A money meanie. The Minimalist Challenge: Day 16

Day 16: Don’t buy anything for 24 hours. 

I don’t spend. I used to! I would drop £100 on random days on food, coffees, books, clothes, stationary, knickknacks etc. I was the classic impulse buyer. There have been a lot of circumstances where spending money would feel like a form therapy for me. I still think it is. But spending all the time has the opposite effect. You get weighed down by all of the little things you buy, they clutter up your home and your life. You also get poor.

Now, I only have one thing that I buy often (besides food, petrol and coffee) and that is books. I will never not buy books. They make me feel happy and safe and I really want a library so I need books otherwise it’ll be a very sad place. Though, I do try to limit myself. My graph from Day 7 where I showed the percentage of books I’ve read and haven’t read made me realise that I needed to read the books I’ve already bought before I buy new ones.

This made me think. How many other things have I bought that I ‘needed’ at the time but now are discarded somewhere? I’m looking at the things I have on my shelves and trying to apply the Marie Kondo technique. Do they spark joy? Did they spark joy when I bought them?

When I go into town I’ll no longer say I’m going shopping. I’ll go into shops just to look. But when something catches my eye and I think I just have to have it, I’ll ask a few questions: (These questions aren’t for necessities. You don’t need to ask if tampons make you happy…)

• Do you need this thing?
  • If yes: Why do you need this thing?
  • If no: Put it down.
• Does it have a place in your home/life?
  • If yes: Great!
  • If no: Where will it go? Will you make room? If not put it down.
• Does it make you happy/spark true joy?
  • If yes: Cool!
  • If no: Put it down.

So I don’t buy a lot of things these days. But when I do I know that I love it and that I will continue to love it.

Thanks for reading!