What is a word to describe a lifestyle of few possessions?

Question

I think there is a word that exists, though it won't quite come to me, that describes the life of someone who purposely leads a sparse existence, materialistically, and has few, if any, possessions. The only word that comes to me is "monastic," but that's not quite right, and I'm thinking there exists a word that doesn't have any religious connotations. The right word could possibly, but not necessarily, indicate a nomadic quality, as well, or, at least, the quality of not being tied down to a particular location or domicile.

Example sentence:

Living in an easily-collapsed geodesic dome, and owning only a laptop, futon, table and a few sets of clothes, Ms. Hilgers' [single-word] lifestyle was envied by some and perplexing to others.

Answer 1

Spartan conveys the idea you are referring to:

simple and severe with no comfort:

• spartan living conditions; they lead a spartan life with very few comforts and no luxuries.

(Cambridge Dictionary)

Answer 2

I'd say it's minimalist.

Perhaps it does not dare make a virtue out of modernity and reinvent its interior in an honest minimalist style, so it serves up spadeloads of fake heritage instead.

The lean, minimalist design is refreshingly at odds with the usual run of touristy alpine decoration and furnishings featured at other ski resort hotels.

John McGowan's space may be a little larger but the minimalist style of small desk, computer station, neat cupboard space and obligatory plant is mirroring that of other employees.

Answer 3

How about austere?

3: markedly simple or unadorned · an austere office
_{from m-w.com}

Answer 4

Ascetic has some religious connotations but that doesn't necessarily preclude it from being usable if context doesn't include links to religion.

characterized by or suggesting the practice of severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons.

If you really want to drive home the lack of religious motivation, and you're okay with using two words, secular asceticism would probably fit the bill.

Answer 5

I think you are looking for spartan, given by Merriam-Webster as defintion 2b:

often not capitalized : marked by simplicity, frugality, or avoidance of luxury and comfort a Spartan room

Note that in context, the word is not capitalized, whereas when referring to a person from the city of Sparta, it would be.

Answer 6

Frugal

---

From vocabulary.com:

A person who lives simply and economically can be called frugal. Buying clothes at a consignment shop would be considered frugal. Not getting your mom a gift for her birthday — that's just cheap.

_{Thrifty, spartan, and prudent are synonyms for frugal, a word that often has positive connotations when used to describe a person who lives a simple life. "The question for retailers is whether shoppers will remain frugal or slowly resume their old spending habits whenever they get more money in their pockets," wrote The Wall Street Journal. You might also speak of "a frugal meal" — a very plain, cheap one. The word is from Latin frux, meaning "fruit" (in the sense of "profit").}

Answer 7

I might suggest plain - not yet mentioned because the word itself is possibly too plain?

not decorated or elaborate; simple or basic in character

Answer 8

I know there's an accepted answer and several good ones, but I think it's worth noting that a relatively modern (slightly hip and click-bait-y) term for this is clutter-free, as in, free from clutter (confusion, mess, litter).

This applies particularly if it's a conscious ideological choice, rather than driven by affordability.

Answer 9

Frugal - is good - but "simple" is perhaps best.

Living in an easily-collapsed geodesic dome, and owning only a laptop, futon, table and a few sets of clothes, Ms. Hilgers' simple lifestyle was envied by some and perplexing to others

Answer 10

For a brief time around 1968, the Beatles lived with the Maharishi in India, living there like other pilgrims with no possessions and with very simple food, clothing and shelter. I'm pretty sure that when George Harrison is explaining this business in the Beatles Anthology, he refers to such people as renunciants.

Definition of renunciant

plural -s

: one who renounces (as the world)

-Merriam Webster

When I looked for this word in Google Books, almost all of the uses were from books about ways of life characteristic of Arabia, India or the Orient, and almost none by standard Western authors. So I cannot say the word is widely used GMT - 1 to 10.

I did find this single (though very long) sentence in Google Books:

There was here a veritable consecration, hopeful and animating, of the earth's gifts, of old dead and dark matter itself, now in some way redeemed at last, of all that we can touch or see, in the midst of a jaded world that had lost the true sense of such things, and in strong contrast to the wise emperor's renunciant and impassive attitude towards them.

-On page 138 of The Works of Walter Pater

So that's one use at least. Apparently Pater thought it was an adjective.

Answer 11

A life of penury means "extreme poverty" (Collins 2000).

Though this can be volitional, it also applies to ones who have had poverty inflicted upon them.

Answer 12

I am hesitant to post an answer when one has already been accepted. But I feel like the mindset the OP is trying to capture is one of being:

TEMPORAL

The definitions I found online don't capture my feeling of this use case but here is how it applies for me. Where you are and what you are doing is temporary. Extra effort and accumulation for things you won't need in the future is pointless and detracts from living in the moment. It provides a freedom from anchors.

Answer 13

Simplistic or non-materialistic are the two words that come to my mind when reading your description.

Answer 14

You might be thinking of "mortified." This describes someone who lives in the world (so not quite ascetic or monastic), but who lives in self-imposed poverty.

While this does have a religious connotation, it can also have a nomadic quality. St. Peter traveled a lot, but his lifestyle was mortified due to his sparse diet and lack of possessions.

Answer 15

I am thinking of monk, hermit. Depending on the context, this could be taken as religious, or not.