10 things I stopped Buying And How It Saved Me More Than A Lac | Minimalism | Divya Toshniwal |

I have saved more than One lac in the last year by just taking these little steps.

Learning to declutter is an ongoing process but deciding to do so is the toughest. So I have taken the first step - Deciding to keep only things that matter and in this journey here are a few things that I have either stopped buying or reduced to minimum purchase in the last whole year.

1. Packed water bottles - I was a person who would never carry a bottle of water , reason being I generally forgot to drink water for the whole day ( Atleast 3 to 4 lts of water should be consumed daily and I have improved a lot now). Whenever I wanted to have water I would just buy a Bottle small or big whichever was available ; Costing me from Rs.10 - 50 depending on the brand of the bottle .It does not seem a big amount when you are paying it but if you calculate for a whole month and then for a whole year this amount adds up to quite a handsome amount.( For me I ll say I have saved approx Rs.3000 in the past year )  In the last one year I invested in a stainless steel water bottle and I make sure to fill it up and carry it each day with me . In case I need to carry a small bag I also have kept a smaller bottle for that purpose and I refill if and when I can .

2. Sunscreen Lotion - Many beautician and doctors would suggest you to wear a sunblock everyday and re apply it every 3 to 4 hours. I was once convinced about this too and one tube of sunscreen was used up in a month to save my skin from tanning . Well nothing happened , I still got tanned and then I used a de-tan face pack and a whole lot of other shit ( not needed at all ). A sunblock I think is required only in case when you are on a beach or you directly have to stand beneath the sun for hours which most of us don't do . Aloevera gel works perfectly fine as a replacement to sunscreen lotion. If you can directly get it from the plant its best or what I purchase is the  multipurpose aloevera gel from Patanjali. It doesnt feel heavy on skin like the usual sunscreen and also lets your pores breathe. It also has other skin benefits.

A sunscreen that I used costed me around Rs.350 (at least) every month.I have saved more than Rs.4000 last year after shifting to my multipurpose aloevera gel.

3.Miscellar Water - A product that has been popularized a lot in the last few years and I have it too ( I have used it not more than 3 times in the last 6 months.) Its suggested that you remove your makeup with miscellar water before you go to bed . Yes you should remove your makeup but you do not need miscellar water for that, a face wash would do just fine. Some times to remove the eye makeup I used rose water ( that I generally use as a toner ) with cotton swaps

4. Deodorants - No. I do not smell bad if I don't use them . Deodorants do you no good . You can empty a bottle in a week but they do not last more than a couple of hours from the time you put them on . So for me deodorants are a sheer waste of money . So instead of having 1 different fragrances of deodorants I decided to pick a couple of good perfumes . No they are not that pocket friendly but in long run I realised they work better that deos and also last longer. So I din't save a lot on them but also didn't spend a lot. You can also try Ittar it works better than perfume.

5. Beauty services - I had started working on these a lot before but now its official - I do not need the parlour services every month . These minimal parlour services like waxing , hair spa and pedicure that I used to get every month bit my pocket by Rs.3000 every month. And definetly there were addons along with it getting this treatment and that massage that would make the bill above Rs.5000 every alternate month . Instead of waxing my body I have started using an Epilator .I had invested in an epilator 2 years ago. Its a wet and dry epilator by Braun that also has a trimmer head . At that time it costed me Rs.6500 ( since I got it on amazon offers -  original price Rs9000.) and it was used for emergency purposes when I could not go to the parlour and the parlour couldn't come to me. But since last one year I have successfully used it as a replacement to waxing. Also instead of going for a hair spa once a month I bought the hair spa cream (which lasts for almost 5 times and costs not even half of what I spend for a one time spa) and also pedicure kit ( the cost is same but it lasted for 6 months) . So parlour services - only when I need a hair cut. This has saved me over Rs.30000 in the last year . ( Taking into consideration the cost of epilator that I owned from before, the materials for spa and pedicure )

6. Alcohol- Its tough to accept but YES I used to drink and quite a lot . Costing me my health and a lot of money that can be used otherwise. I believe since I have stopped drinking ( entirely -no occasional drinks too ) I have saved more than Rs.40000 . 

7. Wet and Dry Face Tissues (Wipes) - Sheer waste of money for everyday use . These are only needed when you are on a road trip or have a really long travel . I had been using face tissues almost daily for little things . I always carried dry and wet tissues in my bag and used it so often that I needed  almost 3 packs of each every month . I have now replaced them with a hankie. I still use wipes but only when I travel saving me more than Rs.2000 in last 12 months. 

8. Extra makeup - We girls have a very high temptation to buy all the make up we can get in the world. I was one of those too until I realized that I use only 3 shades of lipstick , 1 shade of eye shadow/ blush and one shade of kajal (that is black) and the rest is just kept in my box. In the past 12 months I have bought just  two pcs of Kajal ( coz the black one was over ) and 2 boxes of compact and nothing else . Eventually taking the averages of how much I used to spend on make up and the different ( not usable ) shades of lipsticks and blushes and kajals and nail paints I realized I saved near around Rs.15000 from not buying extra makeup.

9.On sale items - Just because something is on sale does not mean you need it or its a lifetime opportunity. Buy only things that you need and when you need . If that time its on sale its a bonus. I was very impulsive when it came to buying clothes and accessories and specially when I saw the sale board . I ended up filling my wardrobe with a lot of stuff that I have wore not more than once ( and that too coz mom said "why did you buy them if you don't wear them ?"). In the last one year I have realised that I have saved a lot just by restricting myself to buy things only when I need them . there is possibly no way to calculate  how much I have saved through this.

10. Hand Sanitizer - No you have no bacteria that can't be washed with water and soap and you do not need a hand sanitizer. The chemicals that it contains are harmful for your skin and when you intake food the chemicals get into you body through it . I use this sanitizer only in process of energy healing( because I cannot carry alcohol cleansers everywhere) and wash my hands immediately after the session. Reducing the use of hand sanitizer has saved me around Rs. 1000 in the past 12 months.

Ofcourse at the begining I felt I needed certain things and I felt little lazy and wanted to use parlour services , also I felt tempted to buy new shoes and hand  bags but eventually this conscious control has settled in me and the impulsive shopper has slept somewhere . I have saved much more than one lac in this one year by just changing little things in my life which have been good for my health and for my pocket . And now I can travel for which I found no money in my wallet earlier ( because that is what I love the most).

These little changes can help you fulfill a lot of desires that you have not been able to fulfill because you couldn't save enough. Without that increase in your income you can have an Extra one lac (may be more) in your account. 

Eliminate the things you don't need to have the things you really need.

Thank You for taking out your precious time and reading my blog. If you like it please share with others too and subscribe to my blog for more such articles and to keep me motivated to write. 

Divya

Also Read : 10 Things To Throw Out This Diwali Cleaning | Declutter Your House |

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