How minimalist can you go?

[clothear]

Always trying to get rid of stuff I no longer use or need. But still seem to have a fair bit of stuff, even though I regularly give things to charity or throw away.

Have read quite a lot of minimalist literature, and am quite impressed with people who have pared things down to very little. Part of me would really love to live like that, I sometimes feel weighed down almost with my "things". But being a householder seems to mean having "stuff" (not just personal items like clothes and books - but hoovers, toolbox, xmas decorations, furniture, crockery, saucepans, etc etc), in my case all quite squashed in a smallish 2 bedroom flat with a small loft.

How far have others who like the idea of minimalism got?

I know what you mean, OP. I love decluttering but think I'm reaching my limit of what I can realistically achieve.

The litmus test often suggested is to get rid of something if you've not used it in 3/6months. But lots of stuff is seasonal (xmas), or items that don't get used often but would be expensive to replace (tools etc). And it's all well and good to suggest that people borrow them, but that relies on some people not buying into minimalism and keeping theirs while you throw yours away.

I'd love to get rid of more stuff,but the things we're left with now are mostly a) stuff we use either regularly or not or b) stuff we may use in the near future and it would be expensive/uneconomical to replace