hey what's up guys we're Eamon and Bec and
today we wanted to put together a video
talking about minimalism minimalism is a
subject that we never really associated
with but I think have fallen into it
almost by default so we figured we put
together a quick video to talk about the
things that we actually no longer by
moving into the van and just like having
a transition like this in our lives has
really impacted a lot of things that we
purchase and we thought we'd share them
with you so stick around right till the
end because we're going to share some
things that maybe you'll see get value
out of and maybe you'll realize hey I
don't need to buy that hey I can save
more money also if I'm please subscribe
if there's something that you guys are
no longer buying you should leave it in
the comments below because maybe we need
to stop buying that too yeah hunter
percent except for Lacroix I have a mild
addiction we're gonna try to categorize
these the number wine of being like
housewares so the first item on the
things that we no longer buy is plastic
wrap tin foil or ziplock bags they're
super easy alternatives to these things
that you just don't need to spend a lot
of money on we use beeswax wraps that
are reusable you just rinse them off
they're so awesome
so we've loved making that change and
it's a little more sustainable and then
we use reusable Tupperware to fit dishes
instead of using just a saran wrap
souvenirs now because we were
backpacking before we never really had
room to pick up souvenirs along the way
but even so even more so with the van we
don't really I can't think of anything
we've bought from somewhere we've been
that wasn't something we could eat or
consume or use like a product um we just
don't do it ah stickers I'll buy a
sticker you have a sticker I did I would
sticker wall but like that's not really
like a knick-knack II yeah it doesn't
take up space it doesn't like kind of
clog up your life yeah and even like the
stickers and my old age I've hidden them
there like behind drawers and stuff like
that's like I see them and I think yeah
I love them that kind of segues into
knickknacks I feel like a lot of people
even with seasonal changes will buy like
cute little knickknacks for the houses
halloween little tiny things like
kin or whatever and that's really great
and decorative and I'm not saying that I
won't ever do that if we have a house
I'm just saying van life has really
encouraged us to be those essentialists
and so we don't have any knick-knack
candles oh my gosh I no longer buy
candles or at least I buy candles and I
actually used the entire candle before I
buy another one I was such a sucker for
like the 3 for 15 deals at places like
bath & Bodyworks because they all smell
really nice but I mean I've done a lot
of research over time and really evolved
with the product and I bring into my
home or put on my body and those candles
can be pretty toxic so I cut those out
they're all-natural based candles and
I've had one in here since this time
last year from a local maker at one of a
couple yeah once again she bought a
quality candle it wasn't cheap but yes
it's lasted a year yeah so that's pretty
cool and I love it and you never let me
burn it so next up we have on our list
is paper towels I have to admit heaven
paper towels is a super luxury it's nice
to have it but we find that if you don't
buy it you just kind of get used to not
having it so for a little bit we did
inventory in the van and then eventually
we just cut it off altogether so instead
we'll use just a J cloth rinse it off
wash it out and just find other uses so
if you yeah you can always get around it
it's just like it's it's so easy if you
do have it yeah but we find you'll save
a lot of money paper towels aren't cheap
multiple cleaning products again this
kind of goes with the toxicity thing
with the candles I also shifted a lot of
the stuff in our home and this wasn't
just van life this was just like me on
my own personal journey but some more
natural things what I've loved having is
essential oils and making our own blends
for all sorts of things so last night we
were rubbing immunity on our feet before
bed or yeah creating a cleaning product
from either or something like a dr.
browner's which is all-purpose and we
use that for everything or just making a
blend from essential oils diluting it
with some water and yeah it's amazing
how many different products are marketed
to to specific areas and you look at the
ingredients or you realize that no an
all-purpose cleaner will do the same
thing so you don't need to have a big
drawer or cupboard full of spray bottles
yeah another thing we don't buy anymore
I don't have a bill for is Alec
tricity so we live in this little self
converted van we have a solar panel on
the roof
we charge through our alternator so when
we drive it charges our battery bank Wow
we don't pay an electricity bill pretty
exciting stuff
it's amazing to rely on Natural
Resources even if you live in a house
like you could invest in a solar system
and cut your electricity costs way down
yeah or even eliminate it based on the
appliances you have in a house I think
just quickly that's a common
misconception is that these items that
we're talking about normally are a
larger upfront investment like a solar
panel yeah but once you get down the
road of it being the invest I think the
payoffs like 10 years so much Sun yeah
so I love not having that the next thing
we no longer buy is hard copies of books
Eamon was never more book dude doesn't
read very much
we typically lean towards podcasts so we
listen to a lot of those while we're on
the road but we do also have an audible
membership and we love listening to
audiobooks something that both of us can
get on with and yeah you guys can try
that out for free actually not sponsored
but the link will be in the description
box if you guys not sponsored we've done
sponsorships with audible before company
ok moving on from the housewares section
we're gonna move specifically into the
kitchen I'm gonna touch on one cuz I
don't even know if I wrote it down but
I'm thinking of it I used to be such a
seasoning girl I would buy the packages
of taco seasoning chili seasoning fajita
seasoning vegetable seasoning and really
all you need is spice so we have spice
jars on our fridge I can also link those
little cute magnetic jars below I think
there's a phase of like spice being
intimidating yeah you don't know what to
do but then you look up like what an
Italian spices and you're like true it's
oregano basil just happen you don't just
know exactly what what it is yeah and
yeah a great point because like taco
spices like tune in for a little POC or
whatever it is it's way more expensive
than going to bulk barn and just buying
cumin and perfect and it tastes better
when you make it yourself don't you
think
thank you next up this is obviously by
default as well as we have a very tiny
phrase but we don't buy fritters and
food and I feel like we don't miss it if
you didn't understand what I just said
there frozen food frozen food anything
that comes in freezer we don't have room
for it because our frozen bananas
take priority but also we just don't
have need for in our life there's
something really beautiful but having
such a small space
yeah because you actually don't waste
food and whatever's in the fridge we're
like just use it rowing it into the
chili pot or like making use of the
leftovers or like the almost too bad to
go so true a dish food yeah and so I
just love that that kind of falls under
first I'll be like back eat this hummus
Jeep smoothies and juices now this is
one of those ones I was saying that
we're not always perfect at we do have
our Vitamix blender we prioritize that
in our van build so we make our morning
smoothies at home that's not to say that
we don't ever go out and get like a
fresh pressed juice or a smoothie like
any but nowhere near as much oh but no
we're used to hit up DJs
shut up to my Canadian homies reppin
that BJ life Booster Juice they're so
expensive and you don't actually know
what's inside of those smoothies sorry
oh no I used to get the one spinach is
in it yeah I think it's just the apple
juice I don't think yeah and we got it
cuz it was like spinach is in it and so
we thought we were getting our greens
and stuff and it's probably like this
much like two leaves yes yeah next is
bottled water I'm sort of passionate
about this I don't think there's any
reason for anyone on 2018 to be buying
bottled water they make amazing reusable
water bottles that actually taste better
you know drinking from an insulated
bottle is gonna keep it cold or anyway
this just it's I think it's so it's so
2015 guys so no - no no real reason to
buy bottled water if you're in a pinch
sorry yeah you know let's just say if
you're in a pinch and you're at a
restaurant or whatever they'll give you
top water and it's free and it's Toronto
or whatever city you're living in
obviously top water it's good to drink I
used to buy like cheap water bottles not
plastic oh that's a great point five
dollar reusable water bottles and they
were plastic
I felt like I was kind of always
breaking them or or you just didn't feel
like an attachment to it you're not now
we have amazing water balls that are
like insulated yeah hashtag link below
you want to see them and you just feel
good about it and they're a little bit
more expensive for sure but we've had
them each for like years and they're
great and we you know the investment
made you value it maybe excellent point
alcohol you and I aren't the type to
stock the fridge matière or a socket
with wall we have one bottle of wine at
the office that's just been sitting
there for years to year we don't have a
bottle of wine with with dinner we're
not that kind of those kind of people
it's amazing the money you can save but
also I just feel like a more productive
human member not drinking no judgment
here if you love your glass of wine I
totally totally get that it's just
something we've cut out that saved us
money time space the whole thing I'll
take a look Roy darling next our list we
put fast food Beck and I are never we're
never really the type of people to go
out and buy fast food a lot however we
do live in a van and we travel a lot so
there are exceptions to that but even
things like a quick snack at a gas
station we used to buy like protein bars
and stuff like that and now we'll just
kind of be aware that we are going to
want that and we'll kind of either
prepare them ahead of time or we'll buy
like a big trail mix at a bulk store
yeah stuff like that yeah something else
we no longer buy or do our best not to
is coffee cups that aren't reusable so
when we go to a cafe which is a huge
part of our lives they do our best to
bring our keep cup or whatever are
reusable even our reusable water bottles
in to get that beverage as opposed to
drinking and chuck in especially if
you're hitting the coffee shop like
multiple times per day it's just nice to
be thoughtful and trying to eliminate
that waste again no judgement from us if
if you are doing that we're just saying
hey maybe you hadn't thought about this
before I guess straws would kind of
follow under that we didn't write that
no never have bought straws but we do
have reusable straws now and I freaking
love my life zipper okay
healthcare skincare the whole kit and
caboodle we no longer buy a male and
female versions of
I feel like that's a huge marketing
thing that men need a different shampoo
than women but we also really don't even
buy that stuff like I have a friend who
makes all-natural skin care stuff here
in Toronto and I use his shampoo and
conditioner and every once in a while
you'll use it but you basically don't
even wash your hair if we're being
honest yeah not really I no longer buy
the products for your hair that I think
I bought into a lot when I was younger
Hair Spray oils if I do feel like I need
anything I will use a little bit of
coconut oil on the ends of my hair why
not like following this norm of like
having perfectly straight hair or
perfectly curled hair or whatever it is
every day yeah yeah I allow my hair to
breathe and be natural so it doesn't
need like the fixing product basically
be more of a dirt bag just be a dirt bag
yeah feel like this one's like really
heavy on me but I don't feel like you
want to talk about my diva cup or do you
I'd love to okay next on our list is a
tampons I don't personally use tampons
but my partner definitely did and she
recently switched to the Diva Cup which
is a reusable tampon kind of a weird
concept we basically shove a silicone
cup into your vagina once you get over
the fact that you're kind of twiddling
your thumbs within your vagina
okay then you will realize how much you
love it I love my Diva Cup and you said
everything I would say maybe I could
make an updated video about that kind of
stuff you're interested let me know in
the comments below you want me to
comment more in the Diva Cup let me know
as well yes
so I just completely cut makeup out of
my life and it's a huge spenfree thing
again I'm not like judging anyone who
chooses to wear makeup I think that's
fantastic but I think there are ways
that you can like maybe reduce the
amount of makeup you're buying or you
know like use a lip gloss lick use that
one lipstick until it's gone before you
buy like twenty others yeah because
otherwise I feel like it just rots in
your cupboard totally hey so again was
that chick that had like all the body
sprays and the three for 15 years
hopefully yeah I used to smell pretty
but honestly I felt like it was reacting
to my skin all the time especially when
I made the switch to like my hair and my
lotions enough to be all natural when I
then put perfume on it was like my wrist
would be like yeah it's it's if you look
at what like is in your perfumes it's
pretty terrifying it's like a lot of its
kind of like club gone and huge cost
savings and if I feel like I want to
wear something even the other day I was
at a bridal shower for my girlfriend and
I Reb some like peppermint essential oil
on my neck and everyone was like damn
damn girl that's I got it
that's like a very feminine okay we're
almost there you guys we are rockin
through this list clothing let's talk
about clothing bub
so you can take the first one you'll
notice I have worn the same two pairs of
pants in the past by fifty videos that
we've filmed ever cease pant season hit
yeah so huge believers in quality over
quantity and will go and buy higher-end
items whether it's Patagonia or
Lululemon because they really make
fantastic clothes we also stick to like
neutral tones like neutral colors blacks
Grey's greens Browns stuff like that and
that's kind of more timeless anyway last
thing under clothing is formal attire I
feel like so many people go out and buy
a new dress for every wedding or every
shower or every event they have that's a
little bit more formal and for someone
like me obviously doesn't have the space
to store that kind of thing
or the money yeah or the money I've
really enjoyed borrowing from people the
other girls and I feel like people
should do that more because it's like if
I have two dresses and that's all I need
and then I can give you those two
dresses and I can borrow your two
dresses like why don't we do that a lot
of boys do it you do do it either all
right even wearing my brother's suit
you've lost three weddings we've been to
the next thing we want to talk about is
tech and specifically like low quality
tech so when it comes to you know
Instagram ads or something that you see
that you think you need we just take
that extra step to do a little more
research in it and see if we actually
think it's gonna last a long time and be
good quality and the last one is just in
terms of our lifestyle going for nights
out we used to go out all the time more
so when we weren't together even back in
the day
obviously Friday Saturday
sometimes if I got crazy Wednesday
Thursday you know you're going out
you're going to the bar it's amazing how
quickly you can drop dollars dollar
dollar bills so we don't do that anymore
it's more of like an occasion or if
someone's in town and we want to go for
a drink it's more celebratory than a
regular occurrence I would say
definitely and I think that about wraps
up our a quick list of things that we no
longer buy again I'm sure we're missing
things on this list I think that making
this transition to van life has really
helped us realize that we don't need a
lot of things that we were previously
buying but I'd love to hear from you
guys what do you no longer buy and what
can we learn from you and hopefully you
learn from us and it was an exchange you
have less things but they add more value
to your life and it's just a really
decluttered way to live I encourage you
to try it out I think it will make you a
happier person even if you can take one
of those 30-ish things that we talked
about and eliminated you can like go
through your closet today and remove a
few pieces of clothing that's a
beautiful thing oh my paper doll don't
buy taco seasoning and buy some spices
like that's so cool
all right anyway guys hope you found
this helpful if you did smash that
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see ya
it's better if you we should like to
pull the dead angles like although
