miss minimalist

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

Today, we have an inspirational contribution from Reggie, a Generation-Y minimalist who’s discovered (so early in life!) that a consumer lifestyle is NOT the road to happiness. He writes about his experiences on his wonderful blog, People, Not Stuff.

Reggie writes:

Reggie

I’m a 23-year-old recent college graduate who was jolted by a combination of the financial crisis, my first real-world working experience, and an overall desire for a lifestyle change. I came across minimalism and simple living and instantly knew I had found a road map to start living a life centered around the things I decided were the most important to me. I read many blogs and websites over the past 2-3 months before I decided to take the official plunge and begin living a minimalist life. I currently write about my experiences, thoughts, and observations with minimalism from a Generation Y perspective at http://peoplenotstuff.wordpress.com.

I believe the minimalism community will continue to emerge as a popular alternative lifestyle for many people who are realizing the consumer-driven way of living we’ve been conditioned to follow isn’t producing the desired level of happiness. I know for me, I realized the only thing that really is going to make me content and happy is by focusing on people and not things. So far, I 100% am happy with my decision to use minimalism to create the life I want and I hope that other people consider making the jump as well!

Reading other people’s experiences with minimalism such as Miss Minimalist are inspiring to me because I realize I’m not alone in my journey to live a more simple, healthier, and happier life. Also, through a community of other minimalists I am able to draw upon their knowledge and experience to make different decisions in my own life. I am excited to hear from other minimalists and together, we can make a great change in the way people live.

-Reggie

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details. (Note: the schedule is now full until December — but if you don’t mind waiting, feel free to send me your submission!)

This week, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Deirdre. In her story, she chronicles how her clutter accumulated, and how she was able to purge it from her life. Please visit her blog for more inspiration on living life simply and slowly.

Deirdre writes:

Like many of the readers and contributors I found my way to consciously minimizing my stuff as an adult (though I do remember as a kid trying hard to have a messy room like my friends, but it was against my inner nature and I could never pull it off…my mother had it easy in that regard!) I moved around a lot as a child and in my teens and then some more in my twenties and as result items would have to be pared down for convenience and often a box or two would get lost in the shuffle. When I moved in with the man who would become my husband, we shared a very small apartment and again as part of my nature, I tried not to fill it up with too much stuff so we could move around comfortably.

Later our daughter was born and with three, we outgrew that tiny space and moved into a house. We joked about how much room we had. Ultimately, we filled it up with our child’s things and after being settled for several years we did begin to accumulate stuff. By the time our second child was born we decided we needed more space. We more than doubled our living area in the new house. This too started filling up with the artifacts of four people, pets and years of birthday, Christmas and miscellaneous gifts from our well-meaning and generous families.

Then something began to shift. I started to feel overwhelmed, claustrophobic. The overwhelming desire to move struck me (was this related to my early life moving around so often and not gathering too much?) Then I began to downsize, slowly…I had a tag sale and unloaded a fair amount of our things. It was hard at first, my head brimming with thoughts like, “what if we need this someday?” I started to sort through my children’s toys and clothes and give away (to friends or donation centers) things that no longer fit or they had outgrown/become disinterested in. Another round of holidays added to what I surmised was an already ridiculous amount of toys and just things. Then I found this blog and others that pointed me to another way of living; one more suited to my inner nature and intended to relieve the pressure of all the clutter.

Last winter I took on the project of going from room to room, pulling everything out of each cabinet, drawer, closet, etc. and did the infamous, three pile strategy: keep, toss, donate. Nothing escaped my scrutiny. My husband joked that one of these days he was going to come home to an empty house…empty of stuff that is. I felt so liberated, years of dust covered, unused things could now be enjoyed by someone who may actually make use of them. We ended up with bags for donation and an entire trailer full to capacity of stuff for another tag sale. This also meant that as a parent and keeper of the house there was less to pick up, clean and organize. Liberated indeed! I got my hands on some books about feng shui and really began to delight in my home with its new found clear counters, tidy closets, entryways, the energy flowing freely through all corners of our home.

This summer, with some time on my hands I began to look for things to sort through with the intention of getting rid of/minimizing more. While that is possible (we could still downsize more) I began to wonder if I had become addicted? (Like Gretchen Rubin jokes about in her book, The Happiness Project- I could relate!) I contemplated this in the comfort of my spacious, airy and simple home. What was the underlying drive behind reducing the number of things we owned? I had more or less accomplished my goals of simplifying and minimizing, what was I missing, what else was there? It dawned on my that not only was it necessary for me to unload the actual, physical baggage I accumulated and carried with me for years, but it was time I also went room to room in my mental house and keep, toss or donate the old memories, guilt and baggage I carried around upstairs. That is my current project, you can take a peek at how I am transforming myself and my life at www.theslowlifeblog.com.

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

I can’t tell you how excited I was to receive this submission from Leslie. At fifteen years old, she’s the youngest minimalist I’ve heard from yet — and wise beyond her years! Don’t forget to check out her blog; her posts are informative, insightful, and a delight to read.

Leslie writes:

Leslie

So, I decided to go to sleep away camp last year and stopped by a goodwill on the way there. I picked out The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People from the shelf because my cousin had the teen version and I was interested to see what this one was about. Plus it was only $1. My week at summer camp turned out to be a transformative experience. I came back home with a renewed sense of self.

Somehow I stumbled across personal development sites and started digesting lots of information rapidly. Minimalism became very popular recently so it was inevitable for me to find minimalism sites mixed in. They totally changed my thinking forever. I’d guesstimate I began my minimalist journey around the beginning of this year, I don’t remember.

I started by quitting shopping and then randomly bringing personal items to school (I’m 15) to give away to my friends. Hair spray, gel, nail polish, pens, a paper mache duck, miniature bowling pins(just to clarify, I’m not joking), just a LOT of stuff. I even had 11 micro Christmas gift bags I’d asked for from Bath and Body Works when I was younger so I filled those up and gave them away. Mostly little things.

I even brought in some really old scar creme one day and drew a funny picture with it. My friend hung it up in his locker and it really stunk up the place. We threw it away. I digress.

Since it’s summer vacation and my parents won’t allow me to just donate my stuff for free, I’ve just started selling my things on eBay and having success! Yay! Cha-ching! It’s quite liberating but I still have a s**load of stuff. I’m drowning in it. It’s all being steadily cleaned out by me though MWAHAHA.

I just can’t wait to be free of all of it. When I’m slightly older I plan to travel the world and have new experiences so it is vital not to have so much stuff to bog me down. Getting rid of stuff is kinda like a fun game too.

Leslie’s Site

I just started my new website and I put my heart and soul into the articles. I share the lessons I learn during life mixed with personal development and minimalism. I’m still kinda new and stumbling but I take everything as a learning experience. Hope you check it out =)

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

Today, Frugal Babe tells us about her transition from frugality to minimalism, and why she favors a clean, spacious home over one filled with “just in cases.” If you’d like to read more of her thoughts, be sure to visit her blog.

Frugal Babe writes:

I’ve been frugal all my life, but not even close to minimalist. I was a big fan of keeping things “just in case”, even if they had no real value to me. In addition, one of my favorite things has always been shopping at second-hand stores, so I was able to buy all sorts of great stuff for very little money. Easy on the wallet, not so great in terms of how much stuff we accumulated over the years.

Last summer my husband and son and I moved to a new home where we could pursue our dream of growing our own food. Thanks to a snafu at the rental truck company, we ended up with a very small truck instead of the huge moving truck we had reserved. We made four trips to our new home with the small truck and it took us weeks to unpack everything. I knew we had too much stuff, but I was hesitant to start dealing with it all.

A few months ago, I started reading blogs like Becoming Minimalist, Miss Minimalist, and Far Beyond The Stars, and motivation struck. I stopped going to thrift stores unless I was dropping off donations. I used Craigslist to get rid of a dresser and desk that we didn’t need anymore, and the rooms they were in feel big and spacious now instead of cramped. My kitchen cupboards are clean and it’s easy to find everything I need. I realized that although I got killer deals on my saucepans at the thrift store, I only have four burners on my stove, so there was no need to have 15 saucepans. Or six cutting boards.

Once I tackled the easy stuff (extra things that we didn’t need that had no sentimental value), I found that it became a lot easier to deal with the harder stuff… things my mother in law had saved from my husband’s childhood, things from my own childhood, gifts people had given me, etc. Momentum is a powerful thing, and the enjoyment I feel when I fill another box to donate far outweighs any desire I have to hang onto things that are no longer useful to us.

The house feels cleaner and more spacious now, and I don’t have to devote as much time to cleaning as I used to. The closets have lots of empty space in them, which is a far cry from the jumbled mess that they used to be. While we’re not even close to being minimalists when compared with people who only own 100 things, we have a lot less stuff than we used to.

My blog, Frugal Babe, has been my platform for sharing my frugal ideas for the last four years. But I find myself writing more and more about minimalism these days. Getting rid of stuff has become much more fun for me than getting great deals on second-hand stuff.

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

This week, I’m pleased to feature Miss HK. She’s been a long-time commenter here, and I’m so glad she’s decided to share her story! If you’d like to read more about her minimalist lifestyle, please be sure to check out her blog.

Miss HK writes:

I can remember when I first discovered minimalism. I was 11 years old, playing with my sister and our Barbie dolls. My sister’s doll had a lavish home and tons of clothing and accessories. Mine lived in a cozy apartment I made from a large shoebox. My doll was an aspiring actress (of course), so she was always moving from place to place, carrying her entire life in her little convertible. It was always this way; my doll never inherited a mansion or went on shopping sprees. At that age, I obviously didn’t know what minimalism was, I just liked the idea of being able to live your life simply and in the moment. You could leave at the drop of a hat, and not worry about lugging years worth of possessions with you.

Now, over fifteen years later, I’ve learned what minimalism is, and I continue to embrace the lifestyle. I am constantly looking for ways to free up my life; whether it’s a weekly shredding of personal documents, donating old clothing, or replacing a book with its electronic twin on my Kindle. I am in college, so I’m still living at home, which certainly makes minimalistic living a breeze. Everything I own is in my bedroom; I have nothing stored in the basement, garage, or spare closet. I have to admit, I fear the day I move into my own place. I don’t want to end up buying tons of things to furnish the place, and then later regret it.

I used to accumulate a lot of things when I was a teenager, but I think cds were my guiltiest pleasure. My boyfriend at the time ran a mix cd store, and so I would get complementary copies of every cd he picked up for his shop. Before I knew it, I had three large cd storage books full. I listened to a handful of them on a daily basis, but otherwise, they just sat in those books, like big, ugly anchors on my bedroom floor.

I finally decided to rip them all to my computer. I can’t tell you how good it felt to finish a cd book off, and then return them to my ex. I also have about a 30 DVDs that I’d like to rip to my computer, but I haven’t gotten to that point yet. I’ve eliminated 98% percent of my books in physical form, and replaced them with electronic versions. I then resold the physical formats to a second hand book shop, or donated to friends or my library. The only books I still keep around are ones that are not available for the Kindle (yet), and my legal school books, which I occasionally reference. I think once I am comfortable in my career someday, I will do away with them.

Becoming a minimalist can be a struggle, but the end result is so rewarding. You have more time for yourself, and spend less time worrying about “stuff” in your life.

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

This week, I’m pleased to present this story from Nina Yau — I think you’ll find it quite inspirational! If you’d like to read more of her thoughts on minimalism, positivity, and realizing your dreams, please visit her blog, Castles in the Air.

Nina writes:

Nina Yau

In the summer of 2008, I felt the need to start ridding myself of my huge mound of DVDs, CDs, books, and college textbooks that I no longer watched, listened to, or read. It didn’t appeal to me anymore, where once it had given me a hobby of spending and collecting. Ooh, a special 2-disc 20th anniversary collector’s edition in a pretty case? I had to have that! If I get that, my collection would be complete. Until the next eye-candy came along.

This cycle of consumerism had to stop. I had to do something drastic.

So I sold it all on Amazon. Every last movie, music album, and book. Not only did I feel a physical weight being lifted off of me, I cleared out my closet and filled my wallet with some extra cash. I’ve made hundreds of dollars by re-selling all of my used items online. That summer alone, I made $500. I sold other items periodically throughout the year and have made over $1,000 in all.

These items were literally sitting in my closet as cash waiting to come back to me. All I had to do was free it. In freeing my items, I also freed myself from the cycle of spending and collecting things.

From there, it snowballed.

I examined my clothes and gave it a hard, close look. What do I actually wear? As opposed to what I think I will wear but will never put on ever again? What is too small/big/tight/loose/outdated/trendy on me? What still has its price tag on? What have I only worn once, never to be worn again?

These were some of the questions I asked myself and I demanded an honest answer as a result.

The answer was I did not need even 3/4 of the clothes I owned because:

1. I didn’t wear it.
2. It was no longer useful and essential to me.
3. It was too small/big/tight/loose/outdated/trendy on me and did not fit my body nor my sense of style.
4. I no longer cared for or liked it anymore.

What did I do with all these unwanted clothes? I did 1 of 3 things:

1. Donated it to the local shelter or clothing drop box.
2. Passed it along to younger cousins or friends who wanted the clothes.
3. Trashed it if it was extremely worn out and old.

Furniture was next. I sold it or gave it all away.

On Craigslist, I sold my bookcase, coffee table, dining table and chairs, and futon. My desk and chair I gave to my little brother.

I thought I had needed all this when I moved into my apartment in 2007. It was the buyer’s mentality. Oh, I’m moving out on my own, therefore, I need these things. It was automatic behavior for me and I didn’t realize that I don’t need it when I didn’t even use it. Duh!

Papers, files, folders, photos, and documents were next on my hit list. Needless to say, I was on a roll after getting rid of so much stuff. I did not show any mercy in this category.

What I didn’t need anymore, I recycled or shredded. What I did need (but didn’t necessitate a paper copy), I scanned, and then shredded. If it was an original document that I had to keep a paper copy of (e.g., title of my car, passport, birth certificate), then I kept that in a small portfolio of important documents. Photos, I eliminated all paper photos that I had mindlessly printed over the years. I kept them electronically on my computer instead, deleting duplicate photos and photos that I no longer wanted to see (e.g., old photos of friends and boyfriends no more).

I used to be sentimental. Now, not so much. I no longer have emotional attachment to objects. I prefer to reserve that energy, time, attention, and love to people instead. This does not mean I am a cold, harsh, unloving individual incapable of appreciating all that we have, including the material things. Like writing in my nice Moleskine journal.

The difference is knowing where your happiness lies. Is it with things or is it with people and experiences? I choose the latter.

The minimalist life isn’t for everyone. But it is for me.

__________

My name is Nina Yau and I’m a minimalist who owns less than 100 things. Loving life, not loving stuff!

My blog is called Castles in the Air, where I blog about changing the way we think through minimalism.

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

I was delighted to receive the following story from Graduate, and think it’s wonderful that she’s decided to pursue a minimalist lifestyle at such a young age.

Graduate writes:

I grew up in a pack-rat household, bordering on hoarding. We literally had four rooms in my house that were filled floor-to-ceiling with items still in their plastic shopping bags (thanks to my mother’s hobby of trying to own everything in the whole wide world). I was uneasy and always stressed growing up, not understanding how anyone would want to be surrounded by so many things or spending so much of their money on things they did not even value.

When I went off to college, my parents encouraged me to purchase every possible item I would ever need for my new apartment. In my own new space I was drowned out by things I did not want, but felt told were essential to “growing up” and “being an adult”.

It took me a year to realize that “growing up” and “being an adult” were the exact opposite of beginning my own attempt to purchase the entire universe. The way I saw it, to be an adult means to not care what others think of your choices, to own and value exactly what you want, and to stop trying to compete with what your peers had (I tried that in high school, it was nothing but miserable!).

It has been quite the journey in the past three years: I have given away over 70% of my things and never looked back. I am constantly trimming down my belongings even more. I have found that my interests, friends, and hobbies have changed because of it (and I feel for the better!). I no longer go to the mall to buy things with people I do not really feel are true friends…I go on a walk with a real friend and truly listen to her now. I have found friends that value me for the person I am, and not what I own.

I am not a survivalist minimalist, but one that weeds out everything but the essential. I truly feel more alive and more happiness than I ever thought was possible before. When people come to my home they are shocked at how little I own (and how little attachment I have to the few things I still own).

At 18, I had no idea that there was a word for this lifestyle; all I knew was that it was the right thing for me. At 23, I can barely remember the year I was “an adult” and look forward to so many more years of being me; having and doing the things in my life that make me happy. I have gained so much more than I have seemingly “lost”…a sense of self, personal and financial freedom, and confidence in bowing out of the competition.

I want to thank Miss Minimalist and everyone else who contributes to the blog. It is because of all of you that I have found endless inspiration, but more importantly, endless sense of belonging in this lifestyle.

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

This week, Victoria tells us about the wonderful freedom that minimalist living affords her. To read more of her thoughts, please visit her blog at Ozarks Crescent Mural.

Victoria writes:

Victoria

I am a minimalist by nature. I’ve always liked things to be very simple and easy. I noticed this early on when I first moved into my own place. I didn’t like a lot of things and no way was there any excess or clutter. Things were very minimal and I liked that. I certainly didn’t grow up in a house like this though. My mother and her sister have rooms that are just storage only. I couldn’t live this way. I’m more like my father who had very few things.

If something is not in active use, then I take it to a place that gives everything away for free. I figure if I’m giving something away for free then it should in turn be given away for free.

I have moved a lot by having set the goal in my 20s of seeing all of the lower 48 states (accomplished many years ago), and you learn the lesson early on that taking everything from place to place is expensive. Not only that but it becomes tiresome, exhausting, a hassle and you lose respect for what you have because it’s caused so much grief in getting it around. It’s easy to pick up gently-used things in your new town for not much money, a lot less money than you would’ve spent on moving what you had. Plus, it’s fun to get different things.

Now that I work at home, I have the freedom to take it on the road. There’s nothing better than not being tied to an office. This winter I will be staying at a resort in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas from November through February. It will be just me, my dog and a suitcase. Can’t get much lighter in life than that!

Victoria – Ozarks Crescent Mural

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Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

Today, Geoff, a university student, shares his story with us. I think it’s wonderful that he’s starting his minimalist journey so early in life! If you’d like to read more of his thoughts, please visit his blog, Happiness & The Fish.

Geoff writes:

I’m a student living 4 hours from home, and that means not many trips home. When I relocate I have to move everything at once. Since I’ve found a place for the next 3 years at school, I decided to move all my stuff with me (not just stuff I need for school, but everything I own: I didn’t want my extra stuff cluttering up my parents’ house). I’ll spare the details, but when we moved all my stuff to the new place, the (fairly large) van was literally packed to the top, with room left for only 3 of 4 family members. This is when I realized that I had far too much junk.

Once I’d settled in (about a month ago), I began to read a lot of minimalist blogs like Miss Minimalist, Far Beyond The Stars, and mnmlst. I started sorting through everything, using the ‘one month’ and ‘one year’ rules. I am donating or selling a lot of things like PC games and gadgets that I haven’t used in years. The more crap I let go of, the easier it gets to part with more and more stuff.

I’m also viewing a lot of the things around me differently: without so much junk I don’t need such a big room (Or I can enjoy more space in a large room). Without a cluttered desk, I can focus on my work much better. Without so much clothes, I don’t need to do as much laundry. The list goes on.

As I’m currently unemployed, I’ve been spending time scanning important papers/books and photographing momentos, so that I can let go of the physical objects. I’ll admit, I’m not quite ready to part with a lot of my stuff just yet, but the next time I move will be a big motivator to crack down on things that I don’t actually need. I’m just starting my minimalist journey, and I know I have a long way to go. But I’m glad I’ve learned early in my life to reject the consumer society that we’ve been immersed in for over 50 years. The 21st century is not going to be easy on us, but I hope that by adopting and spreading the minimalist philosophy, we can greatly reduce our footprint and make the transition easier.

Thanks for providing such an inspiring resource, miss minimalist! It’s helped motivate me to simplify my life, and I will be recommending it to friends and family!

Geoff

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Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

This week, I’m happy to present the story of This Tiny Asteroid. To read more about how she balances motherhood and minimalism, please visit her wonderful blog.

This Tiny Asteroid writes:

Photo: this tiny asteroid

After graduating from college over ten years ago, I had every intention of following the simple living and minimalist path. My husband and I lived in a studio apartment for five years. We saved money with our cheap rent and spent it on travel. We’ve hitchhiked in Alaska, lived in a camper van in New Zealand, and explored Macchu Picchu together. We thought that if we could live in such tight quarters for years, we were solid. Instead the real challenge happened after buying a home and having a child. We started to renovate and to accumulate stuff. Our clutter acted like a phantom load on my energy, drawing my attention away from what really mattered. I was spending too much time acquiring things (even though thrifted), rearranging, organizing, storing and maintaining them.

With a second child on the way, I’ve been nesting and purging our home with a vengeance and finding my way back to a pared-down life. However, there are parts of my life I fully appreciate right now and would not give up to be an ultra-marathoner of minimalism: my family, our house which provides some rental income (we have a duplex), our nano-farm garden that provides fresh produce, and my crafts which are a form of creative expression. This Tiny Asteroid is a combination mama and minimalist journey blog – I read both types of blogs, but haven’t seen many that bridge the two. I’m working on a series of posts on the Minimalist Baby which I hope to publish someday.

We dream of working part-time, creating a small business (TBD), and home-un-schooling our children. Our ultimate ambition is to set off on an adventure in the next five or six years, maybe live on a sailboat, or in a tiny beach cottage? I’m trying to take it one day at a time and follow my heart.

–
www.tinyasteroid.com
http://twitter.com/tinyasteroid

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