Minimalist Living and You
I think that when you say you want to live a minimalist life to someone, they get this institutional picture of white walls and little or no furniture. Kind of like the picture to the below right. (I kinda like it, though). But minimalist living has different definitions to it, depending on who you talk to.
Essentially, minimalist living is living well with few things. There is a word of caution if you are not a true minimalist at heart, your desire for possessions will surely return. Though you can minimize what you hold onto by being selective.
While you may minimize the furniture in your home to only a few pieces or cut down your wardrobe to less than 10 sets of clothes. You will ultimately want to make sure the items you do keep are quality, taken care of well and will last you as long as possible. This will help with the consumerism in your life, slowly, being whittled down as well.
You may not find many people who display the minimalist life- but you may be able to spot them. Perhaps they are people who wear pretty much the same clothes (though clean) regularly.
Tangent: Shortly after high school I worked at the local box store and a older gentleman used to come into the store to get coffee regularly every morning and talk with the other regulars, he would wear either one of two sets of clothes, a tan pants with tan ‘˜safari’ life shirt or a green pair of pants with a green ‘˜safari’ life shirt. He wore black shoes had a handle bar mustache and wore a beret. EVERYDAY!
The minimalist life is one that has to work for you, and remember this may not work for your spouse or kids as well, try to work within their boundaries as well. However, you may find that decluttering your home will set things into motion where everyone can get involved, but make sure you don’t bring in more to take it’s place. Find out where you are after you get rid of the unused items in your home. You may find that you really don’t have much ‘˜minimizing’ to do in your home and the rest is just minimizing your expenses or attitude toward things.
Some sites that may be of interest:
- An RV minimizes what she keeps
- Simple Living Network
- Sites on Tiny homes
- A discussion on minimalist living
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Dawn C. is site owner of Frugalforlife.com and is residing in Colorado with her spouse, Teri, of 11 years. Dawn can be reached at Frugalforlife@gmail.com
I like having a 1-bedroom apt because it means we don’t have to acquire extra furnishings.
On the other hand, I’m not really a minimalist. I have a lot of fabric and books. And random crap, but mostly fabric and books.
Nuns’ habits and robes often attract me. Chadors (which allow the face to show) too. I guess it’s the idea of not having to put on something different each day. Unfortunately, I don’t think that would go over great at my workplace–even if I was like the beret guy and had two.
I like your analysis. So many people end up spending SO much money to end up with minimalist design!