Help Me Live With Less Stuff

November 8, 2008 1:34 PM

Know of any blogs/books about living and working with less stuff?

I am looking for blogs or books about living and working (not just backpacking Europe) with less stuff (for the long term).

There is a decent probability that I will spend 1.5-2 years finishing my dissertation while moving every two months or so (often internationally). I am looking for tips and tricks on staying productive and happy while having a minimum amount of stuff.

I known about Unclutterer, but that is more focused on being organized.

Thanks in advance.

posted by chrisalbon to work & money (9 comments total)

Vagabonding, by Rolf Potts.

There's also a few blogs out there that cover topics that are interesting to folks who work remotely while they travel. Namely, Location Independent.
posted by nitsuj at 1:42 PM on November 8, 2008

Peter Walsh's It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff
posted by jaimev at 1:50 PM on November 8, 2008

book: Your Money or Your Life

essay

blog (written up in NYT)

blog post

Try searching through these blogs: Think Simple Now, Zen Habits
posted by Jaltcoh at 2:00 PM on November 8, 2008

There are some related and really useful threads from the "Living Car-Free" part of bikeforums.net. Here's one relevant one about books -- and there are some other book-recs threads there, living lightly, etc.
posted by oldtimey at 3:06 PM on November 8, 2008

Perhaps on the more extreme end of the scale, but OneBag has useful info on living light while traveling.

Even while not traveling, think what you've taken when you have traveled. Clothes, toiletries, and a few odds and ends. Given a furnished living space, you don't need much to get by comfortably providing food and things to keep you from getting too bored.
posted by hungrysquirrels at 3:36 PM on November 8, 2008

I have enjoyed the Dwelling Portably zine. It's probably way more extreme than you need -- a lot of it is geared towards people who basically live out of their cars or in the woods, but I like its tips and find it inspirational even if I don't follow the same lifestyles as the people in it. Some of the tips I think are useful

- be as modular as you can so when it's time to pack, it's easy and everything has a place
- get rid of the idea of having special occasion stuff (party dress, camping gear), at least for the time being
- don't pack what you can buy at the next place - this is tough for people who are also frugal but sometimes the frugal and portable lifestyles diverge
posted by jessamyn at 4:06 PM on November 8, 2008

John Steinbeck's Travels With Charley in part describes the process of trimming down to a small set of possessions for his long-term cross-country traveling.
posted by XMLicious at 4:55 PM on November 8, 2008

apartmenttherapy does a great "the cure" every season to help with the kicking out of old things and the adaptation to living with less "stuff"
posted by michpinkston at 9:08 AM on November 9, 2008

My 500 Things
"Inspired by a woman who had winnowed her possessions to a paltry 300 items, Chris decided to make an inventory of his own stuff. He counted all the items in his house and garage, and noted them on a spreadsheet. The result: Chris owned 2,000 items.

Having given away more than half of his possessions, Chris is well on his way to owning no more than 500 things."
posted by wrnealis at 10:33 AM on November 10, 2008 [1 favorite]