Browsing Tag

minimalism

Minimalism

15 Intentional Ways to Simplify Your Life

Wanting more time and less stress? Check out these 15 Ways to Simplify Your Life in 2018!

Are you in need of some help to simplify your life?

Whether you’re starting a new year or not, now is always a great time to reassess our current lifestyle and make positive changes. One of the most common complaints from people is they don’t make enough time for themselves, or their families, or to just do things they want to do. We find ourselves filling up our free time with mindless Facebook scrolling, endless washing and cleaning, and doing things that we probably should have just said no to.

Make this year a year to remember, a year for you to work on how you can simplify your life. The start of saying no to things you don’t want to do and yes to things that you have wanted to do for too long. Take a step back and reassess what is important and what isn’t, what is adding unnecessary stress in our lives and what we want more and less of.

15 Ways to Simplify Your Life!

1. Declutter

There is no greater path to simplify your life than through decluttering. When we remove the excess we can focus more on the essential. By removing things that do not add value to our life we help to simplify our lives. By reducing the clutter in our homes we open ourselves up to numerous benefits. We reduce; the anxiety caused by too much stuff, the amount of time we waste cleaning and maintaining our stuff, and can soon notice the financial benefits when we are more intentional with our spending. Check out these 101 Things to Declutter in Your Home Right Now to get you started!

2. Learn to say no

Don’t fill in your weeknights and weekends and leave yourself no downtime or time to reset. It’s okay to say no to people and events and put your needs first. If there is an invite to something you are really not keen to go to for whatever reason; you can’t afford it, it doesn’t sound fun to you, you really feel like you can’t possibly cram one more thing into this week, it’s okay to RSVP no. Simplify your life by reserving your time for what truly brings you joy.

Declutter With Me Course

If you want help decluttering and simplifying your home – and keeping it that way – check out my course Declutter With Me, where I will teach you home to minimise the clutter in your home and give you tools and strategies to change your consumption habits for good.

If you are interested to learn more about my course you can by clicking the button below!

3. Say yes to things you want to do

We can often get tied up doing the things we don’t want to do and the things we want to do end up falling by the wayside. Once we learn to prioritise our time better we have more time to do the things we really want to do like relax, exercise, watch a movie, learn a new instrument, read or whatever we like. By learning to say no more, we open up our calendar to say yes to more spontaneous things like a beach day when it’s perfect weather or hanging out with someone you just met.

4. Find joy in the small things

You don’t need to buy the latest iPhone or go on endless vacations to find joy. Don’t just live for big buys and get aways when there is joy to be found in everyday things. Make time to do things that adds joy every day and take the time to appreciate them.

It could be playing a game with your kids, watching an interesting documentary, having a hot chocolate and smelling a yummy candle on a relaxing night at home in front of the TV. When we learn to find joy in the little things we can simplify our lives and learn to appreciate the small things.

5. Remove and minimise toxic relationships

Toxic relationships add drama and stress to our everyday lives. They can consume us, take our focus off our goals and hold us back. Joshua Fields Milburn from The Minimalists in his blog titled ‘Fake‘ says ‘You can’t change the people around you, but you can change the people around you’. 

This really is the crux of our relationships, we can’t change people in our lives but we can change who we keep close to us. Sometimes we need to remove or minimise contact with people in our lives, even if only temporarily, who take away from our happiness or that are toxic and detrimental to our well-being.

When we remove people that take our energy and bring us down and hold us back, we can remove an unnecessary barrier to our unhappiness and lead lives of positivity and growth. Sometimes even a simple conversation about new boundaries and expectations can redirect a toxic relationship into a more healthy one. Or maybe you will just be more conscious to limit the time you spend around certain people in your life that take from you and give nothing back.

6. Read more

Who has ever said I wish I had less time to read? Reading is a rewarding way to destress, learn new things, unwind and get lost in a book. When we make time to read, we are making time to sit down, stop all other distractions and focus on one activity that will aid you to simplify your life. Another benefit of reading is to teach you new skills that will help you to simplify your life such as a book on habit building.

7. Spend less time on social media

A lot of time can be freed up by spending less time on social media and on our phones. You probably don’t even realise how much time you are losing aimlessly browsing your phone. Make a conscious decision to use social media less. Simplify your life by deleting apps off your phone for a small period of time, but if that is too scary to consider, try timing your use. Limit yourself to your tea break only or put your phone away at a particular time each night. When you have important things to do put your phone on flight mode or hide it in a drawer so it is out of sight, out of mind. At a minimum, leave your phone off the table when you are having dinner with your partner, family or friends and just be present.

8. Simplify your wardrobe

Simplify your life by reviewing your wardrobe and identifying what clothes you feel are truly you at this time. Be honest with yourself about what you will and won’t wear. Don’t be afraid to let go of items you no longer need, you can always replace them with more suitable and loved pieces. When we limit our overflowing wardrobes we reduce the stress we encounter with picking an outfit before running out the door. Make your mornings less stressful by adopting a capsule wardrobe and simplify your life.

To get started you can grab your free Capsule Wardrobe Planner here!

9. Eat less and be more mindful with food

With YouTube, TV, Netflix, Messenger Chats, and all the other distractions we can sometimes find ourselves unaware of how much we are eating.

Simplify your life by being more mindful of what food you are eating and how much you are eating. Take your time eating. Acknowledge whether you are full and stop eating if you are and try and take note of whether you are just eating out of boredom.

10. Reduce Stress

Simplify your life by identifying things that cause stress and aim to minimise or eliminate them.

Is your work a toxic environment? Consider changing jobs.

Is your housework overwhelming you? Consider hiring a cleaner to come out and take the load off you.

Is going out all weekend not allowing you the time to reset and unwind after the workweek? Limit your outings on the weekend to one or two so that you have time to catch up on things at home and to relax.

Pay attention to the signs.

Is your heart rate elevated? Is breathing difficult? Do you feel overwhelmed and like you can’t stop worrying about things? If the stress is starting to have a negative impact on your life, seek help and see a psychologist who can help you with making the necessary changes and give you coping mechanisms for dealing with stress.

11. Limit your exposure to advertising

There is nothing more meaningless than spending your time watching ad after ad. Find ways to limit this and simplify your life. Some ways to try and limit exposure to ads is

-Sign up for Spotify membership and listen to your favourite music without the ad interruptions (although some podcasts still advertise but you can still skip though).

-Reduce free-to-air TV that is packed with ads and stick to ad-free streaming services such as Netflix.

-Be more selective of magazines that you buy as a large portion of them are just advertising.

-Considering paying for the YT subscription service to skip the ads

12. Unsubscribe from unwanted email subscriptions

Having an overflowing inbox with unopened email after unopened email can be soul-destroying. Simplify your life by eliminating unnecessary subscriptions from your inbox. Unsubscribe from each email as they come in if you feel that they do not add value and are cluttering up your inbox.

Not only will this save you potential money when you are no longer bombarded with sale after sale notifications, but will save you valuable time opening excess emails and managing them in your inbox.

13. Automate your finances

Take the stress out of budgeting and managing your finances and simplify your life by automating your finances.

You’ll save yourself the work of doing the transfers manually each pay and get the joy of watching your savings account grow over time!

Related Article: Check out How I Discovered Financial Stability Through Minimalism 

14. Limit your snail mail

Simplify your life with a simple phone call and get all your bills emailed to you and skip the hassle of sorting through mail each week. This will not only eliminate having to go through your mail but also avoid that pile-up of bills that is inevitable when you get snail mail.

You can also set up automatic filters based on keywords in your gmail account that will digitally file your bills for you, no need to do any physical filing at home!

Simplify your life further by limiting time wasted on collecting junk mail by sticking up a no junk mail sign on your letterbox. If you really need something you can quickly google it to find the best prices! And if you really want to browse a catalogue you can always find it online. I did this years ago and haven’t looked back! 🙂

15. Pack less when travelling

As someone who travels a few times a year (update post-pandemic: boo, hopefully I can back to my love of travelling soon!) this has really saved my own sanity. In the past, I would have packed 23kg of luggage to the brim plus carry on, assuming I would need more than I really did.

Do yourself a favour to intentionally simplify your life, the next time you travel pack minimally. It will mean less frustration at the airport waiting for your bags and dealing with lost baggage (trust me, losing your luggage one time is one time too many), will make getting around easier as your luggage is smaller and weighs less and travel will be much less stressful, and it’ll be easier to find things in your bag as you need them. And as a bonus, you will save money on hefty baggage fees if you are flying!

Do You Want Help With Spending Your Money With Intention?

If you want to learn how to spend your money with intention and in line with your values and take the stress and anxiety out of your money, book in for a free Q&A call to see how Minimise With Me financial coaching can help you gain clarity around your finances! 

You can learn more about my financial coaching services and how I can help you achieve your financial goals here

What changes have you implemented to help you simplify your life? What do you want to do to simplify your life this year? Share your thoughts in the comments below 🙂

Budgeting

40 Frugal Ideas to Have Fun These Holidays

Being on holidays doesn't mean that you have to choose between fun our your budget goals. Check out these 40 Frugal Ideas to have fun on your holidays! Photo: Vicko Mozara (Unsplash)

With the holidays approaching it can be a great time of year to plan all those fun activities you’ve been wanting to do. Those ones you keep putting off because you didn’t have the time or money. Sometimes, maybe even the energy. Don’t let your holidays disappear before your eyes without feeling like you made the most of them. I’ve found that in the past, even when I’ve have a free day, it can be hard to think of fun things to do that won’t take up an entire weeks entertainment budget. All you need is a little creative thinking, you don’t have to make a choice between fun and your budget goals!

Being on a budget should not impede you from enjoying your break and having fun. When you put your mind to it, there are really a huge list of things that you can do for fun over the holidays, and they can certainly be done without spending a lot of cash! Plan ahead and rethink your entertainment options, they really are unlimited.

If you have particular interests not mentioned, this list could be even longer! Here are 40 Frugal Ideas to Have Fun These Holidays to get your started! Most of these are free or can be done with very little cost. 🙂

  1. Have a Movie marathon day/night. Select a theme such as 80s movies, or your favourite actors films. Invite friends or family over and have a poll on what to watch. 
  2. Sit down with a partner or friend and listen to an album from start to finish reading over the lyrics. In today’s world of Spotify, Netflix and Social Media, this activity really does get pushed to the back burner. 
  3. Go star gazing. Go on a road trip out of the city and watch the night sky. 
  4. Colour. Grab an adult colouring book and some pencils and get colouring. 
  5. Read a book. Start a new book or read an old favourite. 
  6. Start to learn an instrument or if you already play one, learn a new song. Learning one with a friend – even better.
  7. Cook a nice meal or learn a completely new recipe.
  8. Bake dessert or a cake. Make something special like creme brulee or waffles. 
  9. Play a video game – if you’ve got your old Wii or N64 crack it out. Invite a friend or two over. 
  10. Invite friends over for a board game night. Ask your friends to bring over one game each. Ideas include Chess, Pictionary, Monopoly, Cards Against Humanity or Uno. 
  11. Watch a documentary about a topic you are passionate about. There are stacks on Netflix to choose from.
  12. Watch a stand up comedy show, again there are heaps on  Netflix. Or better yet find a free comedy night in your city.
  13. Binge watch a new TV show that you’ve been dying to watch. 
  14. Have a picnic.
  15. Go for a walk. Drive to a new area for a change of scenery.
  16. Go out for coffee with a friend or relative.
  17. Do something artistic; draw, paint, or get crafty.
  18. Write something a poem, short story, or try your hand at writing song lyrics.
  19. Go to a local BBQ area with friends. Bring some sporting equipment and have a few games. 
  20. Attend a free local event or festival.
  21. Check out the library and read some new books.
  22. Go to a free Museum or Art Gallery you’ve been wanting to go to for ages.
  23. Take a drive to a national park for a hike or bush walk.
  24. Grab the bikes and go for a ride with your partner or friend. 
  25. Swim at the local pools or go explore a new beach. Don’t forget to check out the rock pools!  
  26. Hire a kayak for an hour and explore on water whilst getting some sun and exercise.
  27. If it’s a hot day, have a water fight. Hit up your local Kmart or cheap shop for water guns or water bombs. 
  28. Find a local pool-hall and play a few games.
  29. Check out online event guides for free (or affordable) gigs.
  30. Invite friends over for a cocktail party. Get everyone to bring a bottle of alcohol and juice/soft drinks so you can make a few different drinks.
  31. Go to a botanic garden and explore the different gardens.
  32. Take a trip to the city and bring your camera. Take photos.
  33. Try and find cool cinema playing some unique movies. A foreign film, premiere film or old fave.
  34. Check out Things To Do on Trip Advisor in your city and do what you haven’t done yet.
  35. Go camping for the weekend. Or camp in the backyard.
  36. Go to a Drive in Movie.
  37. Redecorate your home. Shop your home for decor items to freshen up your home. Bring out a new quilt cover and sheet sets, put a new photo in your frames, put on a nice smelling candle and swap your decor items around.
  38. Have a pamper night. Get in your favourite robe, make a DIY face mask & put a hair treatment in. Run a warm bath with some candles and chill out music.
  39. Teach yourself a new skill you’ve always wanted to learn. How to sew, sing, dance, take photos. Look up videos on YouTube and start learning!
  40. If you’re feeling extra motivated, get organised. Declutter the items in your home that you no longer need. Scan any old photos, or cards you want to let go of. Go through your wardrobe and cull anything you no longer wear. Tackle the kitchen cabinets and donate anything that’s not needed. You will feel amazing after all that excess is gone!

What Frugal Ideas For Fun These Holidays do you have? Share them in the comments below so we can grow this list even further 🙂

Need some tips for gift ideas this Christmas? Check out 10 Minimalist Gift Ideas that Add Value to Your Life – Not Stuff! 

Minimalism

10 Minimalist Gift Ideas to Add Value to Your Life, Not Stuff!

With the gift-giving season fast approaching it’s the perfect time to rethink our normal gift-giving practices and adopt new ones. Gifts can help us to show how much we care for a loved one but they don’t have to be things in order to add value to their lives! Even with the best intentions, buying stuff can cause friends and family long-term clutter problems.

There is the guilt associated with receiving an unwanted gift that we have no use for. The worry of where to store or display another gift, that may have been extremely thoughtful but you know that space is severely lacking in your home. There is also the stress associated with buying a large amount of gifts with a limited budget. Not to mention the inner struggle of trying to guess what someone else might need or like when most people probably have everything that they need.

Sometimes the best gifts are not things at all and are just as valuable and useful to us. A donation of time to a family member in need, covering an expense that adds value to our lives or gifting an experience can provide a truly memorable gift that will be remembered long after that new set of tea towels you didn’t even need are forgotten.

If you are looking to simplify your life and holiday gift preparation consider giving a minimalist inspired gift. Here are 10 Minimalist Gift Ideas to add Value to your Life, Not Stuff for your loved one that will hopefully bring a smile to their faces and add value and joy, not more clutter to their lives.

1.  A Gift Card for a consumable
Is there something they need or love? Consider a gift card for a consumable such as a subscription service they love. Examples are Audible, Kindle Unlimited, Netflix, Spotify etc. They can read or listen to their favourite book or have a month of movies and TV shows on you!

2.  A movie gift box.
Let them enjoy a night in or out on you. Include a Netflix gift card or tickets to their local cinema, popcorn, drinks and snacks. Check out this movie gift box for some inspiration.

3.  An experience gift.
Such as ticket to the zoo, aquarium or the observatory. Other options are tickets to a show, game, or to see their favourite band.

4. Offer your time or skills.
Does someone you love need a babysitter, help with doing jobs around the house, someone to teach them to cook? Or simply offer to take them someone special. Sometimes donated time can be the greatest and most helpful gift.

5. Get artsy or crafty.
Put your creative talents to good use. If you are a sewer, writer, singer, painter, photographer, give a personal creative gift to someone special.

6. DIY beauty products.
Unleash your inner beautician with some Pinterest recipes of beauty products for lip balm, bath bombs, facial or hair masks. Some great ones are Vanilla Brown Sugar Body Scrub and DIY Home Made Soap Jellies.

7. Give the gift of food!
Everyone loves dessert, you can’t go wrong with this one! Some ideas are an ice cream box with different ice cream toppings and sauces, a waffle box, home made-brownies or cookies.

8. Their favourite beverage.
Let’s not forget the drink lovers. Cater to your loved ones preference whether that be wine, beer, spirits, cocktails, tea, coffee or hot chocolate!

 >>Heading off this Christmas season? Check out these 16 Easy Tips To Pack Minimally for Your Next Trip!

9. Contribute to their upcoming holiday.
If your friend or family member has plans to go on a holidays in the not to distant future consider giving them money towards their trip to help them saving up for it. Alternatively ask them if there is a tour or attraction they wanted to do on their trip that you could gift them.

10. The gift of no gift giving obligation
Sometimes the best gift of all is simply saying to your family or friends not to worry about a gift. Gifts involve, planning, shopping, wrapping, carting them around on the day not to mention the cost of buying them. Save your loved one the stress associated with hitting the shops, finding a parking spot and managing the chaotic crowds at this busy enough time of year and give them the gift of freedom. Freedom from any obligation to buy you a gift so they can invest their time and money in something more valuable to them. Agree to forgo gifts and just enjoy each others company!

What are your minimalist gift ideas? Have you made any new family traditions around gift giving? Do you and your friends say no to gifts or have you found more creative ways to give at Christmas and other special occasions. Please share your ideas to simplify in the comments below!

Minimalism

16 Easy Tips on How to Pack Minimally for Travel

Say goodbye to lugging around bags and yes to packing minimally on your next trip

I’m back! I’ve just spent an amazing month travelling around Europe. It was my second trip there and I tried to soak in every minute of it. Of course every holiday must come to an end and I was quite glad to be home after a month of hauling our bags around from destination to destination.

This trip was a bit different than past travel as we were spending the first leg of the trip with the band doing a couple of shows so had to travel with our guitars as well as our luggage to all destinations. Unfortunately sending our stuff home was not an option. Many dollars were spent on that luggage, carting it across eight flights not too mention much the difficulty of carrying around 8kg backpacks on top of our other baggage. Not to say that we packed excessively but the situation certainly wasn’t ideal.

I looked over at travellers with one small carry on bag and envied them to no end! A man caught my eye walking around at Buckingham Palace with his tiny suitcase. At the same time, I watched people in the check in lines with bag after bag of stuff trying to assess what on Earth they possibly needed to bring in all those bags. (Faroese and Icelanders you are completely exempt your prices are ouch!). I knew where I wanted to be on the packing spectrum!

I was keen to take on the challenge of fitting our stuff into one suitcase for a month in Europe to see how little I could travel with. After travelling numerous times around the world I feel like with each trip I learn to get by with less and less and definitely feel that having less is more.

Here are 16 Easy Tips on How to Pack Minimally for Travel that have helped me keep our baggage minimal and essential.

16 Easy Tips on How to Pack Minimally for Travel

  1. Use packing cubes to organise clothing.

I have never used these previously but was convinced after watching many packing videos that they were bound to make life on the road easier and more organised. On most trips I have found myself trying to find a sock or pajama top or something that was lost in the midst of my luggage bag, only to destroy the organisation of my bag in order to find said item. With these I could simply take them out and place them in a drawer or shelf and easily find what I needed.

These were a complete lifesaver on our trip. At one point we were over our baggage limit and facing the prospect of open our baggage and go through our unmentionables in view of the line behind us, we simply grabbed one of the larger packing cubes out to hold and voila we were under the baggage limit! They also give you a little piece of mind that if you ever had an issue with your luggage breaking you can easily grab your packing cubes and avert any huge crisis!

2. Use small containers for beauty products, creams etc. 

If you’re anything like me you have a myriad of beauty products that come with bottles of all shapes and sizes. When you are trying to pack these for a trip those large bottles can quickly add weight to your bag and take up considerable space. I love travelling but I am not going to do without my creature comforts.

For the past few trips I have been utilising small containers to help myself pack minimally and reduce the amount of products and large bottles I need to bring. These are great for storing bulky products like night creams, hand creams, moisturisers, toner, exfoliator etc.  They can be found at any cheap shop, grocery store, chemist or online. I particularly love the silicon squeezable tubes that are so easy to use and store a lot more of your product! I now can easily fit my different beauty needs without taking up too much valuable space.

3. Roll your clothing

Rolling your clothing can help you better organise your stuff. It can help you see what you have at a glance rather than piling everything on top of one another. It also helps to reduce your clothes from getting wrinkled. Some believe rolling your clothes creates more space but Tortuga Backpacks suggest that it only moves the space from the sides to the top of the bag. On my trip I personally felt like rolling did make it easier to fit more stuff in so would recommend it. Rolling your socks and packing them into your sneakers or shoes can save some extra space as well!

4. Pack enough clothes for seven days only 

It can be amazing how long you can survive with a small wardrobe! For Europe I packed two pairs of jeans, two other bottoms, a dress, two jackets, a pair of swimmers, two pairs of boots and a pair of thongs and about ten shirts. I thought that that would be a minimal wardrobe but when having access to a washing machine in our Airbnbs I really never got close to running out of clothes. If you have access to a launderette or washing machine or even, just hand wash your clothes as you need them you can help you get away with even less.

5. Pack a capsule wardrobe 

By packing a capsule wardrobe you can pack minimally and ensure that your outfit packing choices can mix and match and give you a range of outfits to choose from. By sticking to 2-3 main colours you can ensure most clothes can be worn with others and increase your options.

 

Minimise With Me Facebook Group

 

6. Review the weather of your destination before packing

On my first trip to Europe I was still new to overseas travel and really had no idea what weather I was in for. I packed a few summery items as we travelled in late September and I figured like our Autumn, it would still be reasonably warm. It wasn’t. I did not think to pack scarves, beanies, gloves or a warm enough jacket and so a lot of my packed luggage went unworn. The same thing happened for Thailand, I packed two pairs of jeans and didn’t wear them after I got off the plan and ended up having to buy a few clothes that were more weather appropriate.

I knew the next time I travelled I would be more prepared! Before you head overseas review the weather forecast for the locations you are going and research on Pinterest what to pack for your destination and the appropriate season. Don’t pack a bag full of things you won’t need and regret leaving the things you will at home.

>>If you want to learn more about minimalism and it’s benefits check out 13 Benefits of a Smaller Home

7. Limit shoes 

Where possible limit your shoe selections to 2-3 pairs including a pair of comfy walking shoes. On my first Europe trip we both ended up binning a pair of shoes we had that became increasingly uncomfortable to walk in and ended up buying new ones which isn’t the easiest when you are in a foreign country (and certainly not cheap!). Don’t get carried away trying to bring a shoe for each occasion or outfit. Ideally bring something for walking, something dressier and if necessary something activity appropriate like hiking books or things if you plan to go to the beach.

8. Download Audio and eBooks before you leave home

In the past I would often bring two books to read on a trip. One I was currently reading and another to start when I finished. Sometimes this became bothersome particularly if I didn’t end up reading much on my trip and still had to lug around a book. Give yourself some space and get the Audible or Kindle app before your trip  or OverDrive to save on valuable space without forgoing your reading.

9. Keep make-up minimal

Make up products can easily get out of hand travelling. Stick to your favourite products and avoid doubles. Bring one foundation, one eyeshadow pallete, blush and so on. Just stick to the basics. I found on my trip after bringing a small bag of make up I ended up only using about six items each day. My ideal six were; mascara, eyeliner, BB cream, blush, & an eyebrow pencil with some lucas paw paw ointment.

10. Get a travel perfume/cologne spray bottle

Bringing a bulky perfume bottle can be avoided by buying perfume travel bottles. This also avoids the risk of your bottle being damaged in transit and save you valuable space. (NB: Try and find a quality one, my $2 version leaked on the flight over :()

>>If you want to learn more about minimalism and it’s benefits check out The True Cost of Our Stuff

11. Limit Hair Tools, products and accessories

Pack minimally by not going overboard with the hair stuff. If you are staying in a hotel or Airbnb they will most likely provide you with a sufficient hair dryer. Bring the hair straightener if you absolutely have to. You’re on holidays leave the fancy stuff for home!

 

12. Limit your accessories

Keep accessories to a minimum, the last thing you want to worry about overseas is losing a sentimental piece of jewellery. Pick a handful of accessories to bring with you and leave the others at home. Two necklaces, one bracelet, a belt, a watch, one other pair of earrings and a pair of sunnies should be more than enough to accessorise with. Wear one piece and pack the other to limit what is in your baggage even further. I bought two necklaces, a watch, sunnies and a mix of bracelets and that was plenty for me 🙂

13. Use products that double up for other uses

Using Dr Bronners soap can give you one soap for a variety of uses. It can be used as a facial cleanser, shampoo, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent and hand soap to name a few. This can save you bringing many other products or buying any at your destination. Moisturiser can be used as eye make up remover as well as shaving cream. A microfibre towel can be a back up towel as well as a handy tool for drying your washing.

14. Pack clothes that are easy to dry

Where possible pack a few items that can be washed and dried easily to help your clothes dry faster. The quicker your clothes dry the quicker you can be wearing them again.

15. Downsize your handbag and wallet

Before you leave for your trip, clear out your wallet of any receipts, cards etc that you will not be needing. Only bring the essential. Leave your over-sized handbag at home as well and opt for a smaller bag that will be easier to carry day to day. Preferably an over the shoulder ones so your hands can be free.

What are your tips to pack minimally? Do you travel with the same number of clothes for each trip? Share your tips for travelling minimally below in the comments 🙂

 

Minimalism

17 Ways to Reduce Mindless Consumption in Your Life

Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash

Consuming is a necessary part of life. We need things to survive and thrive and at other times consuming brings us happiness. We work hard for our money so why shouldn’t we reward ourselves with nice things? This is all fine and life shouldn’t be about constant deprivation, but there is a point when consuming can become mindless consumption  and get out of hand, causing harm that may not be easily identifiable to most.

Have you ever done the following; bought two of something when you only needed one because it was on sale, bought something you saw in a shop without giving consideration to how or where you were going to store it or bought something only to realise when you got home that you already had that item and had just forgotten or misplaced it? These are tell tale signs of mindless consumption. 

Mindless consumption occurs when you buy without thought, usually on impulse. If you mimic these behaviors you might be carrying out behaviour that is consistent with a mindless consumer:

  • You hit the shops regularly, particularly to alleviate boredom to browse the aisles or shelves to see what takes your fancy
  • You spend hours each week at the shops and consider shopping your hobby
  • you buy things on credit because they were not a planned purchase so you didn’t save up in advance in order to purchase the item
  • you buy things just because they are on sale
  • you buy new clothes when you know that you can’t fit the ones you have in your wardrobe
  • you find it hard to stick to your budget or run out of money well before pay day

If you find yourself buying things you don’t need or that you regret on a regular basis you may need to reassess your shopping habits. Mindless consumption can lead to anxiety and stress. Whether it’s from clutter in your home that makes day to day life harder, stress about keeping up with credit card repayments or buyers remorse when you’ve spent money you weren’t supposed to on things you realise you probably didn’t need.

If you want to change the cycle and learn to be a more mindful consumer check out these 17 Ways to Reduce Mindless Consumption in Your Life.

  1. Learn to be content with what you have

A large part of our consumer culture is trying to fit in with the people around us. Whether that be having a newer car, most recent fashion, or the most awesome looking holidays. We often compare ourselves to others we see on social media that seem to have perfect lives, disregarding the true picture. It’s unrealistic to compare our lives with others when we don’t know their financial circumstances. Compare apples with apples not apples with oranges!

When we look at others and what awesome things they may have we need to remember that we don’t their income, what expenses they have, how much they save each week or how much debt they have taken on in order to fund their lifestyle choices. Unless they tell us their most intimate financial details we can’t possibly know and we shouldn’t need to worry as we all have our own financials to worry about. Maybe they earn good money and saved up for their car over a period of years or maybe they are living week to week and bought everything on credit. Comparing our lives to others when we don’t know the full picture gives us an uneven viewpoint and takes valuable time away from our own goals worrying about others.

If you don’t have a new car and are driving your regular old car be content that you can get from A to B and not have a car loan to pay each week. If you’re always wanting the next designer handbag or latest Nike runners you will never find happy. With the current weekly fashion cycle there will always be something new and more in than what you just bought there to make you feel inadequate – if you let it. Step outside of the consumer rat race. Make decisions that will benefit your life and increase your true happiness, not to impress others.

2. Look for happiness in experiences not things

Choosing experiences over stuff can lead to more mindful spending and increase happiness levels. Compare your thoughts and feelings about past purchases versus experiences. When was the last time you reminisced about the $500 designer jeans you bought or the must have new heels that were irresistible? Think back to Christmas two years ago. What did you get? Can you even remember? It’s highly likely that you can’t remember the awesome stuff you got at Christmas or what you bought at the mall but you can remember the experiences you had on your last holiday. That is because the memories we create, and the relationships we form and maintain are more important than the gifts that were exchanged or stuff we bought.

Reduce the focus and value you put on stuff. Having 100 pairs of heels might seem like a dream come true but could you be just as happy with 10 killer heels that you love and a relaxing holiday to explore a new and foreign destination? Instead of spending $100 a week shopping on things you will probably leave lying at the bottom of your wardrobe and forget about, imagine if you had instead saved that money and put it towards an overseas vacations with your family or friends. Or signed up for something that truly bought value and happiness to your life like joining a martial arts class, buying tickets to see your favourite band in concert, or getting those singing lessons you always dream about. These things can bring a whole new level of happiness and growth that can continue to bring contentment well after you’ve lost interest in your new purchases.

Minimise With Me Facebook Group

3. Get hobbies other than shopping

NY Daily News reported that the average women in America spends 399 hours a year shopping over 301 days. Alarmingly, Adweek  published results of a study by Varsity Brands that identified 80% of 13-18 year old girls listed one of their main hobbies as shopping. There is an increasing trend towards spending more and more of our time consuming.

Hobbies can provide us with many benefits; we can get exercise, learn new skills, develop our creativity, make new friends and find valuable uses for our free time that don’t include work or watching TV. Shopping can become an extremely expensive hobby with very little true benefit. There is nothing wrong with  shopping for things that we need as we need them. But when we shop aimlessly and unnecessary, whilst we are stuck in 4 walls searching endlessly for the next bargain we are missing out on other value adding activities like visiting an Art Gallery, learning a new language, spending time exercising out in nature or doing anything else that might be of interest to you. Not to mention the True Cost of all  that stuff that we walk away with including the environmental impact.

If you find yourself hitting the shops every day or very frequently, consider whether you are investing more of your time then you would like at the shops and consider alternative activities that you would enjoy over your next visit to the mall.

4. Stop shopping socially

If your only plans with friends are to go out shopping together reconsider your catch ups and change them to something more rewarding and less detrimental to your wallet. Consider going out for a coffee together instead or a river walk or join a class together. Find a new social activity to replace the regular shopping expedition. Speak to your friends about your desire to spend less time and money at the shops. You may find that they have been thinking the same thing and you can all help each other with your new found goal to reduce your shopping trips. Or if you really do love shopping with a friend, make sure you bring your list that you have built up an thought about over time to help you stick to your goals of shopping more mindfully.

5. Adopt a capsule wardrobe

Reduce the desire to shop for unnecessary clothing by adopting a capsule wardrobe. When you only have 30 or so of your favourite pieces to mix and match in your wardrobe, you will no longer feel the need to continually shop for more clothing as you will be content with what you have in your own home. You’ll also be more aware of what you do. Having a capsule wardrobe will help reduce the impulse buy clothing as you will always have something you love to wear on any given day. Set yourself a new goal, if you bring a new clothing item home that you need to get rid of something else to limit the temptation to buy something you probably don’t need. As you shop ask yourself what am I willing to donate in order to take this home? This will help you to reduce mindless consumption and help you only bring home what you genuinely need and will use.

 

 

6. Have a wishlist of things you want

Avoid walking into shopping centres with no plan or purpose. If you walk around aimlessly into store after store, you are guaranteed to succumb to temptation and purchase something you really don’t need. Instead of going to the shops regularly and to browse, only go with a well curated list of things that you need. Add to and build your list over time, this will  allow you to reduce your shopping trips and let you buy what you need in one visit. If you can get your shopping done once a week instead of in multiple trips you are going to see the added benefit of time savings, and we can all benefit from that!

7. Wait 24-48 hours minimum before buying anything

To help you resist the urge for mindless consumption it pays to pause before making purchasing decisions. The bigger the purchase the longer you will need to access the decision you are making. Stopping to think before we hand over our cash or cards can help us resist unnecessary purchases that we will regret later. It also allows us time, particularly for larger purchases to check reviews in a relaxed environment, ask friends for product recommendations and to truly think about the item before you part with your cash.

Having time to carefully consider your purchase before exchanging cash will allow you to reduce the number of items you are bringing into our home impulsively and potentially save you thousands each year. When we stop to think we can help reduce mindless consumption. The smallest pause can make a huge difference. Even if you just leave the shop and decide to think about it a bit more before you part with your cash you can always come back to the shop before you leave.

8. Be patient and wait for the right item

Sometimes we can find something close to what we want and by it only to find what we actually wanted soon after. To help avoid this and mindfully consume we need to be patient. Ask yourself what is the ideal item I have in mind for this item I am after? Think about the features you want in it. If it’s a new backpack, maybe you want something that is fold-able, has hidden zippers, a bottle holder, rain cover and is blue. Don’t grab just any bag or the one that is on special. Hold out for the one that you want with the features you need.

I wanted a rose gold necklace and found one that I really liked which was only $4. I was so tempted to put it into my basket but I wasn’t sure if it was what I truly was after. I imagined what necklace I would by without hesitation right now if I saw it and it wasn’t the one I was holding so I put it back. Asking yourself ‘is this something that I will be happy with no matter what other item I found from here’ can help you make the right purchase decision.

9. Declutter your belongings

One of the biggest reasons we are mindless consumers is because we don’t know what we already have. If your wardrobe is overflowing and your drawers are packed full to the point where you struggle to close them it’s highly likely that you probably have forgotten about what you even own. Out of sight out of mind right?

After decluttering over half my belongings, my need to consume reduced drastically. I soon realised what items I bought unneccessarily and what I wouldn’t buy again. I learnt what clothing and shoes I liked and what I didn’t. Decluttering your stuff will show you how little you need to be happy what you can live without. It has the added bonus of ingraining in you how much money you have previously wasted. Every time I sold something for $10 and thought how much money had gone down the drain was a lesson for me to change my old consumer ways! I now know that I don’t need ten pairs of great jeans and that owning three is more than enough and know I never want to revert back to my overflowing chaotic wardrobe of the past. Here’s a list of where to start!

10. Learn to differentiate needs versus wants

The next time you feel the urge to buy yourself something ask yourself is this a need or a want. Learning the difference between the two can be budgetary speaking – life changing. Buying what you want over what you need could mean the difference between a future home filled with endless trinkets and decor pieces, with the stress and time outlay that comes with maintaining your stuff, with a side of sky rocketing consumer debt. Sticking to only buying what you need more often than not can mean achieving freedom from debt much sooner and a life of contentment with only the most valuable items to you.

Maybe instead of buying that lovely aqua vase you can just admire it, accept that it is a lovely piece of decor and acknowledge that you already have a lovely vase at home and there would be better uses for that cash such as saving it rather than buying another decor piece to dust every week. If you ripped your jeans and only have one other pair, then it’s safe to say you probably do need a new pair and you can go out and replace those confident that you are mindfully consuming.

When you adopt a lifestyle of less you will start to appreciate what you do have much more than ever before and feel most content with less as everything you do have will serve a purpose in your life and hopefully bring you joy in some way.

11. Start saving and investing

Some people genuinely don’t have a plan for their earnings and therefore find themselves trying to find more and more things to spend it on. I recently heard a millenial interviewed about housing costs that said that because she couldn’t afford a house there was no point in saving any of her money. I couldn’t believe my ears? Because buying a house seemed  impossible there was no point in saving for anything. When you have no financial goals mindless consuming can quickly become the norm.

When you change your goals from what you want in terms of physical stuff and instant gratification to what your future you want a whole new change of mindset occurs. You will now have a new idea in mind for your hard earned cash. Instead of regularly blowing $200 on an impulse shop you could save or invest that money for the future. Over time watching your savings or investment increase over time will give you an equally awesome, yet guilt-free buzz!

12. Donate and help others

If you have enough cash to hit the shops every single weekend and buy every new gadget as it hits the store shelves, maybe you could consider an equally rewarding use of you cash. Helping others such as donating to charities instead of consuming can give your happiness levels a much longer lasting boost. Consider the joy you feel when buying a new top versus the joy you would feel knowing that you had donated to a worthy cause and changed someone in needs life for the better!

If you have endless time to scourer the mall and aisles, maybe your time could be better utilised volunteering to help others in need. Find a charity that resonates with you and one that you would feel pride helping. Donating our time or money can bring us a much greater sense of purpose and joy.

When we want less, we are able to give more.

13. Say no to debt and buy in cash

There is no greater way to encourage mindful consumption than to pay with purchases in cash. The simple rule is if you don’t have cash then you can’t afford it. Just because after pay is available doesn’t mean it is a good idea. And we all know it is so much harder to pay for something after the thrill of buying it is over.

If you want to truly know if something is worth buying and a mindful purchase, save up for it! Wait whatever time it takes to put that money away for it. Every time you are willing to sacrifice going out for dinner or happy to skip the morning coffee you will know that what you are saving to buy is going to add value to your life and something you are willing to make sacrifices to get.

When you finally buy your item you can truly appreciate it for the hard work you put in and know you can walk away with your new awesome purchase completely debt and repayment free!

14. Borrow or buy things second hand

The next time you are on your way to the shops to buy something ask yourself could I borrow this or buy it second hand? I recently planned to buy an electric sander which was only $80, my thought process was – oh that’s not too expensive, I will just buy it. I then considered whether I could borrow it instead and asked around and managed to borrow one off my step father for free. My last photo shoot I wasn’t sure what to wear and managed to borrow a beautiful dress off my sister in law for the day that cost me nothing! Each of this little changes to buying habits adds up and in time you can return the favour.

Ebay, Gumtree and sites like Craigslist have opened us up to more options for things we need but don’t necessarily need to buy new. By borrowing or buying something second hand we can not only save money, but can help the environment by reusing something rather than having it end up in landfill. Thrift shops are also a great option to find pre-loved items on the cheap.

15. Ignore the catchy sale signs

I used to swoop to those sale racks or tables as quick as anyone else ever did. It’s what frugal people do right, who would pay full price? Maybe so, but it’s only frugal if you are buying something you need, not something just because it is on sale. Often people get caught up in the ‘savings’ and hype of a bargain. If you bought one $50 top and got one free you didn’t save $50 you spent $50. The next time you are at a sale rack ask yourself this:

“If this was full-price would I be willing to buy it”?

If the answer is no, then maybe you are just buying it because it is on sale and you need to reconsider your decision. If your answer is a resounding yes that would show that you have made an informed decision and found the perfect item, ideally an item that you love, that sparked joy and fit perfectly and made you feel great. When you stop buying things just because they are on sale you can start buying what you really want – even if it is full-price – as long as you are sure that it is what you truly want rather than just a spur of the moment decision.

16. Educate yourself on waste and the impact on the environment 

By educating ourselves we can open our eyes to the negatives of our consumer culture and mindless consumption and it’s impact on the environment. ABC’s War on Waste recently reported that Australian’s are disposing of 6,000 kilograms of fashion and textile waste every ten minutes. Being aware of our environmental impact can help us make better decisions. Sometimes we need that extra nudge to kick us into action and make changes to our consumption behaviour.

When we realise that our purchasing decisions can make an impact on the environment or other people or animals lives that can aid us to make more mindful consumption choices. When we see the level of waste that occurs we might think a little bit more about each purchase. It could be a simple decision to buy more quality, timely pieces that last longer rather then cheaper pieces that end up in landfill in 12 months time or after a season.

17. Learn to value your time

One trap of the consumer culture is that we all seems to lose sight of the value of time. We are all so focused on getting more and more money and more and more stuff and forgetting our most important resource – time. A resource that we can never get back.

Think back to all those hours you spent shopping. Whether it be at the mall or online, or browsing Amazon. Not to mention the time spent in traffic getting to the shop, the time spent waiting in line or to try those clothes on. Think of what you could have done instead with all that time! Was everything you bought last year worth the time you spent earning it? Or even everything you have ever bought? I am certainly no stranger to wasting money on things I didn’t need and that I eventually regretted buying. In order to assess this it can be helpful to calculate our purchases in hours, that is the time taken to earn the money spent as opposed to dollars.

As an example, you earn $20 an hour and want to buy a new handbag for $120. That handbag is also costing you 6 hours. So the total cost is really $120/6 hours. Does this change your decision? In order to mindfully consume we need to take into account the whole picture for each purchase. Not just the cost to our wallet but the time lost. When you take both into account the cost seems a little less ideal – even if it is on sale! This isn’t to say that nothing is worth our money and we should never buy anything and just hoard our money but considering the time cost goes a long way to helping us make more mindful consuming decisions.

Do You Want Help With Spending Your Money With Intention?

If you want to learn how to spend your money with intention and in line with your values and take the stress and anxiety out of your money, book in for a free Q&A call to see how Minimise With Me financial coaching can help you gain clarity around your finances! 

You can learn more about my financial coaching services and how I can help you achieve your financial goals here

What helped you to become a more mindful consumer? What tips to you have to limit impulse purchases that might be helpful to others? Please share your experience and tips 🙂

 

Minimalism

5 Lessons I Learned from my Capsule Wardrobe

When picking your capsule wardrobe aim for comfortable, versatile pieces that you love and you'll never feel the need to go back to a packed closet again

For some time now I have been attempting to adopt a more streamlined, intentional, and have less excess in my wardrobe. This June I decided to make it official and adopt a 30 items capsule wardrobe for the June to August winter months. I didn’t want to make it too onerous, so I limited the 30 items to clothing and excluded, jewellery/accessories, underwear, gym, and loungewear.  

We’re four days into spring and after three months of living my capsule wardrobe, I thought I’d reflect on the process of choosing my capsule and what I learned and do a Winter Capsule Wardrobe update!

Here was my breakdown of my Winter Capsule Wardrobe:

  • Shirts – 9
  • Long-sleeved shirts – 6
  • Coats/Jackets – 3
  • Jumpers/Cardis – 2
  • Pants – 5
  • Skirts – 1
  • Scarves – 1
  • Shoes – 3

Total clothing pieces 30  

WHAT I LEARNT FROM MY CAPSULE WARDROBE

Here are my main takeaways from adopting a capsule wardrobe this past season:

1. You need less clothing than you think you do
I’ve previously tried to limit my clothes to a reasonable number but never gone through the process of setting a limit. I was surprised after three months that I managed to stick to a 30 item wardrobe and had 4 items still left untouched over that time (see the backward hanger method for how I monitored this).

In three months using a capsule wardrobe, I managed to wear only 26 items of the 30. I was really amazed that I didn’t need a huge number of clothing. I never felt like I was too restricted and was wearing the same clothes over and over again.

If anything, I felt like I had more variety than ever as I knew everything I had hung up in my wardrobe was wearable, comfortable and that I loved it. The fact that I could easily see everything in my wardrobe and grab it with ease was a bonus! 

2. Think ahead and be selective about what you pick for the season

A couple of weeks into my winter capsule wardrobe I realised I had a few too many cooler shirts in my capsule that just weren’t cutting it in the warmth department. Particularly as my 30 items had to be suitable for working in an office (which is freezing most days, am I right ladies?). So I decided, in order to ensure the success of my capsule wardrobe and my survival of winter (…okay that was a slight exaggeration) to swap in some warmer long-length shirts whilst removing some of the short-sleeved tops during the first couple of weeks. I ensured I still stuck to the 30 piece goal I had set myself.

Towards the end of the period I had some more formal events including a bridal shower and wedding which I hadn’t really accounted for in my winter capsule wardrobe as I don’t normally like to wear dresses in winter, so had to expand my wardrobe to include something a bit dressier for those two occasions.

I’d managed to get through 10 weeks with my regular capsule but realised in the last two that I hadn’t catered for any more formal events in my capsule.

Try and think ahead about what clothing you will need for the three-month period. Do you spend your time in an office, or do you work from home? Do you do yoga every day and live in yoga pants or are you in court for work and need something more dressy. Do you go clubbing most weekends or spend them mostly indoors or in the garden. Try and map out what clothing suits your needs and allocate a percentage of the type of clothing you need for different activities in the week. It could be 60% work, 20% loungewear, 10% gym wear, 10% dressier occasions. Pick your outfit ratios according to the relevant percentages for your lifestyle.  

Bonus tip: Note down what you had in your season’s capsule so if you mix and match pieces across the seasons you will know what to grab when that season rolls around again.

3. Having a capsule wardrobe saves you time and stress
Each morning I knew in seconds what I would wear to work or out for dinner that night. Having fewer clothes in rotation and selecting easy-to-maintain clothes meant I didn’t have to waste more time than necessary on washing, folding or ironing them.  

A capsule wardrobe also has other time and stress benefits. I wore a dress I have worn a few times to a wedding last week and got many compliments on it. Barely anyone at that wedding had ever seen me in that dress so it would have been silly to feel self-conscious to re-wear it. Had I been afraid to wear a dress more than once I would have had to not only spend unnecessary money on a new one but would have had additional time and stress trying to find the perfect dress for the wedding.

4. Having a capsule wardrobe helps you to reduce clothing expenditure
Thanks to my capsule wardrobe I felt less of a desire to go clothes shopping as I knew that for the current season I had everything I needed. Every time I thought of buying something new I had to think would I be willing to get rid of something in my capsule for this new item? Pretty much every time the answer was no. I knew I had something I liked more that had been tried, tested, and paid for already at home.

The capsule wardrobe also helped me to avoid the shops unless I had something specific in mind that I needed. As I knew that I could only have 30 items in my capsule wardrobe I made sure that any purchases were quality items that I loved, and felt comfortable in and would get a lot of wear out of them. Check out what I did buy below.

5. Your capsule wardrobe doesn’t have to be perfect
From this experiment, I realised that there was no perfect capsule wardrobe. Through all my efforts of selecting versatile pieces that were comfortable and that I loved, there were still instances where I had to make changes some slight changes. There are no awards for perfection, keep your capsule expectations realistic. 

Whether you have a capsule wardrobe of 30 items or 40 the key is selecting the right number and pieces to suit your lifestyle and needs. At the end of the day, any capsule wardrobe is a huge step on the path to a more intentional life and will help you reduce the excess in your life. The benefit of this is less stress, less decision making, less spending in your clothing budget, or a reduction in your need to shop unintentionally.

FREE CAPSULE WARDROBE PLANNER PRINTABLE

I’ve created a free Capsule Wardrobe Planner Printable to help you get started on your very own Capsule Wardrobe. Simply click ‘YES PLEASE!’ below and fill in the signup form to get your free printable and get started creating your newly curated Capsule Wardrobe!

If you would like to know more about Minimalism and it’s benefits check out 13 Benefits or a Smaller Home and How  I Discovered Financial Stability Through Minimalism.

WHAT DID I BUY?

One of my goals of having a capsule wardrobe was to reduce my desire to buy more clothes to be content with what I had. I am pleased to say that I achieved this for the most part. Over the past three months I did make a few clothing purchases that I felt were necessary.

Although I didn’t avoid buying clothes all together over this period, I was pleased that my clothes shopping became much more intentional. I only replaced or purchased things that I specifically needed and could get a lot of use out of. 

Here is a list of what I bought:

  • 2 Jackets
  • 3 Thermal singlets
  • 2 Thermal long sleeved tops
  • 2 Thermal leggings
  • 2 Pairs of thermal socks
  • 2 Long sleeved shirts
  • 1 Scarf

My criteria for these purchases were:

  • Do I need it?
  • Can I afford it?
  • Are they good quality?
  • Do they feel comfortable to wear?
  • Can I get a lot of use out of them?
  • Are there online reviews that recommend this particular item?

I made sure I tried everything on first to check for comfort and fit (except the socks of course :p). My shopping policy is something similar to – if I am too lazy to try it on I can’t buy it – policy, which also helps me avoid any impulse decisions and saves me having to return anything I buy that doesn’t fit.

I try to, where possible, read reviews online, and reviewed travel blogs about what to wear in particular climates and locations as all of the items purchased I would be able to wear during my upcoming Europe trip. A lot of what I bought was on sale and all were quality items.

Most of these items purchased were external to my capsule. I felt that my 30 item capsule other than a few minor additions was more than enough for my needs which helped me to resist making impulse clothing purchases. I look forward to continuing on with my capsule wardrobe and monitoring my clothing purchases over the next few seasons and see how my clothing purchases will be impacted in the long term!   

If you would like to start your own capsule wardrobe check out How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe: A Beginners Guide for tips on how to pick and check out my Pinterest board for Capsule Wardrobes for inspiration.

Do you have a capsule wardrobe? Would love to hear what you have learnt from your experience with having a capsule wardrobe and how many items you feel is ideal in yours. Leave your experience in the comments below 🙂