mnmlist: can you live without?

People often mistakenly think that to be a minimalist, you need to live with less than 100 things (or 50 or something crazy like that). That’s not at all true.

A minimalist is simply one who questions the necessity of things, and who tries to live with what’s necessary, rather than with consumerism.

The 100 thing challenge is just a tool: by trying to reduce your possession to 100 things, it forces you to look at them and ask, ‘Is this really necessary? Can I live without it?’

So forget about the 100 things challenge, and instead just as yourself the questions. Is it really necessary? Can you live without it?

For example, could you live without these things:

• Cable TV
• A smart phone
• Any kind of cell phone
• Any kind of TV
• An Internet connection
• A couch
• More than one pair of shoes
• More than a few shirts, or pants
• A microwave
• A car
• Sweets
• More than a handful of books (at a time)
• Makeup
• Hair
• Mementos

Some of you will find a few of those items so necessary that it’s ridiculous to ask the question. And I’m not saying you should give any of these things up … I’m only suggesting you ask the questions.