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.
Cat says
Hi, I’m a college student and after entering college I’ve hoarded so many things (like books, notebooks, clothes) in my dorm just from local department stores and online shopping… I can still use supplies in the future I guess, but every time when we are asked to move out of the dorm, I’ll be in big trouble packing/going up and down and it’s pretty embarrassing. And now the school is ending soon so what am I supposed to do?!
Tina says
See what you need and you can pass on the rest. Maybe you have a sister or mother who would like some of your stuff. In our family, things get passed around. My daughter gives things to me, I give things to my son, another son gives things to my son or me.
I have gotten cosmetics and clothes and passed on clothes, food and books. Sometimes my son gives things to my husband, like T-
shirts he gets for free. If no one can use something, it is given away
Wendy Konemann says
Hi Josh,
Thought you might be interested in this newspaper article from the Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/business/greed-is-the-markets-forgotten-vice-20140420-36ymg.html down here in Australia.
Everyday I find I am making a small degree turn towards minimalism and enjoying the journey – thanks to your blog.
Wendy
pamela smith says
As a Senior Move Manager, I see just what happens to all that STUFF in the end! No one wants it, yet it has to go somewhere. Several years of dealing with other peoples’ stuff will make you realize just how unimportant it all is, in the end! Here’s a post from my website, it’s the first of a 3 part entry designed to at least get readers thinking about the problem:
http://www.creatinghomellc.com/rosieschild/4/11/admiration-nation
RL says
It occurred to me this morning that minimalism, to me, is partly about authenticity in that it empowers me to say “I made a mistake, an error in judgement. I shouldn’t have bought this. I shouldn’t be living like this. I shouldn’t be involved with this thing or this person. I don’t really like it that much. It’s not me. It has to go.” The feeling of relief at freely admitting that and then letting the thing go must be what weightlessness is like.
Jessi says
I agree. I like to declutter when I move, and I once wrote, “Moving is a lesson in past regrets.”
lukas says
Beautifull template. Do you offer your template for free to share? I would really appreciate that… Thank you
Jules says
I love this site and the ideas on it have inspired me to reduce my possessions by 35% this year (I’m was already a minimalist to some extent, but I love the challenge of getting rid of more).
One area I’m stuck on and hoping that other readers or Becoming Minimalist can offer ideas for is: old jewelry. I’m not exactly sure where to donate quality, used silver and gold jewelry that isn’t really valuable enough to sell, but also not cheap enough to discard. Does anyone know of charities or other organizations that might benefit from a donation, and who have a clear cut process on how to donate. I’ve found little direction online so hoping others on the site have some ideas to share.
Thank you!
Christina Hurst-Prager says
That is a really good question I had to deal with some time ago and found the following solution . Our church hold an annual basar/flea market, the proceeds go to charitable causes. Three goals, so to speak, in one: 1. my jewellery case is decluttered and the niche things have the room they deserve 2. Someone enjoys a piece of jewellery they might not have been able to afford before 3. A charity gets funds for their good deeds , actually they are four : my church gets the good feeling of having contributed…
Anne says
Another good option is to deliver it to your local woman’s shelter. The women who seek out those types often have nothing other than the clothes they are wearing, they always appreciate nice things even if they are gently used.
JF says
One thought is to take them to a few jewelers and see how much $ they give you. Then you can make a donation to a charity.
Lynne says
Hi Jules, if you are in the UK, there is an animal charity which is always very grateful of donations of jewellery, whether broken or intact and they have local contacts who give them good prices for donated jewellery, all proceeds then go towards looking after the animals in their care. You can find out more at: http://www.cloughfarmsanctuary.co.uk/
Lynne :)
Robert says
Several years ago I experimented with this concept by giving 10% of my possessions away. It brought a “lightness of being” that was unexpected, and started a trend toward decluttering. During the past couple of years my experience as the executor of an estate brought the whole world of possessions to the forefront once again.
I’m convinced that at a certain point one’s possessions do begin to “own you”. The need to cover, protect, display, move, reassess their value for this current time in your life; takes time and energy.
Late last year I adopted the term “Simplify” to describe what was going to take place in 2014. Becoming Minimialist is providing the encouragement to move forward with simplifying all aspects of my life, which include decluttering possesstions.
This year my goal is to sell, donate, or giveaway 20% (or more) of my possessions. I’m not sure how I’ll keep score but I’ve already started by selling or giving away 1/2 of my cameras and equipment. The hardest inventory to slice down will be my books but the encouragement by Joshua Becker and the many many commenters on this site is very encouraging!
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Yvette says
Family and friends who know me know that I’ve always been an organized person, dating as far back as high school. I was the one who kept my locker neatly organized, my desk neat and tidy, and even my bedroom at home was immaculate. Over the years, I’ve purged many items from my life, but it wasn’t until recently that the idea of minimalism truly resonated with me. There were so many things that I hung on to for no apparent reason other than they were quality items that seemed a shame to let go. After reading many inspiring articles from the “Becoming Minimalist” website, I decided that it was time for me to let go: let go of the “stuff” that was cluttering my life; let go of the emotions that were a barrier to healthy relationships; and even going so far as to let go of some toxic friendships that no longer had a place in my life. It was as if Joshua Becker had come into my home (figuratively speaking) and had given me permission to just LET GO. I find that the more I let go, the happier I become.In the past two months, I’ve cleaned out every closet, every drawer, and every nook and cranny of my modest 952 square foot home. I’ve donated clothes, pots, pans, glasses, silverware, books, knick-knacks and so much more to the local goodwill. I’ve traded in my SUV (which was bought new in 2006) for a small previously-owned economy car. I’ve de-cluttered my purse, my wallet and even my sewing and first aid kits. Last night, I donated “points” from one of my department store customer cards to a local charity and then cut up the card. As for credit cards, I now keep my two credit cards at home (instead of in my wallet) and even decreased the spending limit on one of the cards. I’ve gotten a minimalist hair style that takes less than one minute each morning to style. I wear no make-up but do continue my twice-daily routine of cleansing, toning and moisturizing my face.With all the extra “stuff” gone from my life, I now have time to concentrate on what’s important to me: quality time by myself, with friends and with my family. Thanks to Joshua for giving me the permission to let go.