I’m sure you’re aware by now just how expensive living is getting. Each time I do a grocery run I seem to be buying less items but the price is increasing nonetheless. This is incredibly frustrating and makes it hard to budget and save when so much of our paychecks are going towards just feeding our bodies. Not just food, but everything else is getting more expensive. I used to be able to justify expensive gifts for myself but it’s getting harder now that I have to spend more money on necessary things. I’ve been evaluating my needs and wants more closely and trying to stay grateful for what I do have. I wanted to share some tips that I’ve learned over the years about how to limit the amount of unnecessary things I bring into my house. Let me preface this by asking you not to feel guilty for purchasing things you feel are wants, rather than needs. Sometimes we need that dopamine hit that comes with shopping and buying a new item can be a form of self care. A scented candle may not be a need in order to survive, but it can be a gift to yourself and bring so much joy to your life. This is merely a guide to follow if you’d like to avoid spending money on something or are struggling with a shopping addiction.
Take stock of what you have versus what you don’t have:
My food cabinet in my kitchen is rather overwhelming. We don’t have a lot of storage space in our house but my boyfriend and I both enjoy making food at home and therefore have amassed a fair amount of ingredients. Because of how cramped it is, I often find myself having to take out all our spices to make sure I have what I need or locate something in the back. Before I go to the store I try to make note of what I have in the fridge and the pantry so nothing turns into a duplicate. Lately, I’ve also been trying to be more mindful about not letting food spoil before I can use it all. Sometimes I need to get creative in order to use up the food that’s on its last leg.
The same principle can be applied to our closets. I know many days I’ve often felt I have nothing to wear. In the last couple years that’s been changing as I’ve downsized my closet to only the things I truly enjoy wearing. I’m less overwhelmed when I look in my closet and having fewer options means less time figuring out what to wear! One day I’d like to have a capsule wardrobe, which basically is just a few pieces of clothing which all complement each other and therefore can be worn interchangeably. However, I’m still working out my sense of style at this point in time and want to wait until I’m more comfortable in that style to invest in other pieces. If you know what types of clothes you enjoy wearing, I encourage you to look into a capsule wardrobe. There are lots of blog posts and YouTube videos which show you how to make a limited number of items work for you. In the long run, it will save you a lot of time and money not having to worry about picking out what to wear for the day when everything goes together!
While I don’t struggle with an urge to buy more clothes these days, I do struggle with skincare products. My skin has always taken up a lot of space in my mind, as I’ve struggled with acne when I was younger and now rosacea as an adult. Having rosacea I really can’t use many products anyway as my skin is naturally very sensitive and prone to redness. However, that doesn’t stop me from trying! I’m always looking to improve my skin but it’s an impossible goal I’m striving for. Letting go of the notion of perfection is so important before purchasing items these days. Most of the pictures we see of celebrities or skincare gurus on Instagram are filtered or the skin is heavily covered with makeup and pinpointed lighting. I know my skin will never look like that as I have naturally larger pores, redness, and scars. So I’m going on a no-buy with skincare this month. I have a basic cleanser and moisturizer that works for me. I don’t need anything new and, honestly, my skin will probably thank me as I won’t be bombarding it with new products.
I feel like a lot of advice I’ve read mentions waiting a week before purchasing something you’ve been pining after. For me, I’ve found that this doesn’t appeal to me as much as a no-buy because after a week my interest will usually just fall on another product to obsess over. Instead, I like to set no buys for myself which is when I make a promise to myself that I won’t buy anything in a specific category for a set amount of time. This month, it’s skincare. Since I have plenty of product to last me a month, I won’t need to replace anything. The products are fairly bland and utilitarian, so that brings me to how I can enhance the experience of using them.
Clean your items:
Sometimes I wished I lived in a completely different house. I’ll look around me and feel it is too small, the ceilings too low and the layout a mess. Last year, I was away from home for six weeks for training for a new job. When I returned I never felt more happy to be living in that house. Everything felt so fresh and new. My boyfriend had cleaned and tidied and I felt so grateful and cozy to be laying down at night to go to sleep in my own bed. Whenever I feel underwhelmed by my home now, I clean and tidy it. Showing it a little love always does the trick for me.
I plan to keep this up with my bathroom in order to feel grateful for the products I have laying around there. Keeping my bathroom clean and tidy means I’ll be relaxed when I step into it at night to do my skincare routine. I’ll light a candle, but on some music or a podcast, and take a few moments to unwind for the day.
I do this with my makeup sometimes too. My makeup packaging gets grimy after a while, and I find that if I simply wipe down the outer packaging it feels like I’m using a brand-new product. I consider it an act of love to my possessions to keep them clean. It encourages me to use them and enjoy using them, which is the reason they were purchased in the first place! To be of use to me and bring value to my life. Having products sitting around gathering dust in the back of a drawer until they eventually expire would bring no joy to my life.
We can treasure the clothes we own by keeping them clean and in their best condition too. A couple years ago, I was gifted a beautiful seafoam-green cashmere sweater. It was something I probably wouldn’t have picked out for myself because I thought of cashmere as a rather fussy, high maintenance material. But whenever I look at it or put it on it brings me so much joy because it is so luxuriously soft and the color fits me so well. I’m hoping that I can get as many years of use as possible out of it so every few wears it gets handwashed in my sink instead of thrown in the washing machine. The process of cleaning this one sweater doesn’t take long and is so worth it to me because I never have to worry about it getting harmed in the washer. Before I wear my clothing, I’ll sometimes iron or steam them to make sure they are looking their best.
Bring new life into your goods:
So, you’ve made your possessions all clean and shiny again, time to take them for a spin! During the pandemic, I found I was wearing leggings and sweaters almost every day as I was working from home and didn’t need to put on my business casual clothes to go into the office. I wouldn’t wear makeup or do my hair most days either and eventually I found myself feeling rather frumpy. To counter this, my boyfriend and I would designate certain days for date nights. W would break out our fancy clothes, make a nice meal, and watch a movie together. That tradition has continued even after the world started opening up again. It’s a great excuse to wear fancier clothes that would rarely be taken out of the closet. Maybe try out an outfit that you’re unsure how you feel about.
Even though we may have treasured and cared for an item, sometimes it doesn’t bring us joy or brings bad memories for use instead. Its ok to say goodbye to it, it told its story in your life and those items wouldn’t be doing any good being held onto. Maybe as you’re wearing your old items you notice they don’t make you feel your best. There may have been a reason you weren’t reaching for these items in favor of others. Let that item go if that feels right to you. You can replace the item if you feel you’d like something new or set a no-buy to give yourself time to live without something in a new category. Enjoy the process of reconnecting with your goods but remember that they do not define you.