How To Decide When To Buy
A minimalist’s guide to wisely spending money
I was a wide-eyed and bushy-tailed minimalist for a long time. That is until I realized that sometimes I might have to sometimes spend money.
Unless you want to be some extreme version of Henry David Thoreau and live off of the ground and what you can find in the woods, you’re going to have to make purchases eventually to keep yourself alive and well.
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” — Confucius
Thankfully, I do think there’s a systematic way to decide what’s worth purchasing and what would be crossing over into a consumeristic way of thinking again. Here’s my how-to guide for spending your money as a conscientious minimalist, organized as a list of reasons you should spend your money:
Something you own needs replacing.
This one’s pretty obvious, but I think it’s important to list it here in order to decrease guilt surrounding spending. One consistent problem I’ve had as a minimalist is guilt over buying even things that I will use to their absolute end.
“So in fact, narrowing down our choices means less overwhelm, and more creativity.” — Courtney Carver
When your shampoo runs out and you truly have no more, you can buy more. When your technology doesn’t work anymore, you’re allowed to replace it.
When you run out of sticky notes, you can buy more. Until then, you finish utilizing what you have.
You’ve been borrowing some versions of it for a long time.
Whether this be literal or metaphorical borrowing, if you’ve been utilizing something for a long time and you’ve deemed it a good contribution to your life, I think you should purchase it.
Whether that be an item of clothing you’ve borrowed from someone else, a computer you use in a computer lab, or pens you keep stealing from your friends, maybe you need your own — and that’s totally okay.
Purchasing good tools is always a good idea and in the spirit of minimalism if you’ll use them for a long time.
You’ve identified a need for it on multiple occasions.
I have wished that I had a large, loud, and waterproof speaker at least ten separate times this summer.
Because of that, I’ve now decided that $70 is worth spending in order to have that speaker — both for its purposes and to decrease the annoyance I keep experiencing at not having one.
This might not be the most practical thing, but if you think it would be useful, I would try it: Have a note where you keep a tally of how many times you think you want something.
Whether it be an iPad, a new set of underwear, a new blanket, a fresh frying pan, or sticky notes, if you think you need it, add it to the list. For things like sticky notes, I’d say that you only need to mark it off a couple of times to warrant purchasing.
“Some changes look negative on the surface but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something to new emerge.” — Eckhart Tolle
For bigger things, I would say that you should raise your bar. After ten times you can get that sweatshirt you always wanted. And when you do go after it, spend your time making sure it’s the best one of its kind, most worth its dollar amount and the energy you’ve spent on tracking it down.
Make the most of that purchase and that want in your life. Don’t be ashamed — but stand behind the fact that you’ve wisely and slowly considered adding that item into your life upon many instances of wanting it.
You need a more high-end version of something.
If what you’ve been using is no longer serving its purpose, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to want to upgrade. Back to my waterproof speaker, I actually have a water-resistant speaker at the moment, but it was a $15 Walmart speaker that isn’t loud enough and it isn’t truly waterproof.
Upgrading will allow me all the fun that that speaker has offered me and more — and I think will well be worth the money.
If you’ll use it more times than its dollar amount.
I’m not sure where I first heard this minimalist recommendation, but I’ve been obsessed ever since. You should only buy something if you use it as many times as the dollar amount is or more.
My boyfriend and I bought $30 Pickleball paddles at the beginning of the year. We have now used them probably around 30 times, and have no plans to stop anytime soon.
I bought $15 shorts at the beginning of the summer that I’ve worn at least 45 times, and bought $60 Patagonia shorts that I’ve probably worn well over 100 times now. I use my $30 Hydroflask water bottle every day, and my $20 journal at least three times every day.
Stuff that works, stuff that holds up
The kind of stuff you don’t hang on the wall
Stuff that’s real, stuff you feel
The kind of stuff you reach for when you fall- Stuff That Works, Guy Clark
these are items that are well worth their dollar amount and bring great joy and practicality to my life. If there are things like that you’re considering investing in, I would do it. Buy things that will make your life better and more beautiful — on a daily basis.
Buy stuff that will work for you.
Minimalism isn’t about never spending money.
Minimalism is about spending money in a sustainable, meaningful, and effective way. Don’t make your life about what to buy and what not to — to do so would ruin the point of minimalism entirely.
“There are two ways to be rich: One is by acquiring much, and the other is by desiring little.” — Jack French Koller
Spend your money as an investment in the life you want to live, instead of the image you want to create or the status you want to develop in life.
Put your money where your mouth is, and buy good things that make your life better in the most meaningful ways. Have times and gear that you’re proud of, and that you get good use from.
Because that is money well spent.
