10 things I don’t buy anymore as a minimalist

 

You don’t need to be a minimalist to notice that you buy some things that you don’t use or you don’t like. 

With minimalism you become more aware of these things and you just want one thing : to throw them away once and for all. 

When I was twenty, I was really depressed. I didn’t like what I was studying, I was away from my boyfriend… At that time, I thought that if I had more possession, I would be happier… Social media didn’t arrange anything. I had more temptations! I started to post fashion pictures of me on Instagram but I told myself that I couldn’t post two pictures with the same outfit! Yes, I was crazy, like all these women on Instagram. In addition to buy more, it was often clothes that didn’t fit and I felt worse in my body. It was a vicious circle. 

One day, I decided to stop this circle. I was tired of being depressed and doing nothing to fix it. After reading some personal improvement books, minimalism seemed to be the best way to get out of this depressive state. 

It was time to cleanse my life and get rid of things once and for all.

Plastic bottles 

When you become a minimalist, you become more aware of your consumption. Ecology can take a big place in your decisions. 

The first thing that is easy to not buy is plastic bottles. All the plastic bottles : water bottle, shampoo bottle, shower bottle and so on… 

I did things gradually. First, I decided to stop buying water bottle. Instead I bought gourds I always have : one for home, one for work and one I always leave in my gym bag. Then I decided to attack the bathroom. I finished all the bottles and I bought soap, solid shampoo and solid conditioner. 

I notice 2 things : 

• garbage bags dramatically decrease 
• our body thank us because there are lot less bad chemical products in our bathroom now.  

Makeup remover and cotton pads

It was in the same move that the plastic bottles. I’ve had enough to throw away a TON of cotton pads, cleansing wipes and makeup remover bottles. 

When I searched solid shampoo and soap, I discover makeup remover pads that can be washed after use. I was a revolution to me! No more waste in my bathroom! 

Trendy clothes (including clothes that I know I will never wear)

Ok, it was the hardest part. I love fashion. I love looking at new outfits on Instagram. But like I said earlier, I spent too much money on clothes and in the end it wasn’t a source of joy. I sorted all the clothes that didn’t fit or didn’t match with one another. 

The other part was the clothes that I know I will never wear. You know, this gala dress that you bought on Asos and is always on your closet but you never wear? Ok, it’s beautiful. But be honest with yourself. You will never wear it. Or maybe once but the smarter way would be to rent a dress because you will wear it just once. 

For me it wasn’t the beautiful long dress but it was high heels. Always classic heels but I couldn’t wear them because it hurts too much! I sold all of my really high heels and only kept 2 ¾ heel height for work. 

Now, I’m a little bit extreme because I have an almost black and white wardrobe. It’s actually in these clothes that I feel better. 

Fashion accessories 

You know the jewelry accessory you bought 5$ at H&M, that you wore 2 times because it became rusty? I decided to stop buying these. 

Before I wanted my fashion accessories to match my outfits. If I had a blue outfit, I would have blue earrings and so on…

Now I only have some jewelry that are precious to me. 

Candles 

Sometimes, I ask myself why I bought so many candles even if I know I will never use them. 

At one point, some candle brand was really famous on social media. I must say that their scents was amazing. But when I lit one in my living room I had a headache ten minutes after. 

So when I did my big declutter, it was one of the first things that I threw away. It was pretty but it took a lot of space and I couldn’t light one of them without a headache so… 

Magazines 

Do you see the mountain of magazines in your living room that you will never read because they are too old right now? 

I was in the same place. So I don’t have subscriptions anymore and when I buy a magazine, it’s because I will read it in the train or in the plane. 

Souvenirs

I always travelled a lot. Anytime I travelled, I brought back some souvenirs to remember all the great moments that I spent on holidays. Months later, it was dusty and it took me a lot of space. At the end, this didn’t bring me joy and I decided to throw them away. 

Now I prefer to have beautiful pictures in my mind and on my computer to remember these good moments. 

Home decor 

During the big declutter, I threw away all my home decor because after some time I hated it. It wasn’t harmonious and it was too much. I have now a minimalist decor with few decorative objects on my shelves and a lot of plants. 

I no longer look at Ikea magazines to see new items and go shopping in decorative stores.

Paper books/CDs/DVDs

For CDs and DVDs, it was quite easy. In my apartment, I don’t have CDs or DVDs anymore, I threw them away because I didn’t use them. 

For books, it was not as easy. I like to smell new books when I start reading . I love the feeling of the paper. But I read a lot and in my tiny apartment I couldn’t store books anymore. So, I sold the books that weren’t too worn out and that I knew I would never read again. And it was difficult but I threw away worn books because I couldn’t donate them. Now I buy ebooks on Kindle and I borrow some books from my mother. 

Useless stationary 

The final item that I no longer buy is useless stationary. I always had 2 agendas (because I didn’t like the first one), 1 big notebook, 1 little notebook, a printable daily planner and a lot of color pen to differentiate all the activities. Over time, I realize that I always use the same type of tiny notebooks from Sostrene Grene. It’s small with lines. It’s perfect for me. I don’t need agenda of notebooks for ideas. I have everything in this notebook. It’s a mess inside because I have ideas in the same page than the to do list. But that’s how I work. 

I hope this article will be helpful. Tell me in comments what are the items that you no longer buy!