Minimalism 101

If you read my 30 Before 30 list you may have noticed that one of my goals is to live a more minimalist lifestyle, but True Life: I’m a Hoarder. I’m the type of girl that buy an item just because it’s on clearance. I’m not talking just clothes. I’ll buy anything on sale and find a coupon to use with it as well.

Hmm, that bread pan is on sale. I should get it because I may want to bake bread soon. Ooh a colander with pineapple outlines. I love pineapples. 300 yards of yarn on sale for a mere .50 cents, what a great find! Unless you count monkey bread, I’ve never  baked bread in my life. Also, I already own a bread pan. I have three colanders of varying sizes. Why do I need another? Who knows maybe one day I’ll learn how to knit. My current apartment is 812 square feet. I don’t have room for multiple colanders and random baskets of yarn.

I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up earlier this year as a part of my book club. Through Marie’s tips, I was able to rid myself of a number of items. However, my life still felt pretty cluttered. I thought this feeling was stemming from a lack of organization, but quickly realized that simply organizing my junk was not the solution. I started researching and reading about minimalism.

A minimalist is someone who strives to remove much of the clutter from their lives and focus on life outside of physical possessions.

Benefits of Minimalism

One of the first blog posts I found during my research phase was The Top Ten Benefits of Being a Minimalist.  All of the items appealed to me: lower stress, less debt, less cleaning and maintaining. Additionally, those items leave more time to create, to spend with friends and family, and do things that make me happy.

Minimalism is simply a tool to get of life’s excess so you can focus on life’s important things, things like relationships and pursuing your passions and personal growth and contributing to others in a meaningful way. Joshua from The Minimalists

Minimalism 101

So here’s the truth. I’m looking at this transition to minimalism like a college course. I’m currently in Minimalism 101. Which means, I’m still learning the basics and using blogs and books to guide me through the process. A minimalist lifestyle is not for everyone and there’s not one way to do it. Someone’s definition of minimalism could be to live in a tiny house, with one bowl and one set of utensils, five articles of clothing and a mattress. To each their own. I will tell you right now, my goal is not to live in a tiny house.

Personally, I just want to have less, spend less, and need less.

1. Create your own personal goal

My main goal is to get rid of as many items as possible before I move. I want to start off in my next living space having only brought the necessities. However, right now I’m taking steps to really put my closet on a diet.

2. Begin to declutter

This is what I’m currently undertaking and it will be a slow and intentional declutter of everything. For me, the most obvious place to start was my closet, which brings me so much anxiety. I’m working on a post which will discuss this in detail. However, you may want to start with something as simple as email subscriptions.

3. Stop buying unnecessary things

Truthfully, minimalism is not just about owning few items and continuously getting rid of things. It’s about getting rid of the bad stuff or the stuff that drains your energy. Rome wasn’t built in a day, y’all. I’m realizing that minimalism is a journey.

Does living a minimalist lifestyle appeal to you? Why or why not? Leave your comments below!