Why Minimalism: What I Spend My Money On and How I Sold Almost All My Stuff with Ease and Grace Using Social Media and Zaarly

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Written by James Wong. Engage with me on Tw or G+

I often create an identity using my things…

I wear Wesc jeans, Rayban Glasses, and Marc Anthony shirts to express my trendiness, my awareness of what’s cool, and my value.

I have an attachment to the television shows I watch, the books I read, the bloggers I follow, the celebrities I like, and the music I listen to. It all bundles up to create my identity. When people think of me, they think of my identity, my interests, and vice versa.

But what would happen if I strip it all away? What if I chose to detach myself from my identity? What if I said, “I’m not my clothes, my car, my home, the type of music I listen to, or the type of food I eat.” How would I express myself? What would I use to forge my identity? I could say I’m a Minimalist but what if I detached myself from that identity/label as well? I want to take this to another level…

When there is nothing to use to express myself, I’m left with spareness. I’m left questioning who I really am. Who I am for myself, who I am for my family and friends, who I am in “the work” I do, and who I am for the world. It’s frightening to consider and be confronted with my life’s meaning, purpose, and significance.

What if I spent my whole life trying to create the perfect identity? At what point does it stop, one more pair of jeans, an upgraded car, getting married to the perfect partner? How high are my standards? Where did these standards come from?

When I remove the arbitrary and meaningless standard, there is only my naked bare minimal self… And I am enough. I will be loved, I will be blessed, I will be safe, I will never be taken advantaged of, and I will never be wrong. I am everything in space. I fill it with life, light, and joy. I need none of which I so thought I desire. Again, I am enough.

In spareness, in clean clear space, I find enough.

Is it possible to have an identity and still be enough? Yes.

I have interests. I know my favorite margarita, the dream car I know I’ll have in a few years, and the ideal lover that would work for my life. It would be weird if I didn’t express myself using things.

I don’t see anything wrong with having nice expensive things. There isn’t anything wrong with having standards and ideals either.

The break though of Minimalism is that I’m so clear that I am enough. I don’t need any thing else to be happy.

I’m a Minimalist that buys what I need and owns expensive brand things. Why expensive brands? Because they last 10x longer, I can re-wear or re-use them often, and it’s thrilling and fun to work hard, make a lot of money, and spend it on what I want. I chose to play big.  My money game is big, I chose to do “the work” that makes me good money with little time and so I get to spend money on expensive things.  You can be a minimalist that doesn’t make a lot of money, have plain clothing, and be totally satisfied or you can be a minimalist that makes a shit ton of money, has ridiculously expensive things, and be totally satisfied as well. It’s up to you love.

What I spend my money on:

I don’t buy many things anymore. I have pretty much everything I want. The things I own will last me years. So nowadays, I spend money on experiences. Here’s a list of some things I do (just in the last 3 months):

  • Eat at fancy restaurants with quality service.
  • Rent out a boat and Jet Ski with friends and have a blast on the beach.
  • Fly to Florida and visit Hogwarts.
  • Enjoy quality alcohol.
  • Fly to Kansas to visit my mom.
  • Gamble at Casinos.
  • Party and go to strip clubs in Ensenada, Mexico.
  • Spoil my family.
  • Spoil beautiful women.
  • Spend time with my Team in Los Angeles.
  • Go to outrageously priced business seminars.

If you notice, whether we spend money on things or we spend money on experiences, we do it to feel alive. We do it for the adrenaline rush. I’ve been on this ride, this adrenaline dopamine rush, for months now and it won’t end anytime soon. It’s my passion.

When I want to spend more money on experiences, I stop buying stuff or make more money and have both. Where ever I am in life is exactly where I am meant to be. But at anytime if I want to play a different game, a new game with new experiences and more adrenaline, I can. And if it’s going to take awhile to play a different game it’s OK, my bare minimal self is enough.

How I sold Almost All My Stuff with Ease and Grace Using Social Media and Zaarly:

In September when I decided to get rid of most of my things, I made a good chunk of change by selling most of my stuff using social media. Here’s how I did it:

1)   I took pictures of all the things I wanted to sell. I put them all up on Flikr with a description of the brand, how long I had it, and how much I think it was worth. Tip: I took time to take really nice pictures.

2)   Once pictures are up, I blasted all my things to every social media platform I was on and I put my things on Craigslist (using Flikr photos). and Zaarly.

Enter Zaarly

Zaarly.com is the revolution of getting what you want with ease and grace. It’s a site that you post things that you want or need (stuff or services ie: Someone to buy your groceries or someone who has an iPad for sale or someone to cook for you.) It’s an amazing peer to peer site like eBay. Zaarly has gotten over $14 million dollars in funding to be developed.

I did two things with Zaarly,

I posted if someone wanted to buy my things in bulk and sell the things for their own profit and I followed the listings for people who wanted to buy stuff I had. For example, as soon as I saw someone post about needing a flat screen t.v. I responded to them with mine and shared with them my Flikr photos.

3)   As soon as I’d get messages from people and friends who wanted my stuff, I’d invite them over to my house or I’d meet up with them.

4)   I was able to sell almost all of the things I didn’t need because of one thing, the UP SALE. Every time someone was about to buy something of mine, I’d politely ask him or her if they’d like to buy something similar I had as well for just a little more money. I’d tell him or her that if he or she didn’t buy it, I’d probably throw it away. Almost everyone bought something extra because they didn’t want it to go to waste.

5)   Tip: When people are in a buying mode, they like deals… ;D

That’s it! It took me about 2 weeks to get rid of over 300 things, small and big.

I let go of excess things. I let them go because I don’t want my things to determine who I am. I realized the clutter and attachments I had with my stuff was holding me back from evolving. I am now detached from my things. Yes, I have things, but my things aren’t who I am. And because I am not my things, I don’t need more things or better things to live a higher or better quality of life.

That’s why I choose Minimalism.

Take care, love,

James

p.s. We often write about Minimalism and letting go of things that keep us from evolving. We invite you to get in our world and see what’s possible within our pursuit of living a higher quality of life. You can join us here.