Official Minimalist Post (Free Outback Steak Dinner Page 4)

[ksteezy]

+!*@ that, i work toooooo damn hard to stick to a tight budget.....im gonna enjoy life and my money while i can, props to those who can live by this code though....

 

[cwrite78]

lot of you are confusing being cheap/broke/penny pincher with being a minimalist.

 

[klipschorn]

i've been seriously thinking about doing this for the past few days.  just have a damn bed and little desk for my laptop and speakers in my room, that's it.  switch out my iphone to get a cheaper plan.  pay off my stupid credit card already.  baby steps, i'm trying to achieve this by the end of the year.

 

[ghenges]

Originally Posted by Klipschorn

i've been seriously thinking about doing this for the past few days.  just have a damn bed and little desk for my laptop and speakers in my room, that's it.  switch out my iphone to get a cheaper plan.  pay off my stupid credit card already.  baby steps, i'm trying to achieve this by the end of the year.

Yes! Go for it and good luck.

First step is to re-evaluate everything you consume/own that is wasteful.  Second step is to eliminate it. You already set a deadline for yourself.

I think that the most joy that people who own smartphones get out of owning one...is telling others they have a smartphone and all the things that it can do.  Sure, your smartphone can download movies, surf the web and has a GPS. But when was the last time you sat down for 2 hours and watched a movie from start to finish on your smartphone's 3 inch screen? When was the last time you had a practical use for looking up something on the web on your phone? And why exactly do you need a GPS for if you've lived in the same city your whole life and have no plans of leaving soon? 

The world is saturated with all these technologies that only a very little percentage of people have any practical use for. 

Simple living, practicality. 

 

[ghenges]

Originally Posted by Hollywood James 6

Here's how I've lived the last 3 years...

Driving my Explorer with over 160k miles. I don't want a new car, a new car is expensive. Even a slightly used one unless I can pay in cash. I don't want full coverage or a 72 month loan like most people are getting now

  The car depreciates quicker than you can pay it off.
Paid off my credit card which had 2k on it due to dumb purchases (IE shoes I'll never wear)
I don't buy shoes any more. Maybe 2 pair a year max.
Paid off my entire student loan debt. 18 months to pay that bad boy off. Debt free. It feels good, real good.
No HD/DVR package and I work for the cable company. I get the regular cable free, and also a discount on my internet.
My fun consists of hanging with my girlfriend, playing pickup ball about 3 times a week, and regular sessions of Halo Reach.
I only will have fast food about twice a week max. And I usually only get the value items. Like at Wendy's a value drink, value fry, and a jr bacon cheeseburger.

I'm stuck in a crossroad of upgrading my soon to be dying vehicle, and saving to buy a home. But I really don't have a lot for a home saved. I want to try to get about 20% down at least so my payments are cheaper with no PMI. I also want to start my Roth IRA, and maybe increase my current 401k. PS I'm only 25. I hope that I can change my family tree with saving and living frugal.

I live a boring lifestyle haha.

Bravo, man. Bravo!

Props on paying off the student loan and credit cards.  We are in the same boat when it comes to fun (except my game of choice is MK).  I buy maybe one game every 2 years.

I recently got rid of the DVR/HD box and switched to basic cable.  All of the few shows I watch are on basic cable. DVR was convenient but unnecessary for the amount of t.v. I watch. 

That lifestyle isn't boring if YOU enjoy it. 

 

[put em up]

im down for this man but sneakers, alcohol and wanting that SRT8 charger are my downfall. everything else can go, damn this iphone.

 

[nyota de la star]

There was an article on TIME about this:
http://moneyland.time.com...ess-dont-buy-more-stuff-—-go-on-vacation/

Ironically I got link from the CEO of Zappos (his twitter). While you  could debate whether owning or doing brings more "peace and happiness" ---because really you have to spend money doing either---I do like the idea of being minimalist. Especially in regards to how and where I choose to live in the future (I HATE McMansions and cookie-cutter housing developments).

I'm not gonna lie though I've been on a bit of a spending binge lately but that's only because up until recently I've haven't been able to buy
much of anything for myself and I want to do it now so that I can spend less later. If that makes sense

.

...I'm still getting myself a Kindle though

 

[put em up]

Originally Posted by Nyota de la star

I'm not gonna lie though I've been on a bit of a spending binge lately but that's only because up until recently I've haven't been able to buy
much of anything for myself and I want to do it now so that I can spend less later. If that makes sense

.

yep im right there with you man. my excuse is i dont have kids, i make good money, money in the bank, no debt, and my bills are paid. why not buy myself something every check. shid what i work for right? 

  

 

[supermanblue79]

Originally Posted by Al Audi

life is all about balance

 

[thunderchunk69]

Originally Posted by Ghenges

-$100 for a GPS?  $3 road map. Oh a GPS is easier? Man up and learn to read a map.

 try telling that to a certain gender.

also, the time my gps saves me from being lost pays itself back, $100, and it should last 3 years 

but I do agree on most of these things, especially since you're about to get married, but being this frugal and single doesn't work out so well for single people.

I still don't understand why everyone thinks they need a new car every 5 years, I always thought that was a sign of adolescence.

 

[hollywood james 6]

Originally Posted by Klipschorn

i've been seriously thinking about doing this for the past few days.  just have a damn bed and little desk for my laptop and speakers in my room, that's it.  switch out my iphone to get a cheaper plan.  pay off my stupid credit card already.  baby steps, i'm trying to achieve this by the end of the year.

Do it! The freedom you will have from not having clutter in your life and payments is incomparable. I have the freedom of taking a day off from work to go enjoy the day without feeling obliged to working to make money to keep up with a materialistic lifestyle. Now I only seriously consider having things in my life I'm going to use within a month or two. Plus, stacking cash is a GOOD feeling. Especially when someone doesn't have their grubby paws on it before you're paid.

 

[ghenges]

Free Steak Dinner From Outback:

http://greataussiesteakout.cloudapp.net/

Better hurry.

 

[Gill Baka Esq. LLC.]

I've giving the minimalistic approach a shot in the past after what I deemed to be needless wasting in my h.s. and college life. I've settled on a happy medium of things that I like, things I need, and things that I have that I could part with if something should happen.

You can try and deny a life of some luxuries but I've found that after some time where you've proven to yourself that you could do without these things you often come back to possessing things you think/thought were unnecessary.

I have a friend in India who buys a new phone every 2 months. I told him that I thought that it was reckless to just keep copping a new phone every couple months when what he has now is fine...he told me/enlightened me that to him this is the only life he'll have so why not indulge in something you like if it's not hurting anyone else...and he's right.

I've zen'd my life enough so far...I guess it's time for you guys to give it a shot. I have a computer, I have my DVR, I have 8 pairs of kicks, I have a basic phone, I have my books, and I have my

. If you guys go through something like this and stick with it you'll realize something in the process.

GL.

 

[hankmoody]

Originally Posted by Ghenges

Free Steak Dinner From Outback:

http://greataussiesteakout.cloudapp.net/

Better hurry.

This is why minimalism is a joke.

If you're not vegan, don't wax philosophic on consumption and waste.

 

[ghenges]

Originally Posted by HankMoody

There’s no easy way to say this so I’ll just say it, I met someone. It was an accident, I wasn’t looking for it, it wasn’t on the make, it was a perfect storm. She said one thing, I said another, next thing I knew, I wanted to spend the rest of my life in the middle of that conversation. Now there’s this feeling in my gut she might be the one. She’s completely nuts in a way that makes me smile, highly neurotic with a great deal of maintenance required. She is you, ____. That’s the good news.

lol wut

 

[hankmoody]

Good rebuttal! You minimalist won't even waste words! How incredibly noble!



The sig is from the show Californication, which is centered around the tortured Hank Moody. The lines are from my fav scene in the series, Hank's letter to Karen. The blank is my personal edit.

 

[jewseejay]

4 weeks wait for a 6 oz steak? whatta waste

 

[bean pie slanga]

You're doing it all wrong. Free steaks? Check out the carbon footprint on those bad boys. A minimalist should be absolutely disgusted with this 1 million steaks promotion. That's some serious usage of resources. And you're probably gonna print the coupon out on paper and then drive there. Let's not get the movement confused with frugalism.

Find an abandoned fruit tree.

 

[dathbgboy]

I know where I'm goin for dinner in 4wks

 

[ghenges]

Originally Posted by GrimlocK

I've giving the minimalistic approach a shot in the past after what I deemed to be needless wasting in my h.s. and college life. I've settled on a happy medium of things that I like, things I need, and things that I have that I could part with if something should happen.

You can try and deny a life of some luxuries but I've found that after some time where you've proven to yourself that you could do without these things you often come back to possessing things you think/thought were unnecessary.

I have a friend in India who buys a new phone every 2 months. I told him that I thought that it was reckless to just keep copping a new phone every couple months when what he has now is fine...he told me/enlightened me that to him this is the only life he'll have so why not indulge in something you like if it's not hurting anyone else...and he's right.

I've zen'd my life enough so far...I guess it's time for you guys to give it a shot. I have a computer, I have my DVR, I have 8 pairs of kicks, I have a basic phone, I have my books, and I have my

. If you guys go through something like this and stick with it you'll realize something in the process.

GL.

People are motivated to do things for different reasons.  I was a consumption $#%@% for the longest time.  I'm not forcing the lifestyle on anyone or criticizing anyone who have to have a new phone or pair of shoes every month, but from my experience as a consumption $#%@%, the material things are just not fulfilling in the long run.  Expensive cars are wonderful to have for the first one or two years but after that the novelty wears off. If 5-years-ago-me was reading what I'm typing now I'd scoff at present-day-me for preaching this. Maybe the only way to know is from experience. 

 

[DeadsetAce]

Originally Posted by Skateboard

I don't dig it.