Kuala Lampur, Oct. 31 -- Maryam used to chase the weekend sales at Mid Valley like it was an Olympic sport. Her condo in Bangsar looked like a showroom: three blenders (one for smoothies, one for soups, one "just in case"), a wardrobe that needed its own postcode, and a store room so full she paid RM250 a month to keep the door closed. "I thought more stuff meant more success," she says, laughing over teh tarik at her neighbourhood mamak. "Turns out, it just meant more stress."

Then came the Great Downshift.

One rainy Tuesday, Maryam opened her banking app and stared at the numbers. Rent, car loan, Grab rides, bubble tea runs everything felt like a leak in a sampan. She sold the extra blenders on Carousel, donated half her heels to the ...