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Since we are still a work in progress, we’ll humbly take them both.

I’m always excited to read new blogs that are inspiring others to live a minimalist life. And I have been thoroughly enjoying some of the new ones popping up.

Each of the following 7 blogs are less than 6 months old. If you haven’t checked them out yet, you may enjoy perusing them this weekend.

1. Simple Rabbit Society – Chloe and her team share articles, advice, hacks, and tips for achieving a beautiful life through minimalism. (Technically they’ve been around 8 months, but I really wanted to include them).
2. Minimalist Woman – Meg Wolfe is an advocate of downsizing and simplicity who also writes at Minimalist Cook.
3. 365 Less Things – Colleen shares her 365-day resolution to declutter every wardrobe, bench, shelf, pantry and garage space in her home by removing one item everyday for the next twelve months.
4. Minimal Student – Jessica takes minimalism to campus offering something unique just for students in a personal, chatty and ‘to-the-point’ format.
5. Momentum Gathering – Katie Tallo inspires joyful life change. It’s about shifting, little by little, towards what matters most and letting go of what doesn’t.
6. Be More With Less – Courtney Carver encourages her readers to create a life with more savings and no debt, more health and less stress, more time and less stuff, and more joy with less obligation.
7. Regards from the Balcony - Tony writes about using simplicity to obtain freedom in life.

hello reader,

thanks for being a part of becoming minimalist. over the past four months, we have experienced fantastic growth (traffic has risen nearly 5X), our reader count has exploded, we have released an e-book, and have become active on twitter and facebook.

and today, we are excited to announce our first spin-off blog: substance over stuff.

substance over stuff is a tumblr blog dedicated to the promotion of the invaluable things in life rather than the accumulation of physical belongings. it will feature inspiring quotes, short stories, web links, and artwork.

why a spin-off blog?

there are three reasons for the new site:

1. we have a passion to reach as many people as possible with the inspiring freedom of a simple lifestyle that focuses on substance rather than stuff. we believe that a new tumblr blog dedicated to these values will extend our reach.
2. as we have become more connected with the minimalism/simplicity niche on the web, we have been encouraged by the valuable content that is being produced. substance over stuff will be our opportunity to share those works with you.
3. we have found tumblr to be a simple way to spread great content and inspiration. as we do our research, we often run across inspiring information. unfortunately, not everything we find can be displayed on this site. tumblr is a simple way to pass along what has inspired us.

will anything change on becoming minimalist?

no. we are committed to providing you with the same quality content as we do today. becoming minimalist will remain our sole platform for original writing/content. substance over stuff is not meant to replace becoming minimalist; it is meant to complement it.

where can i get the new site?

you can visit the webpage directly at substance over stuff. or better yet, subscribe to the rss feed.

how can i get my friends to the new site?

• you can tweet the new site to your followers.
• you can share it on facebook.
• you can follow us on tumblr.
• you can e-mail the web address to your friends.

no matter what you choose, we thank you.

is it up and running yet?

yes. we have been posting to substance over stuff for the past couple weeks so that you could get a good flavor for its content. we think you are going to like it.

i own a car. i drive it everyday. i’m pretty sure i could never live without one. there’s a chance you are in the same situation.

or maybe you are not. maybe living without a vehicle is not quite so out-of-reach for your lifestyle. maybe living without a vehicle is just the step you need to take to start saving money or getting healthy. if so, you may be interested to hear that tammy strobel at rowdykittens.com has just released a new e-book titled “simply car-free. how to pedal toward financial freedom and a healthier life.” if the idea of living without a vehicle is an idea that intrigues you… you may enjoy taking a look. the e-book currently sells for $9.95.

if you happen to twitter, i’m on.

an austrian millionaire is giving away his fortune and all his personal possessions because ‘they never made me happy.’  read the full story.

more proof (albeit anecdotal) that joy in life is not found in the stuff we buy.

thanks thomas for the story.

in case you haven’t heard, apple’s new ipad is causing the price of e-books to rise:  higher amazon e-book prices expected to coincide with ipad launch

msn.com ran an article this weekend titled, “10 things not to buy in 2010.”  seeing as how the title immediately caught my eye, i had to read it.  in the column, they list 10 consumer products about to be considered obsolete.  here is their list:

1. dvd’s – given the increase in affordable web-based / cable-based on demand movie rentals, dvd’s and dvd players have begun to go the way of the beta.  even blockbuster has said it plans to close 1/5 of its stores in 2010. 
2. home telephone service – the increase in cell phone lines and web-based services (skype) has resulted in more than 1/5 of american homes no longer suscribing to land lines into their home.
3. external hard drives – external hard drives are still an option for storing all those photos, videos, and music files, but they can crash. an up-and-coming alternative might be simpler and save you another transition down the road. online backup services, like carbonite and mozy, allow users to back up data over the internet.
4. smart phones not called blackberry or iphone - they just haven’t generated the same buzz.  as a result, fewer developers are likely to create applications and other products that cater to those phones. today, the blackberry dominates the smart-phone market with 40% market share, followed by the iphone with 25%.
5. compact digital cameras – given the rise in manufacturers of slr’s coupled with the increased quality of cell phone cameras, the compact digital camera is rarely needed anymore.  if you don’t know what an slr camera is, they are the fancy expensive ones that look like this: Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera
6. newspaper subscriptions – in 2008, newspaper advertising revenues declined by 17.7% and the average daily circulation at 379 newspapers fell 10.6% from april through september 2009.
7. cd’s - did you even know they still sold these?
8. new college textbooks – used textbooks can save you 70-90%.  and now, the new growing trend is downloadable textbooks.
9. gas-guzzling autos – i’m not sure i’d classify them as obsolete quite yet, but recent announcements by car manufacturers that they plan to mass-produce fuel-efficient cars could help push consumers away from gas-guzzling vehicles.
10. energy-inefficient homes and appliances – not only do thse energy-efficient alternatives save you energy costs each month and/or offer you tax-incentives, the once high cost of these appliances continue to drop every year.  

so, what did they forget from their list?

after posting charley’s story yesterday, we have now featured stories behind three minimalist bloggers and their decision to choose minimalism:

• charley at you, simplified.
• em at the everyday minimalist.
• dave at the minimalist path.

it has been fun to read their stories and notice the similarities between their stories, ours, and yours.  and luckily, we’ve got a few more on the way…

david turnbull wrote, “don’t be meaninglessly minimalist. be purposeful and deliberate in your quest to want little.”  inspired by his quote, here are the reasons why i have chosen minimalism as a lifestyle:

• save money.  i’m not rich, never will be.  i’m not in debt, i hope not to be.  a minimalist lifestyle helps keep my expenses in line with my income.
• use money to help others.  it brings me incredible joy and fulfillment to help others with my gifts (whether financial or talent-based).  using my money to help others who are in greater need is a path that i would like my life to continue to follow.
• remove clutter.  removing clutter eliminates stress and has proven to make me more effective, positive, and future-thinking.
• remove distractions.  i prefer to fix my eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
• aesthetics.  i prefer minimalist design in most arts and prefer the design of my home to match that expectation.

how about you?  why have you chosen (or are considering choosing) minimalism?

this post was inspired by “how to want very little” by david turnbull.

related posts:

• why i am a good candidate for minimalism
• benefits of generosity