I always try to live in a minimalist way and started to lessen buying a lot of things that I will not use in the future.

This is the mistake that I’ve made, I should started doing this long ago. Before, I always buy things that I never had before. I thought it was my way of healing my inner child and satisfying myself for instant gratification.

Now, I regret this action. I am starting to throw away and donate my old things to other kids and people who might enjoy using them. It satisfies me more because it can widen the space of our home and lessen the unnecessary items inside my personal space.

Aside from that, I live in a poor-middle-class household, and having a lot of stuff isn’t necessary because of the limited space we have.

Furthermore, I do not only physically apply this, I also declutter my digital space by deleting stuff that is not necessary and backing up some of the photos, videos, and files that I can use soon. I also use different tools on my phone for digital decluttering so we can easily do it and make sure that we can maximize the storage space of our mobile phones.

How to Start Your Minimalist Lifestyle?

Planning to buy a Kindle instead of physical books

Don’t get me wrong, I love the smell of physical books,  I am fond of it. But knowing that I only have limited space, I might start to save money so I can buy a Kindle instead. I joined several groups and most people said that buying a Kindle is one of their best investments because you can bring 100+ more books in your pocket inside your digital library.

Also, they are paying for convenience, and if you are reading more books per month and reading is your hobby, I would say that you can save more money by using a Kindle instead of buying paperbacks.

I am starting to go back to reading books again to expand my knowledge and vocabulary again, I just have some more free time this coming holidays! For now, I am saving money so I can buy a Kindle, I do not fancy expensive units, a 2000-3000 pesos and refurbished Kindle is enough for me. Remember, my main goal is to save money.

Buy the books here: Essentialist Store 🛒

Throwing away or donating old stuff

Before, I loved stacking stuff on me, saving things for later, but after years or months of saving them, I realized that it can only cause a mess. Earlier, we started to clean the house, and believe it or not, the old stuff that I recovered was way more than the usable one. I started to sort and separate the good stuff that I will not use anymore and plan to give it to the kids who might want to use it.

We also recovered old toys when we were kids, so I also gave them away to the kids who were passing by our house. I can’t believe that it is more fun than stacking stuff. I would say that living with material things isn’t a good idea and can stress you in the long term.

It will be better to start sorting out your things with the stuff that you are still using and not so you can avoid any mess in the future — unless you have wider storage space in your house. But for me, if I could be a kid again, I would avoid buying more stuff and spend on experiences instead.

Think again before buying

I believe that before buying something, you must think more than twice before actually purchasing it. This would be my mantra starting from now. I spent a lot of money buying stuff that I did not need.

For example, last year, I bought a remote control helicopter, virtual reality, working out stuff, etc. Now, they are still here, unused and consuming space. I can’t throw them away because I just used them for more or less than a week, I should have saved my money instead of buying this kind of thing that I can’t use in the long term.

On a side note, I am also wondering if I should buy a Kindle. I am afraid that I will not read more books if I buy them. Maybe I am just thinking that it is necessary because I am exposed to a Kindle community.

On the other hand, I do think that it can give me convenience if I want to read a book on my bed, at night, or just from the coffee shop. I am still thinking about whether I buy it or not considering that I do not have enough money yet to buy it.

Delete unnecessary photos and back them up

I am thankful to a friend of mine who taught me this habit of backing up the photos for later. I always treasure the photos that have a story, memories, and experiences. I believe that in the future, I can go back to it and still remember the things that happened before. But I never thought of backing them up on the cloud.

I started doing this recently where I delete duplicated photos, unnecessary photos, and videos, then back up and upload the better images on the cloud.

I mainly use Google Photos for this to have quick access and sync into many devices. The problem with this is you are limited to 15 GB of storage, but you can always purchase their premium plan and increase your storage space.

I find this helpful because I can now save the internal storage of my phone and save more memories on the cloud that I can easily access soon. I just hope that I’ve done this before so I can have a minimal digital space.

Related to: 5 Powerful Applications That Will Actually Boost Your Productivity

Delete unnecessary files

Aside from the photos, my problem is also the files that I have been using from our school. I am also starting to delete duplicated and unnecessary files on my phone and back them up to Google Drive. I find Google Products helpful and convenient in this kind of setup.

Imagine you can access them on different devices because you can also sync them. The only issue that I am seeing from this is it is vulnerable to possible leakage because it is saved from the cloud and other people can access it if you have poor security.

Moreover, I believe that decluttering your life is a must whether it is in digital or personal aspect. I find this helpful to increase my productivity and help me to study and work better.

Having a good environment can help you to get more things done. I would continue doing this in the long term (or maybe forever) and add it to my habit.