Comments on: How to Minimize Your Life for Travel: Books

By: James Schipper

James Schipper — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:51:53 +0000

After I discovered how easy it was to get movies online nowadays, it really made my DVD collection seem not worth holding onto. Especially when I went through to see how many I had ever watched a second time (and wondered if re-watching favorite movies was the best use of my time, anyway )

All audio CDs got ripped, and I still have hundreds of songs I don’t even like, but were on the album. I just can’t bring myself to delete them since I have them.

The only real big clutter item I have left that can be digitized is old paper photos. I have a box of them and a few albums to scan, and then I’ll probably let her make an art project from the paper.

Loving the Kindle Fire I just got. I may not even keep the handful of paper books I couldn’t get rid of, now that I can even read them with ease from there.

By: Jeff @ Digital Nomad Journey

Jeff @ Digital Nomad Journey — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:26:23 +0000

I’ve been in the process of downsizing for quite some time. Books are now at the forefront of my attention. I’ve sold quite a few over the years, including a $1,000+ to obtain professional chef collection for like $150 on Craigslist to get rid of it.

Recently I purchased a $79 Kindle, it’s really exciting I don’t have to “give up” my favorite books, but rather store them digitally.

For audio,I transferred all my cd’s to mp3′s and threw out all DVD cases, so I only have a small wallet of disks now. This eliminated a “tower”, plus stacks of cd’s.

A great feeling!

By: James Schipper

James Schipper — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:43:45 +0000

Thanks Patti! Glad you like it.

I’m in an interesting spot with stuff. I have only a desk as furniture that I technically own. But my girlfriend has a ton of furniture. She isn’t quite yet as minimalist as I am, but she is getting there as she sees the benefits from me and other people we’ve been hanging around.

I have used Craigslist for furniture, as well as yard sales. Neither of them tend to get you top dollar, especially if you are in any kind of hurry to sell things. You’ll never get what you paid for things like household goods/furniture of any kind. No matter how much you hold out for the best buyer. There’s just too much of it out there, unless you have rare items to sell.

Selling furniture tends to get people depressed more often than not (“I paid more than twice that for this mattress set!?!”) If you find yourself getting hung up on prices like that, try to think of the difference in price covering the cost of how long you owned it. Was it worth “renting” the couch for 10 bucks a month? Maybe…but you’re never going to get the full $1500 you paid for it, so try to make it work for you.

That desk is old and has paid for itself by now, so I may just leave it on the curb with a “FREE!” sign on it.

By: Patti

Patti — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:50:04 +0000

Hi James nice blog. I’m in major downsizing mode too, but still have too much stuff. I’m using Craigslist and Amazon right now as last resorts before trying to find worthy recipients for donation. My goal is to be a nomadic LIP with a no- or low-tech steady income, owned only by 3 cats; tall order I know. Looking forward to reading about how you tackle the furniture, as that’s where I am now.

By: James Schipper

James Schipper — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:58:42 +0000

My books are almost done and gone. It’s tough when I attach so much value to them. They don’t make much money selling them, but I have donated quite a few to people who wanted them.

Next to tackle her furniture collection…

By: Gianpaolo Pietri

Gianpaolo Pietri — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:06:13 +0000

I have been going through the exact same process as you with my own book collection. I have moved five times within the last five years and they have really become a huge burden in my journey towards complete location independence. In fact, i just moved three weeks ago. I moved a couch, a loveseat, a bed, two chairs, two suitcases of clothing, some silverware, and then …. ten large bookshelves and fifteen über-heavy boxes of books. I have read most of them, some even years ago, but have raaarely looked at any of them more than twice.

I couldn’t agree more. I struggled with it for a while, but I’ve made my decision: they gotta go.
Gianpaolo Pietri´s last [type] ..‘Shocking’ Lessons in Opti(Mini)malism | As Taught By the Lightning Storm Outside My Window

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 23:06:30 +0000

It’s hard. Generally they won’t let you check them out/get a card without a local address. I generally know people everywhere I travel so I haven’t had a problem because I just borrow their cards to check out books. I suppose that wouldn’t work so well for someone traveling to completely new places where they don’t know anyone.
Mary´s last [type] ..Inspiration

By: Brian Brawdy

Brian Brawdy — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:33:12 +0000

My pleasure James. Putting final touches on my version of “Live Collar Free” this week.
It is fantastically reassuring to know someone else is going through the book withdrawal.

By: James Schipper

James Schipper — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 05:43:20 +0000

I am trying to stay away from storage because it is too tempting for me to keep things I am on the fence about. So far I have only a handful of books I am not ready to give up. When I manage to go ebook only, I should probably look at something with a bigger screen.

By: James Schipper

James Schipper — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 05:37:21 +0000

Colin, I already knew about that site, but you’re welcome to link your stuff here. I’m going to spend a little time checking it out. As I said in the post, I wasn’t quite going as far as you, though the records I kept are mostly business records I have to keep. And I don’t know what I’ll do with my paper photos once I get them all scanned. Fortunately I don’t have a whole lot of pictures besides a shoe box and a few albums I can make much smaller.

See you in Orlando in July.