Buying our first apartment was both super exciting and kind of exhausting. I naively thought the open houses and the bidding and the actual buying, which all took place in August, would be the most work. Boy was I wrong. All in all I didn’t consider the process of our minimalist move to be truly over until the beginning of December when the lease of our old place was finally over, even though we were completely moved in by the middle of October. I’m sure there are many of you out there who can relate, both to the workload and my naivety.
25 things I did to simplify my life
The other day I found myself thinking about my journey in minimalism and simplicity. Like most people I often focus way too much on what I have left to do, and not too much on what I have already accomplished. With that in mind I thought it might be fun to look back on some of the changes I have made over the years.
Review: You Need A Budget (YNAB)
You need a budget. Come on now, of course you do. We all do! If you are a long-time reader you will remember that I once wrote a blog post called On Money where I shared with you how I used to do my budgeting. Well, that post is no longer around. This new system is much better and I don’t want you to follow my old advice.
Enter: You Need A Budget.
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I decluttered my apartment like Marie Kondo
You must have heard of Marie Kondo by now. The Japanese organizing consultant and author wrote a book called “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”, and one by one my fellow minimalists/decluttering enthusiasts have devoured it and sung its praises. Me, I was a KonMari skeptic. I had already read a few books on the subject (my favorite being “The Joy of Less” by Francine Jay), so what new could Marie Kondo’s book possibly bring to the table?
What I learned during my 10 month shopping fast
The beginning
It has been nearly a year since I decided to start my 10 month shopping fast. It was September 2014 and I was psyched, I wanted to give myself a challenge, and I felt very motivated indeed. I had previously done shorter fasts with varying degrees of success, but this time I wanted to do it properly. My three main reasons for starting a fast were:
- I couldn’t physically fit more clothes into my closet.
- I wanted to save money.
- I felt slightly out of control.