I finished watching a documentary on Netflix called Minimalism – a documentary that sums up how I would like to live from now on.

We’re lead to believe we need stuff, a lot of things, to be happy. I live by the principle that “less is more”. For example, I prefer to own fewer high-quality items rather than many cheaper items that are easily disposable.

It’s tough not to be influenced by the marketing messages around. I know it’s easy to give in and to buy something for that instant ‘pick me up’. This way of life is challenging for some people, and if you put the effort and time into it, you can save thousands of dollars a year. Wouldn’t you rather spend this money on things that matter, instead of buying things you don’t need?

The documentary highlights extreme cases of people who have cut down what they own. Downsizing the living space is trendy, and I took some valuable points from Minimalism, such as:

Are you living within your means?
Do you have a nice amount of money saved that you can fall back, or are you living pay cheque to pay cheque? Look around you and ask yourself if you need all of those things?

Do you need all those pairs of shoes and so many handbags?
Look inside your closet and see if you love and wear ‘every’ single piece of item in your wardrobe. If not get rid of the ones you hardly wear and those you have not touch for a long time.

We’re marketed to believe we need to buy things for those “just in case” times. But be honest with yourself, how often do you have those “just in case” sort of occasions?

Look in your kitchen and bathroom (the worst culprits)
Can you see how many duplicate pieces are in there? If so ask yourself how many mismatched cups and mugs do you need? How many peelers are you using?

Try to keep your overheads low, so you can use the savings you make on important things in your life.

We should assess what’s important to us. If you love to own the biggest, fastest, fanciest and most expensive item to feel truly happy and to be the best version of yourself, then you are going to need one hell of income to be able to sustain those things for the rest of your life – is it worth it?