On The Quest To Live With Less
A big personal resolution that I made to myself this year was to be more mindful when shopping and start to adjust to living with less. Something that I've mentioned before on this blog is that I used to have quite a bad emotional shopping problem. Where I would shop till I had absolutely nothing left in my bank account to try and make myself happy. And it has taken me a long time to overcome that issue and train my brain to realise that material possessions don't make you truly happy in life. Yes, of course, they are nice and I still love treating myself to things that I love but they're not my foundation for happiness. So today I wanted to talk about in more depth about living with less and being more mindful when making purchases.
DEFINE WHAT LESS MEANS TO YOU
I think when people hear the term 'living with less' they instantly think living incredibly minimally. Which is fine but that's not what I'm on the quest to do. I want to cut down on my purchases and be more mindful and even though I don't shop a huge amount. I want to make sure I'm truly getting everything out of the items that I own and not making new purchases until I really need something. It also means having less 'stuff'. As I'm forever holding onto things that have no real use to me anymore and ultimately they're just creating clutter. So donating and giving others the chance to get joy from these items is something that I want to do. One area that I try and do this is with my wardrobe. I'm usually pretty good at rotating my clothes and selling things on eBay that I'm no longer using and donating anything else. But lately, I've been quite poor at doing that so I need to get back into the habit of it.
EMOTIONAL SHOPPING
I still remember when I got my first job in retail and had my own money to spend. And the rush of getting those new things became so addictive. At the time I was quite unhappy and the only thing that felt like true happiness was buying new things. But of course, it's always only a quick fix. Surrounding myself with material possessions might have felt wonderful in the short term. But I truly believe that happiness is something that comes from within and whilst possessions might add to that happiness it should never be the basis for it.
MINDFUL SHOPPING
During my emotional shopping days, I was never mindful when it came to what I was purchasing. But now when I do either need something or decide to treat myself I truly think about what I'm buying. Questions like;
- How much wear am I going to get out of this?
- Do I have anything similar?
- Am I buying this because I really want it or just because I've seen it now?
- How many outfits can I get out of it?
- If an item is in the sale would I have bought it otherwise or just because it's a little bit cheaper?
MINDFULNESS IN BLOGGING
Whilst the lifestyle element of my blog doesn't come into this the beauty content does. I feel incredibly fortunate to get sent such amazing samples of beauty products. But I have to give myself a serious talk when it comes to writing about them. When things arrive on your doorstep on a daily basis it can start to feel strangely normal. And it's all too easy to forget the price tag that belongs to those items and how hard you have to work to afford them. I never want to feel disconnected to the 'real' world and what those price tags mean people have to do to buy them.
What are your thoughts on living with less?
R x
Check out: Isabellekategm and you can advertise with me here.
