Since last year the urge of living with less has grown on me stronger and stronger. Due to my personal situation that time I came to the conclusion that having a lot of stuff didn’t made me happy in the end. Actually all those stuff created clutter in my home, life and head. So from here on I wanted to start a more relaxed life with less stuff. This all resulted into wanting to own only stuff that sparks joy to me. Something I heard from the Marie Kondo method and this truly helped me of stop buying unnecessary stuff. One the biggest changes I made is moving to a smaller space because my boyfriend and I wanted to create a cosy home. No more clutter and only living with stuff around me I love. Of course this entire process isn’t easy and I’m still learning. Because this way of living has made me so much more happy I love to share today a few tips to how to live with less.
Start with the most easy thing
Living with less can have effect on every part of your life. But starting with this lifestyle it’s important to start with the easy part in your clutter. Personally for me, starting with clothes was the most easy part because I had a lot of it (oops!). In this way I learned how to throw away a lot stuff and give away or sell them. After finishing this part I started to clutter my stuff in other places. Like all the mugs I collected in my kitchen, all the magazines from years back and the paperwork that lost it’s meaning through the years.
Learn how to throw away
Back in the days I truly hold on to stuff like it was something that gave me stability in life. Stuff made me feel I was alive and in some way it gave me comfort when I felt sad. I gave really too much meaning to things that are empty. But stuff can have memories or give feelings that makes it not easy to get rid of them. The important key of living with less is to give less meaning to this kind of stuff. Yes, maybe this items was important in the past but right now it only has become a pile of clutter – get rid of it! In the first phase this isn’t easy but also learn that throwing away stuff is something that need to grow on you.
When something goes in, something else goes out
For example, I have minimized the size of my wardrobe by giving away and selling a lot of stuff I didn’t like or just because I didn’t fit me anymore. After losing +10kg last year a lot of stuff had become useless. Afterwards, buying a lot of new stuff wasn’t easy but it was something I had to because simply I had to build up a new wardrobe. During a shopping spree always keep in my mind what can be removed from your wardrobe. And only go for substitutes instead of buying that 5th striped top or 3rd leather jacket.
Focus on quality not quantity
More isn’t always better and cheaper isn’t either. Because I’m going to move later this year I knew this was the right moment to focus on my interior. Not going for the most common and cheapest option and really asking myself what sparks joy to me and gives me a right feeling. This is also something that has affects my wardrobe. Why do you need 10 pair of blue jeans when you only wear one pair over and over again because you love it so much. Our society is focused on consuming but it’s up to you to look through that.
