I'd agree with that. We spent a busy few weeks getting basic things setup (sofa, table, tv, book-cases, etc).

Over time I started to get annoyed that because we'd bought things used with no real planning we had different colours/styles/designs all mishmashed together.

There was nothing wrong with any of the things we bought, but over time it did become annoying to live in such a state. I can imagine that if we'd moved into a furnished house we'd have had similar views and even less control about replacing things to match. Feeling more like a caretaker than living in "our home".

Ye I don't get the liberating thing.

You need stuff. Screwdrivers, cloth hangers, spoons ...

I feel like just ditching it all and thinking of your self as unbound to earthly possesions is self-deception, since you just buy it again. It is acctually consumerism and spree shooping.

I think it’s an over correction from being too consumerist. You go from extreme to extreme. I see this with people who didn’t exercise, and now they are all in with the gear and the diets etc.

But I wish there were certain things and spaces that were able to be rented. I don’t need a drill all the time. Sometimes I need a workbench and more clamps.

There’s a lot of community level optimisation we could do.

I think a drill is the one tool pretty much everyone could stand to have.

I own a drill and would probably advise the same thing. But I clearly don’t use it more than a few hours a year.

True. But also true that you can't really do quick, impromptu fixes if you have to rent the thing.

Most hardware stores do rent tools.

And many towns and cities have tool lending libraries.

You need them sure, but you don't need them to be _new_ screwdrivers, clothing hangers or spoons.

When moving, I sell leftover things to people who need them. And then when I arrive, I buy things second hand from people who no longer have a need for them.

Sure, it was the "moving with just a briefcase" I was commenting on mainly, not getting rid of superfluous stuff - which of course by definition you don't need.

I was thinking about a job opportunity that would involve a move recently and started to feel ridiculous when I realized how much of my apprehension had to do with all my stuff, much of which was boxed up and hadn't been touched for years. Then I read the Kondo Marie book and started doing it. An unexpected side benefit is you come to appreciate the possessions you do want to keep a lot more when you separate them out from ones you're keeping around "just in case" that you didn't really want.

There's absolutely an element of truth here.