Rational Minimalist.

I like that term. The more I think about it, the more I like it.

I stood in the middle of my shop the other day and was appalled by the sheer amount of stuff packed in it. Old projects, unfinished projects, finished projects, tools and just a lot of junk.

Then I stood in my house and had the same thoughts. Toys, nick knacks, unnecessary junk, enough clothes to outfit a village.

Enough! I'v had it, I'm done. All projects are canceled until further notice. All buying is canceled for the foreseeable future. Everything is going on the auction block. I'm done riding this merry-go-round. Working countless hours to buy the next project or useless thing, only to be bored with it in a couple of months, or hours. It's time to simplify my life.

Keep your eyes out for the sale threads. There is going to be an amazing amount of crap moving on to other peoples shops. It will probably be cheap to get it gone.

I approve of this. Simplify and reduce. Your life will be better for it.

Less is more and simplicity are things you can't screw with.

I have been telling myself "No new projects" for 20 years or so. I even tried a "must sell at least one to make room for another", but that didn't take either.

Some of them are so darn hard to turn down, though.

KyAllroad wrote: I approve of this. Simplify and reduce. Your life will be better for it.

^ This

simplify, add lotus project

I try to simplify as much as SWMBO allows. If I needed, I could ditch the furniture and pack all my good clothes and electronics in my civic.

Toyman, if you had boobs, I’d marry you…welcome to the club.

A formalized methodology for getting organized has been developed by our Japanese friends and it’s call 5S.

Please study up on it as I promise that you’ll get better results in less time than just attacking the problem randomly.

In reply to neon4891:

I'm probably going to run into some problems with my wife as well. She likes her stuff. Lucky for me, the shop is all mine so I can unload as much as I want in there.

neon4891 wrote: I try to simplify as much as SWMBO allows. If I needed, I could ditch the furniture and pack all my good clothes and electronics in my civic.

I am damn close to this myself. Pull all the titles for the cars I'm not keeping, sell everything that isn't bolted down and start fresh.

About every 1.5 to 2 years I go through a purge like this. I bet I'm about due.

For the electronics part, flat screens and laptops take up little space.

I find there's definitely an ebb and flow to these types of things. We're all here because we like projects, and often we like multiple projects simultaneously.

But eventually the time comes to say berkeley it, purge everything and start anew.

I just finished moving from renting a bedroom and a bathroom with additional storage space in a basement to renting a brand new developed basement all to myself.

In the process, I took a good hard look at stuff. I ended up throwing out half of what I owned, which (not including my rental garage which is another story) is pretty impressive considering I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING. So out went the broken desktop, the broken laptop, boxes for computer equipment, two inkjet printers I hadn't used in two years, clothes I hadn't worn in 3 years, ALL of my college notes and textbooks, ALL of my magazines (in a different time, I wouldn't have got rid of them, but in this digital age, I read magazines more for entertainment then for actual knowledge).

I additionally found 4-5 boxes of stuff that should be at my garage that were taking up space in my house being non-useful.

I probably moved more bags of clothes than I did anything else. It is extremely satisfying to throw out that much stuff though, especially if you recognize you haven't used it in the two to three years you've been living at the place you are currently in.

I hate clutter. The worst thing about clutter is not only is it usually more junk than not, it makes cleaning up so much harder. I laid down for the first time in my new place on my mattress (which was on the floor as I don't even have a boxspring or bedframe yet) and felt extremely relaxed. So much space to myself, the only stuff I've kept holds some sort of sentimental value.

When I moved to Alaska, I had a motorcycle and a duffel bag. Now I have a house, shop, wife, dog, car, a tv and computer, furniture, 2 snowmobiles, and baby on the way.

No wonder I'm broke... Happy, but broke.

Start with your dresser.
It's yours and yours alone. Clean, purge, donate. Now when you start your day, the first thing you deal with is how you want it.

My wife is just about done with grad school (FINALLY!!!!!)

I've (seriously) suggested several times that when she's finished, we move to another country and just leave all our stuff behind. Do an estate sale, like we're dead. Or, we could always have a mysterious fire... It's amazing how much random E36 M3 accumulates. Every time we move, we move into a bigger place, and every time, we fill it right up.

I go through binge and purge cycles every couple of years. About fifteen minutes ago, I was tripping over stuff in my basement looking for tools and wondering how this happened. I think I'm due for another purge.

Here's my problem. I hate to throw stuff out that is usable. I hate selling stuff, because I don't like dealing with the people. I hate not having something I need. Consequently, I have collections of things.

I've got a box labeled power supplies. There's over 30 wall warts in it that I have acquired over the years.

I have a box of disassembled tape decks, printers, and other things that have bearings and shafts in them.

I have a box of DC electric motors from tiny to 2hp.

I have 30+ boxes. All neatly labeled. All full of crap I seldom or never use. Air cylinders and pneumatics? Yep, got 'em. Solar stuff? Yep. Relays? Dozens. Gear drives? Yep. Plumbing? Yep.

I have a couple of PLCs, several computers, 5 sheets of plywood, a sheet of aluminum diamond plate, 6 generators from 300 watt to 10KW, turbochargers, superchargers, carburetors, intake manifolds, a turbo kit for a 301 GM V8, a megasquirt, 30+ antique clocks, 20+ boxes of books, 4-5 RC boats, RC helicopter, 3-4 RC cars from 1/10 to 1/4 scale, a GoPro, boxes and boxes of auto parts (some for cars I don't even own anymore), piles of scrap metal, boxes of bolts and screws, golf cart, go-cart, lemons car, E-mod car, 3 lathes from 4" to 13", 2 mills, 5 antique engines...

This is just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head. I could go on for pages and not compete the list.

And most of it, I haven't used in years.

I have 3 boats, 6 trailers, 5 cars. That's just my cars. Add in my wife and daughter and we have 7 cars.

The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it seems. I'm over it.

RX Reven', That's worth the read, thanks.

mazdeuce, brilliant. Easy, fairly quick, and instant progress. I think I'll go do that now.

Not to spin this onto a rabbit trail but... what kind of turbochargers and what model of GoPro?

On the serious side, I'm wanting to do the same thing before I move. We've moved 3 times in 5 years (yay military PCS life) and now that I'm out and looking to pick up a civilian job, I'm wanting to clear out the extra stuff we don't need. I don't mind keeping my project car, but I need to ditch all the extra parts I don't need, ditch the clothes I don't wear and the other stuff that is still in my "extras" room in boxes that haven't been used in 3 years. Wife has the same situation with clothes, purses, house decorations that were never used, etc. A big garage sale, and whatever doesn't get sold, goes to a 2nd-hand store or donated to Goodwill (I want to avoid throwing out anything that might still be useful as someone else could get use out of it for cheap or free).

Let us know how it goes!

In reply to Toyman01:

So, your idea is to simplify your life while making mine more complicated?

My life would be much simpler if the $2015 Classifieds didn't exist.

RX Reven' wrote: Toyman, if you had boobs, I’d marry you…...

I don't know........I need a few more items....

Turbos are a Garrett from the 301 Firebird. It will go as a kit with the carburetor adapter. And a military surplus that I was told was for a MQ-1 Predator Drone.

The GoPro is a Hero 3 Black with a bunch of mounts. I've used it a dozen times and I hate the thing.

There will be threads to come with all the stuff y'all might be interested in. A lot of it is lost in the shuffle and will need to be unburied before I can even think about off loading it.

We are planning an initial garage sale in mid October. That one will be concentrating on the house and front garage. Most of the shop stuff will be going on here, Craigslist, Ebay or the scrap yard.

From my dresser I've pitched two rings of keys for locks and cars I no longer own, countless receipts, lots of miscellaneous pieces that have accumulated in my pockets. Several hats, 5 sets of reading glasses, and the brass container that the junk accumulates in are in the box for the yard sale and Goodwill. No container will hopefully mean no more junk.

The only thing left on my dresser is my favorite clock.

SVreX wrote: In reply to Toyman01: So, your idea is to simplify your life while making mine more complicated? My life would be much simpler if the $2015 Classifieds didn't exist.

You know, I've bought several things for a challenge I've never even been to.

I promise I'll feel bad about anything I might end up sending your way.

No really, I'll feel just awful.