Over 50 Things we stopped buying and never missed. Oh the beautiful savings!

I keep hearing that becoming a Minimalist is only for rich people and it is expensive to become a Minimalist!


Honestly, I have never heard a good or solid argument for this comment. But here is an example of how Minimalism can save you money.


Lots of money actually!



Bellow,is a list of things we had stopped buying years ago and never missed them.

1. Television cable. ------------> Netflix and Amazon prime
2. Gas for my car. ---------------> Plug-in Electric
3. Oil change for my car.---------------------> Plug-in Electric car
4. Paper towels.-------------> Stack of 20 kitchen washable towels for drying hands and dishes
5. Disposable wipes--------> Micro fibers.
6. Garbage bags--------------> Barely create garbage. Directly in to recycle bin, compost bin and garbage bin. I have three small buckets, one for each in my kitchen and once they are full, I dump everything in the big garbage bins. (But have some bio bags in hand just in case.)
7. Any kind of ziplock bags.-----------> Reusable fabric pencil bags with zipper. Also Pyrex dishes.
8. Aluminum foils -----------> Not needed. Either use Pyrex dishes or cover plates with clean napkins. 
9. Tupperware. -------------------> see this post
10. Plastic wraps.------------------> Not needed Pyrex dishes. Flour cloth. Napkins
11. Sponges ------------------------> hand made crochet from recycled yarn. lasts many years and I just wash them with our laundry.
12. Dish washing liquid-----------> Eco Friendly Multi purpose cleaner
13. Surface cleaner-----------------> Diluted multi purpose cleaner or vinegar. ( Used for bathtub, kitchen.......)
14. Coffee filter -------------------> French press
15. Bottled water ------------------> Tap water in reusable containers. 
16. Hand lotion in kitchen--------> Gentle dish detergent. Olive oil if needed 
17. Jet dry dish washer rinse-----> White Vinegar.
18. Disposable plates, cups, utensils ...------> Small jars for party drinks. Plates and utenciles reusable.
19. Disposable napkins------------> Fabric home made napkins. Only have one pack handy for picky guests. 
20. Disposable aluminum containers------> Big Pyrex dishes
21. Salad dressings.----------------> Olive oil and rice vinegar purchased from bulk store in my own jars.
22. Yoghurt. ------------------------> Home made
23. Tissues --------------------------> Only have a home made handkerchief made out of old Tshirts for my kid with allergies. Rest of us don't need it. Don't even remember what would we be using it for! 
24. Books -----------------> Library and on line blogs. 
25. CD, DVD -------------> Pandora and Netflix.
26. Toys -------------------> Once a year for Christmas. One Big toy only. The Birthday party is our gift by itself.
27. Clothes ---------------> once a year or so. Only if we truly need something. (Consumerism and buying cheap clothing and fast fashion is horrible for the environment.)
28. Fabric softener-------> Not needed. Haven't used for many years and no one noticed. 
29. Drier sheets-----------> Not needed
30. Face wipes, make up removers, eye make up removers wipe..... ------ > wash with soap and wash cloth. Olive oil. Or coconut oil to remove make up. Don't wear too much make up any ways. 
31. Cotton rounds--------> Home made and reusable. 
32. Shower gel------------> Soap
33. Exfoliator and scrubs for body.-----------------> Natural Loofah or a wash cloth
34. Hair masks and treatments-----------------------> Olive oil and conditioner
35. Face scrubs ----------------------------------------> Baking Soda
36. Tooth Paste-----------------------------------------> Home made
37. Mouth wash.---------------------------------------->  No need
38. Different lotions for different parts of body. Foot lotion, hand lotion, cellulitis, dark spots, skin brighter.ETC, ETC....!!! --------> Home made lotion. Coconut butter+Shea butter+ bees wax+ water+ jojoba oil. Or just put some oil on right after shower and you are done. 
39. Different make ups --------------->  See this post
40. Colognes and perfumes ---------->  Only have one perfume and only use it on special occasions. Lasts two years. It is in my Christmas list every other year. 
41. Face mask, cleanser, toner, tanner, black head remover. Etc......... ----------> Soap. Lemon juice. coconut and olive oil. Peroxide for acne. Baking soda.
42. Hand sanitizers --------------------> Not needed.
43. Candles. Still have from old days. ------> But not really needed. Used once awhile. 
44. Bath foams, salts, fizzer........ -------------> Not needed. Preferring quick showers due to Drought. 
45. Seosonal decorations ----------------> see this post.
46. Air freshener -------------------------->  natural or not needed. 
47. Office supplies.------------------------> We are paperless.
48. Printer ink -----------------------------> refill.
49. Extra Shoes ---------------------------> maybe once per year for each family member only as needed. (Fast fashion is damaging to environment)
50. Latest gadgets and electronics.--------------> still working on my husband on that. But he is doing much better :) 

I am sure there is more. But honestly, many more items I see in other people's houses that I don't buy, need nor have.

It is kind of hard to know what you don't buy if you never bought them. For example different laundry detergents for dark and light and white and wool .........

Laundry perfumes!!!!!  ....... I never even knew they do exist!!!  (What a waste of money!) 

Did, NOT buying these items changed our quality of life? You bet it did! 

-A LOT Less clutter (Visually, Mentally and Emotionally).
-Less wasting time window shopping and browzing.
-Less stress due to things finishing and being low on something. (" I need to run! We need fabric softness and I can't do laundry!" A friend once said ).
-Less spending.
-Less time at stores ( We are usually In and Out).
-Less junk to organize and deal with.


 Yes. All these Less'es deeply changed the quality of our lives.

Think about it. 

What are YOU not buying and not missing?
Paris.


Addendum:


I noticed that my computer hadn't saved my proof reading and this post was packed with mistakes. Please accept my apology.


While I am correcting the problem, I may as well add few more items.


Hee hee hee.


Here there are.

51.  Vacuum cleaner bags ------------------------>Roomba and a hand held vacuum. Just emptying the canister directly in the garbage bin does it.
51.  Any specialty tools, like various peeler, Apple cutter, Garlic crusher, Olive oil mister...........
52.  Most school supplies. Pens and other items-------------------------------> We have enough from old days to last us years to come. (Don't even know where all these pencils and pens are coming from)
53.  Extra clothing -----------------------------> We buy about once a year or so and only what we need.
54.  Microwave. Haven't had one for years.
55.  Individually packaged snacks.
56.  House decorations.----------> We have only two paintings which we have had for over 15 years.
57.  Unwanted gifts for friends -------------------> Beer, Wine, Food, eatables, Flowers, Gift card (Everybody has more than enough stuff in their houses. More incoming items for them are not the best gifts)
58.  Jewelry (Custom or real)---------------------> I have had few favorites that I love for years. Nothing new coming in
59. Nail polish ------------------> Have had a couple for years now.
60. Last but not least!!!!! Anything other than strict necessary. Includes Extra Glasses, Extra Sun Glasses, Multiple different drinking and coffee cups and glasses, Serving dishes, Fancy looking anything, Duplicate of anything and anything that needs to be advertised to be sold.


Can't even imagine how hectic my life would have been if I had been buying those stuff.


Thank you everybody for reading. Please think about your own shopping habits.
Paris

See my new page "Related Movies"

I love to watch documentaries. They are so many wonderful and eye opening documentaries out there and most of them are free. On my new page, i created a list of many movies and documentaries for you that have been life changing for me and my family.

So Please look on the right side of my blog for the newly added page called " Related movies".

I will constantly update it and add more links and names. I will deeply appreciate it if you wonderful readers add to my list by making a comment to this post.

Here is a link to my new page.

Thank you and enjoy.
Paris

Stop over-cleaning.

Are we over cleaning?

The cleaning process has become one of the most toxic processes in our life. Here in US we are becoming obsessed with cleaning. We are becoming so Germophobic that a huge isle in the grocery stores is dedicated to cleaning and disinfection. We hear horror stories about the germs and have become truly preoccupied with killing every single germ in our home. The price we are paying for this cleaning process is huge and we don't even know about it. Here are some of the negative sides of too much cleaning.


. Destroying The Good Germs.

Hopefully, we all remember studying about "The Good Germs and The Bad Germs". The good germs are our friends. They are necessary for our health. They are the defend wall that keeps Fungus and some other aggressive germs away and help to protect our body. If they are destroyed, the so called " Opportunistic germs" replace them and could cause diseases. We need the good germs. We should stop killing them with all our Antibachterial agents.


. Inexperience Immune system.

Immune system's mechanism works like the memory . That is how vaccines work. When our white blood cells, that are our defence system, encounters germs, they learn to recognize these kinds of germs and learn to defend themselves. When we inject our bodies with weakened germs( Vaccination) the germs are not strong enough to take over our bodies, but it is still enough for our body's defence mechanism to learn about them and build a defence system. This way, the next time this strand of germ attacks our body, our white cells recognize and destroy it.
When we are removing all the germs around us, the immune system becomes relaxed and too comfortable, thus the first attack of germs, could become successful and causes sickness. We are constantly exposed to all kinds of germs. Our strong immune system is the reason we are not sick all the time. Having a strong immune system is a lot more crucial to our health than having a germ free environment.


. Resistant germs.

Like any other cell and microorganism, germs can change and adapt themselves. It is called Mutation. Microbes and Viruses are smart organisms and can recognize our attacks. They can become stronger and resist Antibiotics, or other germicides. A resistant germ is very dangerous. Unfortunately, there are more and more new strands of germs that can resist our Antibiotics and other treatments. These new strand can survive easily and cause for our treatment to become inefficient. The battle with those germs are extremely hard. The more we attack them, the stronger they become.


. Chemical exposure.

Our bodies are a part of nature. We are from nature and need the nature. Over the past several years, we have been overwhelming our bodies with tons of chemicals, not thinking that they are just not natural and our bodies are not made to deal with them. The effect of chemicals on our body is a very controversial subject. Many researchers say that it is very unhealthy for us to be exposed to so many chemicals. On the other hands we are bombarded with commercials telling us, how safe and secure we will feel, if our kitchen floor is cleaned with the chemical they are selling. I personally believe, the best way is, to go back to our origins and back to nature. Stay away from chemicals as much as possible. Sometimes it appears to me, that the germ fighting chemicals, are more dangerous than the actual germs.

Based on Organic Consumers Association's report.
some cleaners are among the most toxic products found in the homes. In 2000, cleaning products were responsible for nearly 10% of all toxic exposures reported to U.S. Poison Control Centers, accounting for 206,636 calls. Of these, 120,434 exposures involved children under six, who can swallow or spill cleaners stored or left open inside the home.


. Expense.

Buying all sorts of cleaning agents can quickly add up and put a dent in our monthly budget. There are many HUGE global companies that generate a huge amount of profit and their only product, is chemicals used for cleaning our houses. Just think about it. It is and has been a big business. This is the money people spend with the hope for healthier and cleaner life. In reality, We don't need all those gadgets to have a clean home. There are many fast, inexpensive ways to clean our homes. We can actually Save tons of money, only if we switch to the natural home made cleaners.


. Bad for the environment.

The effect our household cleaners have on our environment is devastating. The household cleaners are very toxic and are designed to kill organism. The problem is that, it affects all kinds of live organism. Many researches have been conducted regarding the effect of our household cleaners on the water and the soil in our planet. These chemicals mostly end in the oceans and poison the see animals. The same chemicals residue in the fatty tissue of the fish we are eating and it comes back to us as food. We should simply care about our planet and all the living creatures, specially knowing that one of those living creatures is us, humans and we are not safe from our own harm.



Now, I know the value of sterilization and disinfecting. Believe me, One of the most important things you need to know to become a dentist, is how to kill germs. Owning a Dental office for many years, caused me to become an obsessed germophobic. But the germs in a dental office are very different than the germs in our homes. What i am trying to say here, is that i am not against destroying germs. I am against destroying our own immune system, our oceans, our ecosystem and our future generations chance of a healthy planet, just to remove germs. I truly believe that the most effective ways to kill germs is naturally and without all the harsh chemicals.

What should one do to keep clean, yet consider all the above? The key is Moderation. Like every thing else in life, moderation is the best way.

I will soon have a post about how to clean naturally and with moderation!

Paris

Population explosion.

Population explosion.

Disclaimer:
Before i write this post, i need to mention that i have no intention to insult or offend anybody and this post is simply about sharing the information i was exposed to, over the years and have been thinking about. I respect all the religions and all the personal choices.


Here is why i chose to write this post.



 

From Populationgrowth.org

" It took 250,000 years for civilization to reach a population of 1 billion. Today, we add 250,000 people to the planet each day. It took a century to add the second billion of us on Earth. Today, we add 1 billion more every 12 years."
Taken from Populationgrowth.org

"India is currently home to about 1.21 billion people, representing a full 17% of the earth’s population. India's 2011 census showed that the country's population had grown by 181 million people in the prior decade."



Taken from http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/indiapopulation.htm

Also please see.
 http://www.populationmatters.org/


I was born in Iran. a revolution happened there when I was 6 or 7 years old.
I remember it.

One thing happened after the revolution was a population explosion in Iran. People were told that it is up to the higher power to decide how many kids a family could have. So people everywhere were talking about god's will ( as I said, my blog has nothing to do with religion and personal believes).I remember also that the government was telling people, that they should make babies, because that is what god wants.

The result:.. Years later they had a census. Guess what . The population under 17 years old was over 70% of the Iranian population. That means a disaster in my opinion.
That means the country would need to provide 70% more schools, 70% more health care for kids , 70% more food. 70% more everything and be ready NOW for the first wave of new baby boomers. The country would need to be ready ASAP. The first wave was graduating from high school in a year. These kids will need colleges, housing, jobs, universities, more food....

They also will get married and make their own children. Just imagine. I believe ,THAT GROWTH by itself would move a country towards a financial disaster without considering the political issues.

I haven't lived in Iran for many many years ( over 22 years). But I heard that there are growing issues including but not limited to:

- Street kids.
- Homelessness.
- Poverty.
- Beggars.
- Prostitution.
- Horrible pollution( Tehran is gray).
- Unmanageable traffic.
- Young jobless people.
- Corruption.
- Addiction.
- Inflation.
- ...


I visited Iran in 2005 after many years, and actually noticed and felt of the change . What I also noticed was that how wonderful people were in that country that is going downward fast.

The drop in Population growth rate in 1980 in Iran was due to people's education on overpopulation.

The key is education!!!

 

So, after the census, the government decided to act and act fast. I remember seeing the slogan of" less children, better life" I remember that many people were going to villages and far away towns to educate people for having less kids. I saw it everywhere. I remember thinking about not having many kids myself, because i felt, it was not the right think to do.

Now, I know that China started a one child per family program. But I heard that they are running in to some problems. Since lots of families want boy, they make girls disappear, so they can have a second child that they are hoping is a boy. I heard that the girls birth might not be reported. or they might end up in orphanages or worst. That caused the number of boys being higher and the balance is lost in some regions. It was in the radio, that I heard this story. And that is why China has so many girls for adoption, but not too many boys. Looks like many girls have been abandoned without being registered anywhere. One good coming out of it is some wonderful families had the opportunity to adopt from China.

Again I am not trying to disrespect any country or any culture.

To me it looks like education would be the good way to go. I am not sure how effective it could be, but the experience in Iran was too late, but somewhat successful. But I believe we should start ASAP.
The population is on the rise and there are not enough resources to handle more population. The fast progress spreading across the globe requires more resources. There in nothing wrong with wanting to live a more convenient and comfortable life. But with the high number of people trying to reach a more comfortable life, there is simply not enough resources. A more convenient life tend to be more wasteful as well. That is why i, personally am trying to change my own lifestyle first and reduce the use of resources in our own family's life.

Years ago there were lots of death caused by sicknesses that are cured now. But (fortunately) since we overcame some of that problem, I feel that we need to compensate for not allowing the nature to do population control and take over this responsibility by controlling the population on our own. If we use Antibiotic, and treat ourselves to stop deadly diseases, we should also use family planning and birth control. Birth control and pregnancy prevention , to me looks like the most ethical and effective way to go.

less people would mean:
- Less deforestation and destroying the trees.
- Less pollution.
- Less global warming.
- Less diseases due to higher quality of life.
- Less traffic.
- Less stress.
- Less garbage.
- Less chemicals and fertilizers to meet the high demands of food production.
- Less destroying the nature to create housings.
- Less Poverty
- Less jobless people.
- Less of every thing. I assume; crime, rape, hunger, street kids,....

So I strongly believe that the first step we need to take is a population control. But I never ever hear anybody talking about it, due to it being a sensitive case to talk about. It is too personal. It is hard to talk about it without talking about religion. Also it appears to me that the countries with the rising population along with other problems mentioned above are harder to reach.

If the number of us humans grows with the same rate, soon the earth resources will be finished. It is a simple truth, the higher the quantity, the lower the quality becomes.



Paris.

Please feel free to let me know what you think of this issue.

Effect of the media on our happiness (1)

Media's direction.


The turn the media is taking is really disturbing me. The advertising and commercials, the violence, the bad behavior. I don't even know where to start.

For start, we all spend too much time with the media.TV, Internet, Radio...
 
We have a TV ( No cable) and we are not planing to get rid of it. But i truly believe we need to limit the use and the time we spend on it.

There are many good movies and programs that are really good to watch and be informed, but we have to be very selective to be able to locate those programs.

The problems I see with our TV time is:

Violence
The amount of violence showed on the media is just incredible. The violence has become so normal to our kids and even to us that we don't even know how much of it is OK and what is not OK. Unfortunately, many people learn the bad acts and wrong ways from TV.  Kids think it is cool to fight. It is normal to act aggressive towards each other. Heroes are always fighters, not lovers. being smart and loving is called Nerd or Naive.

Bad Manners
Another problem I see with the media is that people are just disrespectful, rude and negative,specially kids and teenagers and this is becoming the norm. I clearly see the change in behavior in my own kids when they watch too much TV. The problem with these movies is that the character lies , is rude, mean and hateful the whole movie, then at the end, they apologize and everything is good. Happy ending. But in reality, it does not work like that. It is not OK to act like that, it is not OK to lie, to hurt some one's feelings. It is not OK to be so negative and rude. Imagine, if you watch two hours of the bad parts and only 5 minutes of the loving sweet part, how will your brain be wired?

Over Stimulation
We are simply over stimulated. Our brains are overwhelmed by all the noises, all the colors, all the quick change of the scenes, all the decisions. It is just too much for a human brain. It is just not natural. The studied actually showed that on little kids, the TV could cause permanent damage on the brain and kids that watch too much TV, have a lot higher chance of Attention deficit disorder. The speed that the scenes change is putting too much pressure on brain to catch up. Not to mention the noise. The media is causing us to become addicted to noise and quick changing scenes. We are so used to it that normal natural life without it, is becoming too boring. Specially to kids, every thing else is boring but media.

No time
In a world that nobody has time for anything, unfortunately every body makes time for media and TV. When i look at data, i see that an average American spends hours and hours on TV, it makes me think. I think about all of us trying so hard to live longer, to do things faster and faster to have more time. But then we spend our valuable precious time watching some family fighting on TV. The families spend less time together as a family and more time on TV. The parents don't have time to notice if their kids are suffering, if their teenager are in trouble, but always make time for their favorite TV show. I remember, as a kid, i used to think a lot and wonder a lot about many things in life. I notice now that when i watch TV, i don't have time to think!!!

The greener grass syndrome
Specially for our kids, every thing is so much more colorful on TV. Every body looks like having the time of their lives. What we see on TV, is perfect bodies, beautiful faces, supper powers, big spenders, none stop having fun and sophisticated lives. Looks like every body else lives a perfect life, but us. Once, when one of my kids told me that how come they all have fun in TV,  i told her that their secret is, that "They never watch TV in TV". I was just joking, but later on i thought about how true that statement could be.

Image of men
I specially don't like the image of men in the media. On TV programs, men are shown mostly as losers that are not too smart, are usually out of shape and all they care about is beer and football and BBQ in their man cave and they are the main trouble makers.what happened to the manly men who protected their families, were strong, respectful, gentlemen, smart, charismatic and brave? There are still everywhere, but not in regular TV. I believe this is a very bad message for our kids (and their dads)

Racism
Racism is seen every where in the US' media. It always made me think, why they do not show inter racial attractions? Even though in real life there are so many interracial happy marriages, in TV you almost always see people get attracted and marry within their own race, only. I have been paying special attention to this matter and see it way too often. On Disney channel,this is also noticeable. You barely see a black person falling for a none black person. Only very very rarely you see any kind of inter racial relationships. I see a lot more of that on the UK media. I like my kids to be color blind when it comes to people, but unfortunately the US  media goes against this believe.


Brain washing
The commercials are attacking us from every direction and sneaking their way in to our subconscious minds. Then we feel that if we have that face lotion, we will look like that model and if we have that certain cereal, we will be as happy as the fake family on TV. Then we start not being happy with our own life, our own face, our own car, our own body, even our own family.Then we buy more to get happier. Then we become more unhappy due to debt. Then we have to work harder to pay for the debt. Then we become too tired from working hard. Then we watch TV to rest and forget about our problems. Then we get more brainwashed and unhappy. Then we buy more to get happier. The circle continues and the companies get richer and richer.We become poorer and poorer. The advertising companies win. The Media can also manipulate how we think. We have the tendency to believe every thing we see on TV without any questions and research.


Expense
Last but not least is the expense. The money we spend on Cable, latest TV and media set, DVD and Blue rays, CD's and CD players, I Pods, Stereo system, ... can add up to become huge. It is interesting that we are reluctant to buy Organic food or at least Organic Milk that is significantly healthier, due to expense, but have no problem spending hundred and even thousands of dollars on our Entertainment center, Cable , Cartoons for our kids, .... The TV is becoming more important to us Americans than our health.


How much TV are you NOT watching?

The greenest Laundry detergent !

For Laundry, I use Soap nuts . I absolutely enjoy using it. It simplified my life .

Just place 5 in a bag .

Pro's

• 100% natural.
• Inexpensive,
• Does not create any garbage.
• Biodegradable.
• Non-toxic.
• Cleans really good.
• Safe for septic and gray water system.
• Organic. pesticide and chemical free.
• Simple to use.
• Eliminates the need for fabric softeners.
• Keeps laundry simple and organized and de-cluttered.
• Has no fragrance.
• Eliminates odor.
• Safe around children.
• Saves money
• Softens and keeps the clothes from deteriorating.

 Cons:

Couldn't find any yet.

(Update: after a while, I noticed my whites are not as bright any more. I bought a regular laundry detergent for the white laundry and started using it once a month for whites only. This will keep the chemicals to minimal while still brightens my light clothes. )

I was pretty skeptical at first. But I have been using it for quit some time and had no problem with it. I am loving this product.

Paris