Hey, Bees! So I've been seeing this trend on YouTube for a while and I thought it might be a fun thing for the Natural Medicine community to try. It's minimalists (or in my case, aspiring minimalists? Quasi minimalists? Getting there minimalists? LOL) talking about things that they only own one of, that often people keep multiples of.
Now, as I just said, I am by nobody's definition a minimalist. But I am a reformed hoarder who takes great delight now in lightening my "stuff" and passing things on to others who could use them. So I thought I'd give this challenge a try!
Please join in and make your own post with the hashtag #thingsiownoneof ("things I own one of," but hashtags can't use capitals or numbers). :)
I tried to just do a couple of items from different categories.
In the bathroom:
I keep one type of lotion on hand. This is a big change from when I was younger, because I used to be a Bath & Body Works fan, and very much a "must have several scents" person. This one in the photo having scent is the first one I've had with any scent in several years, as I was having a hard time finding my usual allergy-friendly lotion and this one seemed to be my best bet at the store, so I gave it a shot and EUREKA! No rash from using it. I have scent again! :)
I also only have one nail file. I see so many people who have a pile of these, whether they are disposable or not. Granted, I am not a manicure type person - I don't paint my nails or anything like that. But this file is metal and lasts for basically ever. I've had it for probably 20 years now and it's still going strong!
Clothes:
I have one winter coat. This is maybe not so odd to some but again, some people have multiples. I think maybe they do something like "this is a fancy one for going out, and this is the every day one, and this is the going skiing one... " or something like that. Or they just are matchy-matchy and like to coordinate their coats with their outfits?
I also only have one pair of sweatpants. And I don't wear them all that often, to be honest. I am more of a jeans person, so this one isn't terribly hard for me. :)
Office supplies:
Office supplies are one of those things that seem to multiply on their own somehow, right? Is that just me? LOL
But I do only have one tape dispenser, and one stapler (yes, that little pink thing is a stapler, and yes, it uses regular-size staples). When I was growing up I remember my parents' junk drawer in the kitchen always having a multitude of those disposable plastic tape dispensers. When I was in college, I bought one nice dispenser and have just bought refills for it ever since. Less plastic that way, too!
In the kitchen:
Okay, we all have a drawer - or a cup on the counter or two - that looks like this, right? Full of all your stirring spoons and spatulas and tongs and whatnot for cooking? So I'm kind of proud that I narrowed down one of those utensils to just one: my whisk. It is THE BEST WHISK EVAR! I used to have a metal one, and it rusted. I had a little plastic one that came in a gift set, and it broke. This one is coated with silicone, so it lasts and it doesn't rust and it doesn't scrape the pan if I'm using it in something with teflon where you're not supposed to use metal utensils (I know the NM community is going to collectively gasp over teflon, but, I didn't buy them, I was given them, and my poor arse isn't going to look a gift pot in the mouth). So two thumbs up on the silicone-coated whisk from me.
And one drink pitcher! My mom always had a shelf full of Tupperware pitchers. In college, my roommates and I had a few, too. When I first moved in to this apartment, I had one plastic one but it was a cheap one from the dollar store, and it wasn't very sturdy - the handle would BEND every time you picked it up from the weight of it being filled with liquid. So when I had the money, I bought a nice glass one. I do kinda wish the handle was bigger, but it works. I am one person, I don't need a whole collection of juice pitchers, lol.
Miscellaneous:
I have one suitcase, and it is carry-on sized. I bought it secondhand at the thrift shop years ago and I love it. I almost never travel, so just one is fine for me. :)
A television. And this, this is my current debating a change item. I literally haven't watched anything on it or played any video games on it in years. As you can see, it has a digital converter and bunny ears that are covered in dust. My biggest hangup about keeping it is twofold: one, I have a Wii that I don't want to get rid of, even though I haven't been using it lately. I used to love playing WiiFit games, and I hope one day to be well enough to have the energy for that again. Two, it has a VCR in it (yep, it's that old. It's a CRT television), and I still have some VHS tapes. I have purged those tapes twice so it's down to like, one cubby and a stack. But I don't subscribe to streaming services or anything like that, so my DVDs and tapes and library access are it. If I could rig the Wii up to my laptop and snag a few DVDs of old favorite movies, I probably wouldn't hesitate, but as it is, I'm still wavering. We'll see.
My parents have two televisions for two people, and like, that's their hobby. My dad needs hearing aids but won't get them, so he blasts his super loud, and my mom turns hers up so she can hear it in the other room over the noise of his in response, and it's just. So. Loud. I used to feel like I was being beaten with noise when I lived at home. So yeah - I am not a "use it for background noise" kind of person. I hate background noise. I like quiet. ;)
So there's my entry in the "things I own 1 of" challenge! I hope you decide to play along, it's interesting to see what different people prioritize and have learned. Have a great day! :)
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I must confess I have multiple nail files in the house. In my defense, this is because I have daughters. I started out keeping just one in the medical box for everyone's user, then each of my daughters had one, becausr my eldest was forever nicking it. Unfortunately, she is the master of misplacing items, so the medical box one would still go missing. So I ended up buying one for myself and hiding it in my drawer for when the communal one inevitably went missing. My eldest had now left home, so this issue is finally solved and she likely has her own collection to regularly lose. I’m also not a manicure person, but like to take the toy edges off when I've cut my nails.
I have a habit of holding onto old winter coats when they get replaced, for gardening or when the good one needs washing. So I have two, but I probably shouldn't be seen in public with one! 😅
I've never gone in for multiple tv's. If one comes in, the old one goes out. Having said that, my daughters did end up with their own computers and watched Netflix on them, particularly when they don't want to spend time with mum and dad.
The kitchen is one place I like to keep minimal, but somehow those pots and pans seem to accumulate. When my eldest got her own place she lightened the load a bit for us. As a family we never seemed to have enough cutlery until I'd gotten two sets and extra forks and teaspoons. Something about living with others seems to require backups. Cutlery turns up in the oddest places. I found a teaspoon in a jar of golden syrup once, at the back of the cupboard. I'm sure it had been missing for about a year, which shows how much we use the stuff. Like never!
If I lived alone I'm sure I'd have many more items I could say I only have one of...
Oh totally, having a family changes the game. And as I said, I am definitely not minimalist in other ways, and I live alone!
!BEER
I wish I was a minimalist. I thought I'd gotten better at not hoarding, but I seem to be lapsing of late. Especially when it comes to fabric from old clothes.
!ENGAGE 15
I have been slowly working through my craft supplies in a "use it up" plan. If I ever finish making my big curtain, that will have used up a bunch of fabric! :)
I sometimes make those plans. They sometimes even work, but then I remember the other mountains of junk I've yet to work through! 🤣 Let me know what has worked for you. Struggling to get my butt in gear for anything at the moment, though. Time to climb out of my depression hole again, I think. 😕
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I think there is a whole generation of parents who's favorite 'hobby' is watching a colorful box of noise.
I look forward to seeing your post! :)
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