Coffee! Instead of trying all kinds of beans for all different reasons, I found one that I love, order a carton of six bags every three months, and then I never have to think about it. I don’t know if it technically qualifies as “one thing” when you need to store a bulk purchase, but for me, the minimizing of my mental load is just as important.
we are similar with our coffee, except that i pick it up in the city centre, it's a little outing about every 5-6 weeks. We bulk order our cat food and litter, he has a specific diet and we don't have to think about it, just repeat the order.
My husband and I are retired, and we have been having one lunch for awhile—roasted vegetables (they can vary, depending on season). Typically, we have roasted cubed sweet potatoes, baby carrots, steamed broccoli, and onions/fennel. This wouldn’t be for everyone, but we make a large portion of the vegetables on the weekend and have them for lunch all week. They are delicious, and we don’t even have to wonder what we will have for lunch each day.
Lunches are my least fav meal to plan (as much work as dinner; generally too crammed in between busy day activities to make it feel worthwhile) so I love this idea.
You are so amazing and inspiring Shira! I am currently slowly replacing my wardrobe with quality pieces that are classic so I can wear them forever and not have a million things in my closet that I don't wear (because they don't fit or I don't like them). I am also not buying any more shoes/boots and just taking my old ones to get them fixed. I will never be as minimal as you but I am getting to a place that works for me, thanks to you!!
As a voracious reader, I only read library books. I can read, promptly return & start another right away without having to worry about stacks & stacks of books I won’t ever read-read. Saves money & excess items to store.
I’m curious what type and brand of pots and pans do you use. Also, with the million potlucks happening this month, we have a set beverage, premade fruit bowl or dessert we bring depending on what I’ve been tapped to do. I’m declining anything that would mean I’m responsible for a main dish.
Thanks for the product recs and reminders to focus on one thing! I am a serial online course enroller and even when I have paid a heftier price tag, I haven’t always finished the course 🙄. So time to pick the one that’s most meaningful to me right now and just start working on it again.
I 💜 this post! I have one pair of earrings (diamond studs) that my husband gave me for our one-year anniversary 28 years ago. They go with everything and have become one of my signature pieces.
I thought about buying 3 beach towels on sale this weekend and wondered, “I wonder if Shira owns any pool/beach towels. Maybe I don’t need beach towels.” Do you? And how does your Ecru-colored travel cosmetic bag hold up?
This came at the exact perfect timing! I’ve just been really craving simplicity and wanting to downsize everything from the amount of pens I have water bottles I use, body care products and so forth!! I love how simple yet elevated you live!
My book strategy is similar! Though I do one fiction and one non-fiction at a time.
For clothing, when I find one piece that works well I get a few of the exact same. Just enough to rotate and wash. Like a black tank or a pair of jeans, for example. Then those are uniform staples that I can work around.
For beverages in the house, we just keep a jug of water and cans of sparkling water.
When I buy a bottle of bourbon for my husband as a gift, I always get the exact same one. We don’t keep a variety of liquor in the house. We have nowhere to store it and rarely drink. Simple is best for us there.
My kids each get just one pair of sneakers at a time. They keep those until they either break or are outgrown.
Our kids only do one (max) activity at a time, and aren’t always enrolled in even one. It’s great to have margin for slow days in our schedule.
I am trying to follow that advice most of the time, although I really have to remind myself that for quite a lot of things just good is good enough before spiraling down into hours of research for the best.
I have been writing with one TWSBI fountain pen for over 3 years (!) now and I still haven't gone through my first bottle of ink even with daily usage. It was a ~$30 purchase but it looks far nicer.
I have found that having one actually nice pen means that I pay attention to it and therefore have not lost it. Plus, never in my life did I think that my most frequently received compliment would be "nice pen!"
This was such a timely reminder for me - thank you so much for this post! I love how joyfully you write about all these items as well, so it seems as though you genuinely love them and it’s not as though you’re having to suffer for the sake of minimalism!
Coffee! Instead of trying all kinds of beans for all different reasons, I found one that I love, order a carton of six bags every three months, and then I never have to think about it. I don’t know if it technically qualifies as “one thing” when you need to store a bulk purchase, but for me, the minimizing of my mental load is just as important.
Yes!!
we are similar with our coffee, except that i pick it up in the city centre, it's a little outing about every 5-6 weeks. We bulk order our cat food and litter, he has a specific diet and we don't have to think about it, just repeat the order.
My husband and I are retired, and we have been having one lunch for awhile—roasted vegetables (they can vary, depending on season). Typically, we have roasted cubed sweet potatoes, baby carrots, steamed broccoli, and onions/fennel. This wouldn’t be for everyone, but we make a large portion of the vegetables on the weekend and have them for lunch all week. They are delicious, and we don’t even have to wonder what we will have for lunch each day.
Brilliant!!!
Lunches are my least fav meal to plan (as much work as dinner; generally too crammed in between busy day activities to make it feel worthwhile) so I love this idea.
we usually just eat leftovers. And I always have fresdh ravioli in the fridge and a pesto, so super simple if we don't have leftovers
One black sweater and one navy sweater. I’m writing this as a goal to myself, not smthg I have achieved 😂
You are so amazing and inspiring Shira! I am currently slowly replacing my wardrobe with quality pieces that are classic so I can wear them forever and not have a million things in my closet that I don't wear (because they don't fit or I don't like them). I am also not buying any more shoes/boots and just taking my old ones to get them fixed. I will never be as minimal as you but I am getting to a place that works for me, thanks to you!!
As a voracious reader, I only read library books. I can read, promptly return & start another right away without having to worry about stacks & stacks of books I won’t ever read-read. Saves money & excess items to store.
The Libby app is also a great option as it connects to your library card.
I’m curious what type and brand of pots and pans do you use. Also, with the million potlucks happening this month, we have a set beverage, premade fruit bowl or dessert we bring depending on what I’ve been tapped to do. I’m declining anything that would mean I’m responsible for a main dish.
I was gifted a set of Hestan pots and pans and think they are the absolute best!! We own 2x pots and 3x pans - small, medium, and large. x
Very nice! Did you opt for ceramic, copper or something more traditional?
Yes, I cleared out all the old and unused items in my kitchen and it feels so good! Everything has a place and everything gets used!
Thanks for the product recs and reminders to focus on one thing! I am a serial online course enroller and even when I have paid a heftier price tag, I haven’t always finished the course 🙄. So time to pick the one that’s most meaningful to me right now and just start working on it again.
I 💜 this post! I have one pair of earrings (diamond studs) that my husband gave me for our one-year anniversary 28 years ago. They go with everything and have become one of my signature pieces.
I thought about buying 3 beach towels on sale this weekend and wondered, “I wonder if Shira owns any pool/beach towels. Maybe I don’t need beach towels.” Do you? And how does your Ecru-colored travel cosmetic bag hold up?
We have two beach / camping towels for the teenagers! And my travel bag has held up super well through many, many trips! x
This came at the exact perfect timing! I’ve just been really craving simplicity and wanting to downsize everything from the amount of pens I have water bottles I use, body care products and so forth!! I love how simple yet elevated you live!
Yay! I'm down to two pens LOL! x
I bought one really good pen and ditched the disposables.
My book strategy is similar! Though I do one fiction and one non-fiction at a time.
For clothing, when I find one piece that works well I get a few of the exact same. Just enough to rotate and wash. Like a black tank or a pair of jeans, for example. Then those are uniform staples that I can work around.
For beverages in the house, we just keep a jug of water and cans of sparkling water.
When I buy a bottle of bourbon for my husband as a gift, I always get the exact same one. We don’t keep a variety of liquor in the house. We have nowhere to store it and rarely drink. Simple is best for us there.
My kids each get just one pair of sneakers at a time. They keep those until they either break or are outgrown.
Our kids only do one (max) activity at a time, and aren’t always enrolled in even one. It’s great to have margin for slow days in our schedule.
Yesss. We also are on the one-activity-per-kid train. Game changer.
I am trying to follow that advice most of the time, although I really have to remind myself that for quite a lot of things just good is good enough before spiraling down into hours of research for the best.
I loved this soo, soooo much. Less is truly more. Thank you for sharing.
This is so clarifying! Identifying the one best thing is saving me a lot of money.
I have been writing with one TWSBI fountain pen for over 3 years (!) now and I still haven't gone through my first bottle of ink even with daily usage. It was a ~$30 purchase but it looks far nicer.
I have found that having one actually nice pen means that I pay attention to it and therefore have not lost it. Plus, never in my life did I think that my most frequently received compliment would be "nice pen!"
Love thsi!!
This was such a timely reminder for me - thank you so much for this post! I love how joyfully you write about all these items as well, so it seems as though you genuinely love them and it’s not as though you’re having to suffer for the sake of minimalism!