3 Years A Minimalist — My Top 3 Life Changing Lessons

And the one thing I regret

It’s true what they say — you don’t realize how much stuff you have accumulated until you are moving.

The boom of modern consumerism has turned most of us into enthusiastic hoarders. With cheap brands copying designer items, and new technologies emerging faster than light, everything has become significantly more accessible. And don’t we just love it.

But have we been getting true worth for our money?

When I look back at photos taken in our old apartment, there’s stuff everywhere — piles of it. Overloaded storage boxes shoved under the kitchen table. Shoeboxes neatly stacked on the side of the staircase, going almost all the way down.

Once, I crammed my wardrobe so full of clothes, that the main hanging rail snapped in half.

Yes, the flat was small, but the amount of stuff we owned was irrational. As we prepared to move, it became clear we were living the typical mindless consumer stereotype. And the satisfaction this lifestyle gave us was, in fact, short-lived.

The things we thought would buy us happiness quickly became a burden.

We kept finding long-forgotten items with labels still attached. Mountains of never-worn clothes. Beautiful shoes, too painful to wear. Pointless objects, sitting on dusty shelves. All that stuff represented money thrown out the window. We looked at each other and knew something had to change.

I fell in love with the concept of minimalism straight away. What had started as a simple declutter, became a whole new lifestyle.

Living with less has so much to offer. When you stop drowning in stuff, you gain mental clarity and learn about your true life priorities. By removing the excess, you create abundance.

3 years later, I honestly couldn’t be happier with how it’s turned out so far. Here are the top things I’ve learned:

It’s ok to own things

But they must add value to your life.

The most common misconception about minimalism? You’re only allowed to own seven t-shirts, one coffee cup, and have to live in a pristine white apartment. That’s bullshit, of course.

Minimalism will only benefit you if you don’t deprive yourself of the stuff you love, use, or enjoy.

It’s ok to keep more clothes if you wear them. If you have to keep a well-updated work-wardrobe that fits your office dress code, that’s a genuine need. It’s ok to have a book collection if you can’t imagine an evening without reading. It’s ok to keep your 30 houseplants if you love them. If something is truly pleasing, it adds value. And yes, that can include clothes, or makeup, or your DIY garage full of tools.

So don’t feel pressured to get rid of anything that has a meaning to you.

Minimalism is about removing the unnecessary stuff.

It’s about stopping for a second and asking yourself — is this useful? Does it add value? Will it make me feel good? Or would I rather keep the money instead?

I learned a great deal about practicality. I used to buy clothes for labels, not wearability. I loved Vivienne Westwood and her punk roots, but if you’ve seen any of her collections, you know the clothes aren’t the easiest to throw on in the morning.

A jam-packed wardrobe containing nothing to wear was my reality. It lacked simplicity.

As a result, I used to panic-buy essentials I needed last minute. Shopping was stressful and annoying. I hated wasting my evenings, chasing bargains up and down the crazily crowded Oxford Street.

Mindless consumption is a waste of money and time. Introduce intention, give yourself the time to decide wisely, and you’ll save both.

Sustainability is fun

I used to be quite careless. I never gave much thought to where all my plastic waste goes, or how many rivers in Bangladesh are being polluted by the fast-fashion retailer I just bought from.

Further, my money always seemed to disappear into thin air — until I started thinking about my choices.

It turns out, sustainability is amazing. You can choose to support a small business, and suddenly you’re actively contributing to your local community. You can buy a reusable coffee cup, prevent at least 5 disposable cups going into the landfill every week. (And you’re no longer a walking Starbucks ad.)

I’ve discovered things I never knew existed, like reusable sanitary products, and I’m no longer sending that waste to landfill either.

I haven’t bought a single t-shirt from a fast-fashion retailer in over 2 years.

Instead, I now have two favorite local charity shops. One offers direct help to homeless people, and the other supports mental health research.

On eBay, I buy from other people just like me, and I know that for some of them, my purchase will mean they can buy extra food. It feels so much better than pumping money in an already overflowing corporate pocket.

Making sustainable choices makes your own life easier long-term. Not only you have less rubbish to deal with, but you also feel great about your contributions.

And the best bit? You save yourself some ridiculous money.

Your choices do make a difference. Your consuming habits have consequences and shape the state of our world overall.

‘One plastic bottle doesn’t matter.’

— said a million people.

Less mental clutter = more happiness

The top minimalism question people type into Google is: does minimalism make you happy?

Short answer? It can make you feel better.

It’s not a one-size-fits-all, nor a quick fix, but it can make you feel happier every day.

When you turn your home into a lighter, more open space where you can float freely, you create a sanctuary for your mind. When you’re surrounded only by the things you love, you gain a new sense of joy and gratitude.

The less useless junk is occupying your mind, the more mental space you can dedicate to productivity. And if being more productive means creating little bubbles of extra time throughout your day, that’s already awesome.

As you grow more aware of your priorities and what matters to you the most, you might even take the leap towards bigger changes.

I used to suffer in my 9–5 office job. Learning to be intentional with my life made me realize I was unhappy with the emptiness of my role in the company. My dull, spreadsheet-filled days were a clashing contrast to who I was as a person.

But it wasn’t until I got my hands on Everything That Remains by The Minimalists, that I found the courage to take action.

Minimalism helped my journey enormously. I was able to save more money faster, create a much thicker safety net, and push myself into the pole position to leave the job finally. It took me 2 years, but it happened.

Most of us have a lot to worry about these days. We cannot directly influence a great deal of what’s happening, and that’s frustrating as hell.

But you can let at least some of that frustration go, by sorting out the things you can. Free up a cluttered space in your home and shift focus.

Living with less has been directly connected to better mental health.

Move away from procrastination and towards the sense of accomplishment. See if there are any burdens you can get rid of today.

Create space for yourself to concentrate on what’s important to you and what makes you feel better.

The one thing I regret

Once you’ve decided to declutter, donating to a charity is an incredible thing to do. But — think twice about each item before you throw it on the donation pile.

Chances are you’ve spent a hefty amount on the things you are about to get rid of, and you deserve to get some money back. So try to sell what you can. Assess the condition of each item carefully, and sell everything that still has tags, has been worn once, or used once. After that, you’ll still have plenty left to donate.

This point is the only thing I wish I’d done differently. While getting ready to move after around 8 years of living in that flat, we missed out on this crucial part.

We assigned pink and yellow Keep and Donate labels to everything, but left out the Sell option. I wish we filtered through the 10 giant bags of stuff a little better, before carrying them to the local charity shop, to try and get back some of the money we’d spent.

Don’t miss out on that extra cash. It’s worth the effort.

Start easy

Simplifying your space is just the beginning.

Your experience grows and transforms. As you go, you evaluate your priorities and learn to work with what you have. You save money. You free up the time to focus on your passions.

But when you’re just starting, be easy on yourself. Go slow. Get rid of the things that bother you the most, and the items you trip over daily. See where the process takes you.

Leave the more difficult decisions for later.

You’ll get to know yourself better along the way. Things that you previously didn’t pay attention to will soon start gasping for air at the surface.

Remember, you have a lot of power as a consumer, and becoming a more mindful one does a lot of good. You vote with your money. Do what you can to spend it in-line with your values and moral priorities, and it will feel fantastic.

You’ll help empower your local community, support ventures close to your heart, and, best of all, contribute to changes that you’d like to see in the world.

Big corporates tend to deliberately create addiction and fear of missing out so that we keep buying. Many of us have unconsciously fallen victim to that. But in the post-pandemic world, consumerism will never be quite the same.

And there’s our chance. Most of us will have changed our excessive habits by at least a bit.

And once we return to our normal day-to-day lives, I bet we will be happy with a little less madness.

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