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I used to have many duplicates of various items without considering if I truly needed all of them. But when I stumbled upon minimalism, I realised I didn’t really use all of those.
As you are going to read this article, please remember that this is not a contest of who owns less. You don’t have to have only one of these; it doesn’t matter if you own multiples in any of the categories I’m about to share. It’s all about being intentional and realistic about our own lifestyles. Sometimes, it’s just good to look at our things with fresh eyes and be able to let go of those things that don’t bring value to us anymore.
Here are 15 things I only own one of
Keep reading below or watch the video:
1. Sunglasses
I was the person who used to have five or ten sunglasses. Yet, in reality, I would probably wear only one or two of those regularly. The other pairs were just thrown in my cupboards and drawers, and I wasn’t truly using them.
Nowadays, I only own one pair of sunglasses. It’s really easy to find as well because I have a spot where all the sunnies go. We have one per person in the house, and actually, having less often makes things easier.
2. Denim jeans
I think it’s been over a year since I decluttered my jeans. I realised I wasn’t wearing them a lot—maybe because I had just had a baby, and a lot of my ‘mom uniform’ outfits revolved around leggings, wide-leg trousers, and other comfy items. So, I rarely wore jeans and decided to keep only one pair of denim.
I will say, I’m kind of thinking of maybe getting some more options, like different colours of denim jeans. The ones I have are very light-wash jeans, which I love, but I might get more in the future. But for the past year or so, having only one pair has actually worked really well for me.
The thing with all of these categories is that we often don’t even question things. For example, we get so used to having 10 pairs of jeans in our wardrobe, that we don’t stop to ask ourselves, ‘Do I really wear all of those 10 pairs, or is it just one or two that I wear all the time, and the rest are just taking up space?’
This is the realisation I came to after massively decluttering our home to probably having 50% less stuff than we used to.
3. Wallet
I only own one of these. I’m pretty sure this is now considered a millennial thing, isn’t it? I think the younger generation doesn’t even have one. So I do own a wallet where I keep all of my cards and things like that inside. For me, this is one category where I definitely don’t need more than just one.
4. Bag
I also only use one bag that I recently bought. It doubles as a changing bag/buggy organiser because it clips up to the baby’s buggy, which is quite handy. It’s a perfect size as it fits a lot in there without getting too heavy. I can pop it on if I need to leave the pram somewhere, like at the playground, and take the baby out. And that is the one bag I have and use at the moment.
My previous bag was a bigger changing one that I am decluttering at the moment, selling it or donating it. And I actually realised through this process that I have two more bags in storage that I have kept for maybe a special occasion. There’s also one smaller backpack that I don’t wear anymore, especially since I have this crossbody bag that’s more convenient. So I am keeping just the one I recently got and use all the time now, and will declutter all the rest.
5. Watch
I actually own a Fitbit and that’s it. I don’t own any other watches. Maybe I will further down the line when I have more time for styling outfits. At the moment, as quite a busy mom of two little ones, this is the only one that I currently need and wear.
6. Water bottle
This is something that has been a little bit life-changing. We used to have multiple water bottles per person, and I just noticed we weren’t using them. Even if we were, they would get thrown all over the house or lost in bags.
Having just one water bottle per person means we always know where it is because we’re not likely to misplace it since we only have one. Plus, it simplifies our washing; there’s no pile of them at the end of the day. This approach has worked really well for us. One stainless steel water bottle per person in the house has been brilliant.
7. Slippers
I definitely used to own more than one pair of slippers in the past. But I realised one day there’s no point in having multiple pairs of slippers for one person. Now, I just keep my one pair until they get worn out, and then I’ll buy a new one to replace them.
8. Flip-flops
It’s something I only own one pair of even though I don’t wear flip-flops that much. I do wear them in the summer if we go to the beach, but it’s not something that I regularly wear or need loads of options for. I only have one black pair, and it’s been working really great for me.
9. Umbrella
We used to have many umbrellas. But I realised, there’s no point in having a stash of umbrellas to go through when I’m looking for one to head out the door. I used to have to go through each one and check which one still works, and which one is broken.
So, I decided to declutter our umbrellas and keep just one. It’s a bigger one that’s perfect when I’m out with the kids because more people fit under it. It’s the one that we all use, and my son has a little one that’s just his own. That’s about it when it comes to umbrellas, and we live in England where it does get quite rainy, and we have survived with only these.
10. One of each beauty product
What I mean by this is one eyeshadow palette, one foundation, one mascara—just one of each category. I definitely used to have multiples in each of them. Now that I think back to it, why was I owning three mascaras? You can’t even keep them for too long as eyes are sensitive, so we are supposed to replace mascaras quite often. So having three open at the same time just made no sense to me anymore.
I also only have one moisturiser, one cleanser, and so on. When I run out, that’s when I buy another one. The only exception I make here is for lip products, as I think I have three or four lip products.
See how I decluttered my entire makeup collection to fit into one bag.
11. Phone case
I only own one phone case, and that’s the one that I have on my phone. I don’t feel the need to have more phone cases.
12. Headphones
I only have one pair of headphones—just one pair of AirPods. I connect those to my phone or my laptop when I need to edit. Not having extra headphones and things lying around has been working great for me. And I’m talking about myself here, as obviously, my husband has his own separate headphones.
13. Sunscreen
I don’t feel like there’s a need to keep lots and lots of sunscreens. When we run out, we get another one. It’s simple, and it means I’m not going to have a stash of them in the under-the-stairs cupboard.
14. Hair tool (per category)
I have one hair dryer, one hair straightener, and one hair curler—just one hair tool in each of these categories. And this has been working really well for me.
15. Car
We also only own one car. I actually got asked about this the other day on Instagram, if we own multiple cars, but no, we only own one.
This doesn’t mean you’re supposed to aim for this. Everybody’s lifestyle is different. Some might absolutely need two cars. But for our family, owning one car is working really well. Both my husband and I work from home most of the time, and we can be flexible and juggle when one of us needs the car.
I also feel like having an extra car can bring on a lot of extra expenses, and we don’t feel the need for another one right now.
One funny thing is that when we used to live in London, we actually didn’t own a car at all. We would just use the public transport options we had, be it bus or train, to go places, and it worked for us. It was only when we moved a bit further south of London that we got a car.
So, these are the 15 things I’ve found are perfectly fine for me to own just one of. It’s a journey to find what works best for your lifestyle while keeping things simple and purposeful. Have you discovered any essentials you only need one of? I’d love to hear your thoughts and tips! Thanks for reading, and I’ll catch you in my next article.
