Minimalism
It’s only recently that I’ve discovered the minimalist lifestyle. I’m still far from calling myself a minimalist, but I’m slowly trying to get there. You may ask, why this lifestyle? I have one answer – I want to focus on the important things in life. The ones that make me feel like life is good. These past few years, I have gone through depression. I go through my day without any motivation, no specific goals, and I’ve just lost track of what I really want in life. I thought I was keeping myself busy, but I was just keeping myself distracted. My salary went into buying things I didn’t end up using as much. I was going with the flow – and I was not being deliberate with my decisions.
Minimalism is not just about the material things. To me, it’s almost spiritual even. It’s about getting rid of the things that don’t add value to your life. Mute out the distractions. Be deliberate – asking yourself the question “do I need this in my life, will it bring value to my life?” before making any decisions. And this can mean different things to different people.
Getting rid of clutter
Still too much things!I’ve started by getting rid of the clutter in my house. There are things I feel attached to, but I’m not really using them (DSLR, PS Vita, Japanese CD Collection). I am working up the courage to let go of those. I have cut my wardrobe into half by donating all the clothes that don’t fit me anymore. My books have all been shipped to my hometown. They’re going to a small library my mother wants to put up in the province. Desks and shelves invite more clutter so I’ve gotten rid of some of those. And I’m not yet done – I will continue to go through all of the things in the house and assess the value they bring into my life.
Downgrading
Downgraded my postpaid plan!I’ve also started cutting down my fixed expenses. I went from an unlimited broadband plan that costs 4,000 PHP each month, to one that’s less than half of that. I’ve also downgraded my mobile phone postpaid plan with unlimited internet, to an 8GB a month plan. Just from these two, I’ve saved myself around 3,000 pesos a month. I have other subscriptions I’m considering for downgrade or cancellation (I don’t watch Crunchyroll and Netflix enough), but I haven’t decided yet.
Upgrading
Eliminating and downgrading don’t just save me money, it’s progress towards living life more. With limited wardrobe, I don’t have to waste too much time thinking about what to wear. I come home to a clean and more relaxing home – and that helps keep the stress outside the door. With my limited data plans, it forces me to not be too dependent on the Internet. Now, I have to turn my mobile data off by default, so that I don’t exceed my plan – and that prevents me from checking social media every single minute. That saves me time to do other things, or focus on the people I’m actually with!
The net outcome of all of these efforts is an upgrade in life value. And that’s really what I’m looking for at this point in my life. I don’t feel the need or the want to live life based on other people’s perception of success, or value. Success is no longer about owning a nice car, or a big house, or designer clothes and accessories. Success to me looks more like being able to spend meaningful time with family and friends, being able to travel to Japan (and other countries/places) as much as I want, and doing things that contribute to the betterment of the world. I’m also still working towards that, but that makes me want to work even harder because these are the things I want in my life. I only realized all of these when I started getting rid of distractions.
Resources
If you are interested in the minimalist lifestyle, you can check out these resources as a start and make your way from there: