This time two years ago I had buckets of lip products. I couldn’t decide if I wanted an expensive organic blend or a cheap drugstore off-brand. I knew that I wanted to have a lip product always at hand, and because I was shopping so frequently, I found plenty opportunities to toss a new tube in the cart. Still, I was constantly losing them and my lips always felt dry. No one likes the feeling of dry lips, am I right? So I would continue to collect them sticking them here and there stashing them in the glove compartment, my purse, my makeup bag, or a kitchen drawer. Eventually they would get lost or sticky at the bottom of my purse, left at a bathroom counter, or run through the washing machine. More often they would simply get old and expire while still taking up space at the bottom of the drawer.
But then came minimalism. Then came my opportunity to change the direction I was going. Then came Joshua Becker, Allie Casazza, and countless books, vloggers, and pinterest tutorials. After clearing out carloads of donations, and going through every shelf, cabinet, closet and drawer we started to create a new lifestyle. We cleaned, eliminated doubles, pared down and ruthlessly purged. Through that process, all the mediocre clearance lip sticks and the expired and sticky jars of balm were thrown away. And from that point on, I kept two tubes of lip balm. One is for my purse so that I will always have it when away from home. The other lives in my makeup bag in my bathroom. I have not once misplaced these two. It’s so easy to keep track when everything is simplified!
The reason I am excited is that I just realized that I’ve used up one of those two lip balms. That’s right, it’s all used up down to the very bottom! Even though I had dozens and dozens of lip products over the last 25 years, I truly don’t remember ever using a lip product to it’s core. Is it possible that I never did exhaust one completely? What a waste!
So this used, empty lip balm is symbolic to me of the change we’ve made, a change that has been worth the work. Minimalism means less forgotten and less wasted. Less frustrating time fruitlessly searching for items that may not ever be found. I feel so much better about this life of less. And it has given me time and space that I didn’t realize I could have. Minimalist changes have saved me money, space, time and energy. Life is better this way. Life is better with just enough.
What has minimalism done for you?
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price.
This post is inspiring! We’re moving to Budapest, Hungary from Florida to become missionaries in September and are in the process of minimizing our belongings. I (Samantha) own a TON of chapsticks, perfumes, lotions, and makeup I haven’t even touched since I bought them! It’s amazing when you start to realize what you actually need and what are wants. Even though I’ve purged a lot of my products already, but your post inspired me to purge my chapsticks. I probably have 15 of them!
// Jonathan & Samantha
https://www.captureacause.com/
Thanks for leaving your comment Samantha! I can only imagine the big step it will be to become missionaries in Budapest! That’s an amazing opportunity and WOW what a chance to minimalize and really live out your core values. God bless you as you serve Him in Hungary!
I opened and scraped out all my lip balm tubes and put the goop into a small pill container. I keep that on my bathroom sink and tossed all the partly used tubes! I’ve also done this with several almost empty tubes of a medicinal cream and managed to gain almost another full tube worth. Saved trips to the store, money and wasted products.
I have migrated to lip balms completely this year. I have 2 tinted and 2 mildly tinted. I love them and I use them regularly. There is great satisfaction in having just a few , using them well. From being addicted to buying lip balm every month; to appreciating and using just 4 in a year is great progress to me.
Power to minimalism. Its stopped a mad and anxious buying frenzy. This year I have also embarked on a no buy challenge.
Amazing post. Exactly what I needed to hear! I will definitely apply this to my lifestyle. Thank you so much.
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I like this post about the Minimalism Journey: The Lesson I Learned from Lip Balm and you are sharing the ideas that people need to know. I like the way you shared the post here for our learning.