Things I Stopped Buying That Nobody Notices

Like most people, I enjoy the pleasures and conveniences of modern life. I drive a car, I travel the world, I have an iPhone in my pocket, and a thermostat on the wall of my home that makes it any temperature we want.

But I also recognize that our nearly insatiable appetite for comfort and leisure isn’t without its costs. It’s hard to escape that fact that nearly everyone I know has way more stuff than we could ever need— and because of that, at least as much stress and worry in their lives as they can handle.

In our pursuit of more, we’ve over complicated our lives and filled our minds with a whole bunch of thoughts and concerns that wouldn’t be there if we hadn’t first bought the item in the first place.

What do you need just a little more of? How about time, energy, patience, self-control, or focus? What if, instead of buying more stuff, you decided to spend all of your resources in those areas, and give yourself the only “more” that really matters.

Below I’m going to share some specifics from my own life of things I’ve stopped buying. Just taking those away has immediately given me back a little bit of time and mental space, and I honestly don’t have that much anyways. While these are specific to my situation, I hope they give you the inspiration to break free from what you thought was a necessity, and maybe you don’t actually need to be happy.

Home decor

I spent an embarrassing amount of money on new furniture over the years simply because I wanted to see something new and fresh when I looked around my home.

That was an expensive way to add a minor and temporary amount of happiness to my life. Now I direct that money towards something much more satisfying— travel with my family.

Decorations that aren’t useful

In the past I liked a certain aesthetic in my home and I decorated with pretty, but impractical objects to achieve that look.

These days, I find a great deal of beauty in objects that are at the same time useful and beautiful. That might mean a lovely vase to hold my wife’s garden flowers, or a basket to hold the kid’s library books. I don’t miss my old style one bit.

Toys

Growing up, I had a toy room that was liberally packed with every kind of toy imaginable. And while I have fond memories of my childhood, most of them are from playing with friends, playing sports, reading, and being outdoors. The toys are vague and found only in the background of my family videos, not as the source of happiness that they were meant to provide.

My wife and I still buy toys for our kids, but our default is not to. Our kids play and entertain themselves just fine, but what they really crave is time and attention from their parents. As much as possible, we provide them with just that.

Excessive clothing

When you have a big wardrobe, you are constantly thinking about what to wear and what looks good. A smaller wardrobe makes those choices simpler, and as a bonus, you get to become really familiar with your favorite clothes. There’s an emotional attachment that can develop to certain articles of clothing that hold special significance or memories, and I find that harder to achieve when your closet is stuffed with options.

Trendy kitchen gadgets

I have officially sworn off kitchen gadgets. All I need in my kitchen these days is a sharp knife, a wooden spoon, a cast iron skillet, a stainless steel pot, and some kind of spatula for flipping.

I like a good cup of coffee in the morning, so I also use a kettle and an Aeropress to make that.

I can’t think of a single gadget that I use on a regular basis that makes my life any better than these simple, high quality, tried and true tools.

Fancy supplements

At one point in my life I was regularly buying a protein supplement and a multivitamin. I have since decided to stop buying and using both of them.

I felt the protein supplement was encouraging me to eat worse foods since I was getting so much of my protein from that source. And the multivitamin was just an extra expense that gave me well more than 100% of what I needed and was mostly unnecessary in my well-balanced diet.

Cable TV

Back when I was a kid, you had to subscribe to a premium cable package in order to get ESPN and many other channels you may have wanted to watch. These days, however, standard streaming services will get you almost every piece of entertainment you could think of, other than a few live sporting events.

I’m indifferent about professional sports in general, and if I ever want or feel like checking in on my favorite team, it’s only a quick stop on any of the major sports websites. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything I actually care about.

Impulse buys

The quickest way to waste money is on purchases you haven’t given much thought to. However, the great news is that you are just as likely to waste time on those purchases too. There’s good reason to believe, in my own experience, that the longer you think about a purchase, the more you are likely to enjoy it.

This is the case because anticipation is a huge part of the enjoyment of a purchase. Without a waiting period for the item to arrive, you don’t get that anticipatory excitement of dreaming about how you might enjoy the item and getting excited to finally start using it when it arrives.

There’s also a reality that when you give into impulse buying, you are just tricking your brain into a quick hit of dopamine that is likely to fade away even quicker than if you delayed that reward.

Anything with a monthly fee

In my quest for simplicity, I try to avoid anything that comes with a monthly fee. It is amazing how many things have become subscription services in the past five years. If you aren’t careful, you can be paying for dozens of subscriptions, none of which are too expensive on their own, but incredibly expensive in totality and a huge distraction from the kind of life you want to live.

Conclusion

If you are like me, there are many things you think you need in your life, that are, in fact, completely optional. When you recognize this truth, you can take back some control over your life, and spend more of your resources on the things that truly bring you joy. For example, spending more time with the people you love will in most cases bring way more happiness than purchasing a new item from the store.