One of the basics of minimalism is that you eliminate as many non-necessities as you can, to make room for what's important.

If you don't need a ton of clothing, you get rid of much of it. If you don't need that new gadget, you don't buy it. Within reason, of course.

You learn to be content with what you already have, with the necessities, with doing things you love rather than having things.

But it's funny, because often things we assume are necessities are not necessarily so. The problem is that we categorize things as necessities because we're used to them, and we can't see how to live without them. And it's difficult to make big changes.

Some examples:

* A car.Cars are seen as necessities, but amazingly, people lived without them for quite awhile before the 20th century. Even today, some people manage to go carless. And it's not impossible - especially if you live in a place with a decent public transportation system. And there are car sharing options now in many cities, so you can use a car when you need it, for much less than actually owning a car. It's possible to bike and walk most places, and take public transit and shared cars everywhere else.

* Meat.Many people believe they can't live without steaks and burgers. And I was one of them. These days, I'm not only vegetarian, but mostly vegan. And it's not that hard to change, if you do it slowly. It's also healthier and better for the environment - meat and dairy animals are tremendously harmful to the environment and a huge waste of our natural resources.

* Lots of clothes.While I don't advocate going naked （though some do it） nor do I recommend just owning one outfit, it is possible to own less clothing than most people have. We don't need to constantly buy clothes to stay fashionable - we can buy quality, timeless clothing, with colors and patterns chosen so that all our clothes go with each other.

* A big house.Have less stuff, you need less house.

These are just a few examples - think about all the things you consider necessities. Are they really? What's really needed, beyond food, shelter, basic clothing, and loved ones?

简约主义的基本要素之一就是要尽可能多地抛弃你生活中那些非必需品，给真正重要的事情以足够的空间。

如果你根本不需要成堆的衣服，那就丢弃绝大部分。如果你不需要那个新的工具，请不要购买。 当然这都需要一定的理由。

你应该学着对自己拥有的东西感到满足，对必需品感到满足，对你喜爱做的事情而不是你的拥有感到满足。

但有趣的是，那些被我们当作必需品的东西未必真的是必需的。问题的原因在于我们早已习惯了这些东西，因此就把它们当作必需品，我们无法看到没有它们的生活将是怎样。的确，做出大的改变是一件困难的事情。

比如：

* 一辆汽车。汽车被认为是必需品，但是令人吃惊的是，在20世纪前人们没有它一样生活了很久。即使今天，有些人也可以做到不使用汽车。这是可能的--特别当你居住在一个具备发达的公共交通系统的地方。同时，现在有很多城市都有租车的选择，因此你可以在需要时使用汽车，这比完全拥有一辆汽车要简单很多。骑自行车和走路可以去多数地方，乘坐公车或租车可以帮你到任何地方。

* 肉类。许多人认为没有牛排和汉堡将无法生活。我也是他们中的一个。这些天，我不仅吃素，而且几乎成了彻底的素食主义者。做出这样的改变并不困难，如果你慢慢地做出改变，这对个人健康和环境都大有好处--肉食和乳制品对于环境都有很大的危害，同时也是对自然资源的极大破坏。

* 很多衣物。我并不赞成裸奔，也不推荐仅有一套外套，但对多数人来说衣物还是可以再少一些。我们并不需要不停的购买衣服以追求时尚，我们可以买高品质、不过时的衣服，挑选合适的颜色和款式以求衣服之间可以灵活搭配。

* 大房子。少拥有一些东西，小的房子就够了。

这些只是个别的例子，考虑一下所有你认为是生活必需品的东西吧。 它们真的是吗？除了食物，房子，基本的衣服和喜爱的东西，什么是真正必需的？