50 THINGS I DO NOT BUY To Reduce My Anxiety | MINIMALISM | Small Space Living | Money Saving Hacks

welcome back to my channel welcome back to my channel I'm really excited to make this video today I feel like I became a minimalist by accident and I really think of myself more as like a relaxed minimalist I used to suffer from really bad anxiety like just generalized anxiety and when I went through my yoga teacher training way back in 2015 I became really aware of how my surroundings really influenced my state of mind so if things were really cluttered or there was like a lot of noise if there was a TV really a loud blurring in the background or there was just a lot of stuff competing for my attention if things were messy and disorganized I realized it really reflected in my thoughts and in the way that I felt that was the beginning for me to start to take more control over my space so that I could support my well-being and support my sense of calm and serenity and peace so over time I stopped buying a lot of stuff and I think this really started me down the path of what I consider to be relaxed minimalism it's just this experience of curating your space so that it's calm it's serene so that your mind can be relaxed and it encourages you just to have a level of intentionality about the things that you bring into your space so I try to keep clutter down as much as possible I really like large swaths of open wall spaces and open windows with fresh air blowing in I usually have my oil diffuser going with some really nice scented oils I like natural materials that are plush and that feel good that are tactile like marble or concrete or wood things that offer a really good sensual experience aesthetic experience meaning like things that are coming in through your senses through your smells through your sight and through your touch and this just really allows me to be the best version of myself for Jeff my husband and my daughter wellie so this video is a list of 50 things that I don't buy and this is not meant to like shame anyone or judge anyone if that's not what this is about I just wanted to offer this up as an example of things that we have learned to easily live without this has removed so much clutter thousands of pieces of clutter from our home but also from my mind some of these things originated from way back when we were doing our like super gazelle intense Frugal Dave Ramsey thing which I'll probably talk to you about in another video at some point if you're interested in that let me know in the comments and I'd be happy to make a video for you about that but some of these things originated from that time in our life and some of these things I've just adopted over the years for simplicity's sake these are 50 things that I don't have to think about I don't have to wonder do we have any more of that is that thing on sale should I stock up on it where am I going to put it do I need to organize it it just frees up a ton of mental space so without further Ado here is my list of 50 things I no longer Buy [Music] first category Beauty number one makeup wipes I use a washcloth with a makeup remover and then I go back with a second cleanse I think this is a little bit better for the environment number two nail polish I don't buy seasonal colors of nail polish or random pretty trendy colors of nail polish I used to love to paint my nails but once I became a mom my hands are just always you know washing something or like just playing and I just can't keep my nails nice anymore so I really rarely paint them I have a couple of basic nude colors that I like that I would use for a special occasion but otherwise I don't buy any nail polish number three shaving cream I just use bar soap and it works great number four extra makeup so I don't buy any sort of colorful makeup eyeshadows lipsticks anything like that I've always been just more of a natural makeup look kind of girl I'm also really really aware of the type of products I put on my body so I like to stick to really natural Brands so my favorite brand of clean makeup and the makeup that I use every day is from RMS Beauty and I just have a good foundation some concealer one palette that's like lip and cheek and a good mascara number five hairspray mousse or gels any kind of hair products like that I have a dry shampoo and a good texturizing spray and that's it other than that I don't bother with any other hair product number six perfume I have one really sweet set of the Toca perfumes from anthropology that I got maybe 10 years ago I'm really sensitive to smells and I think we've all worked with someone who wears way too much perfume to the office and it can be a really unpleasant experience and a really weird thing to try to navigate and so when I worked in an office I never wore perfume to work I think I'd wear it maybe once a year if I go to a wedding and that's about it number seven body lotion I don't buy body lotions I like to use like the Dr Bronner's little magic bomb and it's like a emollient balm made from coconut oil and I think maybe shea butter and I just use that for dry skin or a little Vitamin E oil but I don't buy any body lotions number eight I don't buy tissues Kleenex anything like that I feel like they produce a lot of dust like you pull a tissue out of the box and you can see the little like swath of dust that it creates and they seem to just disappear really quickly like you can go through a box of tissues so fast number nine fast fashion so I stopped buying clothing at Target and GAP and Old Navy or just places like that not to hate on those brands at all I definitely wore that stuff for a long time I even worked at the Gap many many moons ago but I just learned over the years that those things don't hold up to how frequently I wear them and wash them because I don't have a ton of clothing so I just choose to invest in better quality Fabrics now like like a linen or a denim or something like that number 10. so I have a couple of classic graphic tees like my Harvard t-shirt my Ithaca is gorgeous t-shirt from good memories with friends other than that I don't buy any graphic tees they don't really fit into my wardrobe or my style and I've learned over time that they just don't hold up for me number 11 accessories I don't buy fashion jewelry or belts or hats or scarves or really anything like that sometimes my husband will gift me with a sweet pair of earrings or a necklace for like Mother's Day or my birthday or something and then that becomes my go-to piece for the year but other than that I don't buy accessories number 12 bags and purses I actually don't really buy bags or purses I ask anyone that knows me and they'll mention my cognac colored fake leather backpack that was my diaper bag my daughter sent out of diapers for over a year and I'm still carrying this backpack as my everyday bag but that's because it fits my laptop really well and I usually work out of the house most almost every day and I am on the hunt for a good everyday bag but I've not bought one yet because honestly I will look for probably months on end until I find like that perfect bag and then that bag I will use it every day for years like probably for like five years or so number 13 brows lashes and nails I don't go to the salon for any of these things I've only had my brows done once in my life and it was when I got married I just squeezed them at home I've never had my lashes done and I only get my nails done usually once a year so if I am going on vacation or if I'm in a wedding like if I'm a bridesmaid in a wedding absolutely I will go and get my nails done with all the Bridesmaids but it's definitely not something that I do on a regular basis I'm just really rough on my hands and it never lasts me very long so it just doesn't feel like it's worth my while number 14 extra sunglasses so I guess this goes back with accessories but I only have one pair of sunglasses I don't buy a bunch of trendy pears I just like have one classic pair and right now I just have this Cheapo pair from Amazon it was like 10 or 15 dollars because my daughter is a toddler and she's definitely in the stage of just like grabbing something and breaking it and has no idea what she's doing so maybe when she's older and grown I'll invest in a better pair but yeah just one pair number 15. I'm not a shoe Bell I have like an everyday pair of sneakers a pair of workout shoes maybe two or three pairs of sandals and that's it I think I also have a pair of high heels for a wedding I don't buy trendy shoes every year or boots or like all kinds of sandals I rarely wear high heels because I'm six feet tall and I'm a little self-conscious about that so I'm not a heel gal either number 16 fancy dresses so if I'm going to go to a wedding or have a really special occasion I don't buy a nice dress I got in the habit of using Rent the Runway and again I'm gonna use that maybe once a year or once every two years it's not like I have this like glamorous life that I need to dress up a lot I have found over the over the years that it makes sense to spend the money to rent something that gets something that fits my body at that point in time that I feel good about that's seasonal that fits the occasion instead of trying to go shopping to buy something for every special event if you like this video please be sure to give it a thumbs up because that really helps to support my channel and make sure you're subscribed I upload new videos every Monday and I love to have you here all right moving on to Kitchen meal delivery kits I've never used any sort of meal delivery kit I can't even rattle them off right now but you know what I'm talking about where they like deliver to you all of the pre-chopped vegetables and proteins and stuff and you just have to cook it to me it hasn't made a lot of sense because it's definitely a pricier way to cook and I still have to do the cooking and all of the cleaning so I don't know it doesn't make sense to me it doesn't work for our family maybe it works great for you that's awesome number 18 GrubHub doordash or ubereats never downloaded any of the apps don't even know how to use them never use anything like that number 19 miscellaneous appliances so we don't have an air fryer an insta pot a toaster oven we don't even have a toaster guys we use the oven a coffee maker we are slow coffee people we like our pour over so I don't even have an electric coffee machine yeah that's just stuff that we've learned to live without very easily number 20. so we don't buy pre-cooked chicken breasts that's sliced up or fruit like that or lunch meat or anything 21. any kind have sugary drinks we don't buy soda or juice but we are Bubble water people like we definitely have a Selter water situation in our house so I do buy bubble water maybe that doesn't count 22. canned soup or stews I love to cook again this is just like my my thing I love cooking and soups and stews are like very simple to throw together and you can make a huge batch of them so easily and freeze them number 23. individual candy bars or pre-packaged snacks number 24 we don't buy disposable napkins if we're eating something messy like pasta or pizza we'll just use a paper towel I do have a nice set of linen napkins for the holidays and that's it number 25 I don't buy any sort of zip top bags for the kitchen plastic bags like snack bags or anything like that I did recently invest in a small set of stasher bags because my daughter is going to preschool now and I need to send her with a snack and the stasher bags are incredible and they're definitely worth the price they're made of silicone so you can where you can microwave them if you need to you can boil them you can put them in the dishwasher they're easy for kids to open and close they're awesome 26. I don't buy plastic wrap aluminum foil wax paper parchment paper or anything like that I if I'm baking I usually just put some olive oil on a cookie sheet and that's that's all we need 27 disposable sponges kitchen sponges so last year I found a silicone kitchen sponge one side has all these like textured nubbies on it and the other side has a little scrapey scratchy side and it works great we've had it for literally a whole year now you can clean it in the dishwasher it's silicone so it doesn't collect any gross bacteria oh I need a break it's a lot of talking okay moving on to home stuff number 28 I don't buy any sort of Commercial Art so I don't go to Home Goods or Target and buy like a painting or a poster or a framed photograph it's just not my style I prefer to fill our home with well not a whole lot of stuff but the things that we do have hanging on our walls are usually family photographs or I do have a painting for my uncle who is a actual painter like has Works hanging in the New York Public Library like he's a legit painter 29 any sort of air fresheners scented candles plug-ins anything like that let me just tell you a little story when I was pregnant with my daughter I had incredible aversions to scents laundry detergent perfume scented candles like anything like that was literally make me throw up like at the drop of a hat it was intense I have never recovered like I just can't be around heavily scented things like that anymore so I have long stopped buying scented candles I think I mentioned earlier that I like to use our oil diffuser which is all natural organic essential oils um I don't buy any sort of artificial fragrance it helps to keep our air quality cleaner and healthier number 30. I don't buy any kind of trendy home decor like pretty bowls or like sculptures or like a chunk of marble or like just anything like that that's trendy that's in season I don't buy random trendy stuff number 31 fabric softener stain sticks dryer sheets any kind of laundry accessories this kind of goes back to the scented thing and the keeping our home clean and natural we just use like an unscented laundry detergent and wool dryer balls in the dryer and that's all number 32 I don't buy those little plastic garbage bags for like the tiny bathroom trash cans I think this is a great opportunity to reuse your plastic bags from the grocery store so I don't buy extra trash bags to me it feels like you're buying trash I don't really understand it 33. I don't buy those Swiffer floor pad duster things like the Swiffer dusters because I've never had great luck with them I feel like I always have to like get down on my hands and knees and use some elbow grease to get the floor clean anyway that might just be because I have a dog and I have a toddler I don't know maybe they work great for you 34. miscellaneous cleaning products I just use puresy which I make one bottle of at a time and it's an essential oil based all-surface cleaning spray and that's what I use to clean our house 35 throw pillows I don't buy seasonal throw pillows well I have this throw pillow that I've had for many years and it's very cozy and snuggly and our dog loves it and our whole family loves it but I don't buy like colorful seasonal throw pillows 36 I don't buy faux decor for the holidays like fig pumpkins or wreaths I I really prefer to get a real pumpkin or make a wreath out of greenery this again just goes back to that tactile acidic thing I want to be able to smell it I want to feel it that it's real I just want that like living Decor in our home 37. again on the holiday thing I don't buy any Christmas tree decorations when I was growing up my mom started this tradition where every Christmas she would gift me and my brothers each an ornament that had a significance from something throughout that year something that happened throughout that year that was special and I thought that was a really beautiful tradition that we're doing with our family now and passing on to our daughter so because we prefer our Christmas tree ornaments to be more meaningful and sentimental I just don't buy pretty beautiful ones just because they're pretty 38. so I don't stock up on random Pantry items or snacks or like anything like that I buy like the big thing of toilet paper and paper towels and that's pretty much it I don't even stock up on like mouthwash and toothpaste and stuff we're running low we'll just get a new bottle 39 seasonal Linens like seasonal throw blankets or different colored sheets for the bed I don't buy any sort of seasonal Linens in fact I don't buy any extra Linens we have one set of sheets for our bed and my daughter has one sheet for her crib and we just wash each of those on a weekly basis and that's all we've ever needed number 40 cute or cutesy serving wear dishes glassware any sort of special dishes for entertaining we have just like a very pretty basic set of white and clear glasses and I just let like the rest of you know like natural Greenery pumpkins things like that to be the decor okay we're almost there there's a hair in my coffee drinking it anyway that's Mom life for you moving on to digital items we don't have Netflix Amazon Prime Disney Plus or any kind of streaming service like that 42 we also don't have cable Hulu HBO if that's still a thing anything like that we don't pay for any sort of entertainment and 43 digital stuff I also don't buy any sort of apps for my phone all right last category General stuff number 44. oh yeah books we don't buy any books I'm very lucky we live near a couple of really beautiful robust libraries here in Raleigh so I'm very fortunate that I have access to tons of books that way but we've moved several times in the last few years and every time you can imagine we've decluttered and paired on more and more and books have always been the hardest thing to get rid of you don't want to just donate them well first of all I don't think a lot of donation centers take books you feel like you want to sell them because you know you paid kind of a lot of money for them takes a lot of work to sell a book you got to like take a photograph of it find the ispn number list it talk to the buyer you need to ship it take it to the post office like it's just a lot of work and so when we finally paired down our books I decided we're not buying any more books even if it's a book I love and I want to read again and again I will just borrow from the library again and again number 45 on that same note I don't buy magazines or cookbooks I love to cook ask anyone that knows me in real life and like cooking and food is my love language but I don't buy any cookbooks if I need to find the recipe I'll just look online 46. souvenirs or anything like that when we travel I have a deeper version to like knickknacks tchotchkes any kind of dust collectors so I don't buy anything like that 47 extra dishes I sort of mentioned this before but we don't have special sets of dishes for Christmas or Thanksgiving or even I don't have my grandmother's China like anything like that we just have our one basic set of dishes number 48 credit cards we don't have any credit cards I don't open them we don't use them we don't have it any kind of credit cards we don't pay interest on stuff that we buy 49 craft supplies as much as I love glitter just as much as the next girl when it comes to like making a little art project I don't buy any sort of craft supplies pipe cleaners glitter paint scrapbooking materials stickers anything like that this might change a little bit as my daughter gets older and she gets interested in those kinds of things but for now I don't go anywhere near the craft store number 50 expensive cell service I just use Ting which is like a a Wi-Fi first kind of service that's 25 a month and that works even though I have an iPhone okay so that's it that's my list of 50 things that I don't buy and now I really want to know is there stuff in there that you don't buy either or is there other things that you don't buy that you're like hey Melissa you should think about this I'm always looking for ways to streamline in our house declutter things more there's always like more refining that can be done so if you have ideas let me know in the comments

Channel: Organic Modern Mom

Views: 188,457

Keywords: minimalism, minimalist, small space living

Id: wXGqEZp36QU

Length: 18min 37sec (1117 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 08 2022