A side effect that is both positive and negative with being a minimalist, is wanting everything to be small and compact.
Being a minimalist is great and all, but it’s not all beneficial.
You definitely shell out more money to get exactly what you want.
But you don’t necessarily need to go crazy and do it every time something newer, smaller, and cuter comes out.
For example:
I have an unhealthy love for hard drives, and backing up my data obsessively.
Chalk it up to being a website building geek in my preteens, if you must, but when I lose data or work that took me weeks to do, I am distraught.
I back up everything at least twice. Preferably 3 times.
So my huge 1 Terabyte hard drives?
No thank you.
I (now) want to get rid of that bulk and get a smaller, portable 1TB hard drive instead.
The pros are:
- Less bulk to carry (they are significantly lighter)
- No need to plug in the hard drive to power it (runs on USB)
- More portable & idiot-proof (less moving parts)
The major con is the recurring cost:
- I paid $130~ for a large 1TB hard drive and now, another $230 for a small one.
Another example would be my books.
I got rid of 99% of my library.
I am only keeping books that are out of print, or that I cannot find in an e-book format.
(No I don’t have an e-reader, but I have Stanza on my Macbook, which I use to read e-books that I get for free from The Gutenberg Project).
That is not to say that I have my entire previous library in e-book format, but I just couldn’t justify packing and carrying these books everywhere I go.
It’s too heavy and a hassle.
So certainly, if you can make do with the bulkier product and are loathe to spend extra money in pursuit of minimalism, then stick to it.
It’s definitely cheaper.
For someone like me who is quite mobile, and who cannot stay in one working spot for long, having portable devices is a pretty big priority for me.
But I’ll just have to stick on my budget and wait until it makes sense to switch out my bulky hard drives for a smaller one.
I suppose it ties back to what I said before: It all depends on your lifestyle, with how far you want to take it.
E_Z
on Jan 27th, 2010
@ 12:52 pm:
WD Passports = love affair.
Best damn purchase I made in a long time!
suzie
on Jan 27th, 2010
@ 12:56 pm:
yes that 1TB hard drive is larger than i expected but it's ok for now
jdblundell
on Jan 27th, 2010
@ 6:40 pm:
Oh how I'd love a cheap and easy way to scan all my books into digital format.
Rae // theNotice
on Jan 27th, 2010
@ 7:10 pm:
O hay, I recognize those hard drives! (Dad backs up everything as well, so we have a couple of the large ones and two or three of the small ones. I've always been partial to the bouncing light of the large ones…) We actually always pick up hard drives at Costco, which saves $20ish or more per hard drive — and I mean, when you have as many as our family, it adds up!
We've made choices as to which ones we've bought along the same logic as you: the ones he travels with are smaller, but the ones at home are bulkier
Rose
on Jan 27th, 2010
@ 7:27 pm:
I found an article on a local news site which had a quote I thought you might like.
"We honestly believe your security is not found in the things you own.
"Where you live doesn't make you who you are, what you drive isn't who you are."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3267032/Hard-work...
LittleFish
on Jan 28th, 2010
@ 2:53 am:
I have recently been doing the same thing; why have big books that get in the way when I can have a digital version that doesn't get in the way? Keep up the fight!
Tweets that mention The Negative Cost of being a Minimalist | The Everyday Minimalist -- Topsy.com
on Jan 28th, 2010
@ 3:33 am:
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everydayminimalist
on Jan 28th, 2010
@ 12:42 pm:
My hands also ache from holding heavy hardcovers
But in fairness of full disclosure, I don’t even own an e-book reader yet!
@lunchingdauphin
on Jan 29th, 2010
@ 5:08 pm:
You've got me seriously contemplating if I should do without my three bookcases of books- all which I love so much, but only read once, maybe twice. And if I should switch to digital. A family member (and avid collector of hardback first editions) just got used to being a Nook user (the B&N format) and LOVES it. Also, I keep going back and forth on if I should give away my cd collection. The cd books (each holding a few hundred discs) take up a lot of space, and I've digitized them anyway. Maybe it's the personal attachment…but I think I could forfeit it for new tech gadgets. It's such a difficult decision without the means to digitize Everything I own.
everydayminimalist
on Jan 30th, 2010
@ 7:16 am:
I am still on the edge about switching to digital
I heard Sony released a new version of their ebook reader, so I might be able to pick up their second generation for cheap.
The digitizing of everything I own is also a concern of mine.. but not as much as what I would do with boxes of HEAVY books!
But if you aren’t planning on moving, and you like the look of them, why not keep them?