A Journey Towards Minimalism

How would you celebrate CNY as a chinese minimalist? Same as everyone else, I still buy new clothes, do my spring cleaning, buy CNY's goodies etc. So what's the different as a chinese minimalist who also celebrate CNY the same as others? As I shared in my previous blog post regarding how my life has changed after a year of minimalism , this year during the spring cleaning, we really can feel the effect of it.  My wife feels less stress in cleaning and tidying up (because we have much lesser stuffs now than before), for CNY's food stuffs, we don't really buy much as we are just a family of four and not many people gather in our house for celebration. We tend to gather at someone's place who is more senior. We only buy what we think we are able to finish up such as bak kwa, boxes of chocolates, some packet of drinks (pretty much nothing else, except some other stuffs for steamboat). Even for new year clothes, I only restrict myself in just g...

One year after minimalism I still remember the first time when I was being introduced minimalism was around August 2016. As I couldn't find much videos about minimalism on YouTube, I started posting about become minimalist in Singapore on YouTube in August last year. And because of that, I was connected with like-minded minimalists and most of us are now in a Facebook Group (This is a closed group as we want to keep it minimalist!), it keeps growing bigger day by day though! So how's life for me after a year of minimalism? Well, below are some of my thoughts and practices: I no longer buy physical books but rather loan or buy online (we do have digital library which we circulate books around) I own lesser clothes than a year before (worn and torn clothes are being use as rags instead) I still listen to The Minimalist's Podcast to learn more about minimalism Those who knows that I'm a minimalist stopped buying stuffs for me (in...

Its a noisy world out there! If you had embarked on your minimalism world, you would notice that it's not an easy or smooth journey after all! Why is that so? Because we are all living in a noisy world . Different people define minimalism differently and do it differently. However, ultimately minimalism at it's core means " less is more ". People tends to want others agree with them and likely they will tell you that as a minimalist, you should do this or that. In fact, the real minimalism should comes from the inside rather that the outside . Do you feel happier, more peaceful or lighter? If you do, probably you are on the right track. Just ignore the noises. How should a minimalist get away from all the noises? So, usually, when I bring stuffs into my life, usually I will ask myself some questions: Does this item makes my life simpler? Does it helps to save money or time? Does it makes me happier? Do I need to spend a lot of time or m...

The darkest day for minimalists? Yes! Everywhere is on sales. Everyone you know is buying everything or something that their eyes caught hold on. And you? What are you waiting for? "Go grab them!" your inner devil's voice said.  "I'm a minimalist, I don't need any more stuffs!" here comes your inner's angel talking to you. Ok fine! I will just switch on the TV or surf my Facebook! What could go wrong? You choose to ignore both the devil and the angel. However, you saw ads on the TV screen and on your iPhone all over the place. You are tempted, what should you do? Solutions for minimalists on black friday I'll tell you what I did for my black Friday! Well, I saw on Facebook that the whole road was jammed with car on the highway which look literally like christmas tree. I laughed to myself........ "What are all these people thinking? Can't they just shop online to buy the things they need or wel...

Do you need battery for your clock? Few days ago, my wife and I went to shopping at Outram Park. We were shopping for items that we truly need. As our mattress sheet were a bit torn, we decided to get 2 of them. At that moment, my wife remembered that our clock has stopped working and probably need a battery (C size). Therefore, we get a pair of them which cost us $1.50 After we reached home, my wife immediately went and change the clock's battery. After a while, I saw some frustration look on her face. "What's the matter? You need my help? I asked. "The clock is not working, can you please help me check is the clock spoilt? she said annoyingly. I took over the clock and placed the battery in the correct order (+ to + and - to -), pushed it all the way in and yet the clock was not ticking. Then I gave some hard knock trying to revive it. After I while, I told her "I pronounced this clock officially dead!" "What?!!...