereally taking all of the things that remind you of your past and who you are and tossing them out. The only value they have is to you, but what value, really?

When I think about it, they really are things to simply learn from, build on and move on with that knowledge safely tucked away in your head. The reason for keeping it all is to 'maybe reference it' in the future sometime. Right. That's gonna happen.

So, in the end, all the material representations of all this good thinking, creation, hard work, great people, it really is just stuff.

Stuff I just don't need following me around anymore.

Treasures in my mind; great memories; many good times, but, to the rest of the world: junk to be tossed out.

And now, for me, it's time to take out the trash.

Why I think it's time to rent

2007-09-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

I've had several people 'look askance' at me when I say I'm selling my house and renting a small place for awhile. Several have said things like "you're making a big mistake".

I really don't think so.

Part of this is the process of getting rid of all the 'stuff' that's accumulated over the years. To get a sense of lightness and not feel like I'm owned by the things I own.

The other is just marshaling your financial resources wisely. If the timing is right, and other life priorities line up, hell, do a little profit taking.

The guys over at eFinance Directory (a guide to home mortgages, mortgage refinancing, home equity loans, home realty, housing and all personal finance matters) have an article up you should read before saying I'm making a mistake getting out of home ownership right now.

It's called: This is why I rent: Median incomes do no support median home prices.

I bought my house a little under 10 years ago. It was my 'divorce house'. You know, the one you buy after you get divorced; usually smaller and usually low maintenance. Mine's a 'patio home'. Perfect for someone who doesn't want to mow the lawn and have the HOA take care of everything.

It's also more than doubled in value in that time.

I was able to find a buyer who's paying close to my asking price and on a a 5% of the value of the house 10 years ago down payment, I get a return of about 18x my initial investment (plus a lot of nice tax right offs over the years).

Not a bad investment.

And according to pretty much everyone I know that knows this industry (and the link above goes into some detail on), there's going to be a serious correction in home prices over the next 5 years and we're just at the start of it.

I live in Boulder, CO which traditionally is insulated from any decline in valuations of homes.

The general consensus seems to be 20% decline nationally and some say as much as a50% decline in home valuations over the next 5 years is very possible.

Maybe in this downturn Boulder prices will hold, again. Maybe not.

I do know one thing though: if I'm going to de-materialize and simplify my life, there's nothing wrong with a little profit taking at the high end of a market that's got a multi-year correction ahead of it.

And last, having money sitting in reasonably safe investments that are growing without much attention paid to it is much simpler than all the hassles of owning a home and having to worry about the potential of a downward equity spiral in the damn thing's value.

Simplify, simplify, simplify.... and simplify some more.

http://www.inavandownbytheriver.com/

2007-09-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

In a van, down by the river.

I love it.

This was inspired (in part) by the 4 Hour Workweek, where Tim Ferris talks about living a totally mobile lifestyle. Well, we love America and before setting out abroad we want to have a base and find the best city to live in that we could make our permanent home.

...

The rough plan as of now is:

Sell most of our crap. Store the rest.
Find, buy, steal, or otherwise get a van.
Pimp out said van with a custom bed, office, LCD tv, etc.
Get a high speed internet connection
Get laptops, photo, and video gear to document this crazy thing.
Figure out what to take along for survival
Go!

Norwegian Mothers

2007-09-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

Never let your "Norwegian Raised During the War Without Enough Stuff" Mother come over to help you get rid of things.

I love my Mom, but she spent most of the day trying to talk me out of giving things away.

M: "you're going to need that someday"

S: " ma, it's magnifying glass; I think I used to use it to torture insects as a boy'

M: "well, eventually your eye's will go and you'll regret giving that away".

I'm not kidding here. That's an example of the entire day.

Haiku Productivity: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential

2007-09-11T00:20:00.000-07:00

I'm no Buddist, but I do find you can learn alot of interesting things from those Zen dudes.

There's a great post on simplifying from ZenHabits called: Haiku Productivity: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential.

The title pretty much sums it up.

The little stuff

2007-09-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's my Norwegian genes but as I go through this house I just sold and start to purge all the stuff, I'm finding the little stuff is the hard stuff. "Useful" things like those office supplies that I"ve had for, what, 10 years... "You never know when you'll need a really large paperclip'. Maybe it's because these are things that are harder to get rid of (you can't really sell them on CraigsList and friends and family already have this stuff around).

The big stuff I'm finding is easy. Just sold the entire living room (about 11 pieces of leather, wood, rock and fabric in the form of really big furniture). I also found that if you sell it way below it's value, it'll go fast, and they'll gladly do all the work (take it apart, pack it up, get out quick before I come to my senses).

But the this little stuff, calculators, small tools, phone connectors and cables, magnets you can slick your business cards on (yea.. I know)....etc. etc).. selling it 'cheap' just doesn't work.

But it's good stuff! Do I just throw it out?

I think I'll try putting it out next to the trash (not in it) with a note that says "Free". I'm pretty sure my little HOA community here has it's fair share of stuff hoarders. We'll see.

Some random thoughts

2007-08-29T01:56:00.000-07:00

I was having lunch with a friend a couple of weeks ago and we got onto the subject of living life. First we talked about how Boulder seems to have alot of 'studied nonchalance' meaning people that work at looking average and normal. This is mostly due to most of the people he saw hanging around the Boulderado hotel being multi-millionares in Boulder. The LAST thing you want to look like if you're in Boulder is a multimillionare so... you have to spend some serious money on cloths that make you look like you're not a multimillionaire.

So true.

We then got to talking about what would make him happy. He's a very successful guy. Ex-venture capitalist and an investor as well as very active in the non profit world. I told him about my de-materialization quest and he surprised me with what he really wanted: "I'd love to get a small two bedroom house and just live simply". This from a guy who most certainly doesn't have 'just a small two bedroom house' currently and lives a very busy life of consulting, board meetings and family obligations.

The more I owned, the more it owned me. I've owned multiple houses and had too many cars and god knows how much stuff to fill everything up. Since I got divorced I've gotten down to a single house and a couple of cars, but now, even that seems like too much. What does 1 guy need several thousand feet of house for? WHY do I need more than one car? (in Boulder, except on really cold days, you don't really need any car.. seems like there's more bike paths in this town than roads).

They say living in an apartment uses 20% of the resources that living in a house does (the infamous carbon footprint). Why would I not sell the 12 MPG (hwy) Landcruiser and replace it with a 43 MPG Yaris and a good bike?

I get that our possessions tend to define us. We are, after all, the most consumerist society in history, but is this good? Should you really define who you are by the watch you wear, the car you drive or the street you live on?

I'm voting no on that one and I'm about to find out just how that really feels. By the end of the year I should be pretty close to demateralized with very few 'home stuff' things left if I'm successful. I'll let you know how I feel then.

Big change for sure. When I was in my 20's my lawyer once said to me after I showed him my just installed 'car phone' (this was the mid 80's and a mobile phone made up of a big box in your trunk and a full sized handset mounted on your dash with a cost to use of $1.75 a minute was really cutting edge) Scott.... you're Boulder County's leading consumer...

No more.

I'll still have the cellphone, but just the one, and no other phones, anywhere.

The living room and CraigsList

2007-08-28T14:56:00.000-07:00

Man, I love CraigsList.

I put up a living room set of furniture on Sunday and by Monday I have 15 inquiries.

The house is gone as of the 9/30.

No clue where I'm going to live. Heh... this is weird but I have to admit I really like it.

Great story

2007-08-26T15:59:00.000-07:00

A great story on living life in a way that's fulfilling.

One of the better blog postings I've read this year. And not very far off of how I think life should be lived (the second story, not the first so much).

and next.. the house

2007-08-24T03:20:00.000-07:00

Got a reasonable offer on my house today that I'm taking. Soo.. the real process of simplifying and dematerializing begins. I think how I'll start is by inviting family and friends over to go through the place and see what they want and just give it away. Some of the things will require some thought though (what do you do with 4000 books?).

I'm already feeling an odd sense of mild excitement. A sort of 'starting fresh' feeling. I've been here for 10 years (almost exactly) and that's the longest I've lived in one place my entire adult life.

Another great post on why all the "Stuff" you have just doesn't matter

2007-08-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

Entire post is here.

Teaser:

What if you currently live a very comfortable lifestyle and you have a lot of assets? How can you justify running off to do what truly makes you happy if it might put all your current assets at risk?

Here’s my take on this….

To abandon a comfortable lifestyle that isn’t deeply fulfilling is to abandon nothing. There’s nothing of real substance there to protect. An income, a car, a house, or a lifestyle are not worth protecting if the cost of such protection is your own fulfillment and happiness. People who achieve some of the external trappings of success without internal fulfillment are only living an illusion when they tell themselves they have something of value to protect. In most cases the feeling that there’s something to protect is just an excuse used to avoid facing the real fear — that maybe all this stuff isn’t really worth anything compared to what’s being lost… that maybe I should be living more boldly and not be so concerned about what happens to all my stuff.

Entire post here.

Goes a little deeper than just stuff, but get's at the reasons WHY getting rid of all the stuff is goodness.

Steve Pavlina's the author and you can get to it at www.stevepavlina.com

It ain't so easy...

2007-07-31T22:28:00.000-07:00

Ben Stein talks about what it's like to be rich.

Apparently, it's more work than you think.

SELL that house, damnit....

2007-07-13T20:03:00.000-07:00

One guy: 2500 SF. Just seems out of whack.

So, put the house up for sale today.

I was having a hard time leaving rooms empty. We're trained to fill them with stuff if we've got them (rooms, that is).

So, get rid of the rooms.

I'm not sure the realtor got it. Seemed mystified that I'd sell a nice house 'to get a studio apt.. mostly for the shower'. I was telling a friend how amazingly conditioned we are to buy stuff.. .buy buy buy. If you don't, people look at you askance... 'What are you.. some kinda commie??". Just makes me shake my head and smile.

I think I know what much of this is... I think it has to do mostly with reproduction. Seriously. To a lesser degree it's about impressing your friends, but it's mostly about sex.

I have no desire to have more kids. I have no desire to attract a 'mate', or even be in a serious relationship. I'm mostly just interested in getting this startup company to a point where it's really doing some great stuff, making money and having a positive impact on the world.

When you stop worrying about attracting a mate or impressing people in general, you stop worrying about things like BMW logo's and big houses. Weird eh?

s

The over 40 dematerilizer

2007-05-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

I talked to a friend last week that's about my age, but married with kids and a house, 4 cars and a exec. level corporate job. We talked about the whole dematerializing thing and I came to the conclusion, this is really a single guy thing. It might apply to women as well, but I don't know, not being one.

It's unrealistic, as a married with children guy, to do it. You can 'sort of' do it (live simply) but society and the demands of spouses and children make it an order of magnitude more difficult.

The social aspects of dematerialization

2007-05-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

This is pretty interesting. In a consumer society like America, 'things' define you. Nothing new here. It's been a while since I really experienced the raw reality of it though.

I had a conversation with a couple of women last night, both old friends, both 28. One was a bonafide Boulder Hippie type, the other, what I'd call more traditionally American (i.e. stuff oriented). The BH women completely got the whole dematerialization concept out of the gate. The traditional American was at first, appalled, then intrigued, then judgmental and appalled again.

"You're old Scott, you've already had a chance to have all the stuff". I don't know about old (my Dad, he's 80, HE'S old), but it's true I've had the big houses, expensive cars, etc. etc.

What I learned from it is: having alot of stuff doesn't mean shit. I mean, really, it just doesn't mean anything.

Granted, I learned that it doesn't mean anything by doing it: i.e. owning (and being owned by) alot of stuff. I also suspect that if you've never done it, you just cannot know this through apriori observation (at least, the average person can't), so I get the reaction she had. No Way! Tell me more... No Way!

I would too if I were 28, owned nothing and saw alot of really nice sportscars driven by people my age or little older (or worse... younger.. where does that put me in the social hierarchy! Oh my god I'm behind!!!) in the parking lot where I worked.

I think it's a monkeysphere thing. That monkey over there who I know has it, I HAVE TO HAVE IT TO! I must. I don't know why, but I must.

This is basic stuff, but interesting to me (and I'm sure only me) because it's first hand real world research result type material.

I think I'll go out now and see how I can get rid of 4000 books sitting in my basement library in a way that's useful to someone somewhere.

First big one

2007-05-17T01:40:00.000-07:00

OK.. getting started here. Sold the Scion xB (the extra/second car) this week.

Lots of room in the garage. Now I just need to figure out how to get rid of the garage.

The process begins

2007-05-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

Interestingly, this isn't as easy as you might think. It's amazing how often you think "hey.. I might need that" as you sort through the junk.

So, I made a list and just started adding things to it. The criteria was: Do I use it. Here's a short list:

Big expensive round kitchen table. Used once or twice a year, maybe. Giving it to one of my employees.
2nd Car (a Scion xB). Keep it to buy THINGS... man I don't need that. Selling it now.
Living room set. Big, comfy and rarely used. I need one comfortable reading/listening to music chair. Not a set that seats 7 with stone tables. Not sure how to get rid of this just yet, craigs list again maybe? Freecycle.org?
Cloths. Man, I have alot of cloths. I'm thinking: If I haven't worn it for 1-18 months, it's salvation army material. I have more shoes than a girl. It's embarrassing when I really look at it.

Also looking at realtors to sell the house. This is likely to be the last to go, but it's in my mind.

Cable TV. THIS is hard. Harder than I thought. I don't watch a ton of TV, but I have favorite shows I record and watch later (and one or two must see's like the daily show). Can I do without them? Of course. Do I really want to? ummm.... SHOULD I do without them... I suspect yes.

The journey to de-materialization

2007-04-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

Here it is. Half way point in life. I've had a pretty good life and I've been reasonably successful from a 'material' perspective (titles, jobs, houses, cars, investments, stuff). I've come to a realization: All this 'stuff' owns me. I don't own it.

Intellectually, I've known this for awhile. Back in my silicon valley days, I worked with a fellow named Corey who had a grip. He developed software for Apple and lived in a apt. over a 6 car garage as the 'groundskeeper' (free rent) on a 4 house estate in Atherton. His main job? Take care of the private zoo the family kept (I kid you not).

I asked him if it ever made him feel odd, living among so much money and he said no and told me the reason was something the wife told him: "All we do is fly around the world to our houses and our possessions and make sure they're all ok. Some days it feels like we don't own this stuff. It feels a lot more like it owns us".

When I was in my 20's, I was a technology hound. I always had the latest of everything. A friend of mine, walking through my place one day commented: "Man Scott, you must be Boulder County's leading consumer!" In a sense, he was right. Not that it's wrong, but, at this point in life, it's not necessarily right either.

Like I said, intellectually, I get it. Our stuff owns us, and , as the years go on, like most Americans, I accumulate. Here I am now on the North side of my 40's and I hits me how right she was. This stuff owns me.

So... I'm going to try something. I'm going to de-materialize. Get rid of all the extra stuff that's just not needed in my life.

I'm not going native, giving away all my money or turning monk here. I haven't found religion, gotten a guru or read some self help book telling me to do this. It just strikes me as the right thing to do. It's really very simple: I'm going to try to get rid of whats not needed in my life. It doesn't mean life in a tent or out of a van (although who knows.. maybe that's what I'll find I want). It means getting to a point where I don't feel like I'm consuming so much; using up so many more resources (goods, services, STUFF) than I need to.

I expect this starts with the stuff but I also expect it'll move into other areas as well as time progresses and I gain a little wisdom around what I'm trying to do here. And I'm sure many others have done this as well and I'll be checking that out- betcha there's even a movement, association and (many) websites about it. We'll see.

But I do know this: It's the right time and it feels like the right thing to do. De-Materialize.

I'll write about my experiences doing this here in this blog. I doubt many will find it interesting, hell, I may even make it private- this is more of an intellectual exercise for me, and a way of keeping track of progress and recording what I learn more than anything else.

Funny, just thinking of doing this makes me feel a little bit more free.