How to Become a Minimalist

I’m not sure what happened after my son was born last summer. Maybe it was post-partum depression, or maybe just the reminder that life is so precious, but either way I decided I didn’t care about things as much as I did before. We also made the switch to organic living too. Some material things have a high value to me….forks, spoons, soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, nutritious food….These are all things I feel I need to live at least a healthy life, but I really decided I didn’t want to be responsible for so many things anymore.  I also wanted to have more time to spend with my children. Check out our 31 Day Spending Freeze Challenge!

It started with a yard sale last summer where we donated everything that we didn’t want at the time to a local ministry.  With our son being weeks old, I couldn’t purge as much as I wanted to last summer. However, now that I’m at least getting some sleep, I’ve really decided to purge this summer. I have narrowed my wardrobe down to one closet, and if I were to be truly honest, I’ve purged enough that we probably only need a four room house to live comfortably. We even had a realtor come to the house at one point, but he advised us not to sell until the market was a little bit better in our area.  Also, check out the other posts in this ongoing series: Purging, How to Become a Minimalist With a Family, and How to Have a Minimalist Christmas. 

I also found inspiration from looking at those around me who are suffering or might even face death, like Wishes for Weston (a local family) or Fierce Hope (another local family).  Remember, life is short and you can’t take it with you.  This went along with my review of the book  “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” by Marie Kondo, and I really started looking at my materials items differently.

Next it was our car, which we sold back to the dealership and we left that car payment in the dust like an incompatible exboyfriend – $20,000 in debt – gone! Throughout the last several months I’ve just had a change of heart. I want to build relationships and memories, not an empire that doesn’t go with me when I leave this earth.

Maybe you are really at that point where you don’t care about material possessions anymore, and want to put people first. Maybe you’re just here because you think minimalism is a freak show. Maybe you will discover that you are more materialistic than you realized, and have to come to grips with the fact that you put a lot of importance on what others think of you.  Becoming a minimalist reminds me in many ways of becoming a vegetarian, there are varying levels of minimalists. Some believe you only need a fork, knife, food, and toilet paper.  I would consider myself a middle of the road minimalist. We’ve purged and our goal is to always live with less. However, I still love to express myself artistically whether through photography, art, or other mediums that require materials items!

No matter why you’re thinking about becoming minimalist, we’ve laid out some important steps that will truly add more time and money back into your life. These are the steps I used to purge my materials items over the last year, and I hope it helps you as well.

1. If you haven’t used it in a year, either sell it or donate it. I went through my entire closet and donated three contractor bags full of clothes I no longer wore.  If you haven’t worn it or used it in a year, is it really that important to you?

2. Do the same thing with food. If you haven’t used it, or if it’s expired, or you know you will never use it, donate it. I knew that three cans of cranberry sauce were never going to be used in my home, so I donated it to the food bank.  I also buy only the items I needed for the next few meals and I only buy in bulk when it’s something that I am absolutely 100% sure that I will use within the expiration dates.

3. Spend more time purging than buying. Purging actually became a habit and a way of life for our family.  Even with all of our purging, if you look around, we still have a lot of material possessions in my mind.  I still really feel that I could get rid of so many things! I used one of the rooms we didn’t use anymore (because of our purging) as our new photography studio.  This is also why I consider myself a middle of the road minimalist, because I still have materials things, but use them to do the things I love and enjoy.

4. Clear the clutter.  Start going room by room and looking at each room in your house and decide what you really will use. Purging can only happen one step at a time, so don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to do it all at once. Set up a goal to clean out one room at a time. Check out our 35 Days to an Organized Home post series or our ebook 25 Days to an Organized Home (over 12,000 downloads!).  The picture on the front is from my actual bedroom while we were purging.

4. Spend more time on relationships. For my family that was still tough this year, because our newborn son was very sick this winter and my husband’s asthma was very bad. We spent several months without seeing anyone outside of our immediate family and work friends. We didn’t go to church even to keep our newborn son away from germs. So, this was tough for us, even though we were less focused on materials items!

It is so sad that so many in our country don’t know how to have relationships, and I see children coming to school with very little guidance from their parents. Families don’t have conversations anymore about what is important, and too many parents are on their phones and their children don’t feel important.

5. Get rid of debt. If you’ve EVER been to this website, even once before, you know that is our motto.  Read more about our debt free living plan. We even have a free printable budget plan for you as well! Getting rid of bills and debt cleanses your mind from emotional clutter and allows you to get back to important things like thinking about how to build relationships in your life.

6. Get rid of emotional clutter. Forgive someone.  Go to your place of worship. Make a situation right. Pay someone back. Pay it forward. Love someone. Do all of these things, and just get rid of the mental clutter in your life. I try to be a minimalist in my mind and spirit in addition to my physical surroundings!

There is no right or wrong way to become a minimalist. Just take one step, even if its emptying the trash on your computer! In my opinion this is the only way to find true happiness.

Let us know if you are thinking about becoming minimalist or are already purging by commenting below!