“There are two ways to be rich: One is by acquiring much, and the other is by desiring little.” —Jackie French Koller
From the moment we’re born, we’re told to pursue more. Advertisements from every television, radio, newspaper, magazine, billboard, and website scream to us on a daily basis that more is better. As a result, we work hard hours so that we can spend countless dollars purchasing the biggest homes, fanciest cars, trendiest fashions, most popular toys, and coolest technologies.
But we all know it’s not true. We all know, deep-down, that happiness can not be bought at a department store—more is not necessarily better. We’ve just been told the lie so many times we begin to believe it.
But what if, in reality, there is actually more joy in pursuing minimalist living and intentionally living with less?
That truth would change almost everything about us. It would change the way we spend our hours, our energy, and our money. It would change where we focus our attention and our minds. It would change the very foundation of our lives. And if it were true, it would free us up to pursue the things in life that we most value. In other words, minimalist living would be a life-changing and life-giving realization.
Unfortunately, for some, the idea of minimalism is just too counter-intuitive. It’s an approach to life they have never been introduced to or have never been invited to explore. The benefits of minimalist living have never been articulated. As a result, it’s too far a leap… too long a stretch… and jumping in with both feet is just not going to happen.
But maybe there’s an easier way than jumping in with both feet.. maybe living as a minimalist can just be sampled for a bit. Oh, one may not experience all the benefits that are afforded to those who jump in with both feet, but they just may taste enough to continue along the journey.
To that end, allow me to offer 7 areas of life where living with less can be sampled. They are designed to be picked one-by-one, risk-free. Conducting each experiment for 3-4 weeks will give a good feel for the practical benefits of minimalist living, but hey, it’s your experiment. You decide the length.
7 Ways to Sample Minimalist Living and Living With Less
1. Clothes. According to statistics, we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. That means that many of us have closets full of clothes that we no longer like or no longer fit us correctly. They are just taking up space. The simple exercise of going through your closet and removing all unused clothing leaves your closet lighter, your mornings less stressful, and your wardrobe full of things you love. Give your lighter wardrobe 30 days to work its magic… you’ll never miss those unused clothes.
2. Decorations. Many of the decorations in our homes hold no personal value to our lives. They just simply happened to match the color of the carpet or be on sale when we walked into the store. Unfortunately, they are distracting you and your guests from the decorations in your home that share your story and highlight your values. Take a moment to walk through your home with a discerning eye. Leave only the decorations that are the most meaningful and the most beautiful. Your home will begin to share your story in a beautiful way. And your old decorations will likely end up on sale at your next garage sale.
3. Toys. Too often, we fall into the line of thinking that says more is better… and so do our kids. We begin to purchase and collect far too many toys for our children. As a result, our children have no need to learn how to be creative, helpful, careful, or sharing. In that regard, fewer toys may benefit your kids in numerous ways. Although you may want to consult your children before you relocate their unused toys, there’s a pretty good chance that after only a few weeks the old, unused toys will be forgotten (except by whoever used to pick them all up).
4. Cooking Utensils. There never seems to be enough storage space in our kitchens. Yet most of our grandmothers cooked far more often, far more elaborately, and far better than many of us today… in much smaller kitchens. The truth is that when it comes to cooking, simple is almost always better. We need far less cooking utensils than we currently own. As a result, our drawers, cabinets, and countertops can be far better organized and useful if we simply owned less. To give this experiment a shot, check out this article from the New York Times: A No Frills Kitchen Still Cooks. Then, store all your unnecessary utensils in a plastic bin, put them away out of sight, and see if you just enjoy cooking a little bit more in your new, clutter-free environment.
5. Televisions. According to Nielsen, the average person watches 4 hours, 35 minutes of television each day. And the average American home now has more television sets than people. That threshold was crossed within the past two years. There are 2.73 TV sets in the typical home and 2.55 people. In the average American home, a television set is turned on for more than a third of the day — 8 hours, 14 minutes to be exact. We are literally sitting on the couch while life passes us by. Experiment with owning less televisions. As a result, you will watch less. And when you do, you will be more apt to do it together as a family.
6. Counter-tops. Clutter is a form of distraction. It pulls at our attention and redirects our thoughts – even for just an instant. Everything sitting out on your countertops competes for your attention. Unfortunately, we have become so accustomed to these distractions that we don’t even notice them anymore… until they are removed. Experiment, even for just 7 days, with keeping your countertops completely clear. Store things in drawers, cabinets, pantries, or temporary storage boxes. After one week, you’ll likely return some of it for the sake of convenience, but I’d bet my bottom dollar that you won’t return all of it.
7. Furniture. It may require some heavy-lifting, but if you’re up for the challenge, removing excess furniture from your rooms will immediately open up significant space and airflow in your home. The rarely-used pieces of furniture in your home are quickly recognizable and taking up more space than you realize. Oh sure, this experiment requires a place to store your furniture during the trial period, but it’s a quick and easy way to remove some of the largest clutter from your home.
Breaking it down like this makes minimalist living seem a lot more approachable. There is no speed requirement of how fast you have to pare down your belongings. No deadline to living with less.
Start as comfortably as you’d like.
Tali@treehousechatter says
I simply love these ways to sample living with less!
I appreciate this approach. Jumping in or diving in is amazing indeed but taking small deliberate steps can be just as affective over the long term. I jumped right in with both feet for some of the ways on the list but for others, I need to take it slow and sample.
Thank you for the encouragement!
Much love,
Tali
Jessica | mnmize says
Great list. I will be moving to a smaller space soon and need to downsize my wardrobe and kitchen stuff big time still. I went through and threw away/donated quite a bit during my first round of de-cluttering but now I have even more motive to get rid of things as I hate moving. Plan to get round of another 2 bags of clothes hopefully, lots of extra dishes and utensils, and I am going to be selling my bedroom furniture. Thanks for the reminder and inspiration to keep it simple!
Jo@simplybeingmum says
There are stats to say that an average UK household throws away £600 worth of food a year. One thing I’ve achieved is to live with less waste. This means less food – sound tough? It’s not!… It’s not when estimated 10% a week is thrown away, so just reduce by 10% and try it.
keishua says
Great list. i have gradually become more of minimalist. For some reason, I have double and triples of many items. I have been gradually getting rid of things because my place and budget are smaller and it has been freeing. Thanks for the tips and congrats on the book.
Meg says
I bought crock pot real nice one digital w auto off haven’t used it once in entire year
sharle kinnear says
I don’t know how kitchen widgets multiply so fast! I swear I could clean out those drawers weekly and always find something to toss! Currently, I am thinning out my huge book collection, re-homing any books I can get free on my new Kindle reader. The result so far has been that the book piles on the floors have disappeared. I’m working on all those seldom-read coffee table books. Thanks for your always-inspiring help, Josh.
Amy @ New Nostalgia says
Love, love, love this post. Perfect timing. Simple and to the point.
Nicole says
Thanks for the reminder. Your post made me think of our kitchen – I need to go through the utensil drawer again. Right now we have a clear kitchen bench top except for the dish drying rack. Our dining/kitchen table has only a fruit bowl however I am starting to desire a clean table top there too – where else is the next best place to store bananas – inside the pantry? Not the fridge I guess as noone wants to eat a cold banana:)
P.S. Sorry Joshua I know this is not a cooking blog :)
Robert Heck says
Actually, the fridge is a great place to put bananas once they start to ripen…it will keep them from over-ripening. They will turn black on the outside, but stay great inside. Plus, i love a cold banana!
@mathgodoy says
Thank you for the tips!
I’m in step 1
Josh Martin says
I like #4, Cooking Utensils. So true. We seem to have a gadget for everything and anything. Things we end up using once or twice a year and yet still eats up a good chunk of space on our shelves. I’m pretty sure I own two crock pots. And I don’t even use crock pots!
j dan says
Got a laugh from this as I am down to one crockpot and wish my big one had not broken in our last move. I use mine at least a couple of times a week, sometimes more. They free up time to spend with my family rather than slaving away over the stove for an hour or more. (depends on the meal) But moving every year has been good for keeping the kitchen gadgets down to the bare minimum.
Want to trade a set of casserole dishes for a crockpot?
Megyn @ Minimalist Mommi says
Great list! We’ve already done most of the list– barely any decorations, 1 old TV, only clothes we love and wear frequently, toys are slowly leaving, kitchen recently gone through, furniture pared down, and counter tops reduced. Yet, there’s always more!
Such a great list for those starting out and those who feel like they’ve done it all :)
Janet says
Thanks for including this article…well written and certainly doable.