Welcome to Becoming Minimalist. If you are new, welcome! With over 1M readers every month, we’re honored to have new readers every day. If that’s you, welcome. I’d love to make your experience as comfortable as possible.
Most importantly, Becoming Minimalist is designed to inspire people to pursue their greatest passions by owning fewer possessions.
To find out more about my new book, Things That Matter, click here.
About Joshua Becker
My story begins in suburban Vermont while I was cleaning the garage, my wife was cleaning the bathrooms and my 5-year old son was playing alone in the backyard. I struck up a regular conversation with my neighbor who commented, “Maybe you don’t need to own all this stuff.”
The juxtaposition was striking. My possessions piled up in the driveway… my son in the backyard… my day slipping away… I immediately recognized something needed to change. My belongings were not adding value to my life. Instead, they were subtracting from it.
My family and I began donating, recycling, and removing our unnecessary personal possessions. We embarked on an intentional journey to own less stuff.
As a result, we discovered more money, more time, more energy, more freedom, less stress, and more opportunity to pursue our greatest passions: faith, family, friends. And we decided to write about it.
Becoming Minimalist quickly became a place to encourage others to embrace minimalism. It does not boldly require anyone to become minimalist overnight—nor does it specifically define the word for you. Instead, it encourages each reader to discover their own journey and the far-reaching benefits that come from owning less.
We are dedicated to rational minimalism and discovering what that uniquely means for us. And the more who are introduced to this life-changing message, the better! Because we’re all just trying to make the most of this journey called life.
Over the course of the last eight years, I’ve become a best-selling author and have written four books:
- Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life*
- Clutterfree with Kids: Change your thinking. Discover new habits. Free your home.*
- The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own.*
- The Minimalist Home.*
- Things That Matter*
Past media coverage includes:
CBS Evening News, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio (NPR,) The Guardian, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Forbes, TIME, Fox News, The Huffington Post, Minimalism Documentary (Netflix), Reader’s Digest, LA Times, Sirius XM, CNBC, TODAY Show, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Good Housekeeping, and countless others you can find all over the Internet.
Our Articles
Get introduced to our simple message by reading some of our most popular posts:
- How to Declutter Your Home: 10 Creative Decluttering Tips
- What Is Minimalism? The 8 Essential Aspects of Minimalism
- The 10 Most Important Things to Simplify in Your Life
- 10 Reasons to Escape Excessive Consumerism
- 15 Clutter Busting Routines For Any Family
Or, to discover the importance of owning less, try one of these posts:
- Don’t Just Declutter. De-own.
- Minimalism Benefits: 21 Benefits of Owning Less
- Living With Less: 7 Ways to Sample Minimalist Living
We learned quickly that our journey to live with less on the outside would force our attention inward:
- How to Be Happy: 8 Ways to Be Happier Today
- How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
- 20 New Ways to Measure Success
- Learning to Consider Gratitude a Discipline
And would be entirely unique because of our life’s values:
If you really can’t get enough, browse our most popular articles. But be warned, there’s a bunch of information there.
Our Community
If you would like to receive new posts via e-mail, sign up here. We are also connected to our community through social media. Find us here:
- Facebook: Inspirational quotes and links.
- Twitter: Quotes, thoughts, links.
- YouTube: Promoting simplicity in home and life.
For interviews, media requests, or general questions, contact us at becomingminimalist@gmail.com
For more information on Joshua, visit his Wikipedia entry here.
Lessis Moore says
Thank you Joshua for everything … You say your whole minimalist journey began when you were cleaning out your garage and your neighbor said “Maybe you don’t need to own all this stuff.” I hope you thanked your neighbor! And maybe even financially compensated him for all your success! I wonder, was he was a minimalist himself?
Mellissa says
It was a lady and i heard from Joshua’s live youtube show that while that neighbor won’t exactly say she became a minimalist, she did declutter alot. He kept in touch with her while living in Vermont, showing her his first book, but then he moved out of state and they lost touch. In life, we only meet a handful of people that’ll change of lives. That lady was one of those people for Joshua. He never did mention if he financially compensated her in any way for giving him the idea (minimalism) which lead to his success, lol.
Digital D says
Hi Josh. Just watched your youtube video – How to Stage Your Home for Living. You mention things i always thought about and do and I’m glad others will know about it too now. But another reason to become a minimalist you didn’t mention was for legacy. What i mean is if something were to happen to us, becoming a minimalist leaves little for the family to do during that difficult time. It’ll help the situation alot not burdening others with things that we could have taken care of ourselves previously.
Azzura says
True. He mentions that in any of his videos.
Azzura says
True. He never mentions that in his videos. (by the way, when showing responses,it doesn’t show EDT – eastern time, which it should because im responding from eastern time)
Carolyn McDonald says
I’m looking for a study guide for “Things That Matter” but cannot find information anywhere. I know Joshua mentioned this in one of our Book Club Sessions and I have emailed him about this several times… but no answer. Can you please help me?
Mary says
Joshua,
I’ve appreciated your simple, faith-based advice for years, as well as many of the articles you have shared from other minimalists.
My husband came with me from north Alabama to see you in Nashville recently, and you impacted him! He came from a family that values a very different lifestyle, and I was so uncertain that getting him there would make a lasting difference. Thankfully, he really understood your message. We are both off work this Saturday, and he said we are getting to work on things in our home.
Thank you so much for your encouragement to all of us who love a simple life!
Tracie says
Hi Joshua,
My daughters and I met you in Nashville on the book tour a few nights ago. My daughter Heather, from Philadelphia, is the one who won a book for traveling the furthest to see you. She actually did come in from Philly just to come with me and our other daughter Halie to see you. I listen to you every day while I work, while driving, etc., but neither of them ever have. I wanted you to know that you made an impression on them the other night, though. I’ve been working on minimizing and decluttering for about a year now and have made quite a bit of progress. They have seen what I’m doing, and have actually started minimizing and buying less. The day after we heard you speak however, we went to a Farmer’s Market. There were quite a few craft items, jewelry, etc. that in the past they probably would have bought. Both of them made the comment though that while there were some nice things, they didn’t really need anything, and talked about some of the points you made about owning less, and how “things” don’t really matter. I just wanted you to know that you made an impact on them and we all really enjoyed hearing you speak. You are an inspiration to many and I feel blessed every time I listen to one of your videos.
Thank you.
Shine says
Please check your Gmail regarding a concerning recent retweet from your @Joshua_Becker account. Your social media manager needs to do better vetting of retweets!
M.C. says
Josh, i have nephews named Josh and his brother Dillon. They never have more than two sneakers to wear. Small minimalists in training! Also, i encourage them they don’t need alot. In addition, thanks to you, i got rid of 75% of my clothing and even though my boyfriend (a minimalist) told me to do so, i only did it after reading your book and watching your videos. I just wish i could do the same for my shoes!
Cynthia Miller says
I deleted the password from my account and went in to set a new one. When I set a new password, I lost my lifetime membership and cannot get it back. Can someone help?
Digital says
Starting from when i was a teenager, I always thought that i had ocd because i kept throwing out things in the house that weren’t needed but now realize that i was only a young minimalist at heart. I always realized the power of simplifying, the feeling of peace of mind when doing so. . . If your in the NY area, please see if you can do a book singing at Anderson Book Store in Larchmont, NY. Great small town with loyal store customers who would love to meet you sir. Thank you.
Jennifer says
hi Josh. Just wondering what you think in general about someone who follows your advice but is thinking about owning land or a house other than their own for investment. With the crazy market right now, it only seems logical a minimalist would encounter this thought. Thank you.