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Real Life Minimalists: Janet

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, we have a wonderful contribution from Janet, who shares her story (with photos!) of leading a simpler life.

Janet writes:

Mine is not as much a minimalist story as a quest for simple living. Two years ago as the last of our 3 boys left home we decided to scale back, slow down and try to recapture the time in our life before kids. We were young and didn’t have much but were quite content.… {Read more}

My Minimalist Wedding Dress

I recently received an email from a reader named Elise, who wrote: “You mentioned that you are married. I’d love to know what you have done with your wedding dress and other keepsakes.”

Great question, Elise! After the big day, many women struggle with how to store the “dress of their dreams”—as well as all the other stuff they accumulated from the ceremony and celebration.

Fortunately, I was a minimalist before I got married—and knew I could never manage to drag around a big, bulky, and delicate garment for the rest of my life. My husband and I also wanted little to do with the usual marriage accoutrements (favors, invitations, albums, cake, presents, and the like.)

Therefore, instead of a traditional wedding, we eloped and got married in Iceland.… {Read more}

Real Life Minimalists: Sunny

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, we’ll get to know a little more about Sunny, and her motivation for choosing a minimalist lifestyle.

Sunny writes:

I’m a minimalist. I own two pieces of furniture. My closets are empty and my cupboards are bare. There’s space everywhere in my life, and I’ve never been happier.

Once upon a time, I was very complicated. I wore stilettos, carried designer handbags (stuffed with receipts, chewing gum, extra socks, a dozen lips glosses, and sticky unidentifiable objects), and spent an inordinate time organizing/dusting/reorganizing my overwhelming burden of belongings.… {Read more}

Why I Love Ebooks, Part 2

In Part 1 of this topic, I talked about how moving overseas (and being separated from my favorite tomes) made me a huge fan of ebooks.

Even before I moved, however, I was growing weary of physical books. I didn’t like how everything I read seemed to stick around on my bookshelf. Consequently, I committed to get rid of (resell, pass on, or donate) books directly after I’d finished them. I’m a fast reader, though, so in many cases books would leave my house just a day or two after I purchased them! That didn’t feel quite right either.

To compound the problem, the town I lived in (before moving to the UK) was NOT part of the county’s library system (!).… {Read more}

Why I Love Ebooks, Part 1

In response to my post on Printing to PDF, Stuart brought up the subject of ebooks. Oh Stuart, you had to get me started… I know this is a controversial topic here, and some of you fundamentally disagree with my opinion. But it’s an issue near and dear to my heart, and I just can’t refrain from pontificating on it. :-)

I have a love/hate relationship with books. I love the content, but I hate the physical format. It’s not that I don’t like to hold a book in my hands while reading it; I don’t mind that at all, and in fact, sometimes relish the tactile experience of diving into its pages.… {Read more}

Real Life Minimalists: Frances

Now that you all know my story, I’d love to hear yours! Every Monday I plan to 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’m thrilled to inaugurate the feature with this wonderful contribution from Frances.

Frances writes:

I think I have always had minimalist tendencies but for a long time I never had much stuff anyway so it never occurred to me that I was one! About 15 years ago I was living in London and very dissatisfied with my life and my job.… {Read more}

Minimizing Paperwork: Print to PDF

Like many people, I make the majority of my financial transactions online: from shopping to paying bills, from retrieving statements to managing bank accounts.

In the past, I used to print off a paper confirmation of each one. For some reason, I thought I needed physical “proof” every time money changed hands—be it a deposit into a savings account, or a receipt for a sweater ordered over the internet. So although I was conducting the majority of my business electronically, my files were still bulging.

Then I discovered the three magic words that eliminated 90% of my paperwork: “print to PDF.”

Oh, how I love this option!… {Read more}

Real Life Minimalists

I feel incredibly lucky to have such a great group of readers and commenters, and know I have some pretty amazing people visiting this blog. However, I (and other readers) only get small glimpses into your stories; I wish I could sit each of you down, buy you a cup of coffee, and learn more about your experiences in minimalist living.

Even better: I’d love to share your stories with everyone here. I’m pretty sure we’d all like to get to know each other better. To that end, I’d like to introduce a new feature here on the blog: Real Life Minimalists.… {Read more}

Ode to January

January is my favorite month of the year.

It’s not simply a matter of aesthetics—though I do appreciate the beauty of bare branches, snow-covered ground, and a monochromatic winter landscape.

The appeal, however, is more psychological than visual: after the excesses and over-stimulation of December, January is like a huge sigh of relief.

Where December is noise, January is silence. Where December is indulgence, January is restraint. Where December is crowded and chaotic, January is empty and serene.

Where December carries all the baggage of the previous year, January is a fresh start. It’s an opportunity to begin with a clean slate and a free spirit, a chance to eliminate unproductive endeavors and concentrate on new, more promising ones.… {Read more}

Minimalist Office: Downsizing Supplies

Back in our former house, we had a plastic bin filled with office supplies. I can’t begin to recount all the contents, but know it included more envelopes, rubber bands, paperclips, staples, pens, pencils, markers, and sticky notes than we would ever use or need.

The cache had slowly accumulated since our college days. And, as is often the case with office supplies, we were hesitant to declutter them–because we were sure we’d find a need for the neon highlighters or A-7 envelopes the day after we threw them away.

The main problem: it’s difficult to purchase most supplies in small quantities.… {Read more}