Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

Today, we have an inspirational contribution from Reggie, a Generation-Y minimalist who’s discovered (so early in life!) that a consumer lifestyle is NOT the road to happiness. He writes about his experiences on his wonderful blog, People, Not Stuff.

Reggie writes:

Reggie

I’m a 23-year-old recent college graduate who was jolted by a combination of the financial crisis, my first real-world working experience, and an overall desire for a lifestyle change. I came across minimalism and simple living and instantly knew I had found a road map to start living a life centered around the things I decided were the most important to me. I read many blogs and websites over the past 2-3 months before I decided to take the official plunge and begin living a minimalist life. I currently write about my experiences, thoughts, and observations with minimalism from a Generation Y perspective at http://peoplenotstuff.wordpress.com.

I believe the minimalism community will continue to emerge as a popular alternative lifestyle for many people who are realizing the consumer-driven way of living we’ve been conditioned to follow isn’t producing the desired level of happiness. I know for me, I realized the only thing that really is going to make me content and happy is by focusing on people and not things. So far, I 100% am happy with my decision to use minimalism to create the life I want and I hope that other people consider making the jump as well!

Reading other people’s experiences with minimalism such as Miss Minimalist are inspiring to me because I realize I’m not alone in my journey to live a more simple, healthier, and happier life. Also, through a community of other minimalists I am able to draw upon their knowledge and experience to make different decisions in my own life. I am excited to hear from other minimalists and together, we can make a great change in the way people live.

-Reggie

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Related posts:

1. Real Life Minimalists: Victoria
2. Real Life Minimalists: Fox
3. Real Life Minimalists

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Beth’s closet and kitchen makeover. Shortly thereafter, I heard from Lea Ann, who had just finished a closet makeover of her own. I was amazed by the “before” and “after” photos:

Lea Ann's Closet

What a difference! I asked her to share with us exactly *how* she accomplished this transformation. She wrote:

Background: I lived in San Francisco where space was tight. Moved to Wisconsin and am suddenly in a 770 s.f. apartment that has more space and closets than I was used to. To leave San Francisco, I’d given away all but a car load of items and road tripped to Wisconsin. Thus I didn’t have that much to move into an apartment and certainly didn’t devise a system for anything. My “system” was to toss things on shelves and in drawers and be done with it.
.

Real Life: I’ve lived in the apartment over three years and have accumulated “stuff” and stored the “stuff” by making a couple trips annually to IKEA to stock up on all kinds of containers to contain my “stuff”. I have this incredible walk in closet that I’d lined with shelving units and hanging organizers…so much so that I felt closed in when entering the closet. So I began tossing things INTO the closet and shutting the door. Was never happy with this, of course, but it kept the clutter out of my apartment and in that closet.
.

August, 2010: I’m informed by my coworker who is also a neighbor that there are water leaks and the owner and an HVAC guy will need access to every upper units attic access – which happens to be in the master bedroom closet. PANIC. I panicked. Then thought this is the time to conquer the closet once and for all. Sort of. Life is ongoing and so is the closet maintenance.
.

Closet:

• I began by taking everything out of the closet and placing it into my living room.
• Each item was put in a category:  clothing/shoes, linens or “stuff”.
• When the closet floor and back shelves  were empty (amazingly large and clean!), I vacuumed it out and stood back, proud of my progress.
• I tackled each category from the living room, keeping only what I loved and needed, and gave away the rest. Linens were tucked into the bathroom closet. Current size/season clothes were hung up or put into a shelving unit while “out of season” and “out of size” clothing items were put in boxes labeled as such.
• The “stuff” on the coffee table was sorted through, one container at a time, and homes were found for items.
• When I needed a container to house an item from the living room, I pulled from my Outbox.* I’d pick a container that was the appropriate size and then contained the items and put them away in the closet.

*The Outbox is the area in my office nook off the living room that I designated for items that I’m not sure yet what to do with. Having the Outbox helps me have a place for those “I just don’t know” items and lets me decide when I have more time what to do with the items. I also used the Outbox to store all the pretty, empty containers and empty banker boxes that I have available in which to store items. When I’m done around the apartment, I will gather up the extra containers and give them away to my highly organized sister-in-law Maya or donate them to the thrift store.
.

What helped me during this makeover were these things:

• I decided on some key words and kept those in mind the whole time. My words for the project were quick, organized and pretty.
• I put like with like in my first quick sort with items from the closet to the living room, then when I sorted items to be put away in the closet, I kept like with like.
• It wouldn’t have gone as smoothly if I hadn’t pulled everything out of the closet and started with a blank slate.
• When looking at a category/pile of items, I pulled out only what I knew I wanted to keep, THEN for the remainder of the items, they were to be tossed or given away.
• Honesty was key. I pulled out a dress I love but its wearable life is over. So I put it in the garbage.  I knew which items I loved and which items I’ve been hemming and hawing about for a long time. I let those items go to the thrift shop! Something I’ve been hesitating on may be a delight to someone else!
• Ongoing Process: I don’t feel “done” and imagine I never will be. So it’ll be a challenge to maintain the closet and not let it get back to how it was. But I do know I don’t want it to get back to the mess it was when a friend saw the closet and went “oh.  my.”
• Confidence Building. Completing this project has me smile each day. I smile when I see the closet AND am encouraged that I can do anything – it just takes babysteps.

I’m thrilled that Lea Ann was kind enough to share her makeover with us, and provide us with such wonderful inspiration. If you’d like to see more of her closet pics, please visit her blog, Just Daisy.

Note: I’d love to make “Minimalist Makeover” a regular feature! So if you’ve recently decluttered, please email me your “before” and “after” pics, and a few words about your inspiration, motivation, or techniques:

ct09 AT missminimalist.com (remove the spaces and replace the AT with @, of course!)

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Related posts:

1. Minimalist Strategy: Don’t Organize Your Clutter
2. Declutter Your Jewelry Box
3. Ditch the Prints – Digital Photos are More Fun!

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details. (Note: the schedule is now full until December — but if you don’t mind waiting, feel free to send me your submission!)

This week, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Deirdre. In her story, she chronicles how her clutter accumulated, and how she was able to purge it from her life. Please visit her blog for more inspiration on living life simply and slowly.

Deirdre writes:

Like many of the readers and contributors I found my way to consciously minimizing my stuff as an adult (though I do remember as a kid trying hard to have a messy room like my friends, but it was against my inner nature and I could never pull it off…my mother had it easy in that regard!) I moved around a lot as a child and in my teens and then some more in my twenties and as result items would have to be pared down for convenience and often a box or two would get lost in the shuffle. When I moved in with the man who would become my husband, we shared a very small apartment and again as part of my nature, I tried not to fill it up with too much stuff so we could move around comfortably.

Later our daughter was born and with three, we outgrew that tiny space and moved into a house. We joked about how much room we had. Ultimately, we filled it up with our child’s things and after being settled for several years we did begin to accumulate stuff. By the time our second child was born we decided we needed more space. We more than doubled our living area in the new house. This too started filling up with the artifacts of four people, pets and years of birthday, Christmas and miscellaneous gifts from our well-meaning and generous families.

Then something began to shift. I started to feel overwhelmed, claustrophobic. The overwhelming desire to move struck me (was this related to my early life moving around so often and not gathering too much?) Then I began to downsize, slowly…I had a tag sale and unloaded a fair amount of our things. It was hard at first, my head brimming with thoughts like, “what if we need this someday?” I started to sort through my children’s toys and clothes and give away (to friends or donation centers) things that no longer fit or they had outgrown/become disinterested in. Another round of holidays added to what I surmised was an already ridiculous amount of toys and just things. Then I found this blog and others that pointed me to another way of living; one more suited to my inner nature and intended to relieve the pressure of all the clutter.

Last winter I took on the project of going from room to room, pulling everything out of each cabinet, drawer, closet, etc. and did the infamous, three pile strategy: keep, toss, donate. Nothing escaped my scrutiny. My husband joked that one of these days he was going to come home to an empty house…empty of stuff that is. I felt so liberated, years of dust covered, unused things could now be enjoyed by someone who may actually make use of them. We ended up with bags for donation and an entire trailer full to capacity of stuff for another tag sale. This also meant that as a parent and keeper of the house there was less to pick up, clean and organize. Liberated indeed! I got my hands on some books about feng shui and really began to delight in my home with its new found clear counters, tidy closets, entryways, the energy flowing freely through all corners of our home.

This summer, with some time on my hands I began to look for things to sort through with the intention of getting rid of/minimizing more. While that is possible (we could still downsize more) I began to wonder if I had become addicted? (Like Gretchen Rubin jokes about in her book, The Happiness Project- I could relate!) I contemplated this in the comfort of my spacious, airy and simple home. What was the underlying drive behind reducing the number of things we owned? I had more or less accomplished my goals of simplifying and minimizing, what was I missing, what else was there? It dawned on my that not only was it necessary for me to unload the actual, physical baggage I accumulated and carried with me for years, but it was time I also went room to room in my mental house and keep, toss or donate the old memories, guilt and baggage I carried around upstairs. That is my current project, you can take a peek at how I am transforming myself and my life at www.theslowlifeblog.com.

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Related posts:

1. Real Life Minimalists: A Working Rachel
2. Real Life Minimalists: Jesse
3. Real Life Minimalists: Sunny

I’ve been striving to simplify my life for many years now, and have recently (through my writing) been advising others how to do the same. In the process, I’ve learned that making little changes in our attitudes, habits, and environment can have a big impact. So today, I thought I’d compile a list of 100 ways to simplify your life – from the practical to the philosophical, and everything in between.

Of course, not every item on the list will work for every person reading it. However, I hope that you’ll find at least a little something that speaks to you, helps you save some time, space, and energy — and perhaps even increases your serenity and happiness!

AROUND THE HOUSE
1. Ditch the TV (or at least turn if off). If you’re an average viewer, you’ll save over a hundred precious hours each month. An added bonus: less exposure to commercials means less desire to buy stuff, and more money in your pocket.
2. Cancel magazine subscriptions. Read the content online instead, and avoid accumulating a pile of reading material.
3. Read news online, instead of on paper. You’ll save plenty of time, and plenty of trees, by reading only the articles that interest you.
4. Get rid of excessive furniture, so there’s less to walk around, trip over, or move when you have to clean.
5. Opt for multi-functional furniture, so you can satisfy your needs with fewer pieces.
6. Get rid of excessive décor, so you’ll spend less time and effort cleaning around stuff.
7. Digitize your music. You’ll eliminate the clutter of CDs, and have easier access to your music library.
8. Download movies instead of renting DVDs. You’ll avoid the hassle of picking them up, dropping them off, or mailing them back.
9. Put items away immediately after use. It takes a lot less effort than cleaning up piles of stuff later on.
10. Have a place for everything. It makes it much easier to find things, and put them away.
11. Clean as you go. Wipe up spills, and take care of little messes before they become big ones.
12. Devise a cleaning routine. Streamline your chores into an ordered set of tasks for maximum efficiency.
13. Do laundry in large batches, instead of small ones. It’ll save you time, and reduce your energy (and water) consumption.
14. Buy enough socks and underwear to make it through a full laundry cycle, to avoid doing small “emergency” loads.
15. Wash towels less often. They don’t need laundering on a daily basis; you’re clean when you use them, after all!
16. Consolidate hobby items in designated containers. That way, all your supplies will be on hand when you need them.
17. If you start a new hobby, drop an out-of-favor one (along with its equipment and supplies).
18. Adopt the “one in, one out” rule: when you purchase something new, get rid of something old.
19. Don’t start collections. Avoid the clutter, and save your money, by channeling your energy and creativity into something more productive.
20. Get rid of one item every day. At the end of the year, you’ll have 365 less things to worry about!

WARDROBE AND STYLE
21. Hang up clothes, or put them in a hamper, as soon as you take them off. Avoid starting a “floordrobe” or piling them on a chair, and you’ll have less straightening up to do later.
22. Organize your clothes by category. For example, hang all your pants, skirts, or shirts together so you can quickly find what you need.
23. Use containers to corral accessories like jewelry, watches, or scarves, instead of scattering them about.
24. Choose versatile clothing. The more ways you can wear something, the fewer items you’ll need.
25. Don’t be a fashion victim. Chasing trends is a waste of time and money.
26. Know what flatters you. You’ll avoid accumulating a closet full of wardrobe “mistakes.”
27. Don’t buy “fantasy” clothes. In other words, if you’re not a social diva, skip the cocktail dresses – reserve your closet space for the stuff you’ll actually wear.
28. Get a simple, no-fuss haircut; it’ll save tons of time in the morning.
29. Embrace your natural hair. Don’t make it straight if it’s curly, curly if it’s straight, or brown if it’s gray.
30. Keep makeup as minimal as possible, or go without. Most of us don’t need to look like supermodels on a daily basis!
31. Use multi-purpose products (like a shampoo/body wash, or moisturizer plus sunscreen) to save time and eliminate bathroom clutter.
32. Standardize your grooming routine, so you can get ready each morning with a minimum amount of fuss.
33. Don’t buy hope in a bottle, and clutter your cabinets with half-used “miracle” lotions and potions.
34. Avoid unhealthy habits, like smoking, drugs, or drinking in excess. You’ll look better now, and avoid a boatload of health problems down the road.
35. Let your inner beauty shine. A pleasant countenance and radiant smile will make you more beautiful than any cosmetics.

KITCHEN AND DINING
36. Love those leftovers. Cook extra for dinner, and have it for lunch the next day.
37. Cook a week’s worth of meals at a time, and freeze for later (Google “batch cooking” for recipes and instructions).
38. Plan your meals in advance. You’ll spend less time staring into your refrigerator, wondering what to make.
39. Shop with a grocery list. You’ll avoid making extra trips for forgotten items.
40. Make one-pot meals, and drastically reduce your after-dinner cleanup.
41. Pare down your dishes, cups, and utensils to what you regularly use. It’ll limit the amount of dishwashing that piles up in the sink.
42. Purge unnecessary gadgets and seldom-used equipment. A large variety of meals can be made with basic pots and implements.
43. Eat healthy foods (like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables), and you’ll avoid a wide variety of medical problems.
44. Keep your countertops clutter-free. Cooking is so much easier when you’re not moving stuff out of the way to do it.
45. Develop a set of standard dishes (like a pasta, chicken, or tofu dish), and vary the sauces. That way, you won’t have to reinvent the wheel each night.

OFFICE AND TECH
46. Stop as much incoming paperwork as possible. Get off mailing lists, cancel catalogs, and sign up for online billing and statements. The less physical mail you have to deal with, the better!
47. Print as little as possible. Don’t give yourself more stuff to file. Instead, print to a PDF file using free software like cutePDF or pdf995.
48. Digitize your paperwork. It’ll take up less space, and give you easier access to it.
49. Backup to the cloud. Use an online storage service, as an alternative to DVDs or an external hard drive.
50. Pay bills online. It takes much less time than writing and mailing a check, and you won’t need to buy envelopes and stamps.
51. Bank online. Transfer money without going to the bank, or standing in line waiting for a teller.
52. Automate recurring transactions. It’s a great way to pay your rent, mortgage, or insurance payments without lifting a finger.
53. Automate investments. Set up your brokerage account to buy a fixed dollar amount of a certain investment (like an index fund) on a regular schedule. It’ll smooth out the effects of market volatility on your portfolio, and keep you from making emotional decisions.
54. Stay out of debt. Life is much simpler when you don’t have to worry about interest charges and minimum payments.
55. Purchase bundled services. Buying telephone, tv, and internet services from the same company reduces your number of bills (and likely the amount you have to pay).
56. Telecommute. Arrange to work from home at least once or twice a week, to save time and commuting costs.
57. Don’t let junk mail enter your office. Keep a recycling bin by your front door, and dump junk mail and solicitations (without personal information) straight in.
58. Sort incoming paperwork immediately. Separate it into “file,” “act on,” and “dispose of” piles for efficient handling.
59. Organize your digital files. Develop a logical system of folders, so you won’t have to wade through hundreds of random files to find what you’re looking for.
60. Purge your bookmarks regularly. The stuff you found interesting last month, or last week, may be of no use to you today. Don’t waste time scrolling through irrelevant stuff.
61. Quit Facebook (or don’t join). It can be a huge digital commitment, and a major time sink. At the very least, limit the time you spend on it.
62. Limit the number of blogs you read. When you subscribe to a new one, drop an old one, so as not to increase your time commitment.
63. Reduce your Twitter time. Constant digital “chatter” can significantly reduce your productivity.
64. Check and answer email during defined periods. When you’re distracted by constant incoming messages, it takes longer to complete the task at hand.
65. Take digital sabbaticals. Disconnecting for a period of time – be it an hour, a day, or a weekend – can be quite liberating!

TIME MANAGEMENT
66. Learn to say no. It can be difficult, but will ensure you have enough time and energy for the stuff that really matters.
67. Delegate. Give up trying to do everything yourself; get employees to help with projects, and children to help with chores.
68. Limit your commitments. Don’t increase your number of obligations; drop old ones to make way for the new.
69. Right-size your expectations. When you expect too much of yourself and others, disappointment and stress are often the result.
70. Choose your battles. There are thousands of little things that just aren’t worth fighting for – let them go.
71. Go with the flow. Instead of trying to control things, let them happen as they may.
72. Be flexible. Adapt to the situation at hand, rather than insisting on doing things “your way.”
73. Forget about perfection. For the vast majority of tasks, good enough is good enough.
74. Fix little problems before they become big ones. A little effort now can save a lot of headaches later.
75. Consolidate your tasks. It’s more efficient to do your ironing, pay your bills, and answer your emails in one sitting than in bits and pieces.
76. Consolidate your errands. Plan your visits to the grocery store, dry cleaners, post office, etc., so you can take care of all of it in one trip.
77. Declutter your To Do list. Purge any unimportant, unnecessary, or unfulfilling activities.
78. Ask for help or advice. Reaching out to someone with more expertise can often save you hours (or days) of muddling through on your own.
79. Share your expertise with others. An open exchange of information makes things easier for everyone.
80. Make it a goal to do less, not more. Increase your productivity to free up your schedule, rather than jam more stuff into it.

ATTITUDE
81. Keep an open mind. Life is infinitely more interesting and pleasant when you’re willing to consider opinions and viewpoints that differ from your own.
82. Accept others for who they are. Live and let live, and you’ll have much less to worry about.
83. Live in the present. Don’t spend excessive hours pining for the past, or fretting about the future. Be here now.
84. Don’t meddle in other people’s business. Concentrate on keeping your own life in order, and don’t worry about everyone else’s.
85. Forget about the Joneses. Conspicuous consumption benefits nobody but the companies selling the goods. We’d be happier, more relaxed, and more satisfied if we disengaged from it entirely.
86. March to your own drummer. Don’t feel obligated to follow the crowd, or live according to others’ expectations.
87. Think before you act. We can often save ourselves a lot of trouble if we think about the consequences before acting on impulse.
88. Think before you speak. Once you let some ill-considered words out of your mouth, you can’t get them back. Better to hold your tongue than have to deal with the fallout.
89. Don’t be overly sensitive. Sometimes others don’t think before they speak. Let careless remarks roll off your back, not ruin your day.
90. Don’t hold grudges. Forgiveness eases your stress and tension, and frees up your time and energy for more positive pursuits.
91. Don’t be a drama queen. Making mountains out of molehills unduly complicates life.
92. Have an attitude of gratitude. Be grateful for what you do have, instead of stressing over what you don’t.
93. Realize that you’re not living in the spotlight. Most people are too wrapped up in their own lives to care (or notice) what you own, what you’re wearing, or how you look.
94. Embrace the concept of enough. Once our needs are met, there’s usually little utility (or happiness) in acquiring more – by contrast, it often leads to cluttered homes and empty bank accounts.
95. Enjoy without owning. Admire the objects in a shop window, the art in a gallery, the plants in a garden, without acquiring them for yourself. You’ll often get more pleasure from things when you don’t have the responsibility of ownership.

MISCELLANEOUS
96. Downsize your digs. A smaller home means less to maintain, less to clean, and less to pay in mortgage, utilities, and rent.
97. Go car-free. If you can walk, bike, or take public transit where you need to go, consider ditching your car. If you’re in a multi-car household, consider whether you can get by with one less car.
98. Avoid advertising like the plague. When you don’t know an item exists, you won’t stress over desiring, acquiring, or paying for it.
99. Don’t shop unless you need something. In other words, don’t browse stores, catalogs, or websites looking for something to need.
100. Make your own definition of “success.” Raising a happy family or excelling at your job are better measures of success than status symbols and material accumulation.

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Jack, one of my readers, recently emailed me a link to this “Absolutely Fabulous” clip on YouTube — and I just had to share it with the rest of you! It’s a wonderfully-humorous take on ultraminimalism, and a great reminder not to take ourselves too seriously.   I can only imagine what Edina and Patsy would think of my spare, white apartment!

Edited to add: my favorite part is when Max (after careful consideration) places the wine on the floor, and Bettina ever-so-slightly shakes her head “no” — mainly because I can totally see myself doing the same.

(Photo: stacy michelle)

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know I like to travel light. I take a small carry-on bag for long trips, and nothing but a large purse for anything under a week.

Author and “vagabonder” Rolf Potts, however, has me beat. He’s traveling the world for six weeks without a single piece of luggage: no suitcase, no day bag, not even a fanny pack!

The only items he’s taking are those that fit in the pockets of his Scott eVest: a handful of toiletries, a few electronic devices, and a couple of miscellaneous items like earplugs, sunglasses, safety pins, and a notebook. He’s also managed to fit some spare socks, t-shirts, and underwear in there. You can see his complete packing list here.

The funny thing is, my husband, brother, and I (all extremely light travelers) have been joking about doing this for years. Of course, our “no luggage” plans are usually hatched late at night in a bar, after one too many beers – and quickly dismissed the following morning.

Nevertheless, I’m pretty sure I could do this. The Scott eVest has 18 generous pockets that could easily accommodate my toiletries, cell phone, iPod touch, and an extra pair of socks and underwear. The large, zippered pocket across the back of the jacket looks roomy enough for one or two articles of clothing, as well as a few maps.

I think it would be fun to do once, just for the sake of doing it. However, I probably wouldn’t travel this way on a regular basis, for the following reasons:

1. Comfort. It’s too hot to wear a jacket or vest in the summer, or in overheated museums, stores, restaurants, planes, and trains in the winter. I’d end up carrying it, which would be more awkward than carrying a bag.

2. Security. When/if I do take it off, I’m almost certain to leave it on the back of a chair or a bus. In contrast, my cross-body bag is attached to me at all times (even when sitting).

3. Vanity. At the risk of sounding too vain, I’d rather not add excessive lumps or bulges to my figure. To be fair, the Scott eVest website says that the pockets are specially constructed so as not to bulge – but I’d have to see this to believe it!

4. Convenience. I like to carry some emergency items (like Advil, Imodium, etc) to avoid hunting down their equivalents in a foreign country (been there, done that). It’s easy to buy toothpaste in Tokyo or Thailand, but securing medications can be more of a hassle. Also, while I don’t mind doing laundry a few times during a trip, I’m not sure I want to do it everyday.

5. Hydration. When I’m traveling, I usually carry a water bottle with me. By filling it up in the hotel room each morning, I avoid buying drinks (or using dodgy water fountains) while out and about. While this slips easily into my bag, I’m not sure if it would fit comfortably into the eVest. It does have a bottle holder (an elastic band) in one of the pockets, but I’d have to see about the weight/bulge factor.

That said, while the jacket may not replace my travel bag, I think it might be well-suited to my everyday needs (at least in cooler weather, as I’m not really a vest person). It holds much more than my current coat, and would certainly eliminate the need for a purse.

I applaud Rolf for pushing the boundaries of light travel, and look forward to following his journey. I can’t wait to pick up some new tips (and inspiration) for lightening my load even more!

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Related posts:

1. Minimalist Architecture – Helsinki and Tallinn
2. A Little Travel Talk
3. Minimalist Travel: What’s in My Suitcase

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

I can’t tell you how excited I was to receive this submission from Leslie. At fifteen years old, she’s the youngest minimalist I’ve heard from yet — and wise beyond her years! Don’t forget to check out her blog; her posts are informative, insightful, and a delight to read.

Leslie writes:

Leslie

So, I decided to go to sleep away camp last year and stopped by a goodwill on the way there. I picked out The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People from the shelf because my cousin had the teen version and I was interested to see what this one was about. Plus it was only $1. My week at summer camp turned out to be a transformative experience. I came back home with a renewed sense of self.

Somehow I stumbled across personal development sites and started digesting lots of information rapidly. Minimalism became very popular recently so it was inevitable for me to find minimalism sites mixed in. They totally changed my thinking forever. I’d guesstimate I began my minimalist journey around the beginning of this year, I don’t remember.

I started by quitting shopping and then randomly bringing personal items to school (I’m 15) to give away to my friends. Hair spray, gel, nail polish, pens, a paper mache duck, miniature bowling pins(just to clarify, I’m not joking), just a LOT of stuff. I even had 11 micro Christmas gift bags I’d asked for from Bath and Body Works when I was younger so I filled those up and gave them away. Mostly little things.

I even brought in some really old scar creme one day and drew a funny picture with it. My friend hung it up in his locker and it really stunk up the place. We threw it away. I digress.

Since it’s summer vacation and my parents won’t allow me to just donate my stuff for free, I’ve just started selling my things on eBay and having success! Yay! Cha-ching! It’s quite liberating but I still have a s**load of stuff. I’m drowning in it. It’s all being steadily cleaned out by me though MWAHAHA.

I just can’t wait to be free of all of it. When I’m slightly older I plan to travel the world and have new experiences so it is vital not to have so much stuff to bog me down. Getting rid of stuff is kinda like a fun game too.

Leslie’s Site

I just started my new website and I put my heart and soul into the articles. I share the lessons I learn during life mixed with personal development and minimalism. I’m still kinda new and stumbling but I take everything as a learning experience. Hope you check it out =)

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Related posts:

1. Real Life Minimalists: A Working Rachel
2. Real Life Minimalists: Jesse
3. Real Life Minimalists: Sunny

After last week’s post (400 Square Feet is the New Black), I received quite a number of emails and comments requesting more photos of our tiny apartment.

Today, I thought I’d give you a sneak peak into the bedroom. I feel a little shy inviting thousands of people into this space, but what the heck – here goes.

To be honest, there’s really not much to see. It measures only 9.75 x 9.25 feet, for a grand total of 91 square feet. Suffice it to say, photographing it was somewhat of a challenge!

Tiny minimalist bedroom

A few notes:

* I know a mattress on the floor is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it works for us. It also makes the high ceilings seem even higher.

* We have no built-in closets, so all our clothes are in these two wardrobes (mine on the left, DH’s on the right). Above each wardrobe, we’ve corralled out-of-season items (sweaters, scarves, gloves) and other extras in white nylon Ikea storage cubes. I like the way they blend into the wardrobes and the walls, and give us a little extra storage space.

* I’m not a huge fan of the carpeting, but when you’re in rented accommodations, you learn to live with less-than-ideal finishes. If it were our own place, I’d choose either dark, wide-plank, weathered wooden floors, or white painted wooden floors.

* Yes, there’s a distinct lack of color here; but as most long-term readers know, I *love* white (see my posts Minimalist Home: White Walls and Minimalist Design: White Floors). I particularly like white linens in the summer – so cool, crisp, and refreshing! I’m considering adding a pop of color with a throw pillow; perhaps something in aqua or lavender, with a botanical print. Of course, I welcome suggestions from more décor-savvy readers.

* This bedroom was made for a minimalist – there’s not enough room for a dresser, nightstand, or any other piece of furniture. I love the way it requires one to boil things down to the essentials: a place to sleep, and a place to store clothes.

As I say in my book, I think the bedroom should be the most uncluttered room in the house. It should be a place of peace and serenity, a haven from our hectic lives. But it doesn’t have to be BIG to serve these needs. By keeping things simple, a small space can provide just as wonderful an oasis for our weary souls!

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Related posts:

1. Minimalist Home: White Walls
2. Minimalist Home: Naked Windows
3. Minimalist Confession: I’m an Empty Space Junkie

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.

Today, Frugal Babe tells us about her transition from frugality to minimalism, and why she favors a clean, spacious home over one filled with “just in cases.” If you’d like to read more of her thoughts, be sure to visit her blog.

Frugal Babe writes:

I’ve been frugal all my life, but not even close to minimalist. I was a big fan of keeping things “just in case”, even if they had no real value to me. In addition, one of my favorite things has always been shopping at second-hand stores, so I was able to buy all sorts of great stuff for very little money. Easy on the wallet, not so great in terms of how much stuff we accumulated over the years.

Last summer my husband and son and I moved to a new home where we could pursue our dream of growing our own food. Thanks to a snafu at the rental truck company, we ended up with a very small truck instead of the huge moving truck we had reserved. We made four trips to our new home with the small truck and it took us weeks to unpack everything. I knew we had too much stuff, but I was hesitant to start dealing with it all.

A few months ago, I started reading blogs like Becoming Minimalist, Miss Minimalist, and Far Beyond The Stars, and motivation struck. I stopped going to thrift stores unless I was dropping off donations. I used Craigslist to get rid of a dresser and desk that we didn’t need anymore, and the rooms they were in feel big and spacious now instead of cramped. My kitchen cupboards are clean and it’s easy to find everything I need. I realized that although I got killer deals on my saucepans at the thrift store, I only have four burners on my stove, so there was no need to have 15 saucepans. Or six cutting boards.

Once I tackled the easy stuff (extra things that we didn’t need that had no sentimental value), I found that it became a lot easier to deal with the harder stuff… things my mother in law had saved from my husband’s childhood, things from my own childhood, gifts people had given me, etc. Momentum is a powerful thing, and the enjoyment I feel when I fill another box to donate far outweighs any desire I have to hang onto things that are no longer useful to us.

The house feels cleaner and more spacious now, and I don’t have to devote as much time to cleaning as I used to. The closets have lots of empty space in them, which is a far cry from the jumbled mess that they used to be. While we’re not even close to being minimalists when compared with people who only own 100 things, we have a lot less stuff than we used to.

My blog, Frugal Babe, has been my platform for sharing my frugal ideas for the last four years. But I find myself writing more and more about minimalism these days. Getting rid of stuff has become much more fun for me than getting great deals on second-hand stuff.

{If you’d like to read more about minimalist living, please consider buying my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}

Related posts:

1. Real Life Minimalists: Miss HK
2. Real Life Minimalists: Sarah
3. Real Life Minimalists: Sunny