Money Monday: Buy Less Shit

I’m on a spending diet and I encourage you to join me in this effort to buy less shit. After clearing out a condo filled with crap and trying to make the best use of our storage in a 1-bedroom apartment, I am convinced that Americans needlessly and wastefully buy a shitload of stuff that they don’t need. I mean, it’s embarrassing all the stuff I’d accumulated and never used. The irony is that I am super minimalist. I’ve become very zen about material things and realized I honestly want to take half the stuff I own and drop it off at the Salvation Army. It’s all crap.

We probably have the smallest kitchen known to mankind. We have the bare necessities: plates, cups, wine glasses, forks, knives, spoons. We don’t have a food processor or a blender or a cake display or a fondue set. We don’t pretend to be Martha Stewart nor should you! Get that crap out of your kitchen.

A quick glance at our transactions on Mint.com show the following:

Costco

SF Soup Company

Sprint

Kaiser

Safeway

Sallie Mae

Amazon (I bought vitamins)

Chevron

Haircut

Acupuncture

Osha Thai

Pluto’s (salad)

Kara’s Cupcakes (my sweet tooth)

It’s all food and basic necessities like cell phone, gas, and loan payments.

Here are some things I’ve implemented to assist me in my minimalist diet. I’ve removed all design and fashion blogs from my feed. All that shit just makes you want to buy more shit! Get rid of it. Aside from Vanity Fair (because it’s so gossipy good), I don’t subscribe to any other magazine. All those advertisements can set you down the $$$ consumer path. Out of sight, out of mind.

For us, it’s about eating good San Francisco food and saving for early retirement. I am on a mission to retire when I’m 50. Who’s with me?!