Minimalist Living – Get Rid of All the Clutter
April 18, 2012 in The Glass Lifestyle
Photo Courtesy of 2expertsdesign.
Working hard, working well, reaping the rewards, and spending it on things you like is great.
But when it gets to the point that you feel overwhelmed by all the stuff that has accumulated around you, it’s time to cut back.
1. Sell clothes that you won’t wear and furniture that you don’t use.
You can re-sell things that are of good quality but don’t get used very often, or donate them. Clothes and furniture are often easy to sell because there is a big buy/trade/sell market. Crossroads Trading and Your Treasure Hunt are some examples.
2. Use only a few credit cards – and remember to keep the oldest one.
Credit cards have a few advantages over cash. If you lose it, you can report it to the credit card company and reclaim it. Also, as long as you pay back on time, you practically prolong the ‘lifespan’ of cash that would have been spent immediately without a credit card. It also covers for unexpected emergencies.
They are also safer than check cards because fraudulent charges made through credit cards can often be reversed (whereas for check cards, most of the time the money cannot be reclaimed).
BUT having too many credit cards can make it hard for you to keep track of the bills, and most of the time it’s not even necessary to have 20 credit cards (unless, of course, they are there for specific reasons).
So just close some accounts and just keep the oldest ones (for keeping high credit scores and long credit history) and those with points and other perks.
Highball Glasses from Mirakkul Glassware.
3. No need for keeping multiple glasses – just get a versatile highball.
Having a nice wine glass set is great. It completes the table decoration and can actually help make wine taste better. But thinking of how many types of glasses there are (for wine, water, tea, martini, whiskey, shots, and more) can get you a headache.
To keep things simple, you can get a nice set of highball glasses that are great as a glass for water/milk/juice by day and whiskey by night.
4. Cut cable – or get rid of TV altogether.
Cable has become largely oblivious in this day and age. You can download/stream most TV shows online, without the ads.
Having a high definition TV can be great if you love watching movies and value great screen quality. But if you are not a big movie fan and don’t care for TVs anyway, read what Miss Minimalist has to say about life without TV. In sum, she says no TV means no commercials, less furniture, more time.
5. Eat less, enjoy more.
No, you don’t have to starve yourself.
But taking more food than you will ever eat and throwing it away? Not good. Eating so much that you want to throw up later? Not good. Repeatedly eating more than you need to so that eventually you don’t even realize that you are eating so much? Also not good.
Eat as much as you have to, and enjoy every bite of it. Trust me, you will feel better!
Further Resources
Read more about minimalist lifestyles at:
_______________________________________________________
The place where every glass is handmade.
