“We’re out sharing a recipe. You know, we’re not out here trying to proselytize. We’re not trying to convert anyone to minimalism. But I do want to share a recipe and see if there are ingredients that other people can get value from and apply those ingredients to their own life.”
– Joshua Fields Millburn, Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things
Over the past few years, I’ve read countless books, articles, and blog posts on minimalism. I also enjoyed watching Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things on Netflix. I don’t claim to be a minimalist (yet), but I’ve begun to apply several minimalist principles in my life. I find these concepts helpful for reducing clutter in my home and simplifying my life in general.
Organizing and minimizing are two different things.
I’ve always been an organized person. The Container Store is one of my favorite places on earth! But you can only put so many labeled bins in your closet or tagged baskets on your shelves. Reorganizing and rearranging are temporary solutions. At some point, we have to remove possessions to reduce the clutter in our homes. Minimizing is about owning fewer possessions. Period.
Minimizing possessions = Freedom.
I don’t want to be a slave to my stuff. Everything I own requires something from me – my money, my time, my attention. Possessions are constantly asking to be cleaned, organized, repaired, mended, etc. As a stay-at-home mom, I don’t want to be so busy caring for my possessions that I’m not available for my family. Minimizing means less cleaning, less organizing, and less anxiety. Having fewer possessions means having more space, more time, and more peace.
Let go of yesterday and someday.
Keep the things that fit your life now. We all go through different seasons of life. People change, as do our circumstances. You might move to a place with a different climate, trade an old hobby for a new one, or even make radical life changes due to a mental breakthrough or religious conversion. Keep the possessions that reflect the person you are, not the person you were. Keep the things that support what you’re doing now, not what you think you might do someday. If you’re like me, you might be keeping supplies for a project that you plan to complete “someday when I get around to it.” Finish the project this weekend, or pass the supplies on to someone who can use them now. Either way, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment.
Don’t keep things that are readily available elsewhere.
Recipes, instruction manuals, magazine articles and many other papers in our homes are already stored online. Why clutter our homes when we can visit a website to find what we need? Pinterest is great for saving these items without taking up any physical space.
This doesn’t just apply to paper clutter. Sometimes I want to keep an item solely because I might need it someday. I’ve realized it’s OK to donate that unused handsaw (for example), especially if it could be easily replaced. Of course, buying another handsaw would go against my frugal nature (see “Resist consumerism.” below), but my chances of needing a new handsaw are slim. In the unlikely event that I need a handsaw, I can probably borrow or buy a used one. That brings us to the next concept…
Borrow or rent instead of buying.
I’ve learned that minimalists are good at sharing and borrowing possessions. I love the idea of creating communities that pool their resources to eliminate wasteful spending and the need for more storage. Maybe my neighbor and I want to pressure wash our houses. I own a tall ladder, but have no pressure washer. She owns a pressure washer, but no ladder. We could go to the store separately to buy another ladder and pressure washer, or we could share our resources and avoid adding another piece of equipment to each of our garages.
Many items (like pressure washers) are also available for rent. I used to think renting was a waste of money. If I spent money, I wanted to have “something to show for it.” Now I’m aware that bringing an item home means bringing other responsibilities and expenses with it. Who will clean and maintain it? Where will it be stored? When will it need to be repaired or replaced? How often will it be used? Renting can be an economical choice if the rental fee is reasonable and the item isn’t needed frequently.
Smaller homes have many advantages.
I don’t live in a small house, but I do live in a small-er house. I used to live in a big house. I spent a lot of time, energy, and money on cleaning and maintaining it. After a while, it began to feel like a money pit and a major source of stress. I didn’t own the house as much as the house owned me. Living in a smaller house means less to clean, fewer repairs, and lower utility bills. It also puts a physical limit on how many possessions I can accumulate.
Value experiences over possessions.
I used to believe that money spent on physical objects was money well spent. To me, “wasteful spending” was money that went out, but didn’t bring anything in. As I mentioned above, I wanted “something to show for it.” This belief made me hesitant to spend on things like restaurant meals, hotel accommodations, and other vacation expenses. Now I realize it’s OK to pay for an experience and go home with memories that don’t take up space in my house.
Resist consumerism.
Embracing minimalist concepts has given me a heightened awareness of advertising and consumerism. Advertising doesn’t just promote a product; it breeds discontent by convincing us we have an unmet need. Then it promises to fulfill that need with the product. It isn’t selling a product as much as it’s selling the idea of a better life. As a woman, I constantly feel enticed to shop for stylish clothes, high-end beauty products, and trendy home décor items. The question is: do they deliver on their promises? Do these purchases bring us the happiness, popularity, and wealth portrayed in the ads? They may satisfy us temporarily, but we can only be happy until the next ad reveals another “need.” The cycle of discontent continues.
Try this: read through your credit card statements from the past year. How much did you spend at your favorite store? Can you name the items you purchased with that money? Would you make the same decision to purchase them today? Asking these questions helps us to be mindful of what we’re buying and bringing home. We still need to buy things like clothes, linens, sunscreen, shoes, etc. Planning these purchases in advance can cut down on impulse buying. When I consider buying an item, I even ask myself, “Is this something I’ll want to purge from my house a year from now?”
You don’t have to be a bona fide minimalist to apply these concepts to your life. There is a minimalist movement happening in America, and one of its tenets seems to be that minimalism is personal. It looks a little different for everyone who practices it. Could your life benefit from minimizing? Sometimes the first step in changing your environment is to change your way of thinking. I hope these concepts have given you some food for thought!