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Every time some one from our family visits abroad , my sister asks for a bottle of perfume form her large list of famous perfume brands. In her own way, she is a perfume connoisseur. Since most of these famous French brands are relatively inexpensive outside India, she makes sure she gets one in her kitty. Its not that she is a materialist person of first grade. She is just a normal girl who fancies a lot of famous and special perfumes. We all have fetishes like these.

For example, I am a hoarder of books and magazines. I buy more than I ever read. I used to love the whole culture of magazines but then they became all photo albums of models. I still buy them here and there even though, I hardly browse through the whole thing. I got rid of a bunch of them last year and since then I am trying to not spend unnecessary money on magazines I don’t even read. I still love the Readers Digest, Forbes, Travel Conde nest and a copy of Cosmo from time to time.

Since last one year, I have been trying to become a sort of minimalist. This did not happen after watching a youtube video which talked about the whole minimalism culture, na na. Its was more of watching someone very close to me – ME. When I was drowning in Credit Card debt last year, I kind of had this moment when felt that I have been working for more than 10 years but where is all that money? And I am still 1000 times better than most in my daily circle when it comes to spending. Still at that moment I developed this some what hate towards the cupboard filled with clothes I hardly wore. The first thing I did at that time was to donate 50% of my wardrobe.

This winter, I wore exactly one pair of sketchers throughout. Believe me when I say this – just one person asked about this. No one really cares except us. And when I saw this tiny hole at the front of my shoe last month, I felt relieved that it was money well spent. But I wanted to get better at it which I was not able to and here comes Covid 19.

This morning when I was taking shower, I again had this epiphany – How much we really need in life? Not much at all.

I have been using very little things since last week and its because 1) the things are sold on amazon and its not being delivered 2) I have to save money due to pay cuts 3) I value less more.

• I stopped using my favorite conditioner which is paraben free and specially for curly hair and its not expensive but its only available on Amazon. So I want to save the last remaining bits. And the funny thing is – my hair is just fine.
• I did not get my body hair waxed or my eyebrows trimmed. This is like a lot of women out there but I always have been paranoid to this look and right now I am loving it. Wait for my many pics with no makeup, bushy eyebrows and goofy me on insta soon.
• I am a self proclaimed 5 star Michelin chef of simple cooking. I love making my salads, hummus, strange curries. But non of my favorite vegetables and condiments are easily available so why fuss? I have been devouring yet more simple food with whatever is available.
• I use a tiny blob of moisturizer each morning, no skin boosters etc in last 1 week. My skin is just fine.
• Did not look at Myntra at all as I really do not need anything. I am saving that money for when I would need it for real.

So things I use every day – My basic hygiene stuff , simple food, a tad bit of moisturizer after shower, my laptop, internet connection, one of 5 pair of clothes I have kept for working from home, bed and bed sheet, note books, books I am reading, TV to catch up on the news, my yoga mat, Cellphone to mostly keep in touch with my team and for the most important call of the day with my beloved and lately a tripod which was in house for so long.

I think what I am trying to say here is that we really do not need much to survive. Its only our body and our loved ones and some basic amenities for making life simpler. Probably when all this is over then we might start to rework our lives -even if it is just a tad bit. Its never too late to redefine who we are. I am on this lovely journey of self discovery as thats all we have here in this life.

Tell me in your comments about things you stopped using since Covid 19?