UKC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19648095

There was a time when I could do this easily, probably up until I bought a house and was effectively living in one room as a renter. I'd now struggle to do it with just my shed!

It's pretty fascinating that people live with so little or perhaps the greater insight is that we, in the West, have too much unnecessary stuff.

How much "stuff" do you live with? Could you go back to living with less, maybe even half your current possessions?

In reply to SFM:

Currently all my stuff fits comfortably into a small (13ft) caravan and less than half of the awning. Still have some unnecessary stuff.Which reminds me, i need a clear out.

In reply to SFM: I think the most startling thing is clothes. The chinese pictured have very few. Yet we seem to accumulate lots.

I remember a thread on here a while ago where people listed their "climbing attire" , OCD came to mind

In reply to Game of Conkers:

"Climbing attire" - whats that?

In reply to SFM:

I had a big clearout when I moved house last year, but I still have loads of stuff - too much, probably.

In reply to SFM:

The most telling thing from the pictures is that they all have a TV.

In reply to Grover: The family on the fishing boat appears not to own a TV, but you're right that it does seem to be most widely-owned item of electronic equipment (although I suspect that if you could see the pictures in more detail you might well find a mobile phone in every one).

In reply to Martin W:

When I was working in Mumbai I was shocked to see how common mobile phones were but it makes sense in emerging economies to skip the massive infrastructure upgrade to install landlines to all residential properties and just jump straight to the mobile phone where set-up costs are a lot less and the customer doesn't even need a fixed address (for PAYG) therefore it's available to everyone (cost permitting).

In reply to galpinos:

Last time I was in Jamaica I was chatting to a guy living under a plastic sheet strung out between trees on the beach who seemed to own more or less what he stood up in...but still had a state of the art phone, way more up to date than mine anyway.

In reply to SFM:

Could easily lose half the posessions not including books, but losing half the books... that would be hard.

In reply to SFM:

wow, they have even less 'just in case' stored plastic containers than me and they are using / need all theirs.

I wanna be efficient like they are , accumulation of crap is an endless area of argument in our house

In reply to SFM:

And how does he transport all that, because it won't go in that little trailer?

He could save some space with a flat screen TV.

In reply to SFM:
I see a lot of homeless people on phones, but then again a lot of the beggers you see on the streets are actually quite comfortable with houses.

In reply to danrock101:

Probably worth looking further into why a lot of homeless people have phones - a lot of it isn't to do with them having houses and living in the lap of luxury whilst fleecing us hardworking taxpayers etc etc mail rant etc etc, but more to do with that having a PAYG phone means you're contactable - otherwise, if you're on the street, a lot of your structures fall apart completely as you can't be contacted and vice versa.

In reply to Skip:

Not sure,but isn't it how you get into the cab of a tractor?

In reply to SFM:
After I finished uni in 1993 I emigrated (didn't work out) with all my worldly goods in a backpack (apart from my comics (good stuff: Hellblazer, The Sandman, Watchmen, Miracleman..) which were kept at my dad's house).

When I returned, I had less & no money!

I have stuff now!

In reply to SFM:

I have something like two to three thousand books. I would be loathe to get rid of more than about two-thirds of them.

In reply to SFM:

I have a great book from maybe the mid-90s that a couple of photographers and writers made by travelling around the world and photographing families with all of their possessions outside their homes, and then doing some interviews and write-ups about their lives.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Material-World-Global-Portrait-Publication/dp/08715...

Really interesting book, I'd highly recommend it.

In reply to SFM: Far too much, and that's just the climbing gear. Just waiting for a thermonuclear strike to end it all so that one may start again.