20 THINGS I'M NOT BUYING for our New Home | minimalism + saving money
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the minimalist lifestyle advocate shares a personal list of 20 items she's avoiding for her new home to save money and simplify life. From unnecessary furniture and decor to faux plants and cheap hangers, she emphasizes intentional purchases and DIY repairs. She also discusses her preference for quality over quantity, natural materials, and sustainable choices, like secondhand shopping, to reduce waste and create a more functional living space.
Takeaways
- 😀 The video discusses skepticism towards 'Home Essentials' lists, which often include unnecessary items.
- 🏠 The speaker emphasizes the importance of intentional purchasing and avoiding unnecessary clutter in a new home.
- 💸 A survey is mentioned, indicating that Americans spend $188,000 annually on non-essential items, leading to a lifetime waste of $1 million.
- 🛋️ The speaker plans to avoid buying excessive furniture and home decor to maintain a minimalist lifestyle and appreciate open spaces.
- 🛠️ DIY repairs are encouraged to save money and reduce reliance on hiring professionals for every task.
- 🌿 Faux plants are not preferred; the speaker aims to care for real plants instead, despite having a history of killing plants.
- 👗 The speaker will not buy bedroom dressers due to existing storage solutions in their walk-in closet.
- 👔 The preference for quality hangers over cheap ones is highlighted to prevent clothes from slipping and getting damaged.
- 🛏️ Nightstands are deemed unnecessary by the speaker, who has managed without them for years.
- 🧻 The speaker chooses not to have tissue boxes in the home, instead directing guests to use toilet paper.
- 🍽️ There's a rejection of disposable kitchen items and plastic cookware in favor of reusable options and natural materials.
- 🥂 The philosophy of using special occasion items daily is shared, as every day is considered a special occasion.
- 🥤 The speaker will not be buying an excessive number of glasses, focusing on practical and possibly aesthetically pleasing ones.
- 🛌 The decision to avoid woven blankets due to their maintenance challenges, especially in a family setting.
- 💡 The speaker dislikes floor lamps and plans to use recessed ceiling lights for better lighting without the glare.
- 🕰️ There's no need for clocks or timers in the home when phones and existing appliances provide the necessary timekeeping.
- 🧹 The minimalist approach extends to cleaning supplies, with the speaker likely to reuse or repurpose what they already have.
- 🎄 The speaker is not passionate about holiday decor and prefers to celebrate holidays in other ways.
- 🛍️ The final takeaway is about not buying everything new, with a preference for secondhand and thrift stores for sustainability and cost-effectiveness.
Q & A
What is the main theme of the video script?
-The main theme of the video script is about simplifying life by not buying non-essential items for a new home and embracing minimalism.
What was the author's reaction to the '40 essential products for your first place' list?
-The author was skeptical and almost fell into a deep depression, as they felt the items on the list, like a toothpaste squeezer and a sun-catcher shaped like a castle, were not essential.
What is the estimated amount Americans spend on non-essential items annually according to the 2019 survey mentioned in the script?
-According to the 2019 survey, Americans spend $188,000 a year on non-essential items.
Why does the author advocate for not buying a lot of furniture and home decor for a new home?
-The author values space and the feeling of openness, and believes that not filling the home with a lot of furniture or home decor can help maintain lightness, airiness, and a sense of openness.
What is the author's opinion on DIY repairs instead of hiring professionals?
-The author believes that doing small repairs by oneself can save a significant amount of money in the long run and encourages the purchase of a toolkit for this purpose.
Why does the author choose not to buy faux plants for their new home?
-The author is tired of faux plants and wants to try taking care of real plants to bring life and color into the house, despite having a history of killing plants.
What is the author's stance on buying bedroom dressers?
-The author does not plan to buy bedroom dressers because they have a walk-in closet with built-in storage and do not have a large amount of clothing due to their minimalist lifestyle.
Why does the author prefer not to buy cheap hangers?
-The author prefers not to buy cheap hangers because they are prone to breaking, causing clothes to slip off, and damaging the clothes with holes in the shoulders.
What is the author's view on having nightstands in the bedroom?
-The author does not plan to have nightstands in the bedroom, as they have not missed them in the past and have found alternative places to put items like phones and glasses.
What is the author's approach to buying kitchenware for special occasions?
-The author believes that every day is a special occasion and prefers to use fine china, good wine, and other special items regularly rather than saving them for specific events.
Why does the author avoid buying disposable kitchen items?
-The author aims to reduce environmental waste, especially plastic and paper waste, and prefers reusable items even if it means more washing up after hosting.
What is the author's opinion on plastic cookware and its potential health effects?
-The author is concerned about the presence of microplastics in food and bodies due to plastic cookware and the potential negative health effects, thus preferring natural material alternatives.
Why does the author choose not to buy a variety of glasses for different drinks?
-The author finds it unnecessary to own many different kinds of glasses and prefers to focus on a few practical and possibly pretty ones.
What is the author's reasoning for not buying woven blankets?
-The author finds woven blankets impractical due to the potential for damage from children or pets and the difficulty in maintaining their appearance.
Why does the author limit the number of pillows in their home?
-The author finds that excessive pillows create visual clutter and can be a hassle to manage, especially with children who may throw them around.
What is the author's view on specialty appliances in the kitchen?
-The author avoids adding more specialty or single-use appliances to the kitchen, having already decluttered items like a slow cooker and an instant pot that were not frequently used.
Why does the author not plan to buy a clock or timers for their home?
-The author finds it unnecessary to have a wall clock or timers at home, preferring to use the clock on the microwave and setting timers on their phone when needed.
What is the author's stance on buying floor lamps for their home?
-The author does not plan on getting floor lamps or table lamps, as they prefer the natural lighting in their home and plan to install recessed ceiling lights instead.
Why does the author consider not buying rugs for every room in their home?
-The author finds that rugs can create echoes and are difficult to keep clean, especially in dining areas, and prefers to use rugs only in certain rooms for a cozy feel.
What is the author's opinion on candles and their use in the home?
-The author has never been a candle person, does not enjoy the scent, and is concerned about the potential release of toxins and parabens into the air.
Why does the author choose to limit holiday decor in their home?
-The author prefers to celebrate holidays in other ways, such as cooking meals or reading themed books, rather than focusing on accumulating holiday decor items.
What is the author's approach to buying items for their new home?
-The author plans to buy items for their new home from thrift and secondhand stores to save money and be more sustainable, rather than purchasing everything brand new.
Outlines
🛋️ Minimalist Home Essentials Critique
The speaker expresses skepticism towards lists of 'essential products' for new homeowners, citing an example of an impractical list that includes items like a toothpaste squeezer and a decorative sun-catcher. They introduce themselves and their channel, 'Tozen Life,' which focuses on simplifying life. The main point of the video is to share a personal list of 20 items they won't be buying for their new home, both to save money and to maintain simplicity. The first item discussed is the excessive purchase of furniture and home decor, advocating for intentional buying and valuing open space in a minimalist lifestyle.
🛠️ DIY Repairs Over Hiring
The speaker emphasizes the financial benefits of doing home repairs oneself instead of hiring professionals, highlighting the cost savings from a single toolkit and the various repairs they have managed to do themselves, such as sealing windows and fixing loose roof shingles. This approach is presented as a way to save money and foster a sense of self-sufficiency.
🌵 Embracing Real Plants Over Faux
The speaker discusses their disdain for faux plants, having grown tired of their artificial appearance despite having a history of struggling to maintain live plants. With the move to a new home that includes a garden, they express excitement about learning to care for real plants to add life and color to their home, showing a preference for authenticity and a willingness to step out of their comfort zone.
🧺 Decluttering Unnecessary Furniture and Accessories
The speaker continues their decluttering philosophy by discussing the decision to forgo items such as bedroom dressers due to existing built-in storage in their walk-in closet, advocating for the use of existing resources to eliminate excess furniture. They also mention their choice to avoid cheap hangers in favor of velvet ones for a more organized and space-efficient closet, and the decision to omit nightstands, tissue boxes, and their accessories, and kitchenware for special occasions, promoting a minimalist and practical approach to home essentials.
🍽️ Reducing Waste and Unnecessary Kitchen Items
The speaker's focus shifts to the kitchen, where they plan to avoid disposable kitchen items and plastic cookware to reduce environmental waste and potential health risks from microplastics. They also discuss the decision to not accumulate various types of glasses for different beverages, woven blankets for practicality reasons, and excessive pillows to minimize visual clutter and maintain a clean, functional living space.
🏡 Prioritizing Practicality Over Specialty
The speaker outlines their intention to avoid specialty appliances and excessive home items such as multiple clocks and timers, floor lamps, and rugs in every room. They discuss the preference for practical and multi-use items, natural materials, and the importance of natural lighting in their home. The decision to not have a rug in the dining room to maintain cleanliness and the choice of installing recessed ceiling lights for nighttime illumination are highlighted.
🕯️ Opting for Clean Simplicity Over Decorative Items
The speaker explains their lack of interest in candles due to personal sensitivities and health concerns, choosing a clean and naturally pleasant-smelling home instead. They also discuss their minimalist approach to holiday decorations, preferring experiences and traditions over accumulating decor items. The video concludes with a commitment to sustainable and cost-effective practices by shopping at thrift and secondhand stores for home items.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Minimalism
💡Non-essential items
💡DIY (Do It Yourself)
💡Faux plants
💡Decluttering
💡Sustainability
💡Intentional buying
💡Visual clutter
💡Quality over quantity
💡Thrift shopping
💡Eco-friendly
Highlights
New Home Essentials lists are a scam, with items like a toothpaste squeezer and Suncatcher shaped like a castle being unnecessary.
Channel focuses on helping simplify life by avoiding unnecessary purchases that clutter the home and cost money.
Americans spend $188,000 a year on non-essential items, totaling $1 million of waste over a lifetime.
First item not buying: excessive furniture and home decor to maintain space and openness.
DIY repairs to save money, with a toolkit as a first purchase for the new home.
Avoiding faux plants and instead learning to take care of real plants.
Not buying bedroom dressers due to sufficient built-in closet storage.
Preferring quality hangers over cheap plastic ones to avoid clutter and damage to clothes.
Skipping nightstands as they haven't been needed for years, using alternative bed frame ledges instead.
Not buying tissue boxes and accessories, using toilet paper instead.
Avoiding kitchenware for special occasions, using items every day to appreciate them more.
Eliminating disposable kitchen items to reduce environmental waste.
Avoiding plastic cookware due to concerns about microplastics.
Not purchasing various types of glasses, focusing on a few practical and versatile ones.
Avoiding woven blankets due to practicality issues with kids and pets.
Minimizing excessive pillows to avoid clutter and maintenance.
Steering clear of specialty appliances, already owning essential kitchen devices.
Not buying clocks or timers, using phone or microwave clock instead.
Avoiding floor lamps, planning to install recessed ceiling lights instead.
Not buying rugs for every room, addressing echo issues through video editing.
Avoiding candles due to potential health concerns and preferring natural home scents.
Minimizing holiday decor, focusing on other ways to enjoy holidays like cooking and reading themed books.
Opting for secondhand items instead of buying everything new to save money and be more sustainable.
Transcripts
I'm convinced that new Home Essentials
lists are a scam just the other day I
happened upon an article titled 40
essential products for your first place
of your own and when I saw things on the
list like toothpaste squeezer and
Suncatcher shaped like a castle I almost
choked on my tea and it was all I could
do not to fall into a deep deep
depression because I don't own those
things hi there friends and welcome back
to my channel my name is and this is a
tozen life where I share tips and ideas
to help you simplify your way to a life
you love and a huge part of most
people's simplification Journey involves
not buying crap you don't need because
not only does it clutter up your home
but it also ends up costing money like a
lot of money in fact one survey from
2019 found that Americans spend $188,000
a year on non-essential items which adds
up to $1 million of waste over the
course of their entire lifetime which is
why today I'm sharing a list of 20
things I'm not buying for our new home
to save money and keep things simple and
while this is my own personal list my
hope is that you'll also walk away from
this video with a few tips or ideas to
simplify your home your life and
hopefully save a little bit of money as
well number one on this list is tons of
furniture and Home Decor buying a home
is one of the biggest financial
decisions that most of us ever make in
our lives and it can be easy to get
swept up in the excitement of having
your own home but the way that a lot of
people shop for their home is they look
around the homes of their friends and
their family members or they go online
and they Google something like things to
buy for a new home and then they get all
of these check lists and just take those
and go shopping with them without
questioning are these things really
essential to me and will they add enough
value to my life for me to want to bring
them into my home one of the things that
we value as a minimalist family is space
and that's one of the biggest reasons we
don't want to fill up our home with a
lot of furniture or home decor because
we love the lightness and the airiness
and the feeling of openness that we have
by leaving empty space in our home if we
filled our living room up then maybe my
boys wouldn't have the space to do
cartwheels or somersaults or Leap Frog
across the living room like they are now
so when you're shopping for furniture
and home decor items for your new home I
would encourage you to go slow and be
really intentional buying a few things
here and there and being okay with
having empty space the next thing we're
not buying is repairs that we can DIY
ourselves one thing that we quickly
realize is that if we hired out for all
of the things that we need to do around
our own home that would quickly add up
and cost us a lot of money in the long
run but then on on the other hand if we
DIY those small repairs ourselves that's
going to end up keeping a lot more money
in our pockets one of the first things
that my husband purchased for our new
home was a toolkit and we've already
saved a ton of money doing some small
repairs around our house ourselves
everything from sealing some windows to
repairing some shingles that were loose
on the roof we are quickly learning how
to diy things ourselves so that we don't
always have to pay other people to do
these things and say money number three
on this list is faux plants we've been
living in a furnished rental for almost
a year now and we have had these faux
plants in a few of the rooms and I am so
sick of looking at faux plants and
despite the fact that I am a notorious
black thumb who has quite a bad history
of killing plants now that I have a
garden as you can see in the background
I think it's time that I pull up my big
girl pants and learn to take care of
some real plants here let me show you
the first plant that we've already
gotten we got this I don't even know
what kind of plant this is I guess I
have to learn the names of the plants
too if you know what kind of plant this
is please comment in the comment section
below and let me know and I really
really love it I think it's a succulent
so it actually doesn't need that much
water it's been hanging out on our sun
porch up until now just chilling I've
also had some bad experiences with
buying fake plants in the past asked
like there was one bamboo plant that I
purchased when we were living in Germany
and it looked great on the website but
then when I got it and saw it in person
it didn't look close to as good so I
ended up decluttering that so now that
we have this space and a beautiful sunro
and a garden I'm looking forward to
trying my hand at taking care of some
real plants to breathe some life and
color into this house number four on
this list is bedroom dressers this is my
bedroom behind us and we are going to
put a king-size bed in here we already
have the frame downstairs in our current
rental and then we have the mattresses
in the lower level of this house but we
are not going to buy dressers because we
don't really need dressers since we have
a walk-in closet that already has a ton
of builtin storage because we're a
minimalist family we don't really have
that much clothing anymore so we don't
really need to own bedroom dressers
since we already have so much storage
built into our closet so that's one way
that we can eliminate excess furniture
by using the things we already own the
fifth thing that I'm not buying is cheap
hangers because I am so done with those
cheap plastic hangers where your clothes
are always slipping off onto the floor
or they're cracking or they're not quite
smooth and they're putting holes in the
shoulders of your shirts a long time ago
I switched to Velvet hangers for the
clothes in my wardrobe and I have never
looked back I love that they're low
profile and they take up very little
space so you give your clothes a lot of
breathing room in your closet and also
the Velvet means that your clothes
aren't slipping off of the hangers onto
the floor and then for things like our
winter coats that hang in the entryway I
use wood hangers for that really natural
organic look and also because they're
sturdy enough to hold them without
breaking like I said we have been living
in a furnished rental that came with its
own hangers and so that does mean that
I'll need to be buying hangers for our
home but I'm definitely going to invest
in quality hangers and not those cheap
plastic ones we're also not going to buy
any nightstands to put in our bedroom so
here on the floor you can kind of see
where the owners had their bed previous
to us but we decided that we're not
going to put nightstands on either side
we actually haven't had nightstands for
many many years and have never missed
them in our previous bedroom there was
kind of this ledge around our bed that
we could set our phones or our glasses
on when we were sleeping and we
purchased another bed that kind of has
that same kind of ledge which has
completely eliminated the need for us to
have nightstands next to our bed number
seven on this list is kind of a weird
one and that is tissue boxes and tissue
box accessories and I don't know how
many of you watching this video grew up
like this but but in my family my
grandparents and my aunts and my parents
they always had boxes of tissues around
their house and then not only boxes of
tissues they also had these like covers
to put on top of the tissue boxes since
I grew up and became an adult myself I
have never owned or used tissue boxes in
my own home if I need to blow my nose I
always use toilet paper does that make
me nasty I mean even if we have guest
over and they asked if I had tissues I
would direct them to the bathroom so
that's just something that I found that
I don't need to have in my home and
that's cut down on visual clutter in all
of the rooms really next up we have
kitchen wear for special occasions I
know that growing up a lot of my family
members had China cabinets that were
specifically for holding all of this
fine china that was never ever used and
those things just ended up collecting
dust and making up space for years now
my philosophy around special occasions
is that being alive is enough of a
special occasion to wear the things you
want to wear drink the good wine eat the
good chocolates you know put on the
expensive perfume that you were gifted
and that you've been saving for a
special occasion because every single
day is a special occasion I didn't want
to put my mom's wedding ring into a lock
boox I wear it every single day because
it's a reminder of her and I appreciate
those special things in my life more
when I actually use them along with
special occasion items I'm also not
going to buy any disposable kitchen
items such as disposable plates or
utensils or cups or anything like that
even when we host I would rather have
enough play settings so that everyone
can use their own reusable plate and cup
and utensil and if that means a little
bit more wash up for me at the end of
the day I'm totally fine with that
because while I'm not perfect or zero
waste or anything like that along my
minimalism journey I have made it a
priority to try to reduce environmental
waste especially things like plastic and
paper waste so that's another thing that
I'm not going to be stocking our kitchen
with that actually leads me nicely to
number 10 on this list which is plastic
cookware I've been seeing more and more
articles coming out about just how many
microplastics are in our food and in our
bodies even because we've consumed so
many of them over the course of many
many years and because of the potential
negative side effects of that I've tried
to reduce or eliminate the amount of
plastics that I use in my kitchen as
much as possible I cut out plastic
cutting boards I will say that rice
cookers always seem to come with like
plastic spatulas for you to stir and
scoop out the rice I don't know if
there's any non-plastic alternatives but
that's what my rice cookers have always
come with so leave me a suggestion if
you know a better way but when it comes
to things like spatulas or spoons or
even meal containers I try to go for
natural materials number 11 on this list
is all the glasses and by this I mean
all the different kinds of glasses that
people think that they need to drink the
different kinds of drinks I mean you
have champagne glasses wine glasses shot
glasses you have Tall Glasses short
glasses glasses with curves I have been
seeing so many of these glasses trending
on social media and they always look so
incredible especially when people are
making things like Macha Lattes or iced
coffees and they're pouring it into
their cute little glasses but what I
realized is that I don't need to own all
of the different kind of glasses and
it's better to just focus on having a
few different kinds that are really
really practical and some that maybe are
pretty but also practical next up on
this list we have woven blankets and I
always see these woven blankets like
draped over the end of the bed or off
the back of the couch and I think that
they look so good in pictures but what
my experience has been in real life is
that these woven knits and other things
tend to get caught and pulled especially
if you have kids or you'll have these
little fuzzy bits coming off and the
lint collecting and then it just ends up
you know kind of giving this feeling a
visual mess and you always feel guilty
that you weren't able to take care of
that blanket and treat it like it should
have been treated so if you live in a
home where you don't have small children
or pets with little scratchy nails that
are going to pull out the weaves maybe
you can get away with with woven
blankets but for us we have to choose
blankets that are a little bit more
practical and that's why we will not be
buying woven blankets number 13 is
excessive pillows and that includes
pillows on the bed and things like throw
pillows in your living room in my
experience as a mom again a lot of those
pillows just end up taking up a ton of
space and then when your kids are rough
housing they get pushed onto the floor
or thrown around the room and they just
end up creating this visual mess you can
make your kids clean up over and over
again or eliminate it all together when
it comes to our beds we just keep one
pillow for each of our heads on the bed
and when it comes to our couch we have
had one pillow on each end number 14 is
specialty appliances and that's because
we already own almost all of the
appliances that I consider essential
like we have a microwave we have an
induction cook top we have ovens we have
a rice cooker already and I have already
already decluttered things like a slow
cooker and an instant pot because I
found that I wasn't using those
specialty items maybe I would consider
an air fryer in the future still haven't
decided but as of right now I'm not
going to be adding any more special te
or single use appliances in our
kitchen another thing I'm not buying for
my home is a clock or any timers and
that's because when I need to know the
time I can either look at my phone or I
can look at the clock that's on the
microwave and I don't need a wall clock
that's tick tick ticking and driving me
insane with the noise in my home when I
have that and then as far as timers I
found that in practice if I ever need to
use a timer when I'm cooking or making
something all I do is I set a timer on
my phone and then that timer goes off
and it's easy peasy liem and squeezy
number 16 on this list is floor lamps
and this is something that I've said
before I'm not a huge fan of having
lamps on the floors I don't like having
the lights in my eyes and one of the
things that we really appreciate about
this home is just how good the natural
lighting is in it but then of course at
night when things get dark we're going
to need to have some light and that's
why we plan on installing recessed
ceiling lights into the ceilings of all
of the rooms and so that's one repair
that we're going to be making in this
house but I currently don't plan on
getting anything like floor lamps or
table lamps or anything like that the
next item on this list is maybe one of
the most controversial things on my
channel ever and that is a rug for every
single room of my home and I used to get
a lot of complaints in my past videos
that my minimalist home has too much
Echoes and I totally get it when you
have high ceilings and hard floors and
there's a lot of sound bouncing around
it can Echo I don't notice it as much in
person but then my microphone tends to
pick up more extra noise but I figured
out how to edit my videos so that it's
not such a problem for my viewers I
think there are certain rooms where it
does make sense to have a rug like we
will probably put a rug in this living
room in front of the fireplace when we
have our couches and chairs or whatever
we have in here and that will kind of
give it a cozy feel but when it comes to
spaces like the dining room for example
I don't want to have a rug underneath
the dining room table because I found
that it's just really really hard to
keep that rug clean and looking good
number 18 is candles and I have just
never been a candle person I never was
someone that enjoyed lighting candles or
having the scent of candles filling up
the home in fact sometimes it used to
give me headaches when I tried to get
into candles back in the day when a lot
of my friends or family members were
using candles and they would gift me
candles and then I would feel guilty for
not using them especially because lately
I've read a lot of Articles and heard do
doctors talking about how candles can
put things like parabens and toxins into
the air that are then unhealthy when you
breath them in so instead of having
candles I just try to keep my home clean
so that its natural smell is already
Pleasant and then creating Ambiance in
other ways number 19 on this list is
holiday decor and this is something that
my family used to go all out for in the
past and we had so much holiday Decor it
pretty much took up an entire portion of
our garage like literally Santa's whole
sleigh and reindeer covered in lights
and that was just the Christmas stuff
while we do still enjoy holidays and
celebrate them as a minimalist family
having a lot of holiday decor items and
decorating for the holidays is not
something that I'm personally really
passionate about and so what we do in
our family is we find other ways to
enjoy the holidays like cooking certain
meals together or reading holiday themed
books for example I'm not saying that
I'm not going to buy any holiday Decor
but definitely Decor is not high on the
priority list for holidays and using
Halloween as an example because that's
my absolute favorite holiday I would
rather be the house that gives out
full-size candy bars versus having an
18t skeleton in my front yard and
finally number 20 on this list of things
I'm not buying for my home is everything
all brand new like I said we've been
living in a furnished rental for the
past year and that means that we own
almost nothing of our own whether that's
furniture or kitchen items or things
like cleaning supplies so that means
that we have to get all of this stuff
now that we're moving into this home but
that doesn't mean that I have to buy
everything new and I've already started
checking out thrift stores and
secondhand stores which is not only good
for saving more money but also being
more sustainable and if you are
interested in this topic you can go and
check out this video where I share all
of my best tips for thrift shopping like
a minimalist or I'll see you next week
until then take care bye-bye
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