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You know that feeling when one day you look at your home and suddenly think, ‘How in the world did we accumulate 30 plastic bags that we don’t need? Why do I even have so much stuff?’

One of those days made me change my relationship with stuff, not only in terms of what I got rid of but also what I continued to buy. I became more intentional with it all. 

In this article, I’m sharing the 20 things that I’m no longer buying on my way to a more minimalist lifestyle.

20 Things I Don’t Buy as a Minimalist Mum

Keep reading below or watch the video:

1. Water filters

I used to think that water filters would make our water healthier for us. But after doing a bit of research, I realised it doesn’t really do as much as we think. Everyone’s free to do their own research and decide for their own family. 

I know that water filters can be especially useful if you’re in an area where the water might not be great or might have a taste you don’t like. But I don’t mind the tap water here. I’m fine with the taste of it, so I don’t feel like having a plastic water filter is useful for us anymore. 

Also, keeping the water in a plastic water filter—is that actually better for you than just having it run straight from the tap into your glass? 

Plus, a water filter is one extra thing to take care of. You have to clean it, otherwise, it defeats the purpose. You have to change the filters regularly, which is a lot of plastic waste. Also, I read that they’re not always the healthiest for you as they can actually strip away some minerals from the water. 

There’s probably a whole debate going on around this topic. And I know there are better options out there. But, in our case, we decided to stop buying water filters. Tap water is great for us.

2. Lots of random spices for different recipes

You know how you get a magazine or a new recipe book, and then you look through the recipes, and a lot of them have some spices you’ve never heard of or tried before? I used to do that, and then I would go out and get that spice, use it for that particular recipe, and then never use it again. It would be on the shelf until it expired or I finally decided to get rid of it, two years later.

So I decided to stop doing this. Nowadays, I use my usual recipes, my tried and tested. I’m in a busy season of life with two young children and I don’t really have a lot of time to experiment with recipes. Maybe one day in the future I will, but at this point in my life, I’m just sticking to the spices that we know and love, and use all the time.

3. Plastic water bottles

I try my best to always take with me the reusable bottle that we have. It’s a stainless steel one, and I just fill it up and take it with me. Nowadays, we very rarely actually use plastic water bottles.

4. Plastic bags

We have a few reusable carrier bags that we take with us whenever we go to the shop because I don’t want to buy plastic bags unless I really have to. 

I know, I can’t control it all. We still sometimes get things delivered in plastic bags. And we still get some of our food in plastic bags or containers. Plastic feels inevitable, but at least I try to no longer buy those plastic carrier bags. That’s something I can control and something I can make an effort to avoid and reduce my use of plastic that way.

I’m not saying I’m the most environmentally friendly. I’m just doing my best as I’m trying to be more sustainable.

5. Cleaning products for every single surface in our home

I used to have an under-sink area stuffed with different cleaning products: one for windows, one for mirrors, one for wood surfaces, one for glass surfaces, one for the TV, one for the bathroom, and the list can go on and on and on. So many different products for all of these different surfaces in our homes! 

The reality is, we don’t really need that many. And because we can find products that have multiple purposes around our homes, we don’t need to have 30 different products under our sink.

Nowadays, I’m only using the basics. We have one surface cleaner, the Purdy&Figg one. It works really well, and we use it in the kitchen, to dust around the house, and anywhere really. 

I also have another Purdy&Figg cleaner: the bathroom one. It’s a surface spray for limescale to use in the bathroom. I use that on the sink, and in the shower. It’s also really good for mirrors and windows.

I try my best to go for non-toxic products because I have small children and also for myself and our family in general. I try to make better choices whenever I can. I think I have a 10% discount code for Purdy&Figg still going, you can use this link.

I also have a toilet bowl cleaner and a floor cleaner. And that’s it, these are my main cleaning products. 

Simplifying your cleaning products can make such a big difference and cleaning becomes so much quicker.

6. Lots of knick-knacks around the home

All those little home decor pieces or random knick-knacks that you see in the shop? They are usually very cheap, and they’re kind of impulse buys. They look cute on the shelf, and so you feel like that would be a nice addition to your home. 

I used to feel like that, but then I realised that stuffing all of my shelves with knick-knacks is actually making cleaning so much harder. 

These little decor pieces also add a lot to the visual clutter. Everybody has different thresholds for visual clutter, and some people are affected by it more than others. In my case, I like to have clear surfaces as much as possible. It helps me feel calmer, and it also speeds up my cleaning process, which is so helpful when you’ve got little toddlers and children running around.

7. New books

Don’t get me wrong, I still buy books, I still read them, but I try my best to get pre-loved books. These days, I can find most of the books I want to read either at my local library or I can buy them on Vinted pre-loved. I try to only buy new books if I really have to.

If I want a specific book and I can’t find it anywhere, I buy it new, but in most cases, I stick to pre-loved books. 

8. Uncomfortable shoes

These days, I don’t buy any uncomfortable shoes that I don’t like to wear, anything that rubs my feet or feels too tight. I just don’t have the patience or energy for that. I feel like there’s no point in wasting money on something like that. Comfy shoes are my go-to.

9. Clothes that I don’t necessarily love but they’re cheap

You know when you go into a shop and see something that you feel like it might be okay? Even if it doesn’t quite fit right, or it doesn’t quite flatter your body, you tell yourself, ‘Well, it’s really cheap, so I might as well buy it anyway.’ I stopped buying this kind of item.

Being more intentional with my wardrobe helps me get dressed in the morning with greater ease, and all of the outfits that I wear actually make me feel really good. 

You know those clothes that you put on and they just make you smile? They give you a lot of confidence, and that just makes a big difference to your day. Those are the items to have in your wardrobe. This is why I’m no longer buying items that I don’t truly love.

10. Sales

Speaking of clothes, I also stopped buying sales in general. 

I used to go into shops that had a big sign saying “50% off” or “Clearance”, as it would be so enticing for me to go and buy something—even if I didn’t really need anything or liked something that much. But because it was on sale, I would buy some items. 

And we all know what ends up happening with those items, right? We don’t truly value them, sometimes we don’t truly need them, and they just end up cluttering our homes. Those items are usually the first ones to go when we do a big declutter. 

These days, I’m trying to be more intentional and also look for better quality (which doesn’t necessarily mean expensive). And when I want to get a bargain or I want to buy pre-loved items, I will go to places like Vinted to look for clothes. I find that you can get some really good clothes for a better price than you would from the shops. Plus, buying pre-loved items from somebody else rather than buying everything new is also a bit better for the environment. 

11. Fabric softener

This one might be surprising, but not using fabric softener has simplified my laundry routine quite a bit. It’s one less product I have to buy and store, and I find that I don’t really miss it. 

Last year or so I wanted to experiment and see if we could get on without fabric softener. I had noticed that many labels on my clothes said you shouldn’t use fabric softeners, like on jeans, athletic leggings, my Lululemon leggings, or towels. There are a lot of different items that you shouldn’t use fabric softener on because it’s actually not going to do any service to the fabric.

What I realised is that in almost every single load I actually had at least one of these items, so it would have been better not to use the fabric softener. So I decided to completely give up on using it. I think it’s been over a year now since I last used it, and I definitely do not feel like I miss my fabric softener, at least for now.

12. Getting the nails done

Nowadays, I just do my nails easily at home, usually every Sunday, and it’s just a very simple routine. I’ve also simplified my nail kit, and it now contains nail polish remover, nail clippers, and two nail polish bottles. That’s it.

I noticed that, if I were to be honest with myself, in the past few years, the two colours that I had used for my nails were pale pink and white. Even though I used to have many other colours, I never gravitated towards them. So for me, it made sense to keep just two nail polishes, with the nail polish remover, and the nail clippers. Nothing else.

13. Eyelash extensions

A few years ago, I used to get eyelash extensions because I liked the look of them. But they can be quite pricey and take quite a long time to get them filled in and refilled, around 2 hours every few weeks. Plus they were also damaging my natural eyelashes. So, I decided to completely quit using eyelash extensions. Regular mascara works really well for me.

14. New makeup if I haven’t finished the previous one

Let’s say I’m looking for eyeshadow: I’m going to wait until I’m finished with the one I already have, until it expires, or until I no longer use it before I purchase a new one. If I’ve got a mascara that I’m using, I’m not going to buy a new one until this one runs out.

This “one-in-one-out” process helps me be more intentional with my buys and not go into the shop and be tempted by all of these lovely products I see. I know I already have an eyeshadow palette at home and I don’t need another one. Plus, when this one runs out, I can also be a bit more intentional with buying my next one rather than just going and buying on impulse the one that I see in the shop and just looks lovely. It saves me money, helps me be more intentional, and it’s less wasteful as I’m using up more of these products before I buy new ones.

15. Toiletries

Of course, I still buy shampoo, shower gel, and other items like this, but I only purchase a new one once I run out of the current one. It’s such a simple rule to follow but it’s so, so effective.

16. Perfume

Once I had my second baby, I realised that I don’t actually use perfume much anymore, just basic deodorant.

Maybe it’s because I always have a child, a toddler, a baby attached to me, and I don’t really like having heavy perfume on, but I completely stopped wearing perfume. Obviously, everybody’s different, and everybody’s lifestyle is different. For myself in this stage of life, I just don’t want to wear perfume. Maybe later down the line when the kids are a bit older, I might.

By the way, if you’re finding this article helpful, I actually have a little surprise for you: my free declutter checklist that you can download completely free to help you declutter your home. It includes a checklist to go through the products. Over 30,000 people have downloaded this checklist, and lots of people said it’s been super helpful.

17. Constantly upgrading the technology I use

It can be so tempting to get just the latest and greatest tech device: buying a new phone, buying a new laptop, and all of this new technology as soon as it comes out. 

I was never really into this anyway, even in the past, but it’s just something I’m trying to be more intentional about. 

My iPhone is not the newest, but in fact it’s quite old. I also have a Fitbit that I’ve had for quite a few years, which, to be honest, is kind of on its last leg (so if you have any suggestions for good fitness trackers, let me know in the comments below, I might look for one soon when my current one completely stops working). As long as the devices I have are working and fulfilling our needs, we don’t need the latest gadgets or tech devices.

18. Planners and stationery

We might sometimes feel like in order to be more organised, we just need to buy the right planner. Then everything will just fall into place. But it’s usually not about that; often it’s just about changing those little habits that we have that boost our productivity. 

One book I found really helpful on this topic is “Atomic Habits.” I always recommend this book because it’s such a good one, and it has actually helped me with my productivity a lot more than any planner. 

I also use a digital planner; I use ClickUp to organize my online business, my life, and everything that I need to organize—including the content I’m creating on YouTube or the articles I’m writing here. But I no longer buy a lot of planners or stationery because I don’t really need them.

19. Throwaway toys

You know those very cheap plastic toys that usually end up getting broken the same or the next day? Kids don’t even play with them much, so those kind of toys feel a bit pointless to buy. So, I try to be more intentional about that, and we just stopped buying toys like that in general.

20. Souvenirs

Yes, we do go travelling and we often see these cute little items we could buy as souvenirs. But unless it’s an item that might have a purpose or might fit nicely into our space and become a part of our decor, I’m not going to buy it. I made a decision to no longer purchase random little knick-knacks to put on my fridge or on my shelves as in reality, they don’t add value to my life. 

I prefer just having digital pictures on my phone as memories of all the lovely places we’ve visited and the experiences we’ve had. I no longer feel the need to buy little souvenirs as they usually end up just cluttering the space.

All these being said, even as minimalists, we still buy things like takeaway coffee, I still get my hair done, and we still invest in experiences or new hobbies – all the things that bring us joy. The key, for me, is to be intentional and try to curb those impulse buys a bit more.

For example, we’ve just bought a piano. It’s been on our wish list for quite a while now. My son’s been taking piano lessons, and now he has one to practise on at home. I used to play piano as a teenager, and I always had in the back of my mind that one day I would play again. And I think that one day is today. But don’t get me wrong, I’m a complete beginner here again, and I have no idea what I’m doing!

If you can resonate with any of these 20 items I don’t buy or any other items that you stopped buying, I would love to hear from you. Let me know in the comments below!