I love owning less.
I made a decision years ago to intentionally live with fewer possessions. It was born, mainly, out of my growing discontent with the focus of my life’s energy. As the size of my home increased and the number of things stuffed into closets grew, more and more time was spent caring for them.
While cleaning my garage one Saturday morning, I began to realize how much of my life was being stolen by the things that I own. As a result, the things that meant the most to me were being neglected. I immediately began to remove the nonessential.
Since deciding to own less, I’ve experienced countless benefits: more time, more money, more freedom, more energy, less stress, and less distraction.
Owning less provides me the opportunity to pursue my greatest passions. It’s great. And I’ll never go back to my previous lifestyle.
But along the way, I discovered something even better than owning less: Wanting less.
I’ll explain.
Not long ago, I was visiting a friend at his home down the street. As we were talking, he mentioned how nervous he was about the upcoming weekend. I began to ask why.
“Well,” he said, “we have some new friends coming over for dinner. And I’m a little embarrassed about the size of our house.” He proceeded to tell me the backstory.
Recently, he and his wife had met some new friends. And last weekend, they went to their house for dinner.
“Joshua, it was huge,” he remarked, “and beautiful and every room had gorgeous furniture in it. It was one of the nicest homes I’ve ever been in!”
But now, this coming weekend, their friends would be coming over to their home for the first time. And last weekend’s experience has left my friend self-conscious about the size of his home.
I went about my friendly-duty of assuring him he had nothing to worry about. Things would be just fine. His house was plenty big. And the feeling you get when you enter a home is far more important than square footage or the make of the furniture.
All the while, I felt a bit of sadness for him. What a crummy way to live… constantly scanning the possessions of others and comparing them to your own. There is no joy to be found in that approach to life. It will always lead to discontent and envy.
But soon after, I began to analyze the emotions and feelings I had experienced during his telling of the story. We had moved into a smaller home years ago and I couldn’t be happier with it—the benefits of a smaller home are fantastic. I don’t even want a bigger house anymore. I drive past them all the time and think to myself, “I’m sure glad I don’t have to take care of that big thing!”
As my friend was sharing his story, I began to reflect on how much my life has changed and how unattractive the constant pursuit of material possessions has become to me. Not only do I own less, I want less. And this is a wonderful place to be.
Because I don’t want to own more than I already have, I am freed from the constant comparing of my stuff to others. I am no longer bound to the incessant pursuit of more money and more stuff. I have found contentment in the things that I own. I have discovered more room for generosity. And I have begun to bend my pursuits towards things that matter.
Indeed, owning less is great, but wanting less is even better. (tweet that)
A.Austin says
Hi Josh,
Sad for your neighbor. I collected “enough needed stuff” for serving an army: napkins, plates, tablecloths, silverware, on and on – all to make hosting people for meals “acceptable”. Fast forward some years we live in a 2 bedroom condo without space to serve an army. But a year ago a friend made a comment that really made me realize I had it wrong. He said “no one cares about pretty napkins or matching plates. They remember good food, great conversation and feeling welcomed”
Debbie says
Our extended family switched to heavy duty paper plates and heavy duty plastic ware. No one has complained
Kim Ayala says
We brought up one son and are bringing up another. They’ve been rough on the matching dinnerware. As pieces break, I go to the thrift store and buy a replacement that I like. It doesn’t match, but I think it’s pretty. No one coming over has every complained!
Destiny Tuning says
Relay good post thank you
Gina Davis says
Thank you for the wonderful postings each and everyone. I was a hoarder of unique items…clothing, household goods and anything I deemed unique. I shopped everywhere, thrift stores, flea markets, high end stores, you name it, I shopped it. At first, my home was lovely, I received many compliments. I dressed beautiful and received many compliments. If someone needed something, I had it, most of the time, I had several items of the same. Currently I own over 100 pairs of shoes, just for me????? After thinking about it, I don’t know why??? I only have two feet….and I’m retired with half of my time in tennis. All the closets in my home are filled with my clothing, a room filled with tots, containing my clothing alone. I could go on and on with linens and kitchen goods etc…but did I also mention the tremendous debt I’m in with this habit of buying. I am now coming to my senses realizing that I must fix this mess. Less for me is best. I have slowly began to rid myself of this demon. Thank you for all of the postings and please pray that I will defeat my weakness. I know I will.
Joy says
If there’s a will, there’s a way! You can do it!
audrey myers says
When I vacationed at a Florida Timeshare on year, I was so impressed how nice the set-up was, minimalist and functional to enjoy our stay. 8 plates, 8 this and that, few pans, etc. I enjoyed myself so much and came to a conclusion that I really don’t need 75% of my stuff in my kitchen or bedroom. When I arrived home, I donated/sold about 1/2 of my used/unused appliances/glasses …stuff that is there taking up space and making no sense for cluttering up cabinets. I make it my goal now, to live to a minimal and I know now never to fall for the donut maker, the slushee machine, the other stuff that ends up at Goodwill anyway.
Camille98 says
My husband and I do not have any children, which makes us the last in line of a relatively large family. As the older generations passed away, some of the younger generations decided that we should keep their heirlooms here at our house. We don’t live in a mansion, but we are 2 people in a 2500 sq foot 2-bedroom home. Over the years, the sheer amount of stuff that has been “gifted” to us has become suffocating. We would like to move in 5 years to a different climate and semi-retire to a much smaller house. Now that all of the elder generations have passed on, we are finally free to dispose of some of these items without guilt (it is still very difficult). The process has started, but it is so overwhelming! I never had a chance to become a shopaholic because there was no room left after everybody bestowed their possessions upon us!
Jodie Jones says
I feel your pain. Currently dealing with everyone else’s stuff that felt I had to have to honour their memory. While I’m honouring the ones that have passed I’m unable to enjoy my present! I’m sure that is not something they would want!
Debbie says
I have always felt once an item is given to you, it’s yours to do with as you please. Sell it, give it away
Or enjoy.
Nancy says
four years ago we decided to sell a beautiful custom built 3400 sf home ..with the kids grown and out we used less than half of it. Had a small mortgage left and figured, why not buy smaller, older with cash and be debt free at 50 :)
We ordered our pod the week of the moving sale…and made a deal we would only be taking that which fit in the pod ;) Everything else sold…I had over 100 tubs of holiday decor..
here we are 4 years later in an 850 sf house, and seriously considering going even smaller ;) Works great, husband is disabled Veteran, we are basically retired and debt free at 55 years of age…house is clean in an hour a day…life is good
Debbie says
Don’t go smaller, you still need to be able to move around your home. I downsized to a mobile home from a large ranch style home. I still have stuff to get rid of,
But I think I’d feel claustrophobic in
Less space.
Yolanda says
Thank you for this article. My father is a minimalist and we inherited his attitude. He said the less you have the richer you are.
Pido says
I want to have less friends.. Less friends = less headaches I am now a minimalist
Lois says
🤣
Dolly Custodio says
My family and i moved into a big house about a year ago. Since i was the only one in charge of packing, i try to downsize on things and took only what we still use and gave the rest to other relatives, but furniture wise, we need to buy more. Unfortunately, i couldn’t give away my personsl stuff for i am the smallest in the family(dress and shoe size that is).
Anyways, since the move made everything seem like we are so much better off, a(i say a for we believe it is the same person) burglar had tried to invade our house twice. Now, we are so afraid to open and get out of the house without thinking that he would come back. My mom(an old woman at almost 80) doesn’t want to leave the house when we want to go out and we can’t possibly leave her alone. It has gotten really embarrassing owning too much and not being able to enjoy life’s simple pleasures. This article had got me thinking, is all this “wealth” really worth it?
Elaine Scott says
My husband and I downsized three years ago and it felt great to purge so much of the stuff we had collected over many years. My new saying is “small up and simple down” and it feels great to do so. When I came across a treasured item that I really had no use for other then the memory it held I took a picture of it and put it in a memory book, then let the item go. We are in a happy place with much less stuff.