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 thumbs up be sure to subscribe to our
Channel see ya
it's better if you we should like to pull the dead angles like although