Minimalism: What we choose not to buy anymore

This is my personal list from my journey towards family minimalism and sustainable living, yours will probably look different as we all have different requirements and priorities. This list isn’t meant to shame anyone who still purchases these things, it’s meant to inspire you and maybe make you think “I could cut back there too”.

So let’s dive in!

1. Decor items

I just don’t have the space for any more decorative items without my house looking cluttered. I’d actually like to have less than I currently do as it makes dusting so much quicker but that’s a task for another day!

2. Travel trinkets

Especially for children as it’s normally another stuffed teddy or a pencil/rubber that gets stuffed in a drawer never to be seen or used again. Did anyone else grow up in a house where you didn’t go somewhere if you don’t have the fridge magnet to prove it? Some people adore having things like that in their homes but for us, our fridges are dedicated to ‘save the date’ cards and children’s artwork rather than travel magnets.

3. Books

For myself and Paul. We do still get lots of secondhand books for the children but I can’t remember the last time we got one for either of us. We are both trying to read through what we already have or if we really fancy one we don’t own then we use the library.

4. Kitchen gadgets

I used to love shopping for kitchen bits and I still find it hard not to buy things when I see them but we’ve decluttered down to what we actually use and our kitchen looks so much better, and we have so much more surface space because of it.

5. Things for when the children are older

They get put away in boxes and forgotten about. Also, you have no way of knowing what type of things your children will enjoy in the future. I’ve found that if you’re buying secondhand you can probably get the same item again in two or three years anyway.

6. Jewellery

I used to have so much and I never wore it. It was a pain to store and took up so much space. So I’ve downsized to three or four pairs of earrings and necklaces and then the rest is all family heirlooms.

7. Handbags

I used to have handbags stacked in handbags, all falling out of the wardrobe! About 4 years ago I donated them all and now have 1 small navy bag that I use for everything and it’s a game-changer.

8. Body wash

We just buy good old fashioned soap now. Our favourites are the Kew Gardens soaps or the beautiful soaps from The French Soap Company.

9. Lotions

Any of them; hand, body, face, feet… They are usually in un-environmentally friendly packaging and you seem to need too many different types for my liking. Now I only use our homemade body cream, the recipe for which you can find here.

10. New childrens clothes

You can literally get everything secondhand – we even got our little girl’s bridesmaid dress secondhand. With a bit of looking you can find just about anything, it will cost you less and you won’t get upset if they wreck it. Plus it is 100% better for the planet.

11. Prepackaged games or craft kits

There are just too many small plastic parts all wrapped individually – Ahhhh! It makes me crazy just thinking about them. No thank you.

12. Takeaways

It is SO expensive, especially for the four of us and what we can order as vegans is obviously limited. We enjoy making our own fakeaways far more, plus, this saves us money and gives us an opportunity to all cook together.

13. Unused subscriptions

I know this sounds super obvious but you may well be surprised by how many you actually have. I made a list of all of the things we have subscriptions for and then took a proper look as to whether we still used them. We didn’t still use them all so we cancelled a few (cooking magazines, etc) and that has saved us money each month.

What items have you found that you don’t buy anymore since picking up a more minimalist mindset and lifestyle? Let us know in the comments, we love to learn how other journeys look.

Livvy and Summer