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Many people struggle to keep up with the demands and expenses of daily life, which can create stress and anxiety. That’s why some choose a minimalist lifestyle: Fewer possessions make for easier management. Minimalists strive to eliminate anything in their life that does not serve their purpose. This leads to more physical, emotional, and financial space.
If the concept of minimalism appeals to you, read on to better understand what a minimalist lifestyle is, its benefits, and how to start on the path to a simpler, more manageable, and possibly more affordable lifestyle.
Key Points
• Minimalist living can reduce stress, improve health, and benefit the environment and one’s budget.
• Focus on quality over quantity when making purchases.
• Conduct a life audit to identify and remove nonessential items.
• Invest in experiences rather than material goods for greater satisfaction.
• Digitize and reuse items to minimize waste and save money. Unneeded items can be sold or donated.
What Is a Minimalist Lifestyle?
Minimalist living is uncluttered by superfluous items such as luxury cars, excessive clothing, and purely decorative furnishings. There can be many reasons someone chooses a minimalist lifestyle. They might want to simplify their life to reduce stress, improve their health, or reduce harm to the environment. They may also want to cut back on expenses and improve their budgeting and finances.
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Surprising Benefits of a Minimalist Lifestyle
When you have less stuff, it follows that you have less to worry about. A minimalist lifestyle allows you to carry less literal and metaphorical baggage around.
Another benefit is that minimalists buy fewer things, which can allow you to save money. From a holistic perspective, minimalism reduces consumerism, and that can benefit the planet.
How to Live a Minimalist Lifestyle
Living a minimalist lifestyle can seem daunting for some, requiring a mindset shift. Here’s a window into a more minimalist mindset and lifestyle to give you a taste of what it involves. And don’t forget as you read that there are benefits to living below your means.
Invest in Experiences
Rather than collecting things and possessions, a minimalist lifestyle emphasizes experiences. Minimalists spend, just in a more deliberate way. For example, minimalists may spend on vacations and concerts rather than on cars and jewelry.
Audit Your Life
Auditing your life involves deciding what is most important and eliminating anything superfluous. Deciding what is most important can be difficult, but some questions to ask yourself are: How am I doing mentally and physically? What’s important to me now that perhaps wasn’t before? The answer to these and similar questions can help you pinpoint your core values and priorities.
A free budget app can help you audit your spending and evaluate how much of it is really necessary.
Eliminate Needless Expenses
A meaningless expense to one person may be valuable to another. That’s why conducting a life audit is important to help you decide which expenses are not serving your purpose. For example, a person might discover that buying gas is often unnecessary if they can manage without a car most of the time. Or that mid-price brands and gently used items can be just as nice as luxury goods.
Set Limits and Delegate
A minimalist lifestyle is easier to control. Setting limits and delegating is one way to live a minimalist lifestyle because you have less to manage. For example, you might use an accountant to do your taxes, or hire someone to manage your website. You might have fewer screens or electronics or downsize to a smaller home.
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Honor Your Priorities
The goal of auditing your life is to establish priorities to eliminate what doesn’t align with them. Part of the journey to minimalism is learning to appreciate what you have and not constantly desire new things. Perhaps you and your partner decide to live on a single income while one of you cares for the family. You may also earn less and have to economize.
Minimalist Lifestyle Tips
How do you implement a minimalist lifestyle? Because the changes can be profound, try making small changes at first as you gradually adjust to a new mindset.
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1. Declutter Your Environment and Your Mind
A great place to start is to declutter your environment. Start with your home, your workspace, your car. Get rid of things you haven’t used in a while or that you are just hanging onto in case you need them. As the space around you becomes less messy, you might find your thinking becomes more clear. You can also donate items or make some money by selling your unwanted stuff.
2. Be a Purposeful Not Prolific Consumer
Minimalists still make purchases, but the emphasis is on quality rather than quantity. An example is choosing to use one credit card that serves many purposes rather than five because each one comes with different rewards. Yes, you may benefit from free miles and cash back, but you will also have to buy more to earn those points and rewards, which is consumerism, the antithesis of financial minimalism.
3. Digitize Movies and Books
Most of us have bookcases full of books that sit and gather dust. It’s fine to keep some treasured items and classic novels, but you can also download e-books or visit your local library. Declutter your home of old DVDs, CDs, and books you don’t need.
4. Recycle and Reuse
Reusing shopping bags, refilling a water bottle instead of buying bottled water, or taking your own cup to Starbucks are ways to cut back on trash and single-use products. You’ll save money and help the environment.
5. Get Organized
As you declutter, you’ll find ways to be more organized. Find a space for things you want to keep, and use storage bins and organizers. When everything has a place, you’ll waste less time trying to locate things, and you’ll be more motivated to put things back when you’ve used them.
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The Takeaway
A minimalist lifestyle is appealing, considering how busy and cluttered daily life can be. You don’t have to embrace full-on minimalism immediately but can take small steps, such as establishing goals and priorities, decluttering your environment, and organizing. You can also reduce your expenses and financial obligations this way. As you progress, you may find that your mind clears, your life slows down, and you are able to budget more appropriately too.
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FAQ
How do you live a minimalist lifestyle?
Living a minimalist lifestyle requires prioritizing and eliminating things that do not align with your values. The process of elimination will be different for everyone, but it does not have to be quick or painful. Just removing one thing or downloading a budgeting and money tracking app can help you achieve a simple minimalist lifestyle.
What is an example of a minimalist?
An example of a minimalist is someone who lives with very little furniture (or none at all) or someone who moves to a smaller home. A less extreme version of a minimalist might be someone who simplifies things by clearing items from countertops, buys few clothes, or chooses a vegan diet.
What is the 90 rule for minimalism?
The hardest part of achieving a simpler minimalist lifestyle is decluttering, but the 90 rule can help you decide what to get rid of. Choose a possession, and ask yourself if you’ve used that item in the past 90 days. If not, then it’s a candidate for elimination from your life because it is not currently serving a useful purpose.
Is it hard for a beginner to start a minimalist lifestyle?
Starting a minimalist lifestyle doesn’t have to be hard. You can ease into it by organizing your environment and discarding obvious clutter, duplicate or superfluous objects, and items you haven’t used in months. Focus on what truly matters to you, and remove what doesn’t align with your life priorities.
Do I have to stop buying things to live a minimalist lifestyle?
You don’t have to stop buying things to live a minimalist lifestyle, but you can spend your money in a more mindful way. Focus on quality over quantity, prioritize intentional purchasing to avoid impulse shopping, and invest in experiences rather than material possessions.
Photo credit: iStock/Pramote Naksomrit
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