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.
I’m so glad to come across this site. I love all the helpful advice! I never knew other like-minded folks existed. I thought I was the only one who wanted this type of life. I actually thought I might be crazy. Now, please help. Do you have any advice that might help me convince my wife to become a little more aggressive in this. She is sympathetic to my ideas, but not as “determined” as myself to completely sell-out to this lifestyle. I confess I am extreme and a little too impatient. Thanks for the advice and for this wonderful information.
Hi, i’m new to your site and wondering if you have any house pictures of your journey from start to after minimizing. Would be encouraging I guess to me to see a minimalist house and how much you reduced in your own home by pictures. I am more of a picture person then reading step by step instructions.
I have also wanted to see pictures as well of what peoples’ minimalist homes look like. I like photos for inspiration.
I would also like to see it… I stumbled upon this website last week and it was exactly what I was looking for…. I began with my closet. I spent about 3 hours wrestling with things that mean less than nothing to me..
I donated about $5K worth of clothing to a charity this morning and it made me feel much better than I felt buying all these clothes. I still have a lot of work in my bedroom and my wife thinks that I am just on a “cleaning kick” and she thinks it a riot!
A little bit each day…
I would think that Henry David Thoreau would be mentioned somewhere as the original founder of this movement.
It struck me that a sight on doing with less doesn’t need to be on four social media sites. Wouldn’t one, well done, work?
I think it would be incorrect to assume a lifestyle that has been promoted for thousands of years by spiritual leaders from every respected world religion should be attributed to Henry David Thoreau—even as helpful as he was promoting the movement during his generation. You can find Thoreau mentioned here.
We build on their foundation to further promote the concepts of simplicity and minimalism in the language spoken by our generation.
I think what made Thoreau’s approach so real is that he actually did an experiment, and did it to an extreme extent. He basically eliminated everything, then added back only that which was essential, including building his own home by hand and ax. Not just essential to live, but to live fully. As it turns out, he didn’t need much. And he proved that people are slaves to their homes and slaves to their stuff. “Middle class America” and the “American Dream” are shams and frauds shoved down our throats by marketing people. He also debunked the myth that it is too much work to live off of the land and completely off the grid. He “worked” approximately 4 hours a day and had the rest of his life to spend pursuing his passions. Sounds familiar does it not?
Thoreau didn’t really do it to an “extreme extent”. If you are referring to his experiment on Walden Pond, his mother continued to do his laundry and he lived a short walk away from the family home — http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i7113.html
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Hi! This is a great concept! I’ve been living by it for a while now. I once sold my condo and left all the furniture and dishes inside! I love to travel light and I take pride in living with the minimum. I even believe that there is a strong correlation between the moment I cleared my life of all its junk and the moment I met my soulmate!
The minimalist movement is really incredible. It’s amazing what happens when you can dismiss what others want you to do for them and start doing the things you are naturally good at and passionate about.
NICE!!! Great comment…
Yes, Dan… that was a terrific observation and one that I wish MORE people would understand. Too many commenters are all “yeah, I understand, but you SHOULD do it THIS way…” I don’t know if I would have the discipline not to engage (e.i.: argue) with them. But Josh seems to have it beautifully under control.
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why doesn’t your “start here” story jive with your “about us” story?
He could have moved from Vermont to Arizona???
What specific parts of the story don’t jive Lisa? I’m happy to explain any differences.
I’m pretty sure she’s referring to the part where you say you live in Arizona on one page and Vermont on the other.
I would like to hear your comments regarding minimalism vs frugalism or saving for the future. I am working at paring down our possessions but I find myself wondering if I will need said items if the economy really does tank and shortages occur. I am having a difficult time with this. How do you handle this? Save items that may be needed in the future or get rid of it all and figure it out when the time comes? Prepping or no prepping for the future? I have read 2 of your books by the way and am still struggling with this. Thanks, Teri
This is a great question. One that I’ve pondered as I begin to prepare to try to sell this concept/lifestyle with my husband. I’m very excited about making the transition and plan to do so within the next week. I’d be interested in hearing Joshua Becker’s response.
Good article
Please add my email to your email list….Thanks..Bill
Will, my question would be whether those people would like you better if you had more stuff. Is that what you are questioning?
I’m sorry you are having such a rough time. Everyone goes through rejection at some point. I know I have. I also know that seeking acceptance among those who weren’t going to give it to me was very painful. As I’ve determined to let go of those who don’t care, life has gotten better. Often others come into your life whom you wouldn’t expect to connect with due to the age difference, difference in situation, etc. –yet you do. I would encourage you to be open to those you meet along the way…and also, never get too afraid to reach out.
I can be nervous to even reach out because I don’t want to be patronized by those who don’t care. But you may never know who would love to be friends with you if you don’t try.
Relationships: A Mess Worth Making by Tripp & 1 other author may encourage you. Perhaps some on here have some other sources too.
i don’t know how to say things at times. you don’t belive that. once i give all i can i can’t start up again it is to hurtful. age is a big thing in loving something. it nice to be same age close and grow old hold hands stay in one place. when pain hits you it hurts all of us go through it. not fun we need to know pain to know love. if we never go thropugh pain then how do you know good, love. i would love to fall in love with a man i can trust the is the strongest number 1 in loving . then the rest comes. i got hurt last year. i now know i was to my weakness . i really put my felling on the line. never will any one drag my heart around. i have a very loving soul. it hard to show some one. when every thing they ask told me never happen., i want to call him a friend. i was the friend. my heart now open, i need love also. i just gave it. we all need
to love our selfd first. step back and look at the big picture.
add me to your list
found this and thought maybe you’d like it (unless you’ve already read it) :) http://www.trueactivist.com/shes-69-and-hasnt-used-money-for-15-years-and-has-never-been-happier/#.VPQecX1Ecud.facebook
Love your blog!
Me and the father of my child are reading your books atm!
Feel a deep connection to this way of thinking and I have practiced it myself for a number of years, but would love to expand my ideas.
Thank you !