“You already have everything you need. Adding material things don’t make you happier. Cherish what you already have.”

This is my mantra that I wrote to start the low-buy year at the beginning of this year to practice more frugal living to lower the standard of living to be more grateful for the ordinary parts of the life in general and to save more money.

In addition to the low-buy challenge, I also started the project 333 challenge (wearing just 33 items for 3 months) by Courtney Carver this year after selling and donating on Mercari and Threadup. This is totally doable thanks to the environment I could work from home. I learned to truly care for the fabrics of each clothing and cherish each item I own, which means so much to live more sustainably and mindfully.

The cover photo of this article is pretty much all that I have to survive the whole year after decluttering before the challenges. It feels so good to own less and I’m so glad I don’t have to buy any more new clothes I don’t like just to work in the office due to the dress code.