Beware of Spending on a Minimalist Lifestyle
It’s weird to think that minimalism can be expensive. At the end of the day, costs are usually equal and minimalism is less of a thing. But in pursuit of minimalism, we often spend more than we expect.
Minimalism and frugality seem to go hand in hand. In theory, minimalism is about consuming less and being content with what you have. But that can easily turn into an expense, just like any other interest.
I am a minimalist in the sense that I don’t like a lot of clutter and I prefer to own only things that I regularly use. But I am also a consumer, and contrary to popular belief, the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Here’s how it works in practice: I decide there is too much clutter in my closet, so I ditch my entire wardrobe to buy a new, minimalist one. Less is better, but instead of just getting rid of things, I spend tons of money buying new simple things. I did it with the technique too. I want a new product that promises everything, so I will unnecessarily upgrade my phone or tablet, spending hundreds of dollars on it.
This does not mean that buying new things is bad, but you should keep this in mind if you are trying to live a minimalist lifestyle for the sake of economy. In MoneyNing, writer Emily Guy Birken reveals this practical flaw with her own example:
I happily got rid of dozens of dry pens, lead-free mechanical pencils, assorted markers and markers I had never used, including one silver paint pen I couldn’t remember to buy. Of course, less than a week later, my husband asked me if we had a silver drawing pen … I was able to showcase my gorgeous, organized and minimalist desk drawer, but we had to go and buy a new drawing pen.
This is the classic struggle between frugality and minimalism . Any usable item that you get rid of in order to achieve your minimalist goals can end up costing you dearly if you have to buy it again.
The art of masculinity explains the mindset behind this :
The great irony of minimalism is that while it is designed to free you from focusing on things, it still makes them the center of your life! The materialist focuses on how to accumulate things, while the minimalist focuses on how to get rid of those things … they both end up focusing their thoughts on things .
Bottom line: We often use minimalism as a reason to consume more, even though we were supposed to consume less. This is not to say that this is not something to strive for, but like everything else, it helps to understand the potential costs. Check out MoneyNing’s full post for more on this idea.