Your stuffs Costed You Money

It is hard to get rid of stuffs knowing how much money you spent on them, but your money is already gone. Having your space filled up with them will not make you feel any better about your reckless spending. I always imagine how much money I could have saved if I hadn’t bought all the things I no longer use now. Before buying it, I was so sure it would add a tremendous significance on my work, look, or beings.

It never does.

Donating it might actually help with the guilt, knowing that you put your money to good use. It’s true that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Instead of letting them sit in your house for months or years, it is more refreshing to know that your stuffs serve purpose and make other people happy somewhere.

Understanding how hard it is to let your stuffs go has discouraged me from adding more. As a result, I become more careful of my future purchases.

You Will Need It Later

This is by far the hardest thing to cope with, especially if you live in a tight budget. Sometimes you want to hold on to your stuffs because you might need it again. Or if the clothes that no longer fit you will become your motivation to lose weight. Often, we buy things for ‘future’ events or occasions, ‘future’ wedding, ‘future’ party, even ‘future’ dates. All the things that are not even happening.

It Has Sentimental Value

Let me make it clear from the beginning that I am a very sentimental person. I love keeping trivial things such as letters, movie tickets, birthday and post cards. I even screenshoot some conversations that put a smile on my face. I like to go through them again and trace back the good memories. I kept all the gifts I received because it is something meaningful to me.

And because of how much it means to me, then it must be meaningful to the giver as as well, right?

Well, that’s not always the case.

As it turns out, some gifts are not even that thoughtful. And don’t get me wrong, I love getting gifts, thoughtful or not, expensive or not. It is a nice feeling to know that this person think of you on your birthday or when they are on holidays. However, After embracing minimalism, your close persons will normally start shifting their habits of giving you material stuffs with experience or products that you can use. But what do you do with the stuffs you don’t need?

I have tried to digitize them. Take a picture of them and keep them in a separate folder, like cards or gifts, to reminisce the joy of receiving them. You can do the same thing with stuffs you acquire from deceased family members. This might become your way to make peace with your past, knowing that you no longer have to hold on to physical items to remember them by. If it’s something valuable, just hold on to them as it can be something that you can pass to your kids or other family members.

How Do You Decide Which Items to Keep?

Some people use what is called as the mountain test. If the stuff is not worth carrying up the mountain in your back, then you don’t buy them or keep them. But this is an extreme example. I instead, use ‘moving overseas’ test. If I am not gonna bring them with me when I move overseas, then those stuffs have got to go (except for something you use everyday such as refrigerator, microwave, etc; because we are not trying to live frugally here).

I like to think that I want to move forwards. These unnecessary stuffs don’t have any place in my house, or anywhere else in my life. If I am to move tomorrow, I need to be able to do that without a hassle. This, to me, means feeling lighter, moving faster, and saying ‘yes’ to more opportunities. Again, this might be different for everyone. So you have to decide what is more important to you. Don’t rush things. It is easier to let go fewer items gradually than to get rid of them all at once.

Keep in mind that your journey doesn’t have to be similar with others’!