The first time I implemented Minimalism in my life was when we started furnishing our old house – white walls, clean design, Scandinavian furniture. While moving into our dream house I realized that the less you own, the less stuff you have to pack and take care of.
When we decided to move back to Bulgaria at the end of 2018 and to downsize, we realized that the bigger the house, the more chores to do over the weekends.
While packing I saw with my eyes how much stuff do I own and when we came back to our tiny apartment in Varna, I asked myself ”Do I need all these clothes, stuff and furniture?”
We all live in homes and need furniture and technologies to make our lives easier, we all need clothes to go to work, we all have sentimental objects and things that remind us of the nice moments and trips we enjoyed.
Table of Contents
But how much is enough for a more sustainable lifestyle?
Why implementing minimalism or a more sustainable way of living in your life?
The main reasons I would like to downsize, possess only things that I need and stop buying useless stuff are:
First: It’s less of hustle when you move
You don’t need to pack every single little thing and hire a moving company. The less you have, the more it will stick in one car ):
Second: To spend less time struggling to clean up, put everything at its place, look for my keys, phone, glasses and the like
I spent a lot of time doing chores at home and I would like to minimize it to have more time for sports, books, friends, hobbies. Unfortunately, it’s a long-term commitment and I am not there yet, but I decided to give it a try.
Third: Saving more money for travelling. My biggest passion in life is traveling
To save more for that, I decided not to buy clothes till the end of 2019. Now it’s October and I have two more months to go. If I succeed, I will challenge myself and go for one year without buying clothes. Cross the fingers, It’s an important commitment for me.
How and where did I find inspiration to implement minimalism or a more sustainable way of living?
www.theminimalists.com
There are many sources of inspiration like https://www.theminimalists.com. Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan are the Minimalists and they have also made a movie about their decisions to declutter their lives of everything they don’t need and leave only the clothes and objects that contribute to their well-being. You can find more tips on their website and watch also the movie – it’s a really good one. Another thing you can try is Project 333 that challenges people to wear 33 items for 3 months. It might be an interesting boost to your creativity.
“How lied to you what is happiness?” by Ralitsa Gencheva
However, my favourite source of inspiration is the book of Ralitsa Gencheva (existing only in Bulgarian for the time being) ”Who lied to you what is happiness?”. It’s a summary of her own experience and tips for easy everyday steps on how to get rid of useless clothes, items, papers, relationships, how to stop wasting food and money and finally how to make room in your life by decluttering for new exciting and fulfilling experiences to come. Highly recommend it and hope it will be translated into English very soon.
What are your tips for living a minimalist and more sustainable life, having fewer things, but more experiences? Because sharing can lead to changing people’s lives and perspectives.
Thanks for reading!