30 Day "No Buy" Challenge!

Challenge Yourself to a 30 Day Consumer Detox!

About this Challenge: 

This 30 day “no buy” challenge is all about learning to shop with intestion to help you get to the point where you are only buying things you truly need, that you have thought about, and that sparks joy or add value to your life. This is all about creating awareness around shopping in this consumer society that we live in. We are constantly being bombarded with messages that make us feel as though we are lacking something and that the only way to counter this feeling is to buy into the product being advertised. In reality, we live in an immense amount of abundance! Minimalism itself is about living with the awareness for all of the material things we have and buying with intention; each and everything you own is important to you and it adds value in some form to your life. There is no way to no be part of this consumer system, but we can learn to be conscious of the messages and how we respond to them.

Minimalism can partly be about decluttering (which I obviously LOVE) but it’s also important to look at how you deal with purchasing and consuming once you have decluttered and started taking on more of a minimalist mindset. And that can be super hard to do when we live in a society that does all it can to make us feel shitty and “less than” so that they can build us back up again with their products. It's important to differentiate between the things that we are told we need to buy and that truly have meaning to us, that we buy with intention.

Each week will be focused on a different topic of things we buy and spend money one. A few of these include clothing, food, and entertainment. Additionally, I will also discuss topics such as impulse buying and ways of dealing with it, as well as a bit of decluttering along the way! 

Rules: 

• Don't buy anything for yourself that is not crucial to your day to day survival 
• Yes, food and drink are necessities, but they are included to a certain extent because not all of it is always necessary 
• Categories to not purchase from in the next 30 days: clothes, kitchen supplies, house decor, sneakers/shoes, jewelry, hats, notebooks, etc. The list can go on.  
• Follow and partake in the weekly challenge categories by posting a relating picture and hashtagging it with #30daynobuychallenge.  
• Technically, you can buy whatever you want through these 30 days... you can always justify it as "absolutely necessary"; I can't check what you are buying and will never know. But this is really about you. You should choose to do this challenge because you want to become more aware of this phenomenon of the need for stuff and you want to shop more intentionally. So you have to be the judge of what is an absolute necessity during this challenge. 

Purpose: 

• Intentional buying. This challenge will help build awareness about the amounts of stuff you are buying and their true importance so that you can consume less and for the right reason you do buy things in the future. 
• Consumer messages squashed. Re-appreciating and realizing the abundance that you already have will make it harder for consumer messages of "lacking" to get to you because you are happy with what you already have.

 
Join me in this challenge to kickstart intentional buying! 

 

End of Summer Declutter

With summer coming to an end, it's time to be honest about what you used!

Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it. - Joshua Becker

It’s really important to go through your closet at the end of each season to assess what things you wore and what items were ignored. Summer is one of those seasons where you have specific types of clothes that you most likely do not wear all year round (depending on where you live – aka Canada is not a kind place to summer clothes for the better part of 8 months).  With winter, fall, and spring weather you can spread items throughout those seasons and you won’t look out of place.

Summer season clothes are hard to get rid of because it’s easy to hold onto items for that “beach vacation”, “tropical”, or other “what if” vacations. Somehow the reason to keep them ‘just in case’ always comes into play. Still, you probably wouldn’t be wearing these clothes at home in your own environment. That is why it’s super important to go through your closet right at the end of the summer to assess what you actually wore this summer versus what you “planned” on wearing but then ultimately opted for something else. Get rid of those things that would otherwise just be taking up space for the next full year. Additionally, it's difficult to get rid or summer clothes outside of the summer season because you cannot make a decision based on how much you wore them. Perhaps you know you don’t like it anymore which makes your life easy, but we usually go back to all those ‘what ifs’ and ‘just in cases’. Summer is just one of those special unique seasons.

Here are quick 4 steps and 4 piles for your quick summer declutter!

Pile 1: What did NOT get worn

What are things that have just been sitting in your closet all summer that you planned on wearing or really like, but you ultimately forgot about it or continuously opted for some other item?

Pile 2: You wore it but its time has passed

This pile is for all the items that have been loved and are not falling apart or that you bought but don’t feel good in or that don’t fit right. I have a pair of jean shorts that I have had since the end of middle school that I LOVE, but they are not ripping and tearing because the material is so worn, and honestly, because of that, aren’t very appropriate for anything other than wearing them to the beach. I was quite reluctant to give them away but they were loved and worn for years and they had seen their best days. Let go of the old to make room for the new! It’s important to recognize when this time comes or when you need to let go of the items that don’t truly make you feel good.

Pile 3: Gifts and Impulse Vacation busy

I don’t know about you but I’ve gotten a few gifts from people who go on holiday and bring back something that is cute, but for some reason, it probably looks cuter when worn in the place where they were. Or, you went on vacation and bought that cute market dress that everyone else was wearing or that fun flower shirt, but it just doesn’t really fit anything you would wear at home. Get rid of that stuff! There are two or three items I have the I keep for when I go kitesurfing (‘cause I know that is a repeated trip) or the beachy dress, but for the most part, I have simplified my summer clothes to make it possible to wear them in any summer environment.  

Pile 4: Any doubt, wear it out … now!

If you ever have a doubt about a piece of clothing, wear it right now. Use it today. Create an outfit with it for tonight. The warm weather is not completely over yet so if you are struggling to get rid of it, wear it today! See how you feel in it. Do you feel good in it? Maybe you can create a new outfit to go with it and you create a new “space” with a new perspective of that piece in your wardrobe. On the other hand, if you are hesitant right now feeling like you “have” to wear it today when you would really rather wear something else, that is a sign! Don’t ignore it! 


Now you can put your summer clothes away in your closet knowing that there is no unnecessary space being taken up. All the clothes taking up space can be passed on to those who will use and love them now that their job with you is done. Be proud of yourself, knowing that you shaved down a few more pieces that were not adding value to your life!

Five Minute Sweet Potato Sesame Toast Meal Prep

Plant-Based Alternative Toasts 

Welcome to the beginning of my plant-based healing journey. Due to health reasons with my digestion organs, I have decided to make the shift towards a more plant-based diet. One of the biggest issues I have struggled with in this regard is what I should do about lunch. My days are busy and I don't have time to be trying out different creations everyday. I need a simple sandwich type meal that I can make in 5 quick minutes, put in a Tupperware (glass of course!) and leave for the rest of my day. This is that sandwich! I am also slightly obsessed with all the things you can do with sweet potatoes... so there is a bit of a sweet potato overload happening right now!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a Sweet Potato
• 1/2 Avocado
• Tahini
• Sesame seeds 
• Whole Wheat Bread
• Tsp Chopped Garlic
• Spices: salt, pepper 

Directions:

1.  Cut the sweet potato into chunks and spread out in a pan. 
2. Drizzle olive oil onto the sweet potatoes and season them with about a tsp of salt, pepper, onion powder, and cayenne pepper.
3. Put the sweet potatoes into the oven for 30 min at 350°F or 180°C. Check them at the 15 min mark and stir them. 
4. When the sweet potatoes are finished, put a slice of bread in the toaster and mash the potatoes slightly with a fork (does not need to be puree... just make them merge together!) 
5. Spread the slightly mashed sweet potatoes onto the toasted slice of bread. Add a drizzle of tahini, sesame seeds, and a avocado slices.

You can add whatever else you might like onto this toast... raw spinach would be yummy too for example! Let me know in what other combinations you have created!

My Metaphorical Bag of Minimalist Ideas

Need a better analogy to understand minimalism? Read this!

The last four months of my life are packed away.

 Each summer I come home and bring one big suitcase with me... filled with stuff for the next three to four months. I have to pack for a lot of situations when I come back for the summer; when I come in may its still cold but by July it's hot, and then what about work clothes?! There is a lot of decision making that goes into this packing and minimalist ideas come in very handy. By the end of the summer, what I leave with is not always the same as what I came with. The process of packing a bag for the summer is a lot like the process of minimalism.

This bag is a metaphor of all the stuff we own – material belongings as well as emotional and psychological ideas and perspectives. There is only so much space in this bag, so I need to be able to let go of things in order to not have this back weighing me down. I also need to let go of things in order to allow new items, perspectives, and ideas into my life.

Having to pack this bag (metaphorical or not) at the end of my time here means taking a good look at all the things I’ve accumulated, even if that was unconscious, over the past few months. Not everything will fit … so what am I holding onto “just in case”? What have I learned about myself over the past few months that needs its own space in my “bag” and what old beliefs is it time to let go of?

We have to be able to let go of “stuff” and our emotional connections to them. We all put value on the things we own and create a certain kind of relationship with our stuff. The thing to realize is that giving that stuff away or getting rid of it does not discount the “connection” to it, such as the fact that is was a gift from someone or you don’t want to get rid of it but it’s your favorite thing even though its no longer wearable. Be able to let go to allow new into your life … like maybe just a little more space.

Minimalism is not just about your material “stuff” but also your mental state.

Minimalism is not just about decluttering and simplifying the physical stuff in your life but it also positively influences and affects your mentality, emotions, and perspectives. When you can visually see how the decluttering of material items changes how you feel and distinguish the way in which the excess of items was weighing you down. You can experience the shift that “letting go” provides and you can start to see how that same method can be used for non-tangible things such as relationships, perspectives, and beliefs that are toxic and might also need to be let go of.

Being conscious of only having those items in your life that bring you joy and add value will directly influence you to do the same with your non-tangible things in your life such as beliefs, opinions, and relationships. Packing this literal bag is a reminder to me to let go of that which is no longer serving me.

You will never fit EVERYTHING into this one suitcase. This suitcase represents valuable space in your life … so make sure it contains all and only your favorite things. What sparks joy for you? What adds value? And most importantly what’s just lying around? Don’t be wasting space on things you might need or read or use “one day”. Don’t add weight from relationships or financial stress to this bulky bag you’re going to be carrying around. If there is extra space left, then there is extra breathing room or room for change that you can be “open” to now!