Can We Ever Be a Minimalist Person?
First of all, can we be a minimalist person these days? I’ve really been trying to declutter my kitchen, my bedroom closets, the bathroom cupboards, the dresser drawers in every room, the hall closet, and the garage. I want less stuff on the horizontal spaces in my house. First of all, I do not like to dust. Thankfully Mark dusts the house. I can’t say he loves dusting, but he is quick to grab the dusting can and the rags to get the job done. I never judge how he dusts, if he doesn’t dust NO ONE WILL. So there you have it. I detest dusting. It’s so crazy because I love cleaning bathrooms and all the tile floors in the house. Remember, we only have a 1900-square-foot home so it’s pretty easy and fast to clean. My entire house has tile, no carpet. I have a rug in the living room and two small rugs by the front and back door. A mop works great.
In 2009 we moved from northern Utah where we had a 4800 square foot home with two kitchens, two living rooms, six bedrooms, and four bathrooms. It was great to have the grandkids over and they had a playroom with dress-ups and toys galore. It was the gathering home. Well, one day my doctor told me I needed to get rid of the stress in my life at the time for the sake of my health. I owned my own mortgage company and I worked 60-80 hours a week. Lunches at my desk. No sick leave, no vacation. If I left my staff would not get a paycheck. I did this for 15 years. Enough is enough. We gave all of our furniture to our kids and friends when we decided the time was right to make the move. I hate selling stuff. It’s me, if someone needs it they can have it.
So we loaded up and moved to Southern Utah. I thought this will be nice, a smaller home that we had purchased for the “downsizing time” called semi-retirement. Mark and I are both type “A” and will never entirely retire because we love helping out with our neighbors and the community.
Here’s the deal, I thought I could never be a minimalist person. Now I want a tiny home with my food storage and emergency preparedness items pulled behind the tiny house in a trailer. Mark won’t go for the tiny house, but that’s my goal if I still have my health to do it.
Minimalist Person Ideas
You may ask what the in the world is a minimalist person. Here are my thoughts. Just because I want this doesn’t mean it’s right for you, or anyone else.
- Less consumerism: I never NEED the newest and greatest electronic gadget.
- Clutter-free life: this has taken me several years, it’s still a work in progress.
- I want fewer clothes: I want 5 shirts, 5 pairs of pants, 1 sweater, and one skirt.
- I want fewer pairs of shoes: I used to buy ten pairs of shoes at once. That was downright dumb. I had zero time to shop when I worked. I’m down to three to five pairs and that is changing this weekend when I purge again.
- I want less furniture: I’m still giving away furniture to this day. I want less….more empty space.
- Simplify my life: I want FREE time.
- Simple environment: I want to SMELL the roses, literally.
- Quiet surroundings: I want five or maybe ten acres with trees and no sounds except my dog.
- Less cleaning: tile rocks in a desert home and is so clean.
- Less stuff: this is still a work in progress. I take stuff to the thrift store weekly.
- No valuables to hang onto: I have no valuables.
- Fewer material things: we bought the cheapest large TV we could find because Mark loves sports. It works, that’s our entertainment.
- NO deadlines or schedules: I want to be able to get up in the morning and say…I’m walking five miles today..in another town.
- Continue living a frugal life: this is easy for me.
- I gave up my second car to see if we could live with one car: we have had one car for 7-1/2 years now (I do not carpool kids).
- I rarely eat out because the food is expensive and the food is way too salty or greasy.
- I want to eat healthier and eat less meat, yep I said it. Actually no meat or liquid meat like milk, or any dairy. Mark still eats milk and cold cereal. He takes zero prescriptions, and all his blood work is excellent. Not sure how he does it!
- Donate stuff while people will still wear it or use it. YES, clothes go out of style.
- Buy right the first time, it will save you money in the long run. Don’t step over dimes to save pennies, or whatever the statement may be. I know some people who made big mistakes spending less on something of less quality only to end up buying the better item within months. In other words, it cost them more the second time because now they have two saws (one that works and one that is not workable). We have had ours for 35 years and finished more than a dozen houses or home remodels with that DeWalt!
- Live like today is your last day on earth.
- Make a bucket list or imagination board and DO IT!
- Think of all the money you will save.
- Grow a garden and put your hands in the earth, it feels wonderful.
- Check on your older neighbors on your street: it costs nothing to make them smile, I promise.
- Check-in with friends and family and talk to them about THEM, not about you, just listen, it’s free and so rewarding.
I have to finish this post with a story about some close friends of ours. Brent and Kathleen were out of town a few years ago and a friend of theirs died up north where they were visiting. Brent called me and asked to go to their house here and get his jacket, a shirt, and a tie to overnight them to him. He was speaking at a funeral. I know the garage code, and as I’m going into their house I said “Brent, which jacket, shirt, and tie do want me to ship? He said, “What do you mean, I only have one jacket, one shirt, and one tie”. My life changed that day about “stuff”. Brent said “I can’t wear more than one jacket, shirt, or tie at once. Just go and get the ones in the closet.” Sure enough, there was ONE jacket, ONE shirt, and ONE tie. He is my hero and so is his wife. She is exactly like him.
Let me know if you have the feeling of wanting to be a minimalist person, one step at a time. I would love to hear. Kathleen, my friend above, and I have helped at least 50-60 people move out of their homes over the last 7-8 years. Trust me, start decluttering NOW. I promise you’ll be a lot happier, and so will the movers helping you move. Your kids will be glad after you die. I promise, they don’t want all those trinkets or some of the “valuables” you have. SELL them NOW. Remember, you can’t take it with you, and the kids probably don’t want it. Let’s all try to simplify!
My Favorite Things:
8 Quart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl by The Cook’s Connection
Norpro Egg Beater Classic Hand Crank Style 18/10 Stainless Steel Mixer 12 Inches
Danish Dough Hand Whisk / Mixer 11″
I agree with the eating out. The food is expensive, is usually high in calories and low in nutrition. I heard about fried green beans, why take a nutritious food and fry it.
Janet, your comment made me laugh! Deep dried green beans….grease dripping on the paper towel! Mark and I went out to dinner tonight (a rarity) and he got a lobster dish. I can’t fix lobster or at least I don’t want to fix a lobster tail so we do go out every couple years for Mark to eat one. I had a baked potato and side salad. $40.00 including a 20% tip! I will do that for him, LOL! I like simple meals that are healthy. Have a great Sunday, hugs, Linda
My husband and I have been trying to declutter for some time now. Started out trying to have garage sales but that didn’t work out due to work schedule. Then a friend of ours in church lost her home to a flood last year and this gave us a chance to almost give her everything. She ended up living in a small mobile home so she couldn’t take too much but it gave us a good feeling to be able to help her. Hubby finally got around cleaning the garage but there is still some clutter. We gave away everything we could to our kids. But still I see more “clutter” that I think could go. If house ever got burgularized, thiefs won’t get much. After fourty seven years of marriage you accumulate much and when you get older you will think “now why did we get that”?
Oh my gosh, Judy!!! I’m am laughing at your cute comments!!! I LOVED the comment “now why did we get that”!! Mark and I were married 48 years ago this July!!! We must be close to the same age! I love it! What a blessing to be able to help your friend from church receive items she needed after a devastating flood. I’m in charge of the garage, Mark is a hoarder (not really) but he will not let go of shirts that do not fit him or anyone would buy at the thrift store. Well, they may use them for rags. I told him our kids are not going to go through this clutter or that clutter. The clutter never ends. I get one cupboard or closet cleaned out and six months later I want to get rid of more. I’m laughing as I write this because it goes back to that statement you shared: “now why did we get that” Hugs, Linda
My gosh, you sure our husbands aren’t related? . Rick uses his old t-shirts and shirts for rags to. Ones he does not want I save the buttons. I have a friend that takes their old blue jeans and converts them to handbags and quilts. I use to quilt but never with denim as I find it too heavy but she does a lovely job.
Judy, LOL! I guess we would need to look at a genealogy chart!!! Oh, denim is thick!!! I used to make denim jeans with velcro flys for my girls when they were growing up. I embroidered the pockets on the back. I didn’t know how to embroidery. I “winged it”. We still laugh about those personalized jeans. Your tip on the underwear is great. I’m ordering more right now. See how we learn from each other! Hugs, Linda
Yes Linda – a clutter free life is what I strive for as well. Love it or lose it. Goodwill is my destination and I love using freecycle. It feels good to just give away things and especially when people need it. My husband and I are thinking about moving in five years so I want to take very little with us. Any purchases are truly considered at this point in my life.
We too have tile and love it. I would love to know how you care for it. I’ve never been happy with any mop and I don’t like chemical cleaners.
Hi Ellen, I call it a mop but it’s a deal I bought from Don Aslett cleaning. I bought the handle with a 6 inch by 18 inches (maybe) flat deal. I use a cleaner that’s commercial some of the time, but I usually just put a few drops of Dr. Bronner’s castile soap and put the deal under the faucet and squeeze the excess water off with my hand. I have four different fragrances. So then I have very little residue and it dries quickly and cleans the edges next to the wall. The corners I do by hand once a month or when they look a little more dusty than usual. I have had this “mop” for about ten years. Like I said it’s really more like a duster/scrubber deal. I love the smell of a clean house. I could never carpet again. My purchases are very thought through as well. I would love to move to something smaller. I’m going to check out freecycle, thanks for the tip. Linda
I’m just beginning the process of downsizing from about 400 very packed square feet into about 300 square feet that I want to contain only essentials. It’s not easy for a sewing and crafting enthusiast but it will be well worth it.
Alice, oh I hear you on the sewing and crafting stuff! My hands are so arthritic now I can only use my sewing machine for mending and fixing something I wear. I gave all my material to a thrift store that my daughters couldn’t use and two daughters took all my crafting stuff. I said to them donate what you can’t use… I too want to downsize all my “stuff”! Let’s wish each other luck, girlfriend! Hugs, Linda
Oh my, the title of this caught my attention. I struggle with this as I also try to prepare. What might I need? What is just “junk”? When my mother got Alzheimer’s disease I was stuck with cleaning out a large house of her stuff. I swore then I’d never do that to my children. And yet…I’ll never be a minimalist. I love pretty clothes, my large comfortable house, and having a full pantry. But I too think I need to travel lighter. We can get by with so much less in life.
Hi Gayle, I love pretty clothes and a beautiful home. My home now is small but it’s still beautiful to me. I’m trying to be semi-mimimalist…is that a word? LOL! I just want to live a simple life with less stuff so my girls don’t have to clean out my house when the time comes. We have a few neighbors where we live with Alzheimer’s disease. We take turns helping the family members that need a break. Some are now needing to go into care centers. I wish I had known more about getting older before it “hit” me a few years ago. LOL! Happy Sunday, hugs, Linda
My husband was the one who remarked that being prepared doesn’t mean that you have to have 6 different colanders and 10 stockpots of various sizes. In the early part of our marriage, I kept everything. Thankfully he was patient and told me what he did in the military. He said you have a gadget that does several things and because you have to carry it all, you have to think about what it is you carry and to make it as versatile and light as possible.
I resisted at first. I kept saying, what if I need that? And he’d say, we’ll buy it again if we need it. Then I said, what if bad things happen and we need it and we don’t have it? He said he’d find a way to make it if it were necessary. He had an answer to all my scenarios.
From there the decluttering began, and the HUGE trousseau of kitchen gadgets I had when we married, we pared down to the most versatile, durable and best items we can have, but only one set. The only extras we have now are manual can openers because I tend to break them, and I like the kind that takes the top off cleanly with no sharp edges.
The next thing to go were knick knacks and goofy souvenirs. And as we went on, little by little, I was LOVING the look of our uncluttered home. So we got rid of more and more. And taking care of an uncluttered home is less work for me!
I have neglected my closet though, which I would be so embarrassed if anyone walked in it. It is packed to the gills and I can’t even wear everything in it any more. Those skinny pre-children jeans need to go. They are depressing and I need to face the fact that I’m never going to wear them again. Reading your post here has inspired me to get busy with it. I mentioned it to my daughter and she said I should put those ANTIQUE jeans on ebay. Evidently jeans as old as mine are bringing good money. Sigh.
OH Debbie, I love your comment! I love the tips your husband gave you, they would be good for all of us. The skinny jeans SELL THEM on EBAY! I am giggling but I really believe you could get a pretty chunk of money for them! I hear you, I had to let go of my expensive suits, I no longer would fit into them and the jackets would be antiques but not worth money like your jeans! It’s so fun to hear from you! Hugs, Linda