This really hit home as I am working on my own goals for minimalism...or at least, no more excess...or trivial things...I have collections of stuff that no longer bring me joy or have no function...letting go is not as hard as I thought...I would rather have the experiences than the things...thanks to some friends who are helping me see the absurdity of my ways, I hope to have at least 75% of my material possessions purged!

I’ve thought a lot along these lines as of late as I’ve gotten older and hopefully wiser. I’ve bought and wasted oh so much over my life, a lot of it to keep up with the Jones’s. I have been divorced and single by choice for the past 8 or 9 years and have MUCH less disposable income. It took me a long time to get over the “loss” of being able to buy “stuff”, but now I see how much better off I am. It is really an addiction. I admit that I still have urges to buy stuff but fight it off, as when I still get an urge to smoke a cigarette. I rent a room now and had to purge and get rid of so much. I went through years of mourning for my stuff, but now only have intermittent sadness from it. Life shouldn’t be about material things.

Thank you for sharing this, @Kikipotamus.

I too have been a minimalist the last few years, at one point by circumstance then intentional by choice, for many of these reasons. When I do indulge materially, I do it in second-hand possessions.

Excellent, thank you for posting. I've been a minimalist since before it was a thing. Liberating......

This confirmed that minimalism is the way to go for me. Experiences, not stuff! But quality and keep it for a long time!