My focus lends itself to the emotional spaciousness that comes with letting things go. I like open space, the ability to move around, and knowing that if I do want to buy or replace something, that old thing will still have a use, whether it be by me or someone else who can use it better. The mindset of having what you need and letting the rest go can also sometimes create an anti-consumerist mentality, which really can be good or bad. In the long run, once you commit to the minimalist/simplistic lifestyle, I find that several factors come into play that lead to a little more feng shui, a little less spending, and a little more mental room to breathe. All generally good things.
But there’s another perspective that is sometimes overlooked, and on occasion represented in a way that is grossly out of proportion, and that is the idea that a minimalist lifestyle requires you to be absolutely loaded.
Minimalism as a Cost-Saving Lifestyle
I’ve heard several times the assumption that in order to truly be a “minimalist” you have to get rid of absolutely everything except for seven days of clothes and a mattress. And yes, I will concede that these minimalists probably have to restock on essentials more often than other people, leading to an increase in spending. However, there are certain other lifestyles where a combo-minimalist outlook might actually be easier, like traveling, or being a freelance writer in NYC.
Minimalism means something different to everyone, and though there are definitely people out there who practice extreme minimalism, I think to many people who are just discovering the lifestyle, minimalism is a way to cut down on the crap you have to wade through to get to the bathroom.
But there’s another way to look at minimalism as a cost-effective lifestyle, and that’s from storage space. There are some essentials that everyone absolutely needs to get through a day peacefully, and they might be different for every single person you ask. A mom and dad of three kids under ten will likely need that gigantic linen closet full of spare sheets, blankets, and towels, because, well, kids. But a single gal who spends 12 hours a day outside of her apartment? One set of sheets and towels is probably more than enough.
And just speaking from my own experience having to pay $2.50 for a load of laundry plus a four-story journey from top floor to basement, that spare set of sheets ain’t getting washed until the other is unusable (I actually put my foot through my last set before finally washing my spares).
How Much Does that Extra Storage Really Cost?
So lets take a moment to meditate on that extra storage space we keep to store the things that we think we need, and what we actually do need.
(That was meant to be confusing to keep you thinking about it. Or I’m lazy and don’t feel like changing it. Your call.)
If you have an aversion or allergy to numbers, I would suggest taking that benadryl about 20 minutes ago, because it’s about to get astrophysical. Not really, but feel free to skip the math section and go to the end for a quick summary of math stuff.
So we have three scenarios in which a minimalist lifestyle might effect the amount of money you spend just on storing the things that you own, whether your reasoning be that you might need it someday, you use it pretty regularly, or your granddaughter bought a new bed and asks to store her old one in your basement indefinitely (sorry mom-mom). The first is the square footage you would need in your rental, the square footage you would need in a house, and alternatively, the size of the storage unit you would need to keep all that extra crap.
In my last move, I went from 800 sqft to 600, and from 4 closets to 2. I got rid of a desk and a broken vacuum cleaner, but as you might imagine, that didn’t leave a ton of room for little old me. My old apartment (bless old architects) had some nice built-in shelving that made me feel like I had a lot less stuff than I actually did. My new apartment felt cluttered for a very long time, and still does when I forget to put away the crafts.
Since move-in, I managed to get rid of two bookshelves and stuff enough to fill both twice, which got me wondering just how much money I spent just housing this stuff. My old apartment was 33% bigger than my current one, which made me wonder, if I fit comfortably in my last place, but felt I needed to purge in my current place, did that mean I got rid of 33% of my stuff? Was that 200 square feet worth the $250 more I paid for it if I “might use it someday?”
The Maths of It All
As a financial analyst by day, I decided to do some maths to see just how much I am paying to house my stuff.
Unfortunately, as I have the memory of a gold fish, I have no recollection of what I have thrown out, but judging by the number of bags and boxes that have left my apartment to never return again, against the amount I moved in with, I can safely say that I have donated, sold, trashed, or re-purposed about 50% of my stuff. So once we’re done with calculations, I am going to double them as a rough estimate of my storage costs at my old apartment.
Apartment Storage
On average, someone renting in Philadelphia can expect to spend $1.83 per square foot, per month, renting a 1,500 square foot apartment, or about $22 per year, per square foot.
Obvious storage first:
- bathroom cabinets/shelving: 8 sqft
- kitchen cabinets: 12 sqft
- bedroom bookshelves: 8 sqft
- living room shelves/bins: 15 sqft
- 2 closets: 16 sqft
I gave myself some leeway with my under bed/couch storage, and decided not to count that since it would have been used space regardless of whether it also happens to be storage.
Our grand total on my current storage = 59 square feet of storage space. Multiplied by $22 average cost per square foot is a whopping $1,298 that I am paying per year, just to have stuff. Lets expand that to my old apartment where I had about double my stuff – I paid almost $2,600 just to have all that crap that I ended up getting rid of anyways.
Another factor to this is that the majority of my stuff was accumulated over the past five years. Meaning, if I hadn’t done this 50% clean out, and continued to accumulate at the same rate, in another five years I would be paying $5,400 annually, just to store my stuff.
House Storage
This brings into the equation the question of buying a house. What’s nice about a house is that many will come with an unfinished basement that isn’t factored into the square footage. If you are planning to do this soon, feel free to completely scrap minimalism, because – seriously – you no longer need it.
The average cost per square foot of a house in the greater Philadelphia area is $143.
Now at first, this seems like a huge freaking deal, because 59 square feet times $143? That’s $8,437. Sure, that’s a lot, but it’s a one time fee and in about 8 years when I’m still living in my 600 square foot apartment, you’ll be waving your extra 20’s in my face. Bonus points if you have an unfinished basement, because likely you can fit my entire apartment into it. And besides, why are you buying a house if you’re not gonna store everything in it?
Storage Storage
Last option is a storage unit. On average you can rent a 200 square foot unit for $100 (or so google tells me). Lets assume you can get a 100 square foot unit for $50. Well, that’s $600 a year. That one is pretty simple.
So for those of you young millennials who are still living in apartments with tiny square footage and high city rents, minimalism is your new best friend, because hello!, $5k is a lot of money to spend on storing stuff. For you older millennials who are buying houses and moving on out to the suburbs, screw minimalism, and start storing shit for the kids you might have one day who may or may not decide to go to college. Because you likely have the space to do so.
If neither of these options work for you, rent a storage unit. I hear you can get 200 square feet for $100.
Opportunity Cost
Lastly – I wouldn’t be able to truly call myself a financial analyst if I didn’t mention the opportunity cost of keeping so much stuff. Sure, reselling a shelf could net you $20, but that in addition to 2 square feet of storage space is a good $64 over a year. Nothing earth shattering, but worth consideration.
This doesn’t apply if you simply have high furniture/storage turnover.
But if you downsize once every few years, $64 is a nice little bonus to think of when getting rid of shelving and the junk that’s on it.
Opportunity cost is a bit of an after thought when considering the potential savings of not having so much stuff, but worth considering. Focus on that minimalist mentality first, and reap that $64 later as a reward.