Trying new things

As I mentioned before trying new food can be very exciting. It's an experience, it could turn out bad but also great. You may know the Lidl that has every now and then regional products. This time I picked out this Italiamo and a Vietnams sweet mango flavor drink from the Amazing Oriental.

With crisp and chips it's not very exciting but still very fun to try it. The Italiamo wasn't great or bad. While the surprise this time came from this Vietnamese drink. It's a little bit sweet but the seeds give it a crazy texture. The smell of mango was not very artificial, I really enjoyed it.

As a minimalist I use this way of trying new food to spice up my eating experience and habit. For example I also tried the spicy Korean noodle before it went viral on social media. I try to experience it on my own pace instead of following the big crowd. Don't let the mass influence you to make a decision you don't want. I do use Youtube as an inspiration tool but I am going to try this on my own pace. It's one of the reason I visit Indonesia or Turkish shops just to try new snack/food/drinks.

Shopping card

When I started with minimalism, I got a lot of inspiration online. There weren't a lot of minimalist videos like in 2017. I liked going shopping and find new stuff in store. Still there should be some ground rules that I need to set to get on this journey. So I made a list of what to do and how to do. I created my own shopping card.

You may think shopping card, it's not what you think. It's a way of reminding me how to be a minimalist in real life. The things I mention are so logic and simple but without an constant reminder it was difficult. Go on youtube and you hear so many minimalist that they don't shop anymore. I think it is one of the ways to not bring new items to your home but for someone like I that likes to walk and do window shopping it's a killer no. Because shops have new items and new arrangements. It can also surprise you, it can also inspire you to create things with stuff you already have (upcycle). It can cause conservations between strangers or you go meet up with friends in shops.

Currently when I am shopping I am not tempted to buy because I know I don't need it and I see the tricks.

This shopping card does need some explanation but afterwards you can easily see why this small card with only few rows of words and bad drawing works (at least for I).

Shopping cart: You only need a few items, just don't take a cart because you will try to fill it up. I used to do shopping on my bike and the volume from the cart doesn't fit on my bike. This is a no brainer.

Bread: Everything you eat, always check the expiration date and the nutrition label. Excuses like, it's too mall to read and I can never find the date, it cost too much time are no real reason to not do it. If you take the product home and eat it, got sick and having to go to the doctor doesn't that take time and money?

Candy: Once in a while it's not a sin but you can't fool yourself, if you feel the pants getting tighter it means less sugar intake and snacks.

T-shirt: If you can replace it with something similar in your closet leave it in the store, only after you donate your old ones you can go back and buy it.

Reading material: write down the title and buy an e-edition, if it has nice paper insert those are very cheap and don't justify the price tag.

%OFF: Don't get fooled by the big sales tags. Seriously when isn't it sales. Retail prices are high because they need to include transport, personal cost, etc. When you buy you never save money because the price tag says so. You still spend money, instead of think of it as in hours you need to work for the money, your likely to put it back.

Sofa: Don't buy furniture that you already have. If you really want to replace it, get rid of the old item before buying and use a measurement tool to check if it really fits in your home.

By having this in hand while shopping you remind yourself with what is important.

Doubles

I am not a fan of doubles in the house, there is one exception and that is in the kitchen. I have much more than just one pair of chopstick and more sets of cutlery but not more than 6 sets. In the picture you see two cleaning towels. We used to have 3-4 in the kitchen with no certain protocol to keep it at a minimum. Now we have these two in the kitchen and I am quite proud of it. We use the towels until in can not hold itself anymore and use it one last time for very dirty and grime cleaning before throwing it in the bin. I can say with proud that in one year time we don't even use up one package of cleaning towels. These towels are only for the kitchen and diner table. Once a week or once in two weeks I use it to wipe surfaces in the living room but more than that it won't touch. I like to keep the stuff at a minimum, this way you always have to know where it is and can use it when necessary. These towels will never go in to the bathroom because there I have other clothes that keeps that place clean. Also different surfaces need different textiles to clean it. 

Hang it up!

Last year I bought an ukulele. I wasn't going anywhere with my guitar because it's big and the effort of carrying it with me all times is tiring. So I purchased the little brother the ukulele. It has less cords and should be easier. In truth I have been trying it on/off for the past year and a few weeks ago I came across Yousician and started playing. I can play 3 children songs by picking but strumming is still difficult in my eyes.

The reason why I like the ukulele: it's so easy to take it with you and when I hang it up, it calls me to play. And I always hang it up, as levitating items makes surfaces easier to clean!

I am a tea and coffee lover!

I love to drink tea and coffee. Tonight I was thinking about how much liquide I drink on a daily basis. As I use my Le Creuset mug as a measurement tool, it can hold up to 0,35 liter.

The blue marked row are: breakfast, lunch and diner. After my meals I always drink at least one cup of water. Which makes my daily guaranteed intake of fluid is at least1,05 liter and most of them is hot or at least warm. I only drink cold water on the way. Some days I even drink freshly juiced oranges (max 3 pieces) which is another 0,25liter.

I can get easily to the recommended 1,5- 2,0 liter. In the past it was difficult since I used small cups of 0,25 liter to drink or even smaller because they are cute. Compare 3 cups of 0,25 liters doesn't reach 1 liter. That's why drinking from a bigger container has been very crucial to my liquid intake.

I rarely drink softdrinks because I don't like it and it has a lot of sugar in it. I do like sparkling water with lemon and peppermint. In the past few years I stared drinking powered green tea from Korea and Japan. This has also led to a better lifestyle and more liquid intake.

Fast fashion

I'm not a fan of fast fashion but there was a time that I really like the pricing of fast fashion shops and then I'm talking about H&M, Forever21, 1982 and Zara. I like all those shops but I never bought things for full price, I always wait for the sale and buy a lot. I realize that I've alway picked
uni-colored shirts or items that are easy to match. Yeez, I still do that today but what I've learned it's not the price that matters but the quality for example: in Spain I bought three shirts as souvenirs from the ZARA and it's has been over 5 years ago that I bought it. I still have them in my closet but because of the washing it's losing the color and I am trying to find the same shirt at Zara. It's a vain quest.

The shirts were from the TRF department from Zara and looking at the current brand it doesn't have the same shirt so basically I'm forced to find a different brand that fulfills my need.

I found that in Uniqlo, a Japanese retail store where the price is a little bit higher then I would normally prefer to pay but the quality is very reliable. I have two coats and two hoodies from this shop/brand. The higher price is justifiable because the quality is real impeccable.

I know I can enjoy the pieces for a longer time than the one that I buy in retail for a much lower price but if I stretch it in time, it cost me less to buy quality stuff instead of cheap stuff. Another store I also really like is the C&A, I kinda grew up with this store. They still make pretty basics that I enjoy and that I can easily match. I'm also very happy that in the past few years they introduced organic cotton in their clothing. It means that it's better for the environment and ultimately also better for I.

When you look at clothing in retail in general, it's that the quality from most stores dropped. I used to buy a sweater and could use it for over a decade before recycling and nowadays it's like 3 to 4 years if I'm lucky. Sometimes it doesn't even take a month before it falls apart. The sewing or the stitches really is important too. I get very sad when clothing aren't made to last. Knowing how to mend clothing is very important in my eyes because one small hole shouldn't be the reason to throw something away.

I understand that some people use clothing as a statement but you can do that with accessories because those are easier to repurpose than fabric. Also a necklace is so much easier to sell than clothing and I hope that so much more people will realize this.

Jigsaw puzzle

Old situation

I like puzzles, it's one of the fun things I do. We have two shoe racks one at the back door and one in the front. This is the front door where I put my boots in the rack. The first picture is our old situation, the top doesn't hold three pairs of half boots in it. We tried before to put another pair on it but it always falls and it's just not worth the frustration. That's why we have the seat with newspaper to hold another pair. Some evening ago, I watched Mr. Puzzle on Youtube and got reminded of volume. I know there is enough space because if I put them all next to each other I only miss a few centimeters. It fits but if you want to get your pair out of it one other shoe will fall. The so called common situation looks the best but after some thinking and rearrangement, I got to the current situation.

Current situation

Common situation

I changed the way it's been put on the surface, with this only one pair of shoe is separated in the first row but it won't fall down. Everything fits perfectly and slowly in time the white seats can be put somewhere else in the house. It may not seem much but I really dislike the thought of newspaper on a seat because there is no place, while there is. Also when shoes get wet and the newspaper got printed on the white seats it would be a pain to clean and get it back in it's new white condition.

One way or another

I have some Japanese drama that I like to follow. Most of the time I use an app to send the program on the television. But sometimes not everyone likes the same program so I watch it on my own. Just not on my phone, I tried to back track the RSS channel to a website, it didn't work out.

Instead I used the title of the drama and came across multiple sites some scams but eventually I found a Japanese site with even more dramas. I got so happy because even though it doesn't have Chinese or English sub it's good for my Japanese listening skills.

The best thing is even when I got fed up with unvalid links and having to dismantel my adblocker, I got what I was looking for. Of course I'm not watching all dramas only those I am interested in.

It's the same for my scanning receipt. I'm trying to find a way to digitalize it faster. Currently the scanner is always upstairs connecting to the laptop with the printer and scanning one by one.

Now I am using Scannable to scan and send it to my mail account to be saved. This way even paper receipts are going to be recycled faster. It's all about being and working more efficiency. And by reducing or cutting back on steps in processing clutter it's easier and no excuses to procastinate.

Knowing how it works

I have been using my first Olaz total 7 Regenerist for a half year and it doens't pump cream anymore. So as a frugal person I want to see if there is still some cream left and if I can use the container for something else. Perhaps my honey night cream....

To disassemble everything is so much fun that I almost miss the hidden part where the cream is. I do like this container very much only downside is that it's made of plastic so in the end I put it in my recycle bin.

The thought of keeping things to upcycle or to reduce used to be a block on my foot for keeping things. It's one of the excuses to make to keep it in our home. But by thinking a head and other alternative it makes clear that my honey night cream is glass and easily recyclable. The container looks nice and knowing how the cream is pumped up is nice but keeping the plastic instead of the glass is a big no, no.

Selling clothing

In honer of this week Chinese New Year I finally called and got my old clothing and bags to be picked up. I only received €10,- for 6 bags but it's better than having it in my closet doing nothing. I didn't put the 9 bags into the pile just right after calling and confirming the pick up time.

In the past year I didn't had any luck with selling so why not selling it for €0,30 per KG. When I put it in the trash bag, I didn't feel bad or sad. I have a feeling that I'm getting closer to be being able to let things and situation go as it seems.

Fun fact, the buyer was quite happy to see me again. He even voiced out to see me soon again. My reaction to his comment: I don't have any much more to sell. Ain't that funny?

Living room

In the past few years the common living room has been a thorn in  my eye. We have a lot of blankets and I bought a few containers to put them in but last week when I sat there I could watch television and I felt bored.

Since we have a flat-tv I made sure the paper stacks weren't on top of the television, I moved it to the side of a cabinet and last year it went into the cabinet. The telephone goes on the back of the television with a power strip (for the telly and Chromecast) and a napkin dispenser. It's so easy to clean.

The nicknacks aren't on the table, sometimes a cup or a cookie container but for the most of the time empty, free space. On the sides on the cabinet there is nothing to distract us from. Everything really has it's own place. For all the blankets I bought the Ikea thrones shoe cabinet and stack two of them near the sofa to put in blankets and cushions. The top I even use it at times to put my mug or snacks.

I even frequently dust the floor because there is so little stuff I need to till from the ground. Also the dust now springs out because all the other distractions aren't there. Our living room is for us to sit down and relax. The telly in the corner when we want to watch, we have enough sitting cushions for the floor and chairs.

We can easily relax and sit down to listen to music or read a book if we want. Our living room has become a place where you can easily nap or lounge. It has so little distractions that it's becomes a boring room and it's not that we don't have things on display. I only put some on it, those who really are nice and the rest goes back in a box.

It shows that all my hard work and not giving up finally paid out. During these past few years, not only did I learned to appreciate a calm and easy to clean environment but my family has learned it too. My family doesn't know that I am a minimalist and that I'm even putting little bits of my habits in their routine.

Third time a charm

I have this bottle of facial cream since 2016, it was a buy 3 pay 1 item. I used up the tea tree and dead sea salt and it was finally time to use the honey one. It was really sh*t! It was so sticky and it wasn't comfortable on my skin. I was really pissed and wanted to throw it out. But on second thought I used it to fill a pump bottle as hand cream which I give to others to use.

This winter I tried again and I didn't hate it that much anymore. Perhaps it's the feeling of comparing it to the tea tree and sea salt which both are very refreshing. From refreshing to very hydrating and sticky it's a huge difference. Also consider the bad timing, during summer using a honey cream ain't a good match. Now I use it as a night cream because it doesn't have SPF in it.

This situation has thought me that even though it didn't work out in the first or second time perhaps it would the third or the fourth time.

Fila

I bought a pair of new gymnastic shoes. They were in sale for €15,-. I don't really like or hate the brand, it just fulfills a need. I needed flexible shoes for the gym which I didn't have. So I saw it in sale and knew I was going to use it and bought it. That's it.

Next thing I got was a voucher with perhaps a winning number and filled in my email to receive a voucher for my next purchase. Now the shop practically thinks I am a Fila fan, I must love this brand because I bought one pair of shoes. This is basically marketing, they think I like the brand and expect that I am a loyal customer. Guess again, I'm not!

So two weeks has passed and I received around 5 emails and thought it's enough. I unsubscribed myself of the newsletter because I don't want to be brainwashed to be a Fila fanatic.

I'm not really angry at the brand, this just showcase how marketing companies work to slip these brand into you everyday life. They want to tempt me with another buy by reminding me when there is a sale or a new product launch. It's fine but I don't want an email every 3 days about the same subject. I'm not zombie that follows because you want me to.

Battery problems

I have a radio that needs 4xUM-1 batteries or constantly being plugged in. At my place I couldn't find any one of them. Currently I have only cell batteries, AA and AAA. I thought UM-1 was the same as D batteries, turned out I bought the wrong one. Luckily I saved the receipt so I can return it.

So I Youtubed some film and made sure to use my rechargeable batteries instead of one time use. I rolled up some carton and pushed back a bit of carton to hold it up. Now it works perfectly with only 4xAAA batteries which is rechargeable.

Having solutions using the things I have is better than always buying new stuff. But to be totally honest, I was afraid to use carton or paper in my electronics but knowing that the batteries are low in voltage and the times I use it is only for the alarm clock instead of the radio.

From minimalism to zero waste?

Minimalism has made my every day life easier. I always have one to-go bag with all the things I need. You want to go out with me for a week or a weekend, it doesn't take 10 minutes to decide and pack my bag and go. And no I don't have a to-go trolly already in the attic waiting for me.

I would depending on the length of the trip and the weather take my travel bag, trolly or suitcase. Most important thing: toothbrush, toothpaste, day cream, undies, socks and clothing. It's that simple, I know for a weekend I can only take a backpack if that's all. Perhaps another big foldable bag so I can put some souvenirs food in it but that's it. I don't take more than I need.

So from minimalism, I started to see others using zero-waste which is awesome. I already see that since I already decluttered and shop more rationally, stuff don't get in the house as easy as before. Our trash has been significantly downsized too. Especially since we also separate the plastic and tins. The trash bag that is already smaller than a normal family took days to being full.

At a point it didn't get full and fruit flies came out of it. So I used our old sturdy plastic batter bowl as the trash container. Now it takes one or two days to make it full, downsize is that a lot of rubbish could rot is thrown in the trash instead of the rot section. The rot section only get used during the autumn when all the leaves falling from the trees goes in there. It's most of the time empty.

So knowing I have to do more rotting, I should get those bags for the things that can rot like banana peel. I already search online and found that I could get those free bags from the city hall. I am very honest and I like the movement of zero waste. I don't think I will go fully zero waste but I know I can draw so much inspiration from the movement that I can incorporate in my daily life by just changing my daily habits day by day. And the first is, let it rot!

Nicknacks add up

Today I opened a box with the most cutest stuff that I once bought during my traveling. During that time I was still a child that didn’t really knew the value of stuff. I didn’t like to spent a lot of money to buy big stuff but small amount of money for such cute items was all justifiable. Now I am parting with it and I don’t feel a bit sad. Strange isn’t it?

Even though I don’t buy stuff like this anymore, little by little I am getting rid of more stuff than I knew I have. I still like cute things only I don’t feel the need to own it. It’s all a mental switch. It has been sitting in a box for ages out of sight not bringing me any real happy feelings. Realizing it is good but to tackle these miscellaneous objects does hurt my current pride. But thinking that it’s just the old me that bought it and the current me is strong and confident to accept what I have been is good too.

The small nicknacks that are laying around are really things that I like very much or those that represent me in a very good way. Something I am very proud of myself is that even though it’s bargain, I don’t buy it anymore. For example today I could buy two new ice cube tray fo just 75 cents but I choose not to. I only bought bedsheets that someone requested and that’s it.

I still accept nicknacks but I definitely don’t buy it anymore!

Difference in maintenance

Yesterday, I cleaned my shoes. I have these leather shoes that are amazing. I am coming back to this brand called Medicus. For a decade I have found my leather short boots in this brand. Currently I have this nice one without real heals.

My mother has the same one but I used my before hers. But after cleaning both pair of shoes you can see that mine looks much better than hers. It's because I learned to look after my shoes. I always wipe wetness or rain from my shoes instead of letting my real leather getting dry under the heater. From a tv program I've learned it's a big no, no to put leather near heat sources. So since I knew that I always wipe away liquids.

Another important thing is using newspaper to keep the figure of the boots if you don't always use it. So sometimes if the shoe also comes with those carton shape for the boots, I always keep them in my off season shoes. 

I don't mind paying more for my shoes because I wear them everyday and with a little polish once a month they go a long way. These two summer/autumn shoes for example have been with me over at least 5 years. These shoes are all under €100,- and I am very satisfied with them. They may not be big brand names but they are quality shoes for a reasonable price. 

So when I am polishing my shoes, my mother always ask to do hers too. I already told her the shine won't be coming out as pretty as mine because she hasn't been taking good care of it for a long time. But truth to be told after polishing it does looks better and that makes us proud while wearing it. 

China not accepting trash anymore

I am so happy that China isn't the dump of the world anymore. Since last year China's regulation on importing recycling product has been sharpened. It means that our trash isn't always allowed in the borders anymore. China is still giving out permits to exporters that ship only 100% paper but for a lot of exporters it's difficult.

You must be thinking why would I be happy that it won't be shipped and recycled in China anymore. First of all, I don't think that our own trash should be transported away because we can, it's easy and cheap. It means that for example in Europe there should be new regulation on how to recycle locally.

Our inventors can get busy in how to process the paper, and how to reuse it and prepare it for it's second, third or infinite life. It means we can not only make recycle toiletpaper to only flush it into the toilet. And if we flush it into the toilet how will it be filtered and be usable again? It can also be recycled into recycled newspaper. Or cartons?

It's a new way of thinking that is better for the environment and eventually for all of us.

My old pictures

When cleaning out my computer I had to see all of my files. And one big part of it is pictures, I think I even have duplicates of them on my phone, SD-cards, computer and harddisk. This picture has been taken on 22 February 2014. Almost four years ago this was sitting in the middle of the house. My mother had taken this wooden table from somewhere and we started putting stuff on it.

It has been a mekka of all random stuff, I was just really starting to do minimalism through out the house. The table has been long discard and the stuff on the table all found their respectively 'home'. The small pump bottle with blue disinfection gel is the same bottle I currently use in the bathroom for the shower gel. The yellow brush is amazing for getting hair together in the bathroom.

The pink basket with clothing pins and the washing rack is now out of sight beneath the staircase. The hook that I want another one or two on my wishing list is now holding the asperges pan/paper pan on another furniture to levitate it. The bags of battery or recycle waste that has to be delivered into a collecting bin have found a great home underneath our living room waste basket.

Looking at these pictures are all a victory of mine. These small changes may seem effortless but at that time it was hard and difficult. But the reward I get seeing an empty space, it feels great.

My wish list

Let's be honest being a minimalist doesn't mean we shouldn't buy any stuff at all, I only have to carefully select the item and check what I really want instead of what's on the market. That's why I made a wish list that keeps track of what I really want and what my price range is.

I really like this traveler wallet that fits my passport and all other necessities when aboard. What's even beter is that it's RFID protected, no skimmers that can skim our detail. I saw this one at Amazon, Ebay and AliExpress. The price ranges from €3,- to €13,- depending on the website. I am still thinking where to buy this and if I really need it. I normally don't have my paspoort with me instead I have my ID-card but this is nice to have consider that my normal wallets don't fit any large bills.

Next is this shower head that's good for the skin and for my bathroom. I have seen this kind of shower head on travelers program. It has been recommended as a good souvenir or gift.

Quality is very important when it comes to these product and the design is so pretty. There are several models but this one is the best available in my region. The one I saw and perhaps really want looks a little bit different and the price range is quite terrifying.


Since coming back from China seeing and using these tables myself I want to have this too. Unfortunately I haven't got any luck with finding it and the shipping cost on these tables are quite high or they don't ship to the Netherlands. I have been thinking of making one on my own but consider the legs aren't quite available here I'll just wait until I get a great offer in my mailbox.


I already have on of this but want to have another one or two to use for my current Healthy Backpack and everywhere else in the house. This one is great because you can also use it as an hanging object on the bag instead in dropping in the bag and never using it because you can't find it.

They all look overly cute but I don't mind if it does the job correctly. And I can also look for better colors that I like.



As you can see there is no item that isn't home decor, it all serves a purpose. And my latest one, the tapwater filter. It doesn't mean it has to be like this one, the one for my bathroom for example doesn't need to be like this. But this is nice and is easy to install.

So how does your wishing list looks like?

Sale! Sale! Sale!

January is the sale month in almost everywhere. Even I found and bought something, a sweater for €2,75. Not 100% cotton but with 72% I am very close to my goal of having more clothing with 100% cotton.

With new clothing I always make sure it’s clean before I wear it. I don’t know since when I started washing my new clothes before wearing it. As a teenager I thought that the first time I pulled the tab of the clothing means it’s also clean, new and safe to wear.

But getting older and learning that the clothing industry puts and use a lot of chemicals in the process of making the product, I started washing it before wearing it. When it arrive into my home I watch the item again and decide if I am really going to keep it. Looking at the mirror with normal lighting and not letting the marketing tricks fool me. If I don't like it, I return it to the shop with the receipt that I always keep.

In February it's all about Valentine day but it doesn't mean that the sale is over. The highest percentage discount is in February when everyone has already done the shopping in January and all that's left has to go for over 50% or more. Of course not all store are doing that, I see a trend that shops are slowing down with discount because the economy is doing better and shops expect that consumers are more willing to buy for a higher prize.

It's not really the prize that matters but the value of the stuff in your life.

No, so busy that I forgot to post

Yikes, these few days I wake up and went to the gym and had breakfast. I bought a new pair of sport shoe last week. And my laptop was busy with transferring files from USB to laptop to external harddrive. I was only thinking after I lay in bed and that's why this post is short.