I’d like to extend a warm welcome to everyone who’s come over from Zen Habits. It was such an honor to write a guest post for one of my favorite sites!
I’ve been blogging about minimalist living since September 2009, so there’s quite a bit of reading here. Therefore, I thought I’d share some of my favorite posts with you, as a little “Getting Started Guide” to my site.
I moved from the US to the UK a little over a year ago, and sold almost all of my possessions in the process. These posts detail my experience of paring down a houseful of stuff to one duffel bag:
My Minimalist Story, Part 1: A Clean Slate
My Minimalist Story, Part 2: The Great Unraveling
My Minimalist Story, Part 3: My Life in a Duffel Bag
My husband and I downsized from our 1000-square-foot, 3-bedroom house to a 390-square-foot, 1-bedroom apartment. If you’d like a peek at our minimalist living space, see the following posts:
400 Square Feet is the New Black
My Tiny Apartment Tour: Minimalist Bedroom
If you’d like to learn a little more about me and my new book on minimalist living, The Joy of Less, it’s all here:
The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide
And finally, here are a few other posts I thought you might enjoy:
The Minsumer Movement: A Quiet Revolution
100 Ways to Simplify Your Life (and Make Yourself Happier)
Minimalist Philosophy: To Walk Away, Empty-Handed
Again, thank you so much for stopping by; I hope you enjoy my blog, and will consider joining our little community here. I’d love to hear your thoughts on minimalist living!
Thanks for all the quick links and congrats
Hi Francine, I really like your guest post at Zen Habits. And it’s great to see a list of your favorite posts here! I can make sure I read the very best of your blog. :-)
Nice post on Zen Habits—you’re already in my Reader–I dropped Leo a while back….duplicated you, and with less charm!
Wow, congrats on the guest post! I’m going to head on over and check it out now…brb
Francine, congratulations on the guest post on Zen Habits! :-) I’ve been reading Miss Minimalist for some time, actually even earlier than finding out Zen Habits. I just want to say, both blogs have done real good to my life. And I just want to thank you for it. Do keep updating :-)
Francine . . . Really enjoyed reading your guest post at Zen Habits. Love the analogy between traveling light and living light every day. And more specifically, love the suggestion about modules. (Something I should put into practice more often.) Congrats!
Hi Francine,
I really enjoyed your post on Zen Habbits and look forward to exploring your site.
Michelle
Congratulations, Francine! I visit Miss Minimalist more than Zen Habits because I like your writing “voice” so much. Keep posting, please (more! more!).
I’m looking forward to reading your blog and benefiting from your minimalist experience. Thanks to Zen Habits for having you guest post and thanks to you for the great backlinks.
These links are great, but your book is awesome! Thanks for being a positive, non-condesending, motivating force in the minimalist community.
Loved your guest post at Leo’s blog, Francine! You never cease to provide amazingly useful and helpful content to everyone who stops by. Simply awesome. =D
I just started writing my own blog this month and so very much appreciate connecting with yours through Zen Habits. Though I’m certain I had heard of your blog before. Good word of mouth maybe.
I do look forward to reading your past posts as well as your current ones. Great information. Very motivating.
i’ve read your blog a few times and really dove into it last night. it’s really made me stop and think about my own life.
recently i left the states to study in australia. i packed everything i could ending up looking like a pack mule carrying a lot of things that i’ve since realized i could have done without. now it’s time to start thinking about heading home and i’m preparing to pack up again. between your blog and my own memory of carrying everything on my back for a week as i moved across the ocean, i don’t want to live like that. i’ve been evaluating everything i have and it’s significance in my life. i’ve started making a pile of things to donate, and a list of things that i can let go of at my home back in the states. i don’t know that i can embrace a minimalist lifestyle to the extreme you have, but i really do think that i could apply a lot of your ideas and principles to my life.
so thank you for writing, and allowing us to be influenced by you. please, keep it up.
James
just read about your blog and book in the saturday times magazine and am excited to have found someone who writes about what slowly dawned to me over the course of the last 2 years. everything i own fits in about 3 big suitcases – i have never had a phone contract, a long-term rent contract, have never bought furniture (apart from one wooden box for my jumpers) and give away a book for every book i buy. i work in fasihon and have only 10 pairs of shoes (trust me, that’s shocking in those circles :)) i do like to buy nice and good quality clothes and shoes but only if i need them. since i’ve stopped consuming mindlessly i’ve never been happier. plus i actually save some money now – which i all spend on travelling, adventures and experiences.
Good quote from Chuck Palahniuk I remember that immediately struck a chord.
“You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you’re satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you’ve got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you’re trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you.”
I found your blog through the post on zen habbits. I really like it. Although I love the idea of minimalism, I feel intimidated as well. As I write in my latest post I’m emotionally attached to stuff and the whole idea of minimalism is intimidating.
Thank you — I really appreciate all your kind words, and feel so fortunate to have such a great community here. :)
I always forget about Zen Habits, but came across it again. I’m so glad I did! I thought I’d been really trying to minimize my stuff/life, but now I realize how far I have to go (that’s actually a good thing) :). I’m so glad to have found your site here. You’ve already been a HUGE inspiration in the two days I’ve known of your existence. :)
I clicked over here from Zen Habits, thank you so much for putting this introduction post together, I really do find it quite helpful. Can’t wait to explore your blog!