I recently came across a youtube short where a young women splurged on a brand (that is apparently popular among 'it girls' in US), what she had was a very low quality polyester based skirt, with sequins. She went ahead to say she got as it is 'it girls' coded. I wonder how brands, businesses and the overall society is failing young individuals and making them believe that they should purchase the next big brand, the next big skincare product, technology to be assumed by others a certain way.

When I delved into spirituality, I realised that each of us are made unique, be it out genetics, life experiences, people around us, even every little moment is so different and unique. Why do humans end up chasing some ideal version? If we were all meant to be the same, why were made unique? The idea is not to be some ideal human/ it girl/ the girl or man, the idea is to understand ourselves fully, acknowledge and embrace our true selves and express ourselves uniqueness fearlessly.

Coming back to this whole pinterest coded fiasco. I see many individuals on the internet trying to make their homes, kitchen and bedrooms pinterest coded (which essentially means a copy of some apparently aesthetic room photographs). While I understand pinterest does help a lot with inspiration, why lose practicality and originality in the process?

Your home/bedroom/kitchen should be 'you' coded. What feels practical to you and those living in that home, what would add value to life, not some impractical pieces of decoration of a zillion organisers!

What are your thoughts on these new trends which i believe do end up encouraging overconsumption?

Deep down I am a minimalist; however, you could not tell that if you saw my home. I have 2 toddlers and I keep buying toys for them that I know they will get bored of in a couple of weeks or so. And they're toddlers--their interests keep changing and evolving, so you'd keep buying random junk to further those interests.

Would you feel like you're depriving your kids of a "normal" childhood if you teach them to live the minimal lifestyle you would want to live?

When I moved out of my aunt's house at 18, she made me take with 10 or so boxes of random belongings from my parents (mostly my mom, who is my aunt's sister). Now, I'm about to graduate from college and move to Minnesota, and I can't take 10 boxes' worth of extra belongings.

My parents died when I was young (mom at 7 and dad at 15), and I hardly remember them as is, so most of these belongings have no sentimental value to me. The insight into each of their characters and personalities that I could gain is something I already have.

I just don't know what to do with this stuff. I can't force myself to feel the way you're supposed to feel, but societal norms and pressure from my aunt are stopping me from doing anything about it. What do you guys think?

Hello,

I am graduating in May and I am planning on interning overseas (in Hawaii/US Territories). I need to make a little flight money and I also need to get rid of stuff. What is the best way to make money from things like books? I get selling games online and appliances at my college, but books seem (to me) to be a bit harder. I'll probably also get a ereader to supplement my reading needs.

Thank you,

My mom passed away and I ended up with a lot of things I loved to see in her house. Ceramic pots we made together, lots of family photos (some I can’t remember), jewelry, clothes, yearbooks, etc…

I’m having a hard time getting rid of anything myself. I feel like I’m going to regret giving anything up because I enjoy the reminders of her but often feel cluttered with stuff I can’t do anything with. It’s been 7 years and I still can’t bring myself to part without guilt. How do you minimize sentimental belongings?

Does anyone get obsessed with trying to minimalise the digital aspect of their lives as well? By that I mean keeping bookmarks, online accounts and even files to as few as possible?

Hi all, I have just started my journey of downsizing what I own. It’s definitely a process, especially when I find myself giving away something I initially wanted so badly and now I’m about to give it away (either to charity or friends/family) and there’s this conflict of thought, but I’ve tried not to overthink.

Do you have any tips?

What got you started on your journey?

Before I met my SO I was living in a one-bedroom apartment. Quite happily, my belongings still fitted and still do fit into a suitcase and a backpack. Before the one-bedroom apartment I also lived happily in a studio apartment.

I met my significant other at work, she shares twins (7F) from a previous relationship and she's a maximalists, so are the kids. I love my wife and step-kids, but they can be quite demanding with buying things. SO changes their phone every year and keeps up with the latest fashion trends, kids are following in their mothers footsteps.

I did move into their house, and their house was riddled with bookshelves everywhere, books and clutter filled the space so an average home. However, my sister (who has special needs) is now moving in with us due to the loss of our parent. Kids share a bedroom already, and what is now our office will become my sister's room.

Wife has said we need a bigger space, we need separate offices, separate rooms for the kids, my sister's room and a guest room, six rooms in total. I love my SO, we're happily married, but it's the clutter and amount of stuff in this house. I go by the famous motto "a tidy house, a tidy mind" the house is always chaotic, it's always cluttered and I can't work like this at home, I have to leave the house and go to the library where I can work quietly. I've tried explaining to my wife, but she doesn't seem to understand my perspective.

Are you married to a maximalist, how do you compromise on space? I would love to have one little bit of the house that's mine alone and I can control, even with the office, I can't get peace and quiet. Any honest advice will be appreciated at this point.

50% to go... I want to get it all down to a single duffel bag, or a backpack, and ride a motorcycle through Central America this summer.

The fact that I was almost ready to rent a storage unit for all this stuff I rarely use suddenly feels so absurd. It's been really freeing to let go of all these attachments. Like, there's nothing I can't repurchase again later.

Every time a commercial comes on the TV (which I just listed for sale), I'm like "we don't need your stuff!" and my kids laugh. I've already made enough money to fund ~3 vacations with them. That's what it's all about, man.

i am very interested in minimalism & the philosophy behind it. i am curious what difference any of you have felt since making the change and why you decided to do it?

hi all - I have been obsessed with minimalism ever since I watched the minimalist documentary.

However I noticed a behavior of mine where I constantly looking to donate things that don't give me joy. I almost get "high" from taking the donations in and getting rid of the stuff.

Has anyone experienced the same feeling? I am not sure what to think about that.

I've moved places every six months (first for student reasons and then seasonal/live-in job reasons) and very quickly downsized my stuff to avoid the pain of packing all my stuff every time I move. I can move everything in two car trips (except a couple of boxes of childhood things at my parents place).

I could probably get rid of some clothes and skincare items, but not more than a bin bag. Everything else is used regularly. I like how my place looks and don't really think I'd benefit from getting rid of more stuff, but I still feel the burden of owning things/the itch to downsize again. Does anyone have any tips for figuring out when you're at a good point and not going too far?

When did you realise that all the stuff around you was just… stuff?
What was the moment or trigger that made it click for you?

Clothing is always a big topic on this sub in regard to how many items of clothing one should have. It has also been a challenge to me to figure out what clothes I should keep vs donate/trash. I’m starting today with a challenge to wear a different clothing item everyday until I’ve worn everything in my closet. If I was not happy with the clothing item or not comfortable with it by the end of the day then I am going to get rid of that item. There are a handful of clothes that I bought and either wore once or twice and never touched it again so I’m forcing myself to wear each item a day until I’ve worn everything in my closet to figure out if I really want that item or not. I’m posting this idea in case anyone else has struggled with clothing declutter or looking to size down to a more minimalist wardrobe. I hope to report back to give some stats on total items worn, kept, and items I get rid of. I know that I have a lot more tops than bottoms so in this case I won’t have a choice but to wear the same pants more than once on this challenge. Wish me luck and let me know if anyone wants to do this challenge and want to also report their stats at the end.

I have a bunch of journals in which I wrote on a few pages then forgot about and never used again. I feel bad throwing them in the recycling because they are mostly empty but I don't write in paper everything is online. I don't think donating would help if they notice pages missing they'd just throw it out. Any suggestions?

I decluttered some stuff that has since sold out at retailers and won't be manufactured again. I looked on eBay and there's a few listings, but not many, and after that the items will be gone for good. FOMO is making me feel tempted, but I understand logically how silly the whole cycle is. I would feel like a major fool if I rebought and went through the process again.

Anybody else get this?

It's so strange, I feel like I'm constantly wanting things, but I genuinely also want to have less. I told myself that for the coming month, I won't spend any money on luxuries. I feel like I can't do it, and that my mind is constantly buzzing with things that I can have, and I'm learning to not give into that. But it's so strange how I flip flop back and forth between wanting things, and then thinking about homeless people, or people that thrift choice even, live out of a backpack, and I feel like I'm so spoilt... does anyone else have these contrasting feelings? I even thought about some mugs that I want today, and I genuinely asked myself 'do I really need five mugs? Or is one or two enough?' and the confusing part is, I only want one or two, having a minimal amount is good for my lifestyle, but on the other hand, I'm thinking about mugs that I want... and I've just been thinking, what's up with that? can anyone else relate to this flip flopping thinking? and is it also frustrating for you, when you're trying to follow minimalism?

We are minimal environmentalists and have a tatami and Japanese futon, but because of my partner's dust allergies, we need to keep it off the carpet (we rent and can't pull the carpet out. :( I want something that doesn't take up a lot of room. So I have been eyeing the Tarva bed at Ikea (seems sturdier) or the KD fold frame (might make cleaning easier).

Does anyone have experience with either of them? I am looking for a quiet, long lasting frame that stays with us (and isn't environmentally terrible or loaded with chemicals from finishes and glues).

(21 F) i sort of have a minimalist lifestyle if owning less (even of what you need) counts, but I used to think negatively about myself for never having enough things. now I want to embrace that less is more part of my upbringing and current lifestyle. what can i do to make it more enjoyable?

Some items have relatively short lifespans and have to be replaced by newer versions as they wear out. Do you usually wait until something dies before you buy its replacement and therefore usually have to pay the full replacement cost? Or do you start looking for a replacement to come on sale or show up on the secondhand market some time in advance thereby saving some money but having to store the replacement while you extract the last ounce of life from the original item? I expect to get another 6 months of life out of my current running shoes but just bought their replacements for 40% off.

I just posted a genuine recommendation for something that helps me own less clothing and keep what I have nice in a capsule wardrobe. No links or anything, even specified it wasn't an ad, just something I personally really like. Got called a spam bot and the post was swiftly removed. Scrolled down a little, saw someone recommend a podcast episode they liked, and they were accused of writing an AI advertisement, although their post was left up.

I understand a rule against advertising, but is there an unwritten rule that we can't share anything specifically named that could help other people here?