I’m a 30M. 3 years ago, I started adopting a minimalist lifestyle and decluttered a lot of items and materials I owned. I think one of the best adoption I made is changing my clothing style and just not giving too much shit about it. I can see myself still wearing the same clothes till my 40s, provided that I stay active and not gain an overwhelming amount of weight.
Now heading into my 30s, I was wondering what are other stuff that I can consider removing/not buying?
29 comments
I kinda don’t buy clothing as much anymore.
No one has the clothes I wear because my clothes are like 5+ years old.
I believe I have found the ultimate pair of shorts for me. I have multiple pairs, my newest pair is like 3 years old and they still look brand new. When I buy a new pair I usually can’t tell which one is new after I wash them all. They are my “every day wear”.
I try to categorize things as “Every day wear” and “special occasion wear” and “cold weather wear”. I noticed in my 20s I would buy things for the special occasion wear only to never use them. I stopped doing that. So I try to limit that one as much as I can. Everything I have in that category is 10+ years old now and I see no need to replace it. I wash it once every year or two, inspect it, fold it all up, then keep it put away. I try to be most minimalist here.
I live in a warm area, I wear shorts all year long. So the cold weather selection is also sparse. I try to be utilitarian about this and thinned it out as much as possible. I do not see the need for many hoodies or jackets. I am trying to find the perfect one or two of each. This stuff can take up a ton of space for something I might only wear a few days per year.
I am a pretty expressive person, but clothing and fashion have never been my desired forms of expression. I want consistent, inoffensive, and utilitarian, and ideally something that takes up very little space.
Your projected identity is not disconnected to what your goals are within the environment you’re living in. How does it help you when you project to society that you don’t invest effort and money on your appearance? To me it helps you get disassociated with 90% of people, and get associated with a minority of marginalised people living outside the core society popular values. They can be fun too ofc. But If that’s not what you’re after, then why are you doing this?
That’s how you could think about the rest of your choices too.
I decided to not wear t shirts unless they were blank anymore. For some reason, as I’ve gotten older I look younger, when I was a teenager I could pass for 21 and now I get called young by everyone. I have a beard and a pretty old fashioned haircut but I think the way I dress made me look young as well. I got rid of half of my closet and want to cut it in half again. Just too many t shirts and immature clothes.
I think minimalism is awesome, we have so much clutter in our lives, the simplicity makes it easier to clean, less stressful, and happier overall. We don’t need much to be happy, but our consumer culture tells us to buy things if we want joy in our lives.
The newest iPhone — though, I could use the 15.
I stopped buying dice when I realized I had 300 dice.
Alcohol.
All my clothes are second hand and I tend to live frugally anyway. I don’t think I really stopped buying anything I once did, because I never really purchased much to begin with.
Cars and phones. As long as existing is working decent enough, not worrying to upgrade. The current crop are longer lasting without feeling there are better ones out there.
I started using baby wash for shaving instead of gel or foam, works great and costs little.
name brand shoes, and name brand clothes.
the “no name” brands on Amazon, or on the shelf’s at Kohl’s, look just as good, and even better at times.
the newest iPhones.
why upgrade to the 13, if the 6 Plus still works like a charm?
Some things are actually the opposite- I am more open to spending money on things in order to not waste time.
My time is worth more money now, so paying money to remove a problem versus the free/time consuming/potentially difficult or stressful way is a lot more appealing more often these days
I spend money in time saving stuff, everything that makes the difference in time is the best option no metter what.
I’ve stopped buying from fast fashion focusing on reducing my clothes and going for quality over quantity.
I’ve stopped also in buying the last tech regarding tv and other stuff, the only tech I change frequently is my phone
Alcohol, cigarettes, and clothing with visible branding/logos.
I’m not a billboard, I’m paying for this already so have no reason to want to advertise your product.
PC hardware.
I used to chase the best and latest tech, and drives me to earn more to get them. But now I found it’s getting replaced too fast (also an update every 2 years?) .
Clothes.
That helps to remind me to keep my body in shape.
Magazines.
I don’t need , and I don’t want to know people that I am not interested in
I think of it differently I guess… I’ll spend profligately on things that bring me joy. That’s mostly travel and tools, but also random things like socks. But my shirts are under $10. Also if you cut cheese with a knife, it comes out vaguely wedge shaped. That’s so trivial, but it doesn’t matter, it bugged me. So I bought a wire cutter for cheese.
For other things, like having a kitchen table, I can’t be arsed. Ironically, I have two now because people found it weird and gave them to me. But that’s not the point!
You figure out the way to turn dollars into joy most efficiently, then you do that even if some rational part of you objects. Another less-irrational example… I really value a reliable car, don’t care at all about a fancy car. I also don’t like buying used cars. So I buy new cars (inefficient financially), but cheap cars that are reliable (better), then I drive them until they become less reliable, which tends to be 15 years or so what with all the plastic bits. So I spend most of my life without a car payment. It’s not perfect, but it suits me specifically.
You do have to take a long view though… never having to work again sounds amazing, so I also save money like nobody’s business. It helps that I’ve found money doesn’t convert to joy very well once basic needs are met, but TIME does.
Clothes.
Oddly enough I’m buying more clothes as I get older. But I’m buying better quality and versatile clothing.
Appearances and self presentation matter a lot when one has a career, especially in an office setting. So I began dressing well, and taking better care of myself. My confidence grew, I started doing better at work, people found me more approachable, and I started going up the office chain. Just putting a little extra effort to one’s self and appearance can do wonders in the long run.
What I don’t buy anymore: physical media like Films, tv shows, and manga/books. It’s all available digital and it’s cheaper to buy subscriptions than buying a whole blue ray set. My only exceptions to this if it’s my personal favorites and video games.
Food.
Obviously not in its entirety, but I stopped doing weekly or large shops as most fresh stuff would go bad and didn’t really want the staples shit id said I was gonna ride it out in like some zombie film.
So I just buy for a couple of days at the most now eat it and then buy more….I am super handily close to supermarkets though and can literally pick it up when I walk the dog…
No specific thing, but a big difference is that I stopped shopping. If I have a thing I need, I’ll order it or go out and get it. But I won’t spend time browsing, either in real life or online. This has helped.
Nespresso pods. Pour-overs are cheaper, fresher, and better.
Alcohol. I’m in my early 40s and I just mostly lurk here, but I just stopped drinking almost entirely last year because I was wasting something much more precious than money: my time. My family’s time. My Sundays cuz I was hungover a lot (you think 30y old hangover is bad? Try 40.) My career. Focus on a hangover that lasts 2-3 days is non-existent. “Sounds like this guy had a problem.” Hell yeah I did. And I saw so many fellow dads, myself included, normalize “fancy” drinking cuz our paychecks could handle it. Not judging anyone nor saying “stop drinking” but since this is an “Ask Men” sub, that’s my TL;DR: Watch your drinking habits in your 30s, gents!
Chasing tail.
But also drugs, alcohol, clothes, media and technology.
Kinda the same. Realized I have everything I need in the last couple years and just stopped buying more essentials unless they’re broken or falling apart. Don’t care what anyone thinks about me wearing the same boring clothes every day, same old paid off car, same shoes until the soles start coming apart.
It’s nice to have a lot of extra money and not feel like wasting it on a new car or whatever.
Meal prep, don’t like to make the meals you prep , some stores like Costco have party trays that work well when separated and packed away.
I buy less expensive clothes. They all end up out of style or worn out eventually so I buy clothes at Target a lot these days.
I also shop at Aldi or buy store brand grocery items more often than I used to.
Chewing gum. Sometimes, I felt self conscious about my breath and needed something to mask it. I fell out of the chewing gum habit even before the pandemic, and now the prices are ridiculous in most places (maybe except for drug stores or some dollar stores who have the economy packs). But now I work nights, I rarely meet new people and the ones I meet I drink coffee with (gum and coffee is an ugly combination).