Minimalist Living: Cancelled My Number
Posted: Tue May 27, 2025 4:37 am
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.
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.