Do you consider yourself a minimalist? Over the last six months, I’ve actively committed myself to minimalism and I have to say, I’ve never been more at peace in my surroundings. Now, I can’t imagine living any other way!

There isn’t a list of rules that dictate exactly how to be a minimalist, but it basically means freeing yourself from excess and only keeping what is necessary. Although it looks different in every household, with some being more extreme than others, the concept is centered around having less and being intentional about the things you own.

Most minimalists prefer to only bring items into their home that serve a specific purpose; they’re functional rather than purely decorative. You’ll also find that generally speaking, minimalists are skilled at organizing, cleaning, meal planning, and budgeting. All of these traits go hand-in-hand when you’re trying to simplify and achieve structure in your environment.

My path to minimalism was honestly very organic. Over the course of 15 years, I moved to 11 different dormitories or apartments. When you live in so many temporary homes, you learn not to accumulate more than you need because it makes moving easier. During this time, I also lived in relatively small spaces and I became mindful about not owning too many items because it could quickly feel claustrophobic.

We’ve now been in our first home for ten months and that mindset has carried over to how I manage our household. I always assumed that I would eventually acquire some type of interior design aesthetic once we were in a permanent place, but without realizing it, I developed an aversion to stuff. I seldom keep items for sentimental reasons and get rid of anything that I no longer need. I’d say half of that is due to my need to control the things that I can, and half is because a tidy home brings me a sense of calm.

Our house isn’t massive, but it’s definitely the largest space we’ve had thus far. And with more space comes a subconscious inclination to fill it up. Somewhere toward the end of last year, between Thanksgiving and the New Year, stuff started appearing in my home. With Christmas gifts, holiday decorations, and items we purchased for entertaining, I could feel the physical presence of our possessions starting to weigh me down. On top of that, our spending was getting out of hand and I saw that we were starting to wallow in overindulgence.

It was at this point that I began seeking more information about minimalism. I read articles, listened to podcasts, watched videos on YouTube, and I started following minimalist accounts on social media so that I could be inspired daily. I determined that I wanted to deliberately pursue a minimalist lifestyle for my family and be done with the junk once and for all.

We decided to ring in 2020 with a no-spend month to start the year fresh. I used this time to begin transforming our home. Room by room, closet by closet, and drawer by drawer, I started decluttering and reorganizing our belongings. My mantra was “toss, donate, or sell” and I eagerly filled boxes and bags with possessions that we had no use for. It felt amazing to know that we were not only saving money, we were also releasing stuff.

I used to make excuses for our mostly empty home (“we’re shopping for this”, “we haven’t decided what we wanted there”), but now I’m fully embracing it. We have furniture and things we need, but every purchase is purposeful. As a stay-at-home mom, I spend the majority of my time in our house, especially now that we’re sheltering in place, and my mood is often a reflection of my home. If it feels cluttered and messy, then my brain feels cluttered and messy, too.

I wouldn’t quite say that the rest of my family has become minimalists as well, but they respect my desire to live with less and to keep our home tidy. Since kids live here, it obviously isn’t going to be clean all day. We do our best by confining toys to their playroom and always putting them away before they go to bed. Collectively, we are now more considerate of our wants versus our needs and realize that we can live more simply.

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Minimalism isn’t a lifestyle that works for everyone, but it’s been a way for me to reduce stress and find happiness with our possessions. Now that my children are getting older and I have a firmer grasp over our household, I’m excited to share some of the new systems we have in place, ways that we’re maximizing our quality time, and how minimalism has made me a happier mommy!

Be sure to also read my tips for living on one income and see how I make more time for myself despite being a stay-at-home mom!

Talk to you soon!