Whenever I perform my yearly decluttering session, I reflected a lot about my purchase and hence, it got me inspired to write this post! Buying less means producing less waste, and saving more (if you don't spend the money elsewhere). By putting down my thoughts into this post, I'd be more self-conscious, and hopefully also inspires you to do the same, and make more conscious purchase of what you really need :P Here is a list of items I will not buy any more!
1. Soft toys
When I was younger, I was a huge sucker for soft toys. I hug them to sleep, they were all over my shelves. My heart melts at the sight of them.
Being the youngest in the family, including amongst my extended family, I grew up very fortunate to be constantly showered by gifts. My close friends and family, knowing how much I love soft toys, bought me soft toys for every special occasion like my birthdays. Or as souvenirs when they travel overseas. The number of soft toys increased perpetually with my age...
As I grew older, like any other toy, I eventually grew out of it. Yet, I have been holding on to all my soft toys because of the sentimental values they hold. And occasionally, I still receive soft toys as gifts, which I find rather sweet but often conflicted and troubled inside...because I have no space to keep them. And soft toys unfortunately, accumulate dusts. Lots of dust
Being someone who is extremely sentimental, it was hard for me to give my soft toys away - I declutter my stuff about once a year and every time I declutter, I try to pack away some soft toys that are beyond keeping condition. My effort to try to reduce the number of soft toys usually ends up in vain - my heart can't bear to give them away so most of the time, only one or two get packed away out of my....god knows how many collections whenever I declutter. I was running out of space and it made cleaning hard because of the dust accumulation.
Until today (21 March 2020), I've finally chosen a few (ok fine, it's still more than 10, but less than 15) to keep and packed away the rest.
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| A rather worn-out toy puppy, given to me by my late grandfather 20+ years ago. Hurts a little to chuck it away but looking at the condition... |
So to save myself from future heartache, I've decided to not get a soft toy anymore. I love them dearly, but I have no space for more. Thank you all for your kind gifts though.
I hope all my soft toys will find new homes that love them!
PSA to my loved ones reading this, please don't get me any more soft toys! <3
PS soft toy manufacturer, you spark a lot of joy to people. Just that...it's so heartbreaking to dispose of a soft toy :'(
2. Notebooks
I'm not picky with the types of notebook I use. And I enjoy taking down notes on devices more. You get free notebooks easily too, from banks, insurance companies etc. When I was teaching in school, I often receive notebooks as gift from students too.
I have plenty of unused or half-used notebooks sitting around my house now. Will only buy one if and only if I've used up all the notebooks at home.
3. Hair accessories (other than my telephone cord hair tie!)
How often do you see me wearing hair accessories? I've always preferred to let my hair be as it is. Sometimes, I'd find hair accessories that catch my eye in bazaar or boutique. So here's a personal reminder to not buy them.
4. Accessories (necklace, rings etc)
Same as (3) above. I don't really wear accessories. And I'm glad I don't wear earrings :P
5. Pen holders
Because you can easily use a pretty can or box (or you could DIY and jazz up a box) as a pen holder!
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| Using a tea leaves tin from Harrods as my pen holder! |
6. Hats and caps
I just don't wear them. And if I do want to wear them...my family has a stash of free caps/caps we bought during our travel which I could use
7. Bookmarks
Because there are so many things that can be used as a bookmark!
8. Knick-knacks/Decorations
I used to love collecting knick-knacks when I travel, as a little memento of places I've been before. It's a habit I've gotten from my mum - she loves buying little decoration pieces and collecting magnet.
However, I feel like once these items are placed aside it's forgotten. And it starts collecting dust.
Unless it's something functional (ie a flower pot where I can put my flowers, a clock), I'd get it.
9. Postcards
Similar to (8), I used to collect postcards as memento. Now, I have a huge stack of them sitting in a box, collecting dust.
10. Tote bag
I always feel tempted to buy those pretty tote bags featured in shops and social media. But honestly...my house is sprawling with tote bags, gotten for free from events like marathon, buying a product and so on. It isn't going green if you continue to purchase tote bag and not use the ones you already have because it isn't "fashionable".
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| Jia and one of her free tote bag from Amazin' Graze |
You don't need another tote bag, Jia Qi. You have a lot of functional tote bag.
11. Exercise top
Whenever I go for a jog at my neighbourhood park or go climbing at the climbing gym, I always envy those who are donned in stylish & fitting exercise clothes.
Me? I often wear marathon tees. Or free cotton tees I've gotten from joining events.
Yes, I am tempted to get myself some stylish exercise clothing. But will getting a new set of clothes improve my performance? I don't do sports competitively, so getting that spanky new exercise top really wouldn't affect me...
12. Marathon
Okay, this isn't an item. But this falls under this list because when you join a marathon, you are essentially buying a marathon t-shirt and medal.
I used to be active in marathons and hence, I have too many marathon tees to count.
I've recently just gotten rid of my marathon medals too. Yes, it's nice to take a photo and upload it onto social media after your run. But what's after that? What purpose does the medal serve? Maybe to some, it is a precious proof that one has achieved something. But to me...it's a dust collector. How I wish if I could join a run while opting out for the medal! :(
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Things I try not to buy...but probably will. Sometimes.
1. Books
I loveeee physical books. But like soft toys, books take up a lot of space and collect dust. I've been switching to reading e-books online using Scribd, but essentially, I find more joy in reading a physical book.
I think twice, no thrice, no maybe quadruple times before I make a book purchase. I'm more inclined to make a book purchase if the author is Malaysian, just to show support to our local writers.
2. Clothes
If you've been following my monthly goals reflection post, you'd noticed that I changed my goal from "not buying any clothes at all" to "long-term planning my wardrobe and only buying clothes that are on my shopping list".
Like most girls out there...I have a lot of clothes. I enjoy dressing up for different occasions and styling my looks. I want to dress better. However, one doesn't have to buy a lot of clothes to achieve this. I just need to be very mindful of what I want to buy and plan it properly...and have a lot of discipline.
3. Photos
Printed photos are great. They brighten up my day and reminds me of good times. But what do we do with them afterward...? When you replace your photo on the desk with some other photo...what do you do with the original photo? Keep it aside and never look at them for 20+ years?
Is it socially acceptable to throw away photos...? What do we do with them really?
This has been an ongoing debate in my head for years. I've always been trying to NOT print photos because of the above conflict. Most of the time, photos are kept in albums, and never look at for years. *dust collector trigger*. But they do look nice as decoration...
Hence, this ongoing conflict. Right now I have no firm stance on this...
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Shall update this list as time past! I wonder if one day, plants and pots will be on this list too?
What's on your list of things not to buy? :)
Note: this list serves as a personal reference to remind me not to make unnecessary purchases, and hopefully inspire you to do the same! However, what works for me might not work for you. And similarly, what works for you might not work for me. So
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