“Note down every single material item used in your entire day — what does this list say to you?”

Listing every material thing I used today makes me feel grateful for everything I have. I genuinely love every single material item listed and deeply appreciate having access to all of them on a daily basis.

For a long time, I found minimalism very attractive, and I wanted to be part of it. I didn’t take it to the extreme, but I did keep my belongings pretty low for a long time. What I really realised through this process is that what I was more drawn to was the intentionality element of it. Being more mindful of what we have, keep, and buy, and knowing why.

I never sat down to create these categories, but these are my main motivations behind acquiring more material things:

It’s essential

Things you need on a daily basis, like deodorant, groceries, toilet roll, towels, etc. If it’s essential there’s no reason not to buy it.

It’s functional/useful

There are a lot of not essentials that fall into this category. Things like having a printer or any sort of organisers like a shoe rack. I could live without them but they make my life and space nicer and I appreciate having them.

I’m committed to using it

This category is really related to hobbies, it’s not essential or strictly useful, but regular use justifies them. The amount I use something and the joy I get from it are my barometers to decide how much to spend on it and whether to get it new or second-hand. Let’s say I want to play tennis but I’m not sure if I’ll stick to it, in this case, I might decide to buy a pair of second-hand rackets and give it a go, and if in a few months, I’m still really into it maybe I can treat myself to better equipment, otherwise, I can just resell what I bought for a similar value, or just stay as I am. But if I already know something is important to me and I use it a lot, like a speaker or headphones, I don’t mind throwing a decent amount of money at it.

It makes me feel better

It could be well-being-related things, from fun experiences to therapies. They improve the quality of life, maybe they release pain or are a source of joy. Although they aren’t strictly essential things, I’d argue they’re more important than we give them credit for.

Aesthetically pleasing

Aesthetically pleasing things might appear as superficial and unnecessary but they can also be a source of joy and make you feel good on a daily basis. Living like we are worthy of having nice things shows respect for ourselves, our taste and our preferences. It’s part of our self-expression toolset, and it can be plainly fun when it’s not performed for other people or expectations. Here can fall things like nice bedding, jewellery, nail polishes, ceramics, art, etc.

Impulse driven

Sometimes I buy stuff to procrastinate or avoid tasks, or sometimes because I feel stressed, tired, bored, or empty. We’ve all been there. A lot of times I manage to satisfy this impulse with something that falls into one of the previous categories. Other times, I end up buying stuff I’ll never use and I’ll regret having spent money on. This is the worst outcome and the one I try to avoid the most by being intentional. But I’ve accepted this is going to happen every now and then and the only thing I can do is to look back to how I was feeling when I did that purchase, what were my motivations, and learn from it. Eventually, you’ll be able to spot patterns and mitigate them.