Category: Lifestyle

Reasons to start cycling today

On By Melissa SalvadorIn Lifestyle, minimalism4 Comments

If you haven’t yet discovered the wonders of cycling, you are about to, after reading this post. Either you’re a minimalist, Eco friendly, or whatever you like to label yourself, owning a bike and actually use it, is great in so many levels. Here are a few reasons why you should get a bike, now.

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1. Exercise. I’ve decided to quit the gym since May. Most of the times it just made me feel guilty for not having time to go there. But you know what I have time to do? To cycle! Because I do it to go to work every day! Cycling burns an enormous amount of calories, and takes you places whilst you’re doing it.

2. Green. Bikes don’t release toxic gases. And they don’t take that much energy to make and transport. They run on good old clean human energy and extra calories!

3. Takes up less space. Bikes can fit in doorways, in the front garden, in alleyways, and in sheds. They can be parked on lamp posts, fences and railings. They’re great for city dwellers, studio flats, apartments, not to mention Minimalists!

4. Easier to maintain. Bike pieces are cheap and a lot of bike shops will help you out for free if you buy the parts from them.

5. Faster. One of the things I’ve been enjoying the most since I’ve got my bike is look at people stuck in a traffic jam and me still being able to cycle all the way through.

6. Quieter. There’s nothing more Zen than the silence of a bike, maybe my house on Sunday mornings when everyone is asleep, but not the point. Imagine the morning rush with no horns or beeps, engine hums and roars or people venting their road rage. Just a few cyclist’s bell things and the quiet clicks of the pedals running.

And these are just a few reasons why I’ve decided to get a bike. If you have more, please share on the comments below!

If you’re curious to know which bike I got head to my Instagram where I’ve been sharing a few pictures!

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Follow me on:

Instagram: @melissadesousanunes

Twitter: @melisssadesousa

Facebook: Tiger On Gold Leash

Go paperless billing | Minimalism Series

On By Melissa SalvadorIn Lifestyle, minimalism3 Comments

On my last minimalism post I talked about getting rid of your junk drawer. And one of the things that we accumulate the most, and is probably 40% of the content in a junk drawer, are documents and paper bills!

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Last month I’ve decided to go through all my bills, sort them out and come up with a plan to reduce them. There are several ways you can do this.

E-statements. Choosing paperless billing will reduce the amount of bills you receive. You can choose to receive an email or text message from most companies. If you can limit the flow of paper coming in you’ll have an easier time keeping on top of it. Wherever possible opt for online statements.  I’ve created a folder on my e-mail inbox where I save all my bills.

Scan. Not all companies give you the option to go paperless, so the one’s that don’t, you can always scan the bill and recycle the paper. If you don’t have a scanner you can use your phone. I always use the PhotoScan app to scan my documents.

Back-up. Google drive is my bestfriend when it comes to save images, but I recently started using it to save documents and mostly billing too. By creating a backup of all of your bills and documents you will be able to access these whenever and wherever you are.

And the good news are… I have one more free drawer!

If you have any other tips to go paperless please leave them in a comment below.

I’ve been writing separate posts about my minimalism challenge experiences, so make sure you’re following the blog or any of my social media channels to not miss out on these!

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Follow me on:

Instagram: @melissadesousanunes

Twitter: @melisssadesousa

Facebook: Tiger On Gold Leash

Clear out your junk drawer| Minimalism Series

On By Melissa SalvadorIn Lifestyle, minimalism3 Comments

We all have one, the most cluttered drawer/box/corner of our house. And every time we open it we take years to find something simple. It’s time to stop that!

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Schedule an hour, turn on some calming music and sort through the junk drawer. Give each thing a proper place. If it doesn’t have one, you should probably let the item go.

And please don’t tell me that you don’t have time because, if you take ten minutes after reading this post and handle it, you will never have to spend time reading or thinking about a junk drawer again. And doing it now will help you save time in the future.

We all know that junk attracts junk and clutter attracts more clutter. So if you want more time, space, and peace…you know what to do.

So here are a few quick things to take into consideration while clearing out your junk drawer:

  • Half of the pens that you have don’t even work anymore. Check which ones do and get rid of the rest.
  • Don’t save old batteries because you’re never going to use them. Recycle instead.
  • Do you know what all those keys you keep saving open? If you don’t know, you don’t need them.
  • Scan your receipts, save them on an online drive and trash the paper!
  • Put the coins on your wallet, otherwise you will not use them.
  • Phone books are useless, I’m sorry but the reality is that you have an address book on your phone for a reason. Please use it.

Start with these bullet points and the rest will come easy.

If you’ve tried this challenge before I would love to read your experience on the comments’ section.

I’ve been writing separate posts about my minimalism challenge experiences, so make sure you’re following the blog or any of my social media channels to not miss out on these!

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Follow me on:

Instagram: @melissadesousanunes

Twitter: @melisssadesousa

Facebook: Tiger On Gold Leash