From my experience and probably from every other parent out there, children go through clothing quickly so spending a lot of money on clothes that rarely get worn is not worth it. Think about the COST PER WEAR/USE when buying an item. How much use will you get out of it for the price that you pay? The past few months I’ve learned where to find the best secondhand baby clothes and I’ve listed them below. Buying secondhand is a great way to save money and save resources in the end.
Read moreMinimalist and Zero Waste Gift Guide
Minimalist and Zero waste Gift Guide
While my immediate family and I stopped exchanging gifts a few years ago, I'm not opposed to presents completely. I still like the occasional gift, but as someone who has ventured into the world of minimalism and zero waste, I offer some suggestions on what to give folks on this journey. Consequently, these gifts are also good for someone who has everything already. Gift giving is rooted in tradition, in showing love, in showing appreciation so keep these in mind that large gifts don't necessarily mean big love. Small things, small actions can mean big love.
Read moreMinimal & Sustainable Mommy Makeup with Iris & Romeo
I’ve never really been a makeup person. It’s just not my thing and I am OK with that. So I was happy to come across this brand called Iris & Romeo. The company offers two products: Best Skin Days - a 5-in-1 serum, moisturizer, sheer coverage, sunscreen, and blue light/pollution protector and Power Peptide Lip Balm - a 3-in-1 lip balm that hydrates, plumps and adds color. Both products are in glass so a big plus for my sustainable packaging criteria. Vegan, cruelty-free, made in the USA and free from all of the -ates.
Read moreBook Summary & Notes: Digital Minimalism - Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
Book Summary & Notes: Digital Minimalism - Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport
“Checking your “likes” is the new smoking.”
I couldn’t help the feeling that technology was taking over my life and it wasn’t for the best. Even after implementing a few digital minimalism strategies, I still coudn’t help the feeling that I wasn’t doing enough. I still felt distracted and not as focused. This past week, I finally picked up Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport and found so many interesting strategies in there to help find focus amidst the chaos of the digital attention economy.
Read moreSustainable Baby: Just Between Friends Sale Haul
Sustainable Baby: Just Between Friends Sale Haul
I am trying to do my best to make this process as sustainable as possible. Since this is my first child, I’m still navigating what’s really necessary from the mesh of baby must-haves and lists available on the web. I attended a Just Between Friends Sale to find some good, quality secondhand items for baby to use. Here’s what I got:
Read moreProduct Review: Legacybox for Digitizing Home Movies and Photos
Product Review: Legacybox for Digitizing Home Movies and Photos
When my parents left to retire for a few months to the Philippines, they left a few things behind. In one of the boxes, I found a box of Hi8 tapes that my dad had kept. Labeled: Cat’s 8th Graduation, H.S. Graduation, Anna’s Confirmation, Elaine’s 5th Birthday, New Year 99 and so on. I honestly wasn’t sure if the images were still intact and if I wanted to see them, but of course curiosity got the best of me so I started researching how to digitize the tapes. If I remember correctly, Hi8 was popular in the 90’s and very early 2000s. My dad had a camcorder that he would take everywhere and would also setup in front of our living room to capture the action.
Read more17 Ways Minimalism Saves Money and Saves the Planet
17 Ways Minimalism Saves Money and Saves the Planet
If you are still unsure about how minimalism can help you, here are 17 ways minimalism can help you save money and save the planet as well.
Read moreHow to Help Your Aging Parents Declutter
How to Help Your Aging Parent Declutter
Getting back to basics is the simplest way to find calm in the chaos.
My family has lived in the same house for 23 years. As of yesterday, my parents just accepted an offer for this house. Before we got to this point, it took months to declutter 23 years of stuff and I want to share with you what I've learned throughout this process.
Read moreDigital Minimalism: Living Without Being Chained to Technology
Digital Minimalism: Living Without Being Chained to Technology
I've been struggling lately to find that balance with being active in an online community, but also pulling back and taking time for myself or to connect in real-life. The struggle is real especially when majority of my days is in front of a computer, writing, interacting, emailing and connecting with others. I'm in the process of taking a more proactive approach of how I am using technology these days with the goal of being in the moment more. Here's what I'm currently doing. Time will tell how many of these I will stick to because I've had my shares of full on going offline and full on being constantly online.
Read moreWhy A Small Home Is a Sustainable Solution
Why a small home is a sustainable solution
Buying a home is a serious, important and personal decision and I think it's critical that when it comes to making this decision that you really keep in mind your needs, not your wants and not the influence of others. Societal conventions will push you to get more, but more doesn't also mean better. There are many advantages to having a smaller home. Along with the cost, the second is the environmental footprint.
Read more100 Ways to Save Money, Make Memories and have a More Sustainable Summer
100 Ways to save money, make memories and have a more sustainable and eco-friendly summer.
Every summer has a story.
Part of the hallmarks of living a sustainable life is to live frugally. This doesn't mean being cheap, but learning to be self-sufficient, learning to share with the community, and appreciating what nature has to offer. There's a large correlation with caring for your wallet and the planet. This summer, I encourage you to do the things that make you happy, that bring you joy. Remember that living doesn’t have to cost too much. It's your memories, your life! Create a summer story and a summer memory that is sustainable for your money and for the planet.
As with other seasons, here's a list of 100 things to save money, make memories and have a more sustainable and eco-friendly summer.
Read moreBook Review, Summary, Highlights - Empire of Things: How We Became A World of Consumers
Empire of Things by Frank Trentmann: review, summary, highlights
"Men are forced to labour now because they are a slave to their own wants."
It took me some time to finish this book, but after several renewals from the library, I finally finished Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers by Frank Trentmann. It's a fascinating read! It reads a little bit like a history textbook. It runs through a range of histories of multiple countries to see show how goods traveled from one place to another. It should be noted that consumption isn't a new idea, but it has rapidly grown thanks to the Industrial Age and post Second World War.
Read moreWhat exactly does frugal living mean?
Frugality is learning to share, to see the world as "ours.
Frugality has gotten a bad rap in certain context. People think being frugal is about being cheap, almost to a point that one cannot enjoy life. At the word "frugal", people think deprivation, but if we look back, frugal was a way to live intentionally keeping in mind the resources around us. Frugal living is sustainable living.
Let's re-think what frugal living means.
Read morePersonal Finances and the Environment: The impact of spending on the wallet and the planet
Personal finance and the environment. The impact of spending on the wallet and the planet.
I just finished the book "Your Money or Your Life" by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominquez. I love personal finance and am an avid personal finance book reader. Of all of the books I've read, this is one of the few books that talk about the relationship and impact of our spending on both our wallets and on our one planet. “Financial Integrity is achieved by learning the true impact of your earning and spending both on your family and on the planet.”
Read moreIs minimalism for the privileged and is it right for you?
Is minimalism for the privileged and is it right for you?
The truth is for majority people in the world, MINIMALISM is just a fact of life. There is no word to describe the day to day of most people as they work to meet basic needs. There is no such thing as disposable income. No such thing as extra money at the end of the week. So for those lucky and yes privileged enough to grow up and live in a part of the world where all of their needs are taken care of without much issue and wants were easily taken for granted, I believe minimalism or in this case, the art of slowing down and living with less is needed in society right now.
Read moreFinancial Freedom and Minimalism: Strategies to Build Wealth for Financial Independence
Financial Freedom x Minimalism & other strategies to build wealth for financial independence.
Not that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you.
What is Minimalism? What is Financial Freedom? To me, Minimalism has always been focusing on the things that I value. This means focusing less on the accumulation of stuff, but more on personal growth, on relationships and on helping the world. Today, Financial Freedom means more to me more than ever and I will share a story that I have never shared here before.
Read moreHow to deal with people judging your minimal or zero waste lifestyle
First of call, congrats on your new lifestyle. Whether you are on a minimalist or a zero waste journey, you've made a choice for yourself. Unfortunately, while this new lifestyle is making you happy, others in your close circle may not understand it and may judge and criticize you. Of course, this isn't fair, but as we know, we are the only ones that have control of our thoughts and our actions. It's hard to change other people's minds especially if they are not ready to change.
Read more2018 Bullet Journal Project Tracking
Bullet Journal Project Tracking
I recently finished The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. The first takeaway action item for me is to write my own Personal Commandments - things that I believe in and will hopefully dictate my actions for the year. Not really realizing it, I have been doing this for years now. I would write the Top 5 Resolutions and put it into a frame. The challenge with a Resolution is sometimes it gets misconstrued as Goals so I am taking a different approach on how to differentiate them and how my Personal Commandments come into play. I'm also experimenting with a bullet journal to see how I can get my thoughts, my to-do lists written in a way that is helpful, manageable and creative.
Read more100 Minimal and Zero Waste Things To Do In Winter
On the heels of my 100 Things To Do In the Fall, I thought I would also do a list for the Winter and probably for the other two seasons. I've loved every minute of Fall this year. The weather was slightly milder to begin with so we were able to enjoy most of it outside. So without further ado, my list of 100 Things To Do In the Winter. Do you have anything to add to the list? Let me know in the comments below.
Read moreUsing Cladwell App to Cut the Closet Clutter
Using Project333 and the Cladwell app to cut the closet clutter.
If you’ve read some of my posts, you know that I love to gather data as a way to quantify actions. (See post about how many steps the Inca Trail really takes or the payoff return when investing in reusables.)
Lately, I’ve been obsessing over the Cladwell app to log my outfits. So I am not a fashionista, far from it, but I like nice stuff and have come a long way from a walk-in closet full of clothes I never wore. Earlier this year, I took on project333 for the first time and found a lot of peace with dwindling my wardrobe to only 33 items. Now I’m not as exact with 33 as I could be, but I know it’s going well when:
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