My Great Grandfather was a wealthy railroad maven who not only persevered through the great depression, but came out stronger. I am told that throughout his life he lived the usual rules that came out of depression life: waste not, want not; make do and mend; don’t make an exhibition of yourself. It’s not that things would have been different even in a time of plenty, it’s that he knew the value of what he already had, and knew when he had enough. I was told that he even stopped buying new clothes around age 40. Apparently he felt that what he had would outlast him, and to continue to consume would not only be wasteful, but would be reckless extravagance.

Living minimal is about living wise, not about volunteer poverty. It’s perfectly okay to buy nice things. You just have to know when you have enough. I can buy a nice pair of shoes and keep them for years (I have been wearing the same pair of Louis Vuitton sandals for nearly six years, they’re my only pair), or I can buy something cheap over and over, probably almost monthly. I buy things to meet a need, and I use that to my advantage by knowing what I want. I don’t feel the need to have the latest trends and styles because I don’t buy things to impress anyone else or to show off what I can afford. I buy quality because I know it will last if I take care of it.

The minimalist mindset isn’t that consumerist need to vainly buy stuff, it’s knowing what you want and when you have enough. There is no shame in buying designer shoes or nice handbags. There is shame in owning five of them. That’s because you don’t need them, and it’s impossible to argue that you do. It is especially a shame to acquire debt in exchange for such reckless extravagance.

At the end of my life I don’t want to leave a legacy of ownership for my family to go through and sort out, likely selling it all off as meaningless trash so they can get things that they need. I want to leave as little impact as possible on earth, as big an impact as possible on humanity, and a family well prepared for whatever their needs may be.