7 Minimalist Rules I Live by Every Single Day
They've saved me thousands of dollars and help me sleep better at night
I’m the sort of person who needs to be kept in check.
You might know the feeling yourself. You need rules to stop you from floating about, buying everything that takes your fancy, and never throwing anything away.
When I started practicing Minimalism, these were the rules I promised myself I would live by. 8 years later, I still stick by them.
Don’t get me wrong, they are not always easy to implement. I’m not proud to admit there was a time I sat on the floor, brandishing a belt I’d not worn in 2 years, shouting BUT WHAT IF I NEED THIS IN 6 MONTHS’ TIME!
But little by little, the rules start to stick, they become habit, and suddenly you’re on the way to be the simple living master you always dreamed of.
The 30/30 rule
Not one of mine (unfortunately) but a rule coined by The Minimalists, this is a nifty little psychological hack to help with impulse buying. If the item you want to buy costs more than $30, then wait 30 hours before you add to cart.
I used this rule the other day when I saw these handmade bracelets just begging to be bought. I had a little word with myself as I passed the store (no Charlie, no! wait!). When I returned home, I remembered that I already have really cool iron bracelets at home that my husband bought me for our anniversary many moons ago that I’ve not worn in a while. So I decided to dig those out instead.
£30 saved and one less item to lug around on my travels.
Try it next time something shiny catches your eye.
If it’s not been used in a year, it goes in the trash
This goes for clothes, gadgets, books, shoes, bags, anything that basically isn’t nailed to the floor.
Last year, I opened a trunk in my house that I’d not looked at since I bought the place 5 years previous. I didn’t even look in the bag of cables (why is there ALWAYS a bag of cables) and the other trinkets in there, they just went straight in the trash.
I’ve yet to regret it.
What, you think you’re going to need the cable for the camera you bought in 2013? Life moves fast, if you’re not using something in 365 days, the chances are you’ll never use it again.
The 20/20 rule
Another rule from The Minimalists, the 20/20 rule is a great way to tackle Just In Case items.
If you’re keeping something just in case, and it costs less than 20 dollars and you can replace it within 20 minutes, then throw it away my friend.
Just in case items are always things like sticky tape or batteries, which always seem to go past their best before date before you get a chance to use them, so you may as well chuck ‘em anyway.
The Minimalists claim they have only had to use this rule something like twice in the last 10 years. I have only ever used it a handful of times. It works.
Clutter < Catnaps
I have an obsession with good quality sleep that grows with every year I’m still on this planet.
It’s proven that clutter is like kryptonite to good quality sleep because it hinders the natural decline of cortisol throughout the day, which can disrupt your sleep cycle.
As someone who is a monster on less than 7 hours’ sleep, I say no thank you. So I keep my bedroom as clutter-free as possible.
Sleep trumps stuff, every single time. Because sleep is glorious and undervalued.
The one in one out rule
The rule that does exactly what it says on the in, if something comes into my life, then something’s gotta give.
This is particularly heightened for me because I live out of a suitcase which means I literally don’t have the space to lug extra items around the world, but the rule works whatever your living situation is.
It’s particularly pertinent for any item that doesn’t meet a basic need like extra pairs of shoes, books, tote bags that seem to multiply on their own. One comes in, one goes out.
Replace, don’t upgrade
I have a friend who will ALWAYS buy the new iPhone, whether he needs it or not. When I told him my husband still has the iPhone 7, a whopping 16 models behind the current iPhone 13 Pro Max, he choked on his water.
But in our house, we don’t upgrade, we only replace when we really have to. It’s why we had a 15-year-old car, a 10-year-old TV, and 12-year-old Dutch ovens (hey, those things have a lifetime guarantee). All of them worked fine so none of them got upgraded.
Apparently, the average iPhone costs around $650, so by that logic, my husband has saved $10,450 more than our friend on iPhones. That’s no small chunk of change.
Don’t give in to the lure of the Gazingus Pin
The term Gazingus Pin was coined by Vicki Robin in her book Your Money or Your Life and describes the item that you cannot help but buy whenever you see it on the shelf. For many years, my Gazingus Pin was wine. I had hundreds of bottles in my house (granted, I owned a wine store, but it was still more than I ever needed).
Everyone has their own Gazingus Pin and the lure can be so strong it can throw you off your minimalist game like nothing else. Identify yours and avoid it like the…(we need a new word other than plague here).
You can do it!
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