Having your own space is important, but the process of obtaining it can lead to so much ache and hardship. In this essay, we explore the trade off between minimalism and the benefits of ownership.

Rent; low cost, low ownership

Many people rent because it’s more financially achievable in the short term than buying, and by default this sets up a sort of perception that renting is somehow less, or somehow poorer than owning your own home. While it’s true that there are downsides to not owning your own home, there are ways to make renting a more fulfilling experience, and there are ways to use renting to your advantage by buying less stuff and living a more minimalist lifestyle.

Cheap rent is expensive

Have you ever thought about the fact that you’re paying money to live somewhere and not have any ownership over it? It’s a strange concept, and one that I’ve been pondering a lot lately. I guess I was thinking about it too much when I realized that the amount of money I’m paying to live in my apartment is almost the same as the amount of money I’d pay to buy a mid-range new car. Both tend to last me a year and a half, but at the end, one would be mine and the other wouldn’t.

I’m beginning to think that the cost of rent is not cheap, but is in fact expensive. Let me explain what I mean. While your rent today, and next month is well within your budget (assuming you are lucky enough to have a job or very supportive parents), in the long term, you are living somewhere and not owning it, not accumulating that money into something that you will eventually own. I’m beginning to think that it’s more important to own than it is to rent.

Rent is not ownership. I’ve had this discussion with some friends, and while I’m not arguing that people should run out to buy homes and stop renting, I’m trying to understand the relationship that is created between a person and a home when they live in it.

For some reason, I’ve always felt that when you live in a place, you become a part of it, and it becomes a part of you. You make the place your own, adding your own personality to it, and making it more comfortable and more your own. It’s a strange feeling, and totally different than when you rent a place and are trying to make it look nice, and trying to make it yours, knowing full well that a few weeks ago it was someone else’s book shelf. This feeling is heightened when you’re short term renting, knowing that your bookshelf (today), will be someone else’s in a few weeks or months. You feel, unanchored, unattached.

On the upside, having low costs means you don’t have to work as much, or you don’t have to work at a job that you hate, leaving so much more room in your life for what you do want, and do enjoy. If that isn’t minimalism, I don’t know what is! So, you can use low rent to your advantage by living with less, and working less, allowing more time for yourself. Low cost, and low ownership isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Less is more in this case.

A choice

Why don’t we try framing it as a choice between two alternatives, rather than one being strictly better than the other. It’s about the objective and subjective pros and cons of each situation, not absolutes. If you’re at a stage in your life where what you really want to do is just go to the library on campus and study and go out with friends a lot, then really, your place only needs to be a square with one room with one TV, so you don’t have to think about where to watch the latest season of your favorite show. Why put in effort to pay for more, when you don’t need it?

On the other hand, if you love spending a lot of time at home, and you’re relatively well off, then maybe you should look for the opportunity to own. As I said earlier, rent is expensive in the long term, and you’re going to be living somewhere anyway, so you might as well be paying that money into the bank account of your future self, rather than someone else.

There is no shame in renting, not only if you’re young and just starting out, but if you’re older and have priorities that make it a good and sensible choice. Don’t buy more than you need, be a minimalist about it! “Snow birds” are famously adept at this. They get to experience so many more houses, and are helpfully forced to reduce their possessions, twice a year, moving north and south. Either that, or they indulge in a storage lockup, burning money for possessions (which really, when you think about it, is really burning time for space).

I’m just beginning to think about all of this, so I’m sure it’ll come up again in future posts.

If you’re interested in reading more about minimalism, check back here for new posts and reach out to tell your minimalism story!

Many people are waking up to the idea that you can’t live life large, like a rapper or movie star. This kind of realisation leaves a hole, a kind of sad gap where there’s no wishful castle in the sky to look forward to. Many people need that to look forward to, and no doubt, many lottery tickets are sold in aid of this goal. However, being practically realistic, it’s better to not spend that mental time wishing for something you’ll likely never get, statistically speaking. Similarly, you wouldn’t spend a lot of time worrying about getting struck by lightning, thinking about it, planning for it, and so on. So why do we spend so much time thinking, preparing and longing for riches and fame? I think the answer (and solution) to this thinking habit paradox, is to plug the hole. If we all had a concrete, positive and useful mental target, at which we could direct our thoughts, we’d be happier on a day to day basis, and be making better use of our mental energies, striving towards a concrete and more achievable goal.

Castles In The Sky

A lot has been written about how advertising has tricked us all into wanting big cars, expensive clothing and stacks of cash, when what we actually need is time. Time to think calmly. Time and freedom to just exist and be happy, without rushing around trying to meet obligations.

Recently I’ve had a number of small passive income projects come together, and start to generate $3 here, $10 there, every month. It’s actually started to stack up recently, and now I’m approaching nearly $1,000 a month. I’m as shocked as you are. It feels unbelievable: that’s basically a personal UBI! (More information on Universal Basic Income). I was surprised at how it compounded and added up in what felt like no time. What was even more surprising than that, was the reaction to those people around me, friends and family who love me and support me and want me to be happy. They were immediately averse to the idea when I told them. Most either didn’t believe that it was happening (no-one called me a liar directly, but it was definitely a reaction of disbelief and non-acceptance), or instead decided that I was somehow unfairly earning money, or that it was not ‘earned’

Living at home at the time, I had few expenses and decided to quit my restaurant job, to focus full time on the passive income, reading, and generally improving myself. Hardly stuck on the sofa eating Doritos. Surprisingly, this evoked an even stronger negative reaction from my close family. Their argument was that serving food was helping real people, and "what if everyone made money on the internet, then there would be no restaurants!". I can’t say that my reaction to the hysteria was calm and independent, at the time, but it did get me thinking later. What argument do I really have, to say that eBook sales, artwork royalties and graphic design stationary templates are good for the world, compared to putting a hot plate of bacon and eggs down in front of a hungry real human, up close, smiling and grateful?

I think that the truth to this emotional problem is as follows. If you are financially independent, don’t need credit cards or loans, then you are able to do as you please, and now have time to think about what life should be, you need to direct your actions to plugging the hole. You should stop, pause, think, and take stock of why you’re still pursuing more money. It’s a mistake to assume that more of the same will plug the hole of meaning in your life. Now that I have financial freedom, I get to choose what would bring me meaning. I think most people would think about having children, volunteering, building something with their hands for their family, climbing Mount Everest, travelling, and other meaningful things, before they chose (the very real and honorable) activity of making food for others. But ultimately my family is right: life is about meaning, not about money. They just said it poorly, and were confused about their own definition of virtue and meaning.

Houses On Earth

In summary, if you have the background yearning of "One day I’ll be rich!", correct that mistaken assumption, blow away the illusory castle in the sky, and join me in a house on earth. Make your efforts daily to add meaning and hope to your life, add something to look forward to in the future, and plug the hole with something of your own choosing. Not something that’s in the air you breathe and the advertisements you accidentally see. It’s significantly easier to do this, when you have financial freedom and time. So start there, but don’t forget that it’s not the goal itself, it’s just a stepping stone to your house on earth.