The less you own, the more you have

[Elwar]

This is what poor people tell to themselves.

I'll stick to that >> "The more you own, the more you have."

We are in a bitcoin forum for fcks sake. Everyone here is after money yet you say "own less have more".

Please....

I am certainly not poor. I have a six figure income and have been buying bitcoins since they were $18.

It is life's experiences that have value. Not things.

Ive always fancied living minimalistic but even then its too expensive to be self sufficient without a bit of capital to say buy a house and i would still need to work a full weeks work just to get by so its kind of pointless. If i had enough money saved that io could just switch to a more minimalistic lifestyle and quit work i would though .

I don't understand this statement. I actually sold my house. I sold everything I own except what fits inside a suitcase. That was not expensive. I have a small apartment that I have a month to month lease on so that I can move any time I want if I find a better job anywhere else in the world.

The part I like about it is not wanting anything. I see some cool toy or gadget on the Internet and think...wow, that would be awesome. Then I remember that it would not fit in my suitcase. The feeling of want goes away and I realize that the cool thing isn't worth the headache that comes with owning it. And would likely only be fun for a short amount of time. Instead I can go to http://www.google.com/flights and find the next city I want to travel to for the weekend.

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[DashTron]

"The things you own end up owning you"

    - Tyler Durden -

[PokerFace3]

"The things you own end up owning you"

    - Tyler Durden -

Very Nice. It is not bad to be materialistic. but you should live your life the fullest not wasting your life preparing for the life you want. You have to realize that present moment is all you have. The idea of the less you own, the more you have is nice but I would like to say I don't care how much you own but you shouldn't be attached to the things you own or those things will start to own your life.

[ObscureBean]

Funnily enough it seems you're not that different from your former self since the second part of your motto has stayed the same 
You've gone from "the more you own, the more you have" to "the less you own, the more you have" leaving the end result the same, you still have more 
Seriously though, I know what you mean, I backpacked across South East Asia for 4 years and yeah it's a pretty cool lifestyle at first but it's not as rosy as you make it sound. I had money and never had to work while I was there but being a drifter is exhausting after a while at least for me it was. It's something to do with not really belonging to the local community wherever you stop. It was fun at first but I quickly realized that the longer I stayed in one place the more complicated things got. And to always be moving gets tiring after a while. Maybe it's different for you since your job acts as a real life anchor.

[Elwar]

Funnily enough it seems you're not that different from your former self since the second part of your motto has stayed the same 
You've gone from "the more you own, the more you have" to "the less you own, the more you have" leaving the end result the same, you still have more 
Seriously though, I know what you mean, I backpacked across South East Asia for 4 years and yeah it's a pretty cool lifestyle at first but it's not as rosy as you make it sound. I had money and never had to work while I was there but being a drifter is exhausting after a while at least for me it was. It's something to do with not really belonging to the local community wherever you stop. It was fun at first but I quickly realized that the longer I stayed in one place the more complicated things got. And to always be moving gets tiring after a while. Maybe it's different for you since your job acts as a real life anchor.

I get what you mean about local community. My job has always moved me around and I thought at one point that I would like to try to stay in one place and settle down but life is so dynamic that trying to stay in one place becomes a battle in itself. At least in my line of work where the jobs pick up in different places at different times.

Though if I was tied to one place due to my job I would probably feel trapped too.

The Internet helps to keep in touch with your community of friends no matter where you are.

[virtualx]

This is what poor people tell to themselves.

I'll stick to that >> "The more you own, the more you have."

We are in a bitcoin forum for fcks sake. Everyone here is after money yet you say "own less have more".

Please....

I am certainly not poor. I have a six figure income and have been buying bitcoins since they were $18.

It is life's experiences that have value. Not things.

Life experience and things are connected. Without things you couldn't experience bitcointalk forum 

I think OP is saying "The less things you own, the more you have" because six figure income is not poor.

[BADecker]

The more you control without owning it, the more you have. Consider government people, for example.

[hase0278]

Well I think I agree with you. The less you own is equal to pleasure since you don't need to worry about many things. I guess we bitcoiners need few things to live daily life. The first thing of course I think is laptop and modem to earn some bitcoin. The second and last thing is cooking equipments and bed to sleep and electricity too. I guess living like that seems good to do with a modified camping van. 

[PokerFace3]

Well I think I agree with you. The less you own is equal to pleasure since you don't need to worry about many things. I guess we bitcoiners need few things to live daily life. The first thing of course I think is laptop and modem to earn some bitcoin. The second and last thing is cooking equipments and bed to sleep and electricity too. I guess living like that seems good to do with a modified camping van. 

Yaaa the less you own the less worries we have in our life. The less we have the lesser the stress level. This can help us have the best in life.
It simply mean we will have enough time to gain the experience that we want to have.

[Elwar]

The obligatory George Carlin's take on having too much stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac

[HatakeKakashi]

Whatever you said has pros and cons on its own! Yes, the more you have, the more you are worried of losing it and being bankrupt. You are concerned about the society and your image in the society. You want to be the best in society and try to make more money. You lose all your money and then you go insane and find yourself blinded. However, having less is bad on its own too. You are dreaming of winning big. You gamble at every possible offer. You are ready to do anything for free money and find yourself ended in jail. You think you are worthless and may not enjoy many wonders in life

[nururochac]

Well I think I agree with you. The less you own is equal to pleasure since you don't need to worry about many things. I guess we bitcoiners need few things to live daily life. The first thing of course I think is laptop and modem to earn some bitcoin. The second and last thing is cooking equipments and bed to sleep and electricity too. I guess living like that seems good to do with a modified camping van. 

It is because you value things you count. So if you own less, you will value them a lot because you that's the only thing you have while if a person own more. He's less likely aware of valuing it because he can easily replace it.

[gabmen]

I totally agree to this. I am living a simple life, i am a minimalist. I have a stable job to earn money, then i use the money to travel. I do not own a car because i do not want to have debts. I travel most of the time and it makes me happy. Being simple is a total happiness!

[FFrankie]

I do not think this applies to debt. I currently have a stupid amount of student loans, so I technically have less than nothing and I would rather much not have loans to be paying off.

[Elwar]

Whatever you said has pros and cons on its own! Yes, the more you have, the more you are worried of losing it and being bankrupt. You are concerned about the society and your image in the society. You want to be the best in society and try to make more money. You lose all your money and then you go insane and find yourself blinded. However, having less is bad on its own too. You are dreaming of winning big. You gamble at every possible offer. You are ready to do anything for free money and find yourself ended in jail. You think you are worthless and may not enjoy many wonders in life

Those who own little do not have to worry about money as much. And they are more likely to have more money.

Consider owning a bar of gold.

Do you live in an apartment? You will need to secure that gold from someone stealing it so it is better to own a house if you're going to own a bar of gold. So now you have a bar of gold in your house. You need to buy a safe to put the bar of gold in. But what if someone steals the safe. You need to buy a gun to protect your home. And paying for a security system for when you are away is a very good assurance that the bar of gold is safe.

Look at all of the hassle you have gone through just to own one thing.

It is the same with everything you own. You are constantly protecting it from being taken.

Nobody can take your fun memories of enjoying your life instead of working hard to buy then protect your stuff.

[BADecker]

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Look at all of the hassle you have gone through just to own one thing.

It is the same with everything you own. You are constantly protecting it from being taken.

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And worst of all, you are spending this stuff you want to protect, to buy the protection to protect it. What a vicious cycle!

[Shiroslullaby]

I feel like I would get along with you very well, Elwar.
As I was driving to work today I realized that its so awesome to not care about owning anything that I couldn't carry with me in one bag.
As long as I have a laptop, and an internet connection, I could be happy anywhere.
The less things I own the happier I am. Being mobile is amazing. The only things that matter are your experiences and your knowledge.
Don't get tied down with too many material possessions or you will spend your whole life worrying about things you can't take with you to the next life anyways!

[varyspro]

I feel like I would get along with you very well, Elwar.
As I was driving to work today I realized that its so awesome to not care about owning anything that I couldn't carry with me in one bag.
As long as I have a laptop, and an internet connection, I could be happy anywhere.
The less things I own the happier I am. Being mobile is amazing. The only things that matter are your experiences and your knowledge.
Don't get tied down with too many material possessions or you will spend your whole life worrying about things you can't take with you to the next life anyways!

What you're right ... The wealth and love of things, it binds the human hands and feet. It deprives him of true freedom. But if they refuse, then give up everything. Absolutely and always away from civilization. But for this it is necessary to have a solid solution. And strong mativatsii. But try yourself in the limit against their will, it is not necessary. Especially if such a desire arose only from the fact that it is the same thing the others do. Minimalism is a state of mind rather than a passing fad.

[MissionPhailed]

Totally agreed with OP. While I haven't implemented minimalism as extreme as the OP, I have managed to lower the costs of living considerably in the last years. Because of this, I don't need a fulltime job to make ends meet (roughly 18-20 hours per week is enough), unemployment is a minor annoyance at most, and most of the time I can do whatever the hell I want. I see relatives owning new and expensive cars, big houses and lots of electronical equipment, but they can only finance that when working fulltime. Unemployment for them would probably turn out disastrous.

[btlrlx29]

Minimalism + Bitcoin = happiness

I have been living this lifestyle for about 4 years. Everything I own can fit in a carry-on and a backpack (other than a box of childhood stuff at my mother's house). My expenses are about 10% of my monthly income having downsized to a small 35 sqm apartment. I bought a cheap/reliable car, paid in cash (my criteria was something that would last 2 years, good gas mileage and I wouldn't mind walking away from).

By doing this I can focus on the things in life that truly make me happy, last year I traveled to one new country a month. I don't worry about money like I used to. I will probably be able to quit my job in the next few years and do something I enjoy instead of just working for the money. And it has allowed me to accumulate bitcoins. Continuing this lifestyle will allow me to see the world and be independent/free instead of having to spend my life protecting my stuff.

Bitcoin does a lot to help with this lifestyle as I would not be able to be as mobile with gold, moving place to place carrying large amounts of gold across borders while I can carry my private key easily anywhere. I can always find a localbitcoins seller in whatever country I go to to get local currency.


The Less You Own, The More You Have (TED talk)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyKmpyYy14k

Wow, your story is awesome. You managed to get out of System and live in some other way, and it really deserves respect.

I wish I could live like that too. Unfortunately, the cult of consumerism is still strong in my mind, though in time I'm getting more and more unattached to material assets. Hope someday I'll be wiser.