Minimalism and the luxuries

Does minimalism means that we miss out on the luxuries in life?

Well, it’s entirely up to you.

Dave and I practice a school of minimalism where we do minimalise the stuff in our life, yet not compromising on quality. At the same time, we try not to be too extravagant about them and avoid spending exorbitant amounts where possible.  

Wow… quality. So that must have meant that there are some expensive stuff in our life?

Yes and no.

Yes that we have quality products around us and yes that some of these products might be slightly more expensive.

No in the sense that we do not believe that quality equates high price and we certainly do own quite a few items that might have been purchased cheaply.

Case in point, my makeup and skincare products.

My makeup and skincare products is made up of a mix and match of high end and affordable over the counter products that you can get from the local pharmacy.

I do not deny that I used to own a lot of such products and duplicates of them. However, as I started decluttering them, I only have those that I need and nowadays, I only buy those that I need.

The thing about these products are, they have limited shelf life. Most manufacturers will recommend that you discard them after a year, especially with the fact that we are in a hot,tropical climate, these products tend to deteriorate much faster.

When I was decluttering them, I threw away a lot of products. It was simply a waste of money.

As I became a more mindful consumer, I also became a lot more mindful of the products that I use. 

I am sure many of us have those moments where we purchased a new product, perhaps just used it once, and realised that we didn’t like it, and then just leave it there on the shelf. For years.

If you don’t think you will need it, you can give it away to someone who you think might enjoy it, or simply throw it away if it has been around for too long.

Anyway back to the above point. Yes, I am frugal, but I do not compromise on the things that I need. If that bottle of SK2 essence happens to be something that works well for me, I will buy it.

At least it works better than that $8 cream that you bought over the counter but it caused you breakouts in the end.

Having said that, not all cheap products are bad in quality and some might work fantastic for us.

For many years, I have been using Shiseido foundation (yes my lust with the product started when I was schooling in Japan) and I love it. The product, the packaging, the coverage, and it worked well for my skin.

But it does come with a price tag.

But I continued using it.

Until recently, I happened to chance upon the ZA foundation in Watson’s. I tried it and it worked surprisingly well for me. In fact, I would go so far to say that it worked as well as the Shiseido foundation. And yes, I continued to use ZA from then, at a fraction of the cost of the Shiseido product.

My personal mantra is, if a  products works and performs well, I have no reservations getting it, despite the high price tag. 

But if I have a choice of 2 products and both provides me with comparable levels of product satisfaction, I will not hesitate to get the cheaper one.

And that’s the reason why I do not spend $8000 on a branded bag. That to me, is extravagance!

But ultimately it depends on you. You have to be a satisfied user of the product or service.

And yes, sometimes high price tag is a guarantee of high level quality.

You need to identify your personal threshold which you find acceptable. 

After all, you are the one paying for it.

So make sure you enjoy it at least.