The Importance of Objects

Source

As I have been thinking both about what to replace (unhealthy) shopping with, and what makes an adequate or smart purchase, I have been pondering the question of the place of objects in my simplified life. If minimalism is about shifting values and priorities - away from material possessions and toward growth, relationships etc., does it mean objects have no importance at all?

Smart or Manipulated?

Source

Today, I'd like to broach the subject of how to navigate special purchases: travel and airport buys, sales seasons and other time limited offers. I have been raised to believe it was smarter to wait for a discounted price to purchase something, but most marketing tricks and traps are based on time limited events or discounts. How to navigate these opportunities without being manipulated ?

Fast Month #3 // Replacing Shopping With...

That's a Fish.

Three months into my shopping fast - which is more of a "shopping recasting" since I still purchase groceries, cleaning products, depleted consumables etc. -, I started to understand exactly what my shopping habits used to be about. After a few weeks of struggle with my willpower, realizing what I'm really after when I go shopping helped me find replacement activities.

Fast Month #2: Organization & Care

August Personal Pictures: the repaired 2010 watch, apple & cinammon dessert on seldom used plate, sashimi lunch, ingredients from food stock to prepare hummus

Two months after the start of my shopping fast, I found myself paying much more attention to my collection of items, since buying new things is out of the picture. Even so soon after the start of the experiment, I already noticed some changes in how I consider and treat my possessions. Here are some ideas on how I've been working on making the most of what I own and reducing the need for new purchases.

Fast Month #1: On Mindset

Source: Flickr

As I officially started my Levelled Up Shopping Fast about a month ago (on June 19th), here are the impressions and learnings from month one. The beginning has been harder than I thought, as I underestimated the importance of mindset and unconscious behaviours (damn brain biases). Here are some learnings from my missed start, as well as the rest of the month, as I went back on track.

Creating New Needs

Source: tumblr

Following the post on Body Care, I have been asked if I could write about beauty products, from a marketing point of view. After examining my own routine, Sephora's shelves, and a bit of research, I have decided to present you the concept of creating new needs, "opening a new market", which seems to be one of the techniques used in the beauty industry.

Willpower and Epic Fail

Source: Flickr

Almost one month after I bought my last purchase before starting a 6 month shopping fast, I already have an epic fail and subsequent learnings to report. Let's call it a missed start. And the important learning, probably key to succeeding not only in that kind of random fast experiment, but in any habit change, being to manage one's willpower resources.

Simple Life: Body Care

My current bathroom shelf // personal picture

In the Simple Life series, I'd like to present you how I approach various life areas, based on my idea of simplicity I've been refining these past few years. After the reflection around usefulness and aesthetics, here is my current take on body care, and how important this is in a simple life.

Levelled Up Shopping Fast Experiment

Uniqlo le Marais // Personal Picture

Shopping fast experiments can be a good ways to learn more about my shopping habits and how I spend my free time. This isn't the first time I'm trying this, but this time I have decided to share the process and learnings with you, in case it helps with your own simplicity journey.

Simple Life: Shopping

Source

My material items consumption has changed a lot since I started my simplification journey. One year ago, I decided to be more mindful about my shopping habits. I probably still have a way to go before shopping in a more frugal way, but here is how I shop in a more simple and mindful way now, if it can help.

On Perfection

Source

I wanted to touch on the subject of perfection for a long while, as it seems to be deeply linked to one side of minimalism, as the search for a curated collection of perfect items for a perfect life. I think perfection is a dangerous concept though, as it can lead to much insatisfaction. Here are my thoughts on the subject.

On Packaging

Source: Karen Mordechai

After writing a few posts on consumption from a marketing point of view, it seems I have involuntarily created a mini-series here. Today's subject has actually been suggested by a reader: packaging, and the influence of an object's presentation in our purchase habits and choices.

The Real Cost of Objects

Source: Anne Parker

As I engaged in simple living, I started considering my material purchases more closely before handing over my carte bleue. I also started questioning my culling choices, as you may have read, and one of the elements I started pondering lately is the real cost of objects on our daily outcome, beyond their purchase price.

On Culling: Tips

Source: Juliette Tang

Following the Culling Mistakes post, here are a few tips I learned these past years and would like to share with you if it can help. After all, editing my collection of items has improved my life a lot, despite the mistakes I made along the way, and I can only encourage you to give it a try, if you feel so enclined.

On Culling Mistakes

Source: Cole Haan

Since I started simplifying my life in Spring 2011, I have set a lot of items free - books, DVD, decoration items, clothing... Three years later, the effects of this culling process are overwhelmingly positive and I have more time for other pursuits. However, where most minimalists say they got rid of their stuff and never looked back, I'd like to point out that I did make a few culling mistakes, which I'd like to share with you if it can help avoiding them in the future.

On Psychological Price

Personal Picture // St Michel, March 2013

When minimalists discuss the price of things, it usually comes down to investing in quality pieces, calculating cost per use (or cost per wear in the case of clothing). Or it is about high street store and the real price of the cheap items we have at our disposal. Today, I'd like to discuss another side to price: how marketing sets a price point to objects, and why we should be aware of that as consumers.

Detox

I stumbled upon this video on my facebook feed lately, and thought it was well worth sharing on the Nife. How is the fashion industry polluting the Earth, and how a group of people have been using the skill and creativity to change things with the Detox initiative lead by Green Peace.

Simple Life: Usefulness & Aesthetics

Beef Shabu-Shabu & Cabbage salad // personal picture

Today, I'd like to introduce the Simple Life series. In these posts, I'd like to present you how I approach various life areas, based on my idea of simplicity I've been refining these past few years. The concept was already introduced to the Nife with these posts on Quality, and on Food. In this post, I'd like to introduce my approach to the material items I surround myself with.

Consumerism, Consumption & Materialism

Personal Picture // Mylène Pratt's Atelier Boutique

I have been pondering the definition of consumerism lately. We read that our growth-based economy is based on a consumerist model, simplicity & minimalism advocates argue that we should fight consumerism and be more mindful with our consumption. But what is consumerism really? How is it different from consumption, or materialism?

Level Up Mini-Challenge: Turnover

Source

Introducing a new post concept: the Level Up mini-challenges. As I experiment in various growth categories, I have decided to share some of these with you, have they been useful to me. Please let me know if you like this series and if it's of any use to you. Below, a short presentation of the post concept, and the first mini-challenge: a simple way to test wardrobe turnover.