Great article. I just cleared my debts a few months ago. It's a great feeling. My understanding is that consumable items like food and soap aren't included. Frankly everything is consumable. Thoughts?
interesting concept, but i reads some of the links from the links above and a lot of these 'minimalists" that own less then than 100 'items' do not count the majority of the items they use, because they don't 'own them exclusively'. e.g. the house is rented with furniture, thus nothing of that count. the cutlery is shared, doesn't count, etc. so it seems an exercise in semantics more than in minimalism.
Can my kids claim to live on less than $1 a day, since me and my wife buy anything they need?
as far as the original 100 things list. i would like to see the actual list, but couldn't find it on the blog, and I am certainly not interested in buying the book (assuming it's even there).
as far as what should be considered an "item", i think it should be a functional definition. anything needed to carry out a specific function.
for example a keyboard is a single item, and should include whatever powers it, IMO. a house is an item, but what it contains are separate items. a couch is an item, including its cushions. a fork is an item, but a set of forks is multiple items. each plate or glass is a separate item
disposables are more tricky, but i think they should be counted as one item per "class"
for example pasta, salad, fruit, bread, meat, toilet paper are six items, but if you have bananas, apples and oranges, those are 3 separate items (no matter how many of each you have at any given time). "Salt" is an item. tap water is not, but bottled water would be
and if you always eat at restaurant it is kind of cheating, IMO, as the whole idea is to live a simpler and less consumeristic life.
i seriously doubt anyone with a 'normal' life can use less then 100 items, when you count everything.
