Minimalistic Frugal Sustainable

Minimalistic, frugal, and sustainable.

Those are the 3 words that I want to use to describe my lifestyle this year and for years to come. With my Grandma dying almost a week ago now, I've been thinking a lot about how she lived her life and how I can implement those ideas into my own life. I've already been hard at work these last couple days.

Minimalistic: Every human seems to love wide open spaces and usually tries to avoid being in cramped, tight spaces for too long. I spend the majority of my time in my apartment and I would absolutely love to have more space! I've decided to embark on a 30 day challenge which requires me to remove at least 1 thing from my home that I've been saving, every day, for 30 days. Trash it, recycle it, sell it, donate it... it doesn't matter what I do with it, so long as it is out of here. I'll let you know how it goes in a month.

Frugal: It's not the first word that comes to mind when I think of my spending habits, but hopefully I can get there soon. While I do try to buy things on sale or use coupons when available, the issue for me is not always the sale price, but how much stuff I'm trying to buy. I like to shop. I like to spend money. My grandma only bought what she truly needed, or what she could share with others. Going over board with groceries is me getting my shopping high under the guise of "it's for the family." But I'm really going to make a conscious effort to scale back, and use up what I have in the cupboard before going out and getting more. This ties in with being a minimalist.

Sustainable: This one I have trouble with as it can often clash with minimalism if you're not careful. In my opinion, a sustainable life is one of frugality, where you reduce what you bring in and throw out, reuse what you can, for as long as you can, and recycle everything else. Grandma saved and reused margarine and yogurt containers. She washed and reused aluminum foil. Old shirts became rags for cleaning. Sometimes people find that they start hoarding all this stuff with the intention of using it for something else later. I'm definitely the type of person to start a project and not finish it, so hopefully I can keep a good balance here.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on the subject for now. Get rid of all the stuff I'm saving for no good reason, stop bringing in more stuff, and find a way to use up the stuff I already have.