When you think about the minimalist lifestyle what do you think about?
I used to think of cold boring white rooms with hard furniture and no life or fun inside them. I didn’t see myself in that world.
In fact, I used to be a collector of many pretty tchotchkes and mementos.
So how did I become a minimalist? What does it mean to me? Why might you want to live a minimalist lifestyle? Can you really live with less and enjoy it?
Accidentally Minimalist
I became a minimalist accidentally. Maybe that happens to a lot of people.
I mean, who hasn’t had to live in a small apartment because of finances at some point in their life?
That is what happened to me. I fell in love and our first place as newlyweds was a 300 square foot studio apartment.
That meant we had to keep things simple to enjoy small space living. There is this crazy idea that minimalism is for the rich but I think it was actually discovered and perfected by people like me, doing it my necessity!
So how long did we stay in that tiny house? The answer might surprise you. It surprised us and all our friends.
What Made Us Minimalists?
Did we move out of our 300 square foot apartment and follow the American dream?
Our friends bought their first homes. Did we?
No! We stayed in our tiny studio apartment and became minimalists accidentally. How long were we there? The minimalist mindset help us stay there for almost 10 years!
And we only moved because it became mutually beneficial to move back home with my parents during the Pandemic.
It was an easy move cause we didn’t have too much stuff! Turns out living simply helps your feel more secure in uncertain times. We have learned that living the minimalist lifestyle helps us to stay flexible so that we can roll with the ups and downs of life.
Minimalist living has grown on us and we appreciate that living a simple life means less stress and a lot more time. We honestly have a hard time imagining living “bigger” because we feel that the minimalist lifestyle allows us to do all the things we want to do!
Why Should You Try the Minimalist Lifestyle?
So why am I so passionate about helping others start the minimalist lifestyle? Why did I start a blog about the minimalist lifestyle?
I am passionate about sharing the minimalist lifestyle because the benefits of minimalism I have experienced have helped me so much! And I know that they can help you too!
You might need to embrace minimalism if you are stressed about your finances because it will help you reduce and avoid debt. Do you want more time with your family? Simplifying your life will help you do that!
Minimalism can benefit you if you have decision fatigue from your busy life! It can also help you manage anxiety and have mental space when difficulties arise.
And minimalism can also help us in our changing world. It increases your flexibility if you have less stuff. Also, minimalism can help you live more sustainably if you want to start being more eco-friendly.
Whether you want to achieve your goals or just have more time to be more intentional living with fewer distractions is just what you need! With minimalism you can build learn to love your home again and find life hacks that actually simplify everything. More than that, you can build a life you don’t need a vacation from!
I’ve been a cleaning lady for over 17 years and I can see the direct correlation between having too much stuff and how stressed out or burdened people feel.
But don’t worry! Not only have I lived the minimalist lifestyle I have also read many books on minimalism and collected all the great quotes about living simply. I have also created lots of great simple living resources to help you! I am ready to give you all the guidance and inspiration you need!
I can help you overcome the hurdles that might come up. Perhaps your family isn’t on board. Maybe you don’t like the minimalist aesthetic, or you want to try a more colorful minimalism. Maybe you are wondering if you have to move to live a simple life in the country instead of the city. No worries! We will work it out together and make minimalism fit you!
What Does it Mean to Live a Minimalist Lifestyle?
So what does living a minimalist lifestyle really mean? What are the principles of minimalism and what will it look like for you?
If we are going to be strict the minimalist lifestyle may just fit that picture you had at first. Not enough stuff, hard furniture, and no color. That is the image that makes people not even want to try. That is the minimalist aesthetic or design. It doesn’t have to be part of the lifestyle though.
Let’s face the facts, in America and most developed nations, people have way too much stuff. So I want you to think about minimalism relatively. I want you to set realistic and doable minimalist goals.
Minimalism, for the purposes of this blog, is about changing your mindset. You are deciding that you do not need to fall prey to consumerism anymore. You are looking at minimalism vs. maximalism and choosing less instead of more!
You are deciding that you can find out what you actually need and what you actually use.
By doing that you are deciding what actually matters to you. When you start minimizing you are letting go of everything that doesn’t fit who you really are and what you really want to do with your life.
We can be Minimalist-ish by simply doing that.
And guess what? You can gain all the benefits of living minimalist almost as soon as you start simplifying your life, decluttering your home, and finding out who you REALLY are!
Minimalism Will Change the Way You Shop
So how will minimalism change your life? How will the minimalist lifestyle improve it?
First of all the minimalist lifestyle will change what you spend money on! It will help you to combat the consumer society that is always telling you that you need MORE MORE MORE to be happy. You will learn how to resist useless single use gadgets and fashion fads. Instead you will learn minimalist shopping tips and how to be a more conscious consumer.
You might try a shopping ban or no spend challenge to improve your spending habits so that you can avoid impulse purchases. With slow shopping habits you will learn how to stop falling for the tricks retail stores use to get you to buy stuff you don’t need by asking questions before you buy ANYTHING! And on when you do buy, even when online shopping, you will learn how to find the stuff that will REALLY work for you! All of this will lead to more sustainable choices that are good for you and the earth.
You will see how minimalism can save money in every part of your life for the simple reason that you will stop buying stuff that needs more stuff! And most importantly you will learn that there are lot of cool things to do instead of shopping!
Instead of buying junk you will find yourself spending money on experiences that make memories and even buying experience presents for the people you will love! You will start to understand that the best gifts for minimalists are focused on what you can do rather than what you can collect. As a result you will stop buying unwanted gifts and instead become a natural at finding the perfect clutter free gifts for your friends!
Not only will you buy less stuff you will learn the things I’ve learned that will help you disconnect your worth from stuff! And once you have that minimalist mindset it will be so much easier to let go of all the clutter that is weighing you down!
The Minimalist Lifestyle Will Change the Way You Dress
If the minimalist lifestyle changes the way you shop then that will probably affect the way you dress right? I mean you won’t be going to the mall all the time to consume fast fashion like it’s going out of style…literally.
So how do you dress like a minimalist?
First of all let’s just clear the air on this whole stigma about minimalist fashion. Yes, there is a style that is called minimalist. In that style you will see a lot of neutral colors and ultra classic (a little bit uniform) clothing. But do you have to dress that way?
Absolutely not! I don’t!
Instead you can shop your closet to find your personal style and your colorful capsule wardrobe that is built with things you love to wear!
The goal is simply to have less clothing you don’t wear. You want to simplify your wardrobe to the point that that you can get dressed easily every morning because you know that all your clothes are comfortable and look great on you!
I did the minimalist fashion challenge Project 333 where you dress with a capsule wardrobe of just 33 items for 3 months! I learned so much from having less clothing to choose from. It was amazing how it felt the opposite of restrictive. It was awesome!
I still follow Project 333 for each seasonal closet organization. I just break the rules a little bit!
If you are looking for inspiration to build your seasonal capsule wardrobe I have created a few different posts with capsule wardrobe ideas.
I build a Fall capsule wardrobe from Amazon and another capsule wardrobe for Fall from Walmart. There is post with Spring capsule wardrobe ideas from Kohls and another where you can build your entire spring capsule wardrobe on Amazon! There is a summer capsule wardrobe with basic staples and another summer capsule with more fun ideas! You can even buy your entire capsule wardrobe for summer on Amazon if you want to. I also have an Old Navy winter capsule wardrobe and another post about building your capsule wardrobe with sustainable fashion.
I even created a post to help you pack like a minimalist so you can keep keeping things simple on your trips!
In the past year I have learned how to stop buying clothes NEW in an effort to avoid the unethical practices of the fashion industry that are enslaving people and ruining the planet. I also try to make clothes last longer because of that. It’s easier than you think!
What you wear matters . Knowing how to fit clothing properly and learning how to wear more color can also help with building your minimalist wardrobe. You might even try wearing the same thing over and over again! However you choose to simplify your closet learning how have a great minimalist wardrobe is a big part of simplifying your life!
The Minimalist Lifestyle Will Transform Your Home
Like I said, I’m a cleaning lady. I know how the state of a home can affect the family that lives in it. When a home is a cluttered mess it becomes a place the family wants to stay away from. It is a stressful place instead of a haven.
But it doesn’t have to be that way!
Minimalism can turn your home into a place you love to be.
And you don’t have to decorate like a minimalist with neutral colors and ultra modern designs either! With just a few simple changes that follow the principles of minimalist decor you can open up your home.
You can choose furniture and home decor accents that scream your style while keeping things open and bright! You can even have a hygge home. Yes, even as a minimalist your home can have that cozy hygge feel that everyone enjoys!
The most important change minimalism can make in your home is the open space that you will find after decluttering all the things that are not useful to you anymore.
When you do that you will make your home a living space instead of a storage space! And I promise you, you will love living in it!
Minimalism Will Change Your Whole Mindset
As you can see the minimalist lifestyle is a tool to make your life easier. Minimalism will affect every part of your life, from your minimalist workspace to your minimalist home. Why? Because it affects the way you think!
One of the best quotes about minimalism in existence is this:
Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it.
Joshua Becker
Isn’t that beautiful? Don’t you want your life to be less distracting? Wouldn’t you like to have a life that is less defined by stuff and more defined by strong relationships and beautiful moments?
When you learn how to think like a minimalist your life will become much more satisfying. You will see what you really want you and you will be able to achieve it. You won’t worry about how minimalist you are compared to others. You will simply enjoy the freedom of your simple life!
Minimalism isn’t just a trend made popular by millennials. It is a response to the craziness of the consumer culture. The minimalist lifestyle is going to save us from blowing all our money, wasting our lives, and destroying the planet. It can give us back the peace that is lacking in our lives. It can give us better vacations but even better, lives we don’t need vacations from.
And the best part? There are lots of different types of minimalism so you can find the right version of the minimalist lifestyle for you!
Are You Ready To Start the Minimalist Lifestyle?
The only question left is this. What will you do?
Will you start the minimalist lifestyle and make life a lot easier and a lot more fun? Or will you continue to run in the hamster wheel of our consumer culture? Will you find out what really matters to you and live life to the fullest? Or will you keep meeting someone else’s ideal for you?
There is really no reason not to start enjoying simple living! Now is the time to try the minimalist lifestyle! Learn why minimalism is good for your mental health and relationships, how it can transform your finances, so you can start having more energy and time for the things that matter!
But what if simplifying your life sounds like an overwhelming task?
If you want to simplify your life but the big bad word MINIMALISM scares you let me help!
I wrote Doable Simplicity (Minimalism For Normal People) to help you get the inspiration you need to simplify your life and then take solid steps that make simple living doable for you!
