When I started on my journey to simplify and minimize our home five years ago, I had no plan other than I wanted to feel lighter, have more space, and just have less junk to manage and take care of. In the past five years, we have let go of probably 80% of the stuff in our home and the lessons I have learned from doing that have been life-changing.

Minimalism is about figuring out what is most important to you and letting go of what gets in the way of that. For us, family time is always the most important, and I found myself spending weekends decluttering and cleaning instead of being able to go do things together. Now that our home is completely decluttered, it is so much easier to clean, and I do not have to spend the entire weekend managing the house.

Another amazing benefit is that I’ve become much more aware of my spending habits. I had a serious Amazon problem! (Admittedly, I still shop pretty often with them, but I am much better at returning the stuff that just doesn’t cut it). After getting rid of so much in our home, I really question myself before bringing new things in. I ask myself; Do we need this? Do we have a place to store it? Is it better than something else I already have? Do I love it enough to pack it if we move? Is it worth the money?

I found myself just not buying or spending money on things like I did in the past which led to less stuff to manage and more money in my bank account. These aren’t any hard or fast rules that I hold myself to- there are always exceptions to the rules. This list is more like categories of things that I realized I could live without and that I didn’t need to spend money on. On to the list!

Kitchen Items:

Small appliances- I gave these up long ago- no space to store them and I hardly ever used them. Now we are happy with just the coffee maker, toaster, and a blender
Kitchen Gadgets- things that are supposed to make life easier - I found that most often, I can accomplish all of my cooking with a simple knife and cutting board - no fancy gadgets
Fine China or Dishes- we never owed china but I did have Christmas dishes, that I let go of
Kitchen Towels or Linens- we have a few and I wash them often, I’ll replace them when they fall apart but I used to buy holiday-specific linens and I don’t anymore
Pots & Pans- I have my solid 5 that I use ALL of the time and I have let go of the rest
Extra Food- We used to stock up a lot, but I found that it was hard to remember what we had, and the food often went bad before I could use it - now we just don’t stockpile food
Coffee Cups- We have our favorites and never have 25 people over for coffee so we let go of our coffee cup hoard and just keep the ones we use
Baking Items- a truth that I learned about myself while decluttering is that I absolutely HATE baking, probably because I truly am terrible at it - but I allowed myself to donate all of my baking supplies and if we are looking for a dessert, we just go buy something delicious from the store instead
Serving Dishes- We do not typically host large gatherings and I have what I need for any guests who come but… I used to buy a specific plate or bowl for whatever party I was having (a turkey plate for Thanksgiving, a football-shaped bowl for a Super Bowl Party)
Paper Plates, Napkins, Utensils & Cups - the disposable stuff just didn’t cut it and it’s so wasteful so now when we have a party, we just use our daily dishes and utensils and it’s all good

Travel Items:

11. Luggage -I LOVE luggage and bought it quite a bit - we’ve now invested in 4 decent carry-on bags, and we are all set

12. Cameras- I pretty much only use my phone these days to take photos and videos, so I sold our expensive camera and probably won’t buy another one

11. Photos - We just don’t pay for souvenir photos - I used to because I knew that they would just throw them out and I didn’t want our pic in the trash but when we got home, I found I didn’t display them so now I just say no thank you or skip the photo line altogether

12. Souvenirs & Trinkets - This is a hard one because I used to love collecting little treasures from the places I went, again, I found they weren’t as special once I got them home. My photos are enough for me to remember the trip and we will spend our money trying out the local food instead

13. Souvenir Cups - I always just say no, we do not need any more cups in our house. I even stopped doing wine tasting because I didn’t want the wine glass with the vineyard’s name on it, now I just have a glass of whatever I like without the extra glass to bring home

Home Items:

14. Home Decor - I would always be buying new things to hang up on our walls or other cute decorations for different seasons. While decluttering I realized how much space that all takes up in the house when not in use and I’d rather have the space than bins of decorations that I’m not using, so away it went.

15. Candles - They just kind of give me a headache and I always worried about forgetting about them. I’m working my way through the rest of my stash, but I won’t be adding any more to it.

16. Picture Frames - I love my digital photo frame and keep it playing all day long. I do not have a lot of flat surfaces, so I got away from buying printed photos and picture frames.

17. Throw Pillows - What a problem I had with pillows! I would always be grabbing a few more each time I was out shopping- until I had kids - they are always on the floor, getting spilled on and just generally on my nerves - we have what we have but I won’t be buying any more

18. Plants (Real or Fake) - I LOVE plants- but my love is not enough to keep them alive in my dark house. We have very little natural light and I have not managed to keep ANYTHING alive (even a succulent and we know how easy they are to take care of). I gave up that dream and just don’t buy them. I tried to compensate with a few fake ones, but they just got dusty and had to go as well.

19. Extra Sheets & Towels- We have two towels per person and 1 set of sheets per bed. I don’t see any reason to keep extras on hand. I do laundry often enough that we never seem to run out. I throw the sheets in the washer and then put them right back on the beds, it’s glorious never having to fold a fitted sheet! We have a sleeper sofa for guests that has its own set of sheets as well.

20. Books- I don’t buy books for myself - I use the library and will buy the occasional e-book when we are traveling. I do still buy books for my kids because they like physical books, but they will often use the library as well

21. Knick-Knacks- I used to have a field day with those little decorations with motivational sayings on them. It wasn’t until I became an organizer that I realized that visual clutter causes me stress and all of the things around my home with words on them were actually annoying- so I just don’t have them anymore.

22. CD/DVD - I feel like most people do not buy these things and I haven’t in years -but I also just try not to pay extra for movies in the first place, we have enough streaming channels that we can wait until it shows up on there.

23. Storage Containers- I used to buy containers to store all of my STUFF until I realized that I actually do not even want or need the stuff that is in them! I have a few that I still use for different items (I’m definitely not anti-container), but I just don’t buy new ones anymore, I make do with what we have

24. Extra Cleaning Products - I have my favorites and when they are gone, I go buy another one. I try to stick to a good all-purpose cleaner and stay away from anything too specialized and I no longer have shelves of extras in my basement

Holiday Items:

25. Gift Wrap & Bags- I cleared out most of my stash of gift bags because they seemed to multiply faster than I could use them. I still have some on hand but for the most part, we just reuse what we have, and I haven’t had to buy any new ones in a while. If I need to wrap a gift, I will just go and buy the amount of paper that I need and use it all.

26. Greeting Cards - I don’t send holiday cards any longer. After working in clients’ homes for the past few years, I see the struggle that people have in getting rid of cards that have photos on them. I realized that when I sent a card, my intention was NEVER for someone to feel like they had to keep it forever, and I decided to stop having them made

27. Seasonal Clothes -We just don’t do holiday-specific clothes anymore, I used to be very into having Christmas sweaters and PJs or a great Halloween shirt, I just do not like storing things all year long that only get worn one time.

28. Party Decor - We go pretty basic on birthday parties - we have a birthday banner, and we will sometimes get balloons. We take the kids out to do something of their choice on their birthday and we gift them an experience

29. Goodie Bags - If we do have a kid’s party, it has been at a venue (skating, bowling, etc.…), I thank everyone for coming and have the kids send thank you messages, but I cannot and will not buy bags of little crap to send home with them. Being an organizer, I can’t contribute to that mess! I have gotten a small coupon for a free ice cream in town that I send home with them as a thank you and I feel like that’s something they can enjoy without bringing in more clutter.

30. Birthday Party Gifts- When we go to a party, I usually just do a gift card. I will attach it to something fun like flowers for an adult or a box of candy for kids. I just don’t bring a physical gift - I never want to burden someone with having to keep something I purchased them. Again, I’ve seen too many people keep gifts they do not want just out of guilt. Now I give them something consumable and a gift card they can use on whatever they want. *I should add, I do buy gifts for people if I’ve been given a heads-up on something they really want, my sister-in-law will always send me good ideas for her kids and I’m happy to buy something from her list*

31. Holiday Decorations - I used to love decorating for every holiday - but since becoming a minimalist, decorations feel like clutter to me. It wasn’t fun for me anymore to store bins of decor to be moved out and set up every few weeks. I donated all of the random holiday decor (Thanksgiving, Easter, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day & 4th of July) and most of my Christmas decorations. I now just put-up lights outside (and my husband is into a few inflatables on the lawn). We have our tree and stockings and it’s more than enough. I realized it’s perfectly fine to admire other people’s decor without having to replicate it in my own home. We drive around a few nights during December to check out lights and it’s become a fun tradition.

32. Professional Photos - Just like with souvenir photos, I just don’t pay to have photos taken. We go visit Santa in places where I can take my own photo. I just need one and the problem with professional photos is that they want you to buy a huge package. I do not need 45 photos of my kids with Santa, our family members certainly do not want copies, so I’ve just put an end to the madness, and we take our own. We will do nice family photos every few years and those photos I treasure! I’m more talking about the mall photos for random holidays or getting professional portraits done every season. I’m leaning towards not buying school or sports photos anymore as well (they just aren’t good quality, and it seems wasteful)

Clothes & Personal Items:

33. Purses- I used to be a crazy bag lady, I would have so many purses and switch them out daily to match my outfits. I definitely can’t be bothered to do that anymore. I have a few in various sizes and styles and it’s more than enough

34. Fancy Clothes - I would buy nice dresses if I saw them on sale and then just hang on to them in case I got invited somewhere, the problem was, when I did get an invite, either my dress wasn’t right for the occasion or season OR I’d want to wear something totally different. Now, I just wait until I’m invited somewhere and then worry about what I’ll wear

35. Extra Shoes - I liked to have a lot of options back in the day so if I had boots, I’d want them in 3 to 4 colors or I’d want 15 pairs of flip-flops in every color imaginable. I realized that even though I had all of these options, I still only wore the same ones (usually the most neutral pair) so I put an end to having multiple of the same style of shoe.

36 Trendy Clothes - This one is still hard for me; I like clothes and I love seeing what people are wearing. I get excited to try out something new. But what I found was, even if I bought something trendy, I just didn’t wear it. It would sit in my closet until I decided that it didn’t work for me, and I’d donate it. Now I try really hard to either not buy something or try it on and decide quickly if it’s something that will work.

37. Extra Makeup or Toiletries - This one took a while, but I’ve got my favorites in all categories and I only rebuy them right before I run out. I used to have bins in the bathroom with extra make-up or products. I challenged myself to use it all up and then consolidate my stash. I now have no extra products in the bathroom and all of my makeup is in use and fits into one bag.

38. Hair Accessories - Super Guilty of buying and failing to use new hair tools or accessories. I cannot tell you how many curling irons I have purchased over the years only to donate them the next year because even at 40+, I do not know how to use one. The same thing with headbands, I used to buy new ones even though I know which ones I love and use all of the time and the new ones never made the cut.

39. Clearance Clothes (that I don’t need)- If I’m shopping for something specific and it happens to be on clearance that is a HUGE win! But… I used to have a clearance rack problem. I would spend hours looking through clothes, picking out things I didn’t need just because they were a good deal. I don’t shop just for fun anymore and try to only check those clearance racks if I’m looking for a particular item.

Random Items:

40. Cable- We cut out cable a few years ago and are very happy with the money we are saving and do not feel like we are missing anything. We have a few streaming channels that are perfect.

41. Crafting Supplies - I’m just not crafty! and as a mom, I felt guilty like I had to be doing all these cutesy crafts with my kids at home. Guess what- they don’t care - really, they do enough at school that when they get home, they don’t seem very interested in making things. They are both into drawing and have their own art supplies. They have been given crafting kits and they are more into a white piece of paper and a clipboard and sharpie than following instructions on a craft and I am more than ok with that.

42. Gym membership & Exercise Equipment - I prefer to walk outside or go take a yoga class. In the past when I had a gym membership, I felt guilty for not using it, and then when I did go, I would just walk on the treadmill anyhow. I realized that I could just do what I wanted (walk outside) for FREE! I also learned that I’m not motivated enough to work out at home, so we don’t buy any new exercise equipment.

43. Takeout & Coffee- We don’t do takeout very often, maybe pizza once a month. I prefer to go to a restaurant rather than order takeout. I cook almost every night and we’ve always made our coffee at home. This wasn’t a huge life change for us.

44. Nails - Before the pandemic, I was pretty regular with getting my nails done. I was there every few weeks - but then I just decided that I didn’t need to be spending $60+ every few weeks and I started taking care of my own nails. I will still go if we have an event or for a fun afternoon out with my mom but it’s just not something that I do regularly anymore.

45. Lawn or Cleaning Services - We just don’t pay for home services that we can do ourselves. My husband takes care of our lawn and I clean the house, we save money by handling it on our own.

46. Grocery Delivery- I’ve tried it, and it just doesn’t work for me. There are too many substitutions or bad produce. I’d rather take the 45 minutes each week and go pick out my own food.

47. Magazines - I used to love magazines and would have a couple of subscriptions going at a time. I stopped that many years ago and now I don’t even buy the occasional magazine.

48. Toys - Of course, our kids get toys at Christmas - what I’m talking about here are the random trips to the store. If I happen to have the kids with me, I do not just buy them a toy because they ask. There is no reason for that. Naturally, they see the toys and want all of them. Just like I want all of the shirts, but it would be an impulse buy, not something they really even thought about. Sometimes, we take photos of toys that they really want to save for gift ideas. If they want a toy, they have to spend their own money.

49. Fundraisers - I’ll donate to the school fundraisers when they come up - but I won’t participate in any fundraiser that sells me things. I don’t want candles, wrapping paper, Tupperware, etc.… It’s just junk that we don’t need.

50. Subscription Servies - Craft boxes, Meal Kits, Auto-Ship of Products- I don’t do any of these.

Whew! That was a long list, if you made it to the end, thanks for reading! As I said, these are not items I intentionally said I would no longer buy and I’m not swearing off any of them forever, they are just items I noticed that I do not spend money on since becoming a minimalist. It’s amazing what you learn about yourself when you declutter. It’s so much more than messy drawers, it’s really getting to your WHY. Why do I want a tidy home, what sort of lifestyle do I want, and what will make me most content- once you figure that out, the rest of the stuff is just excess.

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50 Things I No Longer Buy as a PROFESSIONAL Organizer & Minimalist