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 more“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 moreIf 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 moreGetting 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 moreI'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 moreBuying 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 moreThe 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 moreNot 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 moreFirst 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 moreI've been doing a lot of mulling regarding over our ever connected world. A few months ago, when I reset my phone, I purposely did not install Facebook because I felt I was constantly checking it. Not in a productive way, but in a way that was there to pass the time. I installed Instagram though and found myself using that more often anyways. The constant pull of the latest updates, the stories, the need to post was getting to me.
I recently picked up Solitude: In Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded World and can definitely relate to the author and I agree with many of his points. Partly for me, I've been struggling to find this balance of Minimalism and Mindfulness.
Read moreWhat was I thinking keeping this all of these years?
That's usually what you say to yourself a few years from now as you help your parents declutter and remove items from their house.
It's been some time since I've graduated from anything, high school, college or grad school, but my sister came back from college a few weeks ago, schlepping all of her stuff back into my parents house. This was my cue to try to influence her to reduce and minimize her belongings.
Read moreWe will never be able to get back all of the money we spent buying stuff, the key is to learn new habits moving hard.
That was the biggest lesson I learned when I started my minimizing and decluttering phase. One of the first things I tackled was clothing. I initially donated some and sent some to ThredUp. This was in 2015. I just re-ordered a new clean out bag and just recently received it. I'm happy to be sending a few more items to ThredUp. A few people say that it's not worth it or they don't pay enough for the clothes you send it, but I have a few counter arguments against that. If you are thinking of sending clothing to ThredUp, here are a few reasons to do so.
Read moreToo many choices can actually paralyze us and lead to doubt, regret, lots of social comparison and unhappiness. How do we then overcome too many choices? Paradox of Choice offers some insight.
Read moreMy first time doing project333 which is wearing 33 items for 3 months. Here's what I started with. I'm on month 1 in my attempt for a more minimalist capsule wardrobe.
Read moreHow many decisions do you make in a day? Do those choices contribute to your happiness?
I've been doing #project333 for over 3 weeks now and I keep going back to this concept of the paradox of choice. When I had to choose the 33 clothing items to keep for the 3 month experiment, it was a bit overwhelming. There was a lot of what-ifs. What if I needed this skirt to go to some unnamed event, what if these jeans I've chosen will not fit me later on. Today, when I get dressed, I don't look at a closet full of stuff, instead I look at a few key pieces selected by me from my existing set of clothes. Each one fits well. Each one can be mixed and matched with the other.
Read moreI think we are learning that comedians sometimes tell the truth better. I thought I would compile a post about famous and favorite comedians talking about stuff. It's always a good day for laughs, but there's a lot of truth to what they say.
All videos are suitable for work, just lower the sound. Some cursing, but just generally good laughs behind hard truths
Read morei thought I would do a round up of the top Minimalism articles that helped me on my journey. When I first started my journey, The Minimalists were my biggest inspiration. I wish I could trace back how I came to know them and their site because it would be nice to have a little retrospective. Since reading their essays, I've come across so many other great articles about minimalism, about what it means and what it has allowed people to do. Here are the articles that have inspired me to go on this journey and continually inspire me to keep going.
Read moreWhat does 10 years of continuous and constant and consistent consumption look like?
Look around your apartment or your house. That's what it looks like. Our spaces are bursting at the seams. Our garages can't even fit our cars. Our closets are too full. Our attics and basement are full of unused things. This is hoarding.
Read moreMy husband and I have not had cable in over 5 years and don't miss it at all. We share a Netflix account that is barely used. We also have Amazon, but have not gotten into the swing of the shows there. I thought I would do a quick infographic of how much TV costs in terms of money and time.
Despite all of the news you hear about people cutting the cord and streaming from Netflix. Research still shows that 83% of American households pay for TV as a service. Many are just so used to the monthly cost. They don't think they can live without E! or HGTV, but I can attest that there is life after this. For me, not having cable for 5 years meant a significant amount of money and time saved. Some of this money I've invested and I've seen it grow significantly. Some of this money has been used to travel instead. I'm definitely not a cheapskate, but there's certain things that are worth paying money for, cable is NOT one of them.
Read moreWe don’t make time, we have time. We own our time. We don’t construct time.
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