If you go by the books, minimalism essentially means owning less and owning what matters – ‘the bare minimum.’ However, in this ever-changing world, humans are generally not able to adopt a minimalist lifestyle. There is always a ‘fear of missing out’ and a sense of ‘inferiority’ that comes and haunts us if we fail to follow the newest of the trends. Little do we realise how much of our earnings the new iPhone 11 Pro Max is going to take up!

Let us take a deep dive into the ocean of minimalism and explore its various hues.

Black If you think about it, minimalism is a fad that has emerged recently. Though the pastel shades and “no-brand no-logo” products do appeal to our aesthetic senses, we need to realise at what cost they do that. We have big retailers like MUJI and XIMIVouge coming to India and selling a simple ball-point pen for ₹ 75. Now, is that minimalism just because the pen has a white body? (The quality card will not work here). In my opinion, it is just a capitalist propaganda: make the products as simple as possible and charge an obnoxious sum for it. The astonishing fact though, is that people will most certainly buy it, going against the ethos of minimalism. After all, it took a lot of money to keep Gandhi in poverty.

White Minimalism is essentially about getting rid of possessions, ideas and relationships that do not bring value to oneself. It never tells us to deprive ourselves of anything but to do away with everything that does not bring us peace and happiness. If carried out precisely, the concept of minimalism can help one save a lot of time and money. Spending your hard-earned money only on things that are useful and bring value to you unquestionably aids one’s finance. What minimalism does is that it strips away the unnecessary and leaves you with new-found financial freedom which you can use for new experiences. It teaches you to look beyond the materialistic approach of corporate giants and helps you attain peace of mind with what you have.

Grey Now, we cannot have everyone adopt a minimalist lifestyle because if they do so, the entire economy would have to restructure itself. On one hand, luxury brands will lose sales and big corporates will have to downsize, but on the other, new startups and purpose-oriented companies would come up. We need to realise that minimalism is fine, but the idea of how to become a minimalist is corrupt or somewhat misunderstood. You need not throw away all that you have and buy all the aesthetically pleasing products for yourself and your home all over again. This is where the problem lies, and if you can draw parallels between what minimalism actually is and what big brands portray it as, you have successfully arrived on the road to financial freedom!

By Kshitij Singh