Minimalist Living: Cancelled My Number

[mouakter14]

Minimalism isn’t just about clearing out closets or downsizing your apartment—it’s about cutting the noise, both physical and digital. For me, the journey started with stuff: donating clothes I never wore, deleting apps I never used, and unsubscribing from endless email lists. But one thing kept nagging at me—my phone number. Every month, I was paying for a service I barely used. Most of my conversations happened on Wi-Fi through Instagram DMs, iMessage, or Signal. Phone calls? Rare. Texts? Even rarer. And yet, I was still tethered to a SIM card because I thought I had to be. Until one day, I realized it was just another form of clutter—digital baggage I didn’t need.

Canceling my number felt like a big step, but also the most special database aligned with my values. I didn’t need to be reachable at all times. I wanted to be available intentionally, not constantly. I prepped by switching all my two-factor authentications from SMS to app-based methods, letting close contacts know I’d moved entirely to app-based messaging, and setting up a Google Voice number for any rare situations that required a “real” number. I tested the waters by living in airplane mode with Wi-Fi for a week. The world didn’t fall apart—I didn’t miss anything important, and my daily flow actually improved. With fewer interruptions and no background anxiety about missed calls or texts, I felt more grounded. More present. More in control.

Now, months later, living number-free has become a defining part of my minimalist lifestyle. There’s no phone bill, no spam calls, no unnecessary notifications. Just intentional communication and a lot more peace. My phone is now a tool I use on my terms, not a leash I carry around. Canceling my number wasn’t just about saving money—it was about simplifying how I connect with the world. And in doing so, I found a digital calm I didn’t know I needed. If minimalism is about removing what doesn’t serve you, then for me, the phone number was one of the last things to go—and one of the most freeing decisions I’ve made.