The principles of the minimalist lifestyle

Nowadays, the market is overfilled with an abundance of various goods. While several decades ago people were happy to have the most essential things at their homes, today we are buying more and more goods despite the fact we hardly used the ones we already possess. Such an approach to shopping and life in general is known as consumerism and it traps us in a never-ending cycle of hard working for earning money that can be paid for all that goods. If you want to make your life simpler and get more satisfaction from it, you should try adopting a minimalist approach.

Declutter your home regularly

One of the most basic things that any minimalist does on a regular basis is decluttering. This process is especially important for people who have just started living their minimalist lifestyle. Decluttering your home allows you to see how many unnecessary possessions you have that might take really a large space. If you declutter your home properly, you might even find that you have too many furniture since you do not need any containers for hiding the things that you actually haven’t used for a very long time.

Once you see all that free space at your home, you will definitely feel yourself better even if the process of decluttering is itself difficult for you.

Say no to spontaneous purchases

Undeniably, many of us feel a special joy making shopping errands just for fun when nothing actually is needed. For some people shopping frenzy is even a kind of a copying mechanism.

Of course, shopping can give you a boost of positive emotions, especially if you have some money for it. However, spontaneous shopping usually lead to getting absolutely unnecessary things. That’s why the next minimalist principle is refusing from spontaneous shopping.

Try to plan everything you are going to buy. For example, this will help you to avoid getting too much food a part of which will inevitably spoil or will protect you against buying clothes that you will never put on.

For the same reason, you shouldn’t go to the shops during the sales season if you actually do not need anything. Even if you are telling you that this will be just a short stroll in order to see what is now available for lower prices, in all likelihood, you might fell prey to spontaneous shopping. Certainly, nothing is wrong if you really need to buy something and would like to benefit from the sale.

Quality is over quantity

One of the best approach to possessions is choosing better items even if they will cost more as far as you can afford them. This rule can be applied to anything starting from cosmetics up to cars. You should realise is that what you really need is a particular good that will satisfy all your needs. No matter whether you are going to buy a new dress or a smartphone, you should exactly plan what features you expect from this item and look for them for an adequate price.

Do not buy something you don’t like just because it is cheap and, when you are shopping for clothes, buy only the one that really makes you feel great whether it is the comfort or appearance.

In case you don’t know yourself what the ideal good might look like, you can create a list of features you won’t like about this item. This is particularly helpful for purchasing clothes.

If you adopt this principle, you will soon see that you can afford buying many things that you believed to be expensive only because now you do not waste your money on cheap goods.

Prefer multifunctional goods

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, in some situations, you wouldn’t be able to buy a multifunctional good. When you need an electric kettle, you just buy an electric kettle. Still, there is a large number of goods that can be used for several purposes. Certainly, clothes is the best example. For instance, creating a capsule wardrobe will help you to avoid purchasing clothes that won’t look good with the clothes you already have.

Seek for eco-friendly solutions

Although not everyone becomes a minimalist in order to be more eco-friendly, minimalism is closely related to ecology. Making sensible purchases, we can minimise waste production which is definitely a very important issue today.

If you would like to help our planet, you can go further by making eco-friendly choices such as using a shopper bag instead plastic bags, resigning from using harsh detergents or sorting garbage.

Value experience more than possessions

A real minimalist is the one investing in impressions rather than possessions. For instance, you can resign buying fashionable clothes each and single season and save this money for travelling. Isn’t exploring the world far more exciting than throwing your money away on the clothes which is supposed to be a must-have this spring?

Try to use at least one of these principles in your life and you will see great changes!