When I started my minimalist journey and having that goal to save more, I started looking to reassess some of the things that I should stop or at least minimise buying.
Here are 10 things I have stopped or minimised buying or stopped paying for:
1. Magazines
I used to look buying magazines because I enjoy flipping through the new smooth pages of the glossies and seeing all the beautiful people inside & pretty items I get tempted to buy. It often triggers my impulse buying when I see a magazine with a celebrity that I admire on the cover. I would get curious on the topics highlighted on the cover which makes me what to buy it all of a sudden. I would soon find myself with a high pile of magazine which I only manage to flip through once. Some of its contents are not even that appealing nor worthy of the money I spent. Or sometimes the advertising is too good, it would tempt me to do unnecessary purchases with unrealistic promises. So I curb my addiction to buying magazines and opted to just read it when I visit cafes, in bookstores or library. Plus most of the articles can be found online anyway.
2. Facial Moisturiser, Body Scrub & Deodorant
I recently learned to create some DIY skin care products like facial moisturizer, body scrubs & deodorant using essential oils & regular products I found in the kitchen & bathroom. I love that it is all natural, less chemical and very cheap. It is so easy to make. Here are the recipes:
Body Scrub
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Oil of your choice (Coconut, Jojoba, Almond, etc)
7-8 drops of your favorite essential oils
Mix together
Facial moisturizer
Fill 3/4 of oil of your choice (Jojoba, Almond, Grapeseed, Argan etc) in a glass dropper bottle. Add 5 drops of Carrot Seed Oil, 5 drops of Frankincense Oil, 15 drops of Lavender Oil and 1 tbsp of Rose Hip Oil.
Deodorant
1/4 tsp of favorite essential oil
1/4 cup of cornstarch
1/4 cup of baking soda
1/2 cup of coconut oil
A squeeze of lemon
*Most of the recipes I found in Pinterest & some are from my fave minimalist YouTubers like Meghan Livingstone & Madeleine Olivia
I will soon try creating linen spray, mosquito spray for kids, all-purpose cleaner, facial cream, perfume & lip balm.
3. Paper Towels
I hardly buy this one ever since but I did buy a couple of times. But I realised how wasteful to buy such things when I can have a fabric cloth to wipe & clean surfaces. All I need is to wash it and reuse it. Less harm to the environment, more savings for us.
4. Movie Tickets
My hubby & I love watching movies but we hardly go to the movies for years now. We rather watch at the comforts of our own home. We can just watch online through Netflix or other sources for movies or TV series. The only time we go out for a movie is when we are given free movie tickets, hehe.
5. Gym Membership
Funny thing about enrolling in a gym is that we expect that the very act of enrolling in a gym would automatically make us achieve our desired body. We don’t realize we have to actually go diligently to the gym & do effective work-outs to reach that goal. So most often than not, we would be lazy to go to the gym with thousand of excuses after Week 3 after enrollment, which leaves our credit card eating away our money monthly while we still have our unhealthy, untoned bodies.
So I decided not to enroll to a gym (especially after having a horrible cancellation experience with one of the gym here in Singapore) and opt to just exercise at home, using free apps like PopSugar Fitness or other YouTube exercise routine. I also have a Bikini Body Guide, Strong Body Guide & Love Sweat Fitness Exercise Routine to choose from, which I will do after I give birth.
I may opt for discounted dance or Zumba or yoga classes if I feel like it but definitely, not enrolling to any gym anytime soon.
6. Cute Knick Knacks
I am a sucker for cute knick knacks & fancy stationery. My favorite stores are Typo, Monoyono and Kikki.K. Let me enter those stores and I would definitely leave with some kind of overpriced notebooks, cute keychain or a glam-up container of some sort. Most often than not, I don’t really need any of it but its aesthetics beckons me to take them home. But now, I have consciously resisted or I would avoid the store all together. I only visit them when I really plan to buy something and I try my best to stick to the budget.
7. Cable TV Subscription
With YouTube and Netflix, my hubby and I realized we don’t need to a cable. We barely watched the other hundred channels in our cable subscriptions. It is usually our kids who watching the TV, going from Disney Junior, Nick Junior & Toonami channels in cycle. So by this April, our cable subscription contract ends, we have contacted our cable supplier that we are cancelling our subscription.
8. Pre-cut fruits & vegetables
I am lazy in cutting fruits. So I often opt to buy pre-cut fruits in the grocery & fruit shop. It can be a lot pricey than the uncut ones. I realised that the pre-cut fruits are the overripe ones or would go bad in a day. It requires to be eaten on the same it was bought. I have learned my lesson after buying pre-cut fruits on my weekly online grocery to stick to the uncut one and same goes with buying uncut veggies rather than the pre-cut ones.
9. Christmas Decors
I don’t normally buy yearly Christmas decors. I know people have yearly different Christmas theme but I rather reuse our previous holiday decors. Or better yet, get donations of Christmas decors from friends who loves changing up their Christmas motifs yearly.
10. Branded Grocery Items
I learned that generic grocery items work and taste just the same as the branded ones. So when I do my weekly grocery, I rather buy generic store goods than those overpriced branded ones.
There you have it, the 10 things I have stopped or minimised buying or paying for. I am sure I still have a few more but I am just listing 10 here for now. Do you have other things/items you would suggest we should stop buying to accumulate less, save more money and acquire more peace?
