

Living With Less. A Lot Less - adam
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/living-with-less-a-lot-less.html?pagewanted=2&hp&&%2359;_r=0&pagewanted=all

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bsg75
Sounds like this guy made a lot of money selling a business, and went on a
shopping spree, then decided he did not need all of his crap. Not a cocaine,
yachts, and hookers spree, but a bigger house than he needed, felt the need to
hire someone to do his shopping, etc. A display in excess and lack of self
control.

While likely well meaning the article comes across a bit preachy. The whole
"stuff does not make you happy" things is getting to be a bit too trendy
lately. Some people may indeed be happy basing their life in work, but not
everyone is. Just because some people can't sanely manage the rewards of their
own success, does not mean material things are somehow "bad".

I bought the equivalent of the turbo Volvo, not because I sold a company and
suddenly was awash in cash, but because I kept my prior vehicle for 10+ years,
and wanted to reward myself with something fun. I am 20 years into a tech
career, and work too much at times - as a necessity, not an addiction - and
felt I had earned something extra.

> "Does all this endless consumption result in measurably increased
> happiness?"

Only intelligent yet immature people who lack self control ask questions like
this. Your income is the reward for your effort, and using or not using a
portion of it to enjoy life is an individual question. I for one want to enjoy
my time on Earth, and for me that means having some toys.

~~~
angersock
Honest question: Do you currently carry a lot of short-term or long-term debt?
Do you have a mortgage, student loans, or credit cards to pay off? How many
payments left on that Volvo?

I ask because I believe that people have different views on what makes them
happy (a small enough opinion), and that this is greatly related to how they
conduct themselves fiscally.

The trend I've noticed among people with a lot of money, no debt, and a desire
to start their own things is that they care a great deal more about these sort
of non-material things. I have no good explanation for this, but could make
some wild-assed theories if pressed.

By contrast, many folks I know who have heavy debt burdens and not much money
derive great pleasure from material goods. Again, I have no idea why this is--
simple sample bias could account for it.

EDIT: Rereading this after posting, there is a suggestively-winking anecdotal
correlation between people that like material things and people with a lot of
debt. Huh.

~~~
bsg75
> Do you currently carry a lot of short-term or long-term debt?

Nope: Mortgage + car < 20% of income. Enough savings for 2-3 years of frugal
living if the bottom dropped out, and could (for some unimaginable reason) not
find other employment. Vacations on cash, not credit. Never finance "toys",
things like TVs.

I watched peers (in terms of age), go right into things like multiple car
payments + high mortgages + student loans + kids right out of school, and were
thus mostly working to pay off debt, and never really get out of it.
Unnecessary financial pressure can be crippling.

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jpxxx
TL;DR: rich man moves to NYC, adopts NYC culture

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davidu
People who come into money should think the importance of things, but to be a
bit cynical, let's not forget:

This is an article about the virtues of living in small homes written by a man
who is in the business of selling small homes.

And I think it's interesting that this article completely avoids any mention
of the rise of ownership-decreasing and utilization-enriching services like
Uber, AirBnB, Lyft, etc (as my buddy David Weekly pointed out to me on FB).

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lazyjones
Is it really better to have less and be emotionally attached to that than to
have a lot of junk and not care about it?

As for the carbon footprint - it's just as much vanity as everything else in
our lives. When you die, you won't be rewarded for having had a small carbon
footprint, just like your wealth will be useless to you.

~~~
Evbn
I guess I would rather leave knowing I made people feel good, and not that I
made them sick.

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bpn_sasi
After reading the article, I painted a very minimalistic picture of the
apartment in my head - Check out the video tour of his house
-<http://vimeo.com/55389782> I think this is living with a lot! but cramped
into a small space.hmmm

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Evbn
Ha, I was just think how it has been a while since that minimalism fad swept
through HN.

