Why I don’t recommend decluttering anymore | Minimalism

That's why I recommend selling instead of donating when decluttering. The process is slower, you have to put in more work AND you get a feeling for what people actually value and are willing to spend money on vs. what's just junk that nobody wants to have, even if you offer it for free. This gives you time and food for thought to work on your buying habits.

I agree. I never need to declutter because I never had clutter. People should stop constant buying. If there is a "void" in their heads, things won't fill that void.

This is what true minimalism is. Not having little because you constantly declutter, but slowing down your consumption. This is also most difficult. I first encountered minimalism about 3-4 years ago, came across some you tube videos and of course I declutterred and declutterred and created my absolutely perfect capsule wardrobes.. It took me a while to understand what I was doing wrong. I do low buys challenges now to ease myself into buying less and less: 2 items per month last year, 1 new item per month this year. I find it very helpful. I’ll see if I can reduce it further next year, but I feel I m already in a good place. I finally feel peace and in charge rather than at the mercy of advertisement companies. I’m also very happy with my clothes and very grateful.

That is exactly what I was thinking lately. Just stop buying. That is very hard, so they don’t talk about it, just about constant decluttering.

That is exactly what has happened to me. I was spending A LOT of time and money trying to find the perfect, high quality items to replace cheaper things (that were always good enough before I started thinking so much about this). It doesn't exist. Best to take a break from buying anything. Thank you for your informative and motivating videos.

I’ve always wondered how minimalist you tubers can keep decluttering so much. Your video makes so much sense. Thank you 🙏

I used to buy second hand clothing all the time. Slowly changing my consumption habits and learning to be happy with what I already have has bring me so much joy and peace. Greetings from Finland! Love your videos Lia 💚

I know some people who declutter and re-buy on a constant cycle. It seems like they aren’t very mindful - they don’t remember the awful feeling of decluttering an item when they’re shopping, and they bought into the lie that consumerism tells us that you can buy a solution for every problem. I have also been helping older family members who shopped a lot in the 80s and 90s, inherited a lot from their parents who shopped til they dropped in the 50s and 60s and never got rid of any of it because they were raised by people shaped by the Depression era. Their big houses are so full of stuff… and they’re near the end of their lives. I think we could survive without buying almost anything new! Thrift shops are overflowing in the US. But some people look down on anything “used.” :(

So true!! Decluttering might be necessary when you’ve accumulated so much that your life doesn’t function, but if you keep buying and decluttering and buying and decluttering… you’re just as consumerist as always, but with a cleaner house 😂 if I find myself needing to declutter, I make myself take a serious look at my purchases. By definition, any decluttering other than getting rid of items broken beyond repair and that sort of thing must be caused by overconsumption. And sure, probably almost no one can reach absolute perfection and never have to declutter anything. But serious decluttering frequently is a result of frequent overconsumption.

I live in a Hoarder household and I find myself helping them declutter every couple of months. To me it seems like an addiction to buying worthless contraptions on the newest website (like Temu) or projects to fix then bring home enjoy for such a short period of time, followed by boredom kicking in and they’re onto the newest thing. Until you become more aware of what you are consuming you’ll need to declutter frequently for the rest of your life.

What helped me a lot was to have a saving goal. Instead of buying new things I don't need I saved the money for my not material goal and this kept me from spending on things i dont need.

I agree. That's why I've always preferred classics and classy to "trendy", which is why I have pieces that are decades old and look like they were bought today. It is also a matter of maintenance and care. My clothes are always on hangers or neatly folded, never(!) thrown on the floor. I wash them in protective mesh bags and dry them minimally. I also do not use any fabric softener. The same goes for furniture, bedding, pillows, books, etc., and even kitchen items. When my visitors admire something and I tell them how old the piece is, they don't want to believe me. My parents raised me to respect everything and everyone, and that is the result. I am very ecologically responsible, I buy on purpose, even second-hand, many times. (If you know what you're looking for and have taste, you can find better quality stuff there than in today's retail market. Flea markets are downright awesome!) I live in a very upscale area and got some expensive high-quality furniture from Pottery Barn that my friends were trying to get rid of because it was almost 10 years old. I couldn't believe it. (And they couldn't even believe it when they saw the result, lol.) I painted it and replaced the handles, and when I was on a Zoom video conference during COVID and people saw it, I got plenty of admiring comments. So, pls, dispose of the clutter responsibly - we only have one planet to live on, and clearly, she's not happy with all the crap we humans make and then throw away because we don't enjoy it anymore for no objective reason (e.g. damaged, worn out, children's things that the children have grown out of, etc.). Thank you.

hi Lia, usually i don't comment on youtube video's, but i have been following you for 3 years now and want to say thank you. thank you for being real and showing us your journey with minimalism. i have learned a lot from you. your video's are food for thought. Thank you!

always on point. loved the comparison with the diet 🥰 that's how I think too. sending love from brazil, I love your videos 💜

as always, a super balanced and thoughtful view point. i strongly agree with all of it... although my current decluttering journey is probably being drawn out a bit too much! ;)

That type of decluttering does add stress. I plan on hardly doing any once I get my basement completely done. I am slowly shifting to more repurposeable heirloom quality things as needed so I won't have to buy much long term. If I wanna redo my living space years down the road I'm using elbow grease lol

Thank you for the video, i understand and agree of what you are saying

I always thought declutter was meant as the first step, to realize what accumulated over time and to learn to make wiser choices in the future. And then to continue by NOT bringing new clutter into the house. I don't know what's going on in the minimalism bubble on YouTube, i don't follow that, but trying to avoid buying new things seemed to be like an essential part of minimalism to begin with....

I have so much stuff that I never bought , my wardrobe is mostly given to me as a second had . That is why I never spent money on that clothes. Things that I bought I wore until they wore out ( literally tore apart / break) so I still think that decluttering is necessary . But if we talk clothes vise I would say that you need to describe your own style and have everything that you need but only one pair . One black T , one white T . So you will be minimal and stylish and will not have a need to constantly buy new bc u will have one of everything.

At 10:40 is such a wise and simple idea love it