On January 1, 2021, I started my new year's resolution to become more minimalist. This article will be about my experience, what I've learned, and how being more minimalist has benefited my life. Hopefully, this information will give you some inspiration for minimalist changes in your own life.
- What my life was like before minimalism
- How difficult was it to become more minimalist?
- Things that I've changed in the past 6 months
- How things are better in my life
- Plans for future minimalist changes
If you don't have time to read this post now, you can save it to Pinterest for later.
What my life was like before minimalism
Like most people, 2020 was a year of transition for me. My job became remote, which took some adjustment. I'm certainly grateful that I still have a job, unlike some people who got reduced hours or lost their jobs altogether (and maybe their homes, too).
The gratitude that came from still being able to pay my rent and buy groceries combined with the social distancing isolation that results from being a single person living alone. I felt like I needed to DO something, but I didn't know what. To help out how I could, I supported local restaurants by ordering food from them. I paid exorbitant amounts in delivery fees to support people who worked as delivery drivers. I used grocery delivery services, bought my stuff through websites, and donated here and there to causes that matter to me.
In short, I tried to help out others by spending a lot of money. I kept thinking this was a short-term solution to a short-term problem. But the health crisis continues, and the estimates for when things will go back to normal keep changing. I make enough to pay the bills, but I'm not in a position to just keep throwing money at problems indefinitely. Also, it was really hard to know whether I was really making any sort of difference.
It was disappointing to have to stop, though. I felt like I still wanted to do something that would make a difference in this world. Making all my decisions based only on how they would affect me is just not how I want to live any longer.
That's how I came to minimalism. I'll go into more details about why my minimalist choices don't just benefit me in an upcoming section.
How difficult was it to become more minimalist?
I thought a lot about the decision and did a lot of research about it before I made any changes. I read almost every post on this blog as well as other blogs and realized that for me, doing a gradual shift to minimalism would be the best idea. I was pretty sure that I would like it, but I wanted to be able to backtrack in case it wasn't a good fit. I didn't want to end up being one of those bitter ex-minimalists who say that they "hate minimalism" or that it ruined their lives. By the time I actually started being more minimalist, there wasn't much difficulty for me.
If I had a big house and lots of stuff, it might have been harder. But I think I would have just gone even slower and been more careful with how I simplified my life. I think you can be minimalist in many ways without having to downsize that much.
The more space you have, the easier it is to collect things to fill it.
For example, I have a relative who decided to temporarily live a more minimalist lifestyle when she and her husband retired. They had a house they'd lived in for a couple of decades, so it was full of collections, decorations, pictures, etc. They knew they wanted to live in a different area, so they sold their house, put all their furniture into storage, and bought a small RV so they could travel, visit family, and find a new place to live. After about a year, my cousin said she started to feel "cooped up" and missed her stuff. So they settled down in a new area, in a house that has RV parking.
Is it just me, or does this house look like it's only twice the size of that RV?
My cousin and her husband were fortunate enough to be in a financial position to do this, which not everyone can. But it's an example of the ultimate opportunity to reverse minimalist choices. They got to try out something different but still had the opportunity to go back to how things were before. Plus they still have the RV for traveling, which they said was fun. They just don't want to live in one all the time.
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| The more space you have, the easier it is to collect things to fill it. |
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| Is it just me, or does this house look like it's only twice the size of that RV? |
If you've read my posts about my minimalist bedroom and living room makeovers, you may have realized that I didn't have much furniture to start with. I also don't own a lot of stuff as far as decorations, knick-knacks, etc.
I guess I'm sort of an accidental minimalist. Right after high school, I moved out of my childhood home into an apartment with a roommate. I did a purge of my personal stuff before I moved, but even before that, everything I had was still only what fit into my childhood bedroom.
Luckily, my roommate's mom supplied her with kitchenware, living room, and dining room furniture that she didn't want anymore. All I really needed was my personal items and bedroom furniture. It was great because, at 18, I didn't have a lot of money to help furnish an apartment.
When I decided to move into an apartment without a roommate a few years later, I was still on a tight budget. I now had to get everything for the kitchen, living room, and dining room. Plus I had to pay moving expenses, a deposit on my new place, and higher rent. I wanted to be very careful and not cut into my savings too much, so I purchased the bare minimum to furnish the space. I have only added things when it seems like I really should, and when I can do it without using my savings.
Anyway, I guess I'm saying all of this to explain that being a "gradual minimalist" is what worked for me. I like to research things to death and make lots of plans before I make a big decision. Maybe other people who are more adventurous than I am would just jump in all the way. But they might regret it later.
Things that I've changed in the past 6 months
If you haven't read all the posts I've written since I took over this blog, they will give you details about things I've changed. I'll also give you an overview below that of some other things I haven't mentioned yet. Here's the list:
For those of you who decided those posts are TL;DR, here's the Cliff Notes version:
- I streamlined my finances
- I spent less time doing unimportant things like social media and watching TV so I could have more free time to do fun things like work on hobbies, exercise outdoors with friends, and relax
- I downsized the clothing readily available in my closet based on the season to reduce decision fatigue and save time getting dressed
- I decluttered my apartment and gave my bedroom, living room, and dining area minimalist budget makeovers
- All of these things helped reduce my stress level and make me a happier person
The things I haven't talked about are the ways that minimalism has improved my physical health. I didn't gain the "COVID 19 [pounds]," but I knew all that social isolation was making me way too stationary and too used to eating restaurant food. I did gain a little weight and wanted to become healthier. So I did some research and came up with my own versions of minimalist eating and exercise plans. I will write about those in the future.
I also did a bunch of emotional decluttering. That helped a lot! I'll talk about that too.
How things are better in my life
If you haven't noticed a theme yet, I'm really into the frugal aspect of minimalism. As a young person who has supported herself since high school graduation, I've always been on a tight budget. I had to figure out how to pay all my bills without any help from anyone. I get along fine, but I'm not making a fortune. I could work more or try to find different ways to make money, but that sounds really horrible to me. Instead, I've made it a fun game to find different ways to stretch my dollars. Minimalism has opened me up to more money-saving ideas that I never knew about before, and I love it.
I also love how simplifying my life has given me so much time for my hobbies. I was doing a bunch of things I thought I "should" do before, and didn't realize that I didn't spend much time doing what I want to do.
For example, when I started spending less time on social media, I felt like I was missing out on inside jokes and conversations. And to an extent, I was. It caused an unreasonable amount of fear inside me that I would suddenly lose my friends or not be popular enough or be thought of as weird.
But when I told people I was going to use a social media blocker, they responded in surprising ways. I heard, "Wow, I really need to do that too." "That's so brave of you!" "I waste so much time on there!"
The funniest thing someone told me was "It's a dream of mine to not be on Facebook." I laughed politely, but in my mind, I was wondering, "Why can't you achieve that dream?" I mean, this was not a teenager talking, either. This was a successful lady in her 30s or 40s with a beautiful home and a family who made that comment. On the surface, it seemed like she had everything she wanted in her life. It's just crazy to me that someone like her could feel so much pressure to be on Facebook that she'd keep her account when she didn't want to.
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| How creepy is this?? |
So while I definitely started missing out on posts, I started participating in my LIFE more. I had half-finished craft projects that had been sitting around for years. They're now completed, and I can't tell you how satisfying that is! 😁 I took walks without looking at my phone or looking for pictures to take and post on IG. I crocheted (which I can do without looking) while watching TV instead of while scrolling and half-paying attention to each thing. Screens are still a big part of my life. But they are a smaller part than they were.
By the way, if you're into DIY crafts on a budget, I have some ideas coming your way. Stay tuned. 😉
Here's my attempt at a simile for my life before and after minimalism. Before, my life felt overfull, like I was gorging on junk food and it sat like a rock in my stomach. Now, I feel like I ate nutritious food, and just enough of it to give me energy and not weigh me down.
These relatively small and minimalist changes not only make my life better but are better for the planet also.
One thing that's changed is how and where I buy clothing. I'm embarrassed to say that before the capsule wardrobe, I had stuff in my closet that still had the tags on it, and was bought so long ago that returning them was not an option. As in, I bought them in 2019, maybe even earlier than that. I looked at them and realized I don't even like these clothes and will never wear them. I ended up donating several pieces with the tags still intact.
These days, I don't buy all of my clothes second-hand, but I do buy a lot of them that way. It's just so much cheaper. Plus, you can get better quality stuff for a cheaper price. I can also customize pieces with my sewing machine without cringing about "ruining" a new piece of clothing at full price.
The used furniture I got was also a way to be eco-friendly. The furniture was local and didn't have to be shipped from [probably overseas] to a furniture store and then shipped to me, wasting a bunch of fossil fuels. If I hadn't picked them up, they might have ended up in the landfill. Or worse: some people don't want to pay dump fees and just toss things onto the side of the highway, and any plastic pieces or chemicals will leach into the soil or water.
Minimalism, especially the frugal and eco-friendly kind, is a win-win for me. I get to do things within my budget and make an impact on the environment in a way I can afford to do indefinitely.
Plans for future minimalist changes
Now that I have six months of minimalism to my name, I'm ready to make some more changes.
I have an interest in eventually making or upcycling all of my clothing. I'm working on some things right now that I'll show you in upcoming posts.
My real focus is frugal minimalism and eco-minimalism, so I plan to learn more ways to combine those two. For example, I've been working on updating some of my hygiene products and making my own. Once I finish testing that out, I'll show you my results.
I also have a list of frugal minimalist life hacks that I'm working on, many of which are also eco-friendly.
I have two long-term goals:
1. One day, I would love to own some land. I'm hoping that by being careful with my money now, I can save up for that sometime in the future.
2. My jobs have mostly been for small companies that don't offer retirement plans, so it's been up to me to save on my own. I want to get on track with my own retirement account so I can retire at a reasonable age. 😀
In general, I want to keep learning about minimalism and sharing what I find with all of you. I'm willing to test out minimalist ideas and tell you what I think of them, so you can get an idea of whether you want to try them yourself.
That's about it for now. If you have any suggestions of things I should try, let me know!