madras2018 : very true minimalist life brings in lot of savings. House always looks clean and less mess and cleaning...thereby saving lot of time..
@MalStrom Yes I read the book on that too - The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing It was a good book. She recommends asking oneself about each item "does bring me joy ?". Someone can try that to start with. I have tried to first get rid of my favorite clothes that were 2 sizes small - i hoarded them for a long time thinking i'm going to return to my pre-wedding weight. I quit doing that recently and i realized that i haven't missed them at all. I also avoid wearing old clothes to the point of them having that faded, worn-out look. Nowadays I always make sure that my daily wear wardrobe has elegant, well maintained clothes, not just a bunch of old tshirts, sweat pants & old salwars. This way even if I have fewer clothes, they are good ones, ensuring i'm always well turned out. I quite like it so far.
Good one! I love the Tiny House Series- Did u also watch Small Space, Big Style? I think I used to watch them on you tube when they first started it and then it came on Netflix. Though some people were hoarders in small places too. But its an interesting series. One day, I want me some tiny house ( preferably built by self. Macy Miller is my inspiration). I love all videos by Kirsten Dirksen too.
Anika, Thanks for starting the thread. I have always been a minimalist and I plan and think through our family needs before shopping. Our house is small compared to a lot of our friends, we have less stuff at home, we don't buy a lot of clothes and even my kitchen utensils are less. I got rid of unnecessary utensils and now I have 4 vessels including dosa pan. I don't miss any of the vessels and don't have the needs to buy extra vessels. Same with others as well. When I buy stuff, I invest in them. I buy branded clothes that I can wear for a while. I'm weight conscious and my weight doesn't fluctuate a lot. That helps a lot too. I also buy high-end makeup items and use them till I see the ground. So at the end, it's worth it. I plan my menu and try not to waste anything that can be consumed. I'm also health conscious, so we buy a lot of organic products and organic makeup products. What are we going to do with the money saved? My biggest reason for saving money is, for medical reason - it's crushing to let go off loved ones just because someone cannot afford medical procedure. Kids education Retirement - would like to have flexibility to leave my job anytime I want (I love my job, by the way) Live a life without worrying about finances in our life. We try to take care of our health in our home because it's important for a happy life Even though money alone doesn't bring happiness, it plays a major role in everyone's life whether we agree or not.
@anika987 you have mentioned your thoughts so well here. I agree with them: "learnt money spent on experiences mean more than things,and we can also help others. In a nutshell,nothing wrong in enjoying life,nothing wrong in buying brands and looking great but when I hear conversations,making friends,status in the name of money..feels it is not the right thing.luxury and desire is good.greed is not.life is much more than status.people and kindness bring more happiness than status." Yes, to answer to your question many people spend a lot of time, effort and their fortune without thinking that it is just a temporary satisfaction. It is so easy these days to get carried away just to keep up with the joneses. People who lack the true happiness of life and family tend to justify their consumerist mindset in the name of affordability, status, earning power, pride ( I earn more, I am successful in my career so I deserve it ) and of course the faulty need created to just satisfy that missing happiness in their lives. At times, retail therapy is their answer to short term gratification. Being truly content and being happy with that has nothing to do with consumerism. Thankfully, these days I see a lot of folks like you who appreciate enjoying experiences more than things, value the time they spend with family and do not like to participate in the the race to top off with their friends and society in general. It is so nice that people like you are pushing back the mindset of excessive consumerism among corporations, society and so called status hungry people. I think this is a great way to set an example for our kids as well. They will need this mindset more than us when they grow up. There are too many distractions to get carried away to create a lifestyle that is not only hard to maintain but taxes one's ability to relax and enjoy the life in the way that really matters the most.
I believe life is a cycle..and now I see lot of people returning to a simpler life,more mature and doing yoga,being healthier.makes me very happy to see lot of people being positive
Yes. The trend is changing these days. A lot of people are tired of jet-setting careers, peer pressure for keeping up with certain lifestyle, and just doing the work that they essentially do not enjoy to afford that said lifestyle. I remember, back in the days, colleagues would easily judge each other if they did not bring back expensive gifts, clothes, shoes, bags what not from their overseas assignments. Those of us who would rather explore places and take extended vacation from work to relax and unwind were always considered as crazy ones. We used to get some really weird taunts about the limited wardrobe of shoes and clothes. Especially me for wearing a 10 year old watch , why would I purchase a new fancy designer name brand watch, if the one that my mum gave me at my graduation works just fine? Who cares what the latest fashion is? They could never understood the fun of backpacking, living on bare essentials, making do with what one had and finding what we really needed to survive and in the process explored ourselves. For some people, jet setting career was all about taking pictures of new places in their ever-so-increasing expensive collection of clothes, posting those on FB, getting sad about not receiving complements and then comparing who got what at what price from what place. And for outside office FB folks, their frequent trips were shown more like a vacation than work. I still remember, to save funds for shopping and clubbing, many folks never took more than 2-3 days holidays, hardly found any time to spend with their families, always complained about the next big thing they wanted to buy and after buying it never felt satisfied. What is the point of having a high paying career, if one can not enjoy peace and little appreciation of what they already have in life? Is it not a vicious cycle to demand more things, get up and do the same dreadful work ( no issues, if someone enjoys their work truly, but mostly people with family and commitments rarely like demanding work) just to pay for the things one can not afford, and then justify the need of both the work and the things? I fail to understand ..