Joshua Becker's Blog, page 32

Minimalist Thoughts

Note: This is a guest post by Dan Millman of The Peaceful Warrior’s Way.

I’ve come to think of minimalism as a quest for efficiency over entropy, order over chaos, and economy over excess.

As Albert Einstein advised us, “Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler.” The key is finding the balance between too much and too little.

What constitutes balance for you depends on your constitution, interests, and drives. For example, a balanced workout may range from a brisk 12-minute walk for some folks to six-hours or more for aspiring Olympians.

When I coached an elite gymnastics team at Stanford University, most of the athletes trained for three hours each day, but Steve Hug, the top U.S. Olympian, would walk in, do some warm-up exercises followed by two routines on each apparatus, completing his workout in just under one hour—enough to get the job done.

Each of us must find our own balance. In fact, a central tenet of the approach to life I call “the peaceful warrior’s way,” is that there is no best book, teacher, philosophy, religion, path, method, or routine of diet or exercise (or balance)—there’s only the best for each of us at a given time of our life. My own experiences awakened in me a desire for doing just enough.

Recognizing the reality that “a little bit of something is better than a lot of nothing,” in 1986 I created a 4-minute, “Peaceful Warrior Workout.” I’ve practiced this workout every day for more than three decades.

Simple is powerful because we benefit only from what we can sustain. A little bit every day reflects the core strength of a minimalist approach.

Similarly, in 2014 I devised a 4-minute “Peaceful Warrior Meditation” centered on the qualities of life that we will each surrender some day when we die.

The point of both the workout and meditation is that they’re nearly excuse-proof. After all, who can’t carve out four minutes to exercise or to meditate? Even busy people can integrate either or both into their daily routine. For me, this is practical minimalism.

My best minimalist advice to you, and to anyone who might ask, is, “Dream big, but start small—then connect the dots.”

As Robert Brault once wrote, “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”

I also apply minimalism in my written work. Guided by three questions — “Can it be written more briefly? Can it be written more aptly? Does it need to be written at all?” — over nine drafts, I cut my most recent book from an overgrown, 500-page hedgerow to a 220-page bonsai. As Jack London said, “It takes hard writing to make easy reading.”

Actress Lily Tomlin famously said, “I always wanted to be somebody—but maybe I should have been more specific.” So, in closing, I encourage you to translate your dreams and aspirations into a checklist of minimal steps. Let’s all organize and simplify our living quarters and do the same for the cluttered closet of our mind.

It was the philosopher Blaise Pascal who first quipped, “I would have written a shorter letter if I’d had the time.” To that I would add, “Ditto.”

***

Dan Millman is the author of Peaceful Heart, Warrior Spirit: The True Story of My Spiritual Quest. He is a former world trampoline champion, Stanford University gymnastics coach, martial arts instructor, and Oberlin college professor. His first book, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, was adapted to film in 2006. You can find more of his work on his website: Peaceful Warrior.

One Way to Stop Wasting Money: Choose Bigger Goals

There is no shortage of outlets competing for our resources—especially the dollars in our pockets.

So it is a worthwhile pursuit to learn to spend our limited dollars wisely.

This is not a pursuit I’m sure we ever fully master, but it’s still a battle worth fighting nonetheless.

When we are uninentional with our money, it gets wasted on frivolous things.

One look around most of our houses (including mine to some extent) would reveal countless purchases that were unnecessary. The item seemed important and valuable at the time, but before long, it sits unused, unneeded, contributing no benefit to our lives. Money wasted.

No doubt one of the most humbling aspects of becoming minimalist (or just a good decluttering) is the realization of how much money we wasted on things we don’t need.

Is there a way to overcome this tendency?

Of course there is. Surely you’ve heard some of the typical pieces of advice on how to stop overspending and wasting money: create a budget, only pay with cash, pay your savings first, wait 30-days before any purchase.

Each of these ideas has merit—in fact, I’ve used all of them at some point in my life.

But there is an even more important step that we can take to stop wasting money on things we don’t need:

We can choose bigger goals for our money.

For example, if I were to ask you, “What is the goal you have for the money in your life?” How would you answer? Do you have one?

You might say, “I just want enough money to live comfortably.” That’s not a bad goal, necessarily. But what does it look like to live comfortably exactly? It’s hard to articulate and often changes based on our income because of hedonistic adaptation. It’s a fine goal, but the pursuit of comfortable living has resulted in quite a few wasted dollars.

You might say, “I just want to get out of debt.” Again, an admirable goal. But how much money do you need to make to get out of debt anyway? Isn’t it true, in many cases, there are still some sacrifices that people could make in order to get out of debt quicker—even with the money they currently make? Hasn’t the goal of getting out of debt still resulted in quite a few wasted dollars?

Or maybe you’d say, “Money buys me freedom. That is my goal.” Again, not a bad thing to pursue on its merits. But how much freedom do you actually require for this goal to be met? Chances are pretty good that you are already more free than most of the people in the world. And yet, it is not enough.

Don’t misunderstand me here. I am not against working to improve your financial circumstances, getting out of debt, pursuing financial freedom, or any other number of personal financial goals.

I’m just not convinced these goals are big enough to keep us from wasting money on things we don’t need. Most people would articulate one of those financial goals above, but we still spend, on average, $1,500/month on nonessentials.

Maybe these goals aren’t big enough.

Let me show you how dreaming even bigger dreams might help us waste less money:

Our money is only as valuable as what we choose to spend it on. We can use our money to buy a bigger home, a nicer car, a larger-screen television, a new purse, or an expensive coffee. But in every case, our dollars can only be spent once and the return on investment will always be tied to the thing we chose to purchase.

One reason we fall into the trap of buying things we don’t need is because we haven’t sat down and considered the full potential for our financial resources. And when our pennies have no focus or greater end, they become too easy to spend.

For example:

My dollars can be used to upgrade my phone again… or they could be used to feed a refugee family in Ukraine. The phone may be top-of-the-line for the next year… or a family could be rescued from starvation. Which is more valuable?

My dollars can be used to remodel my home… or they could be used to help an inner-city child attend college. My new furniture will fade again in a few years… or that young man or woman could change the entire trajectory of their family. Which is more valuable?

My dollars can be used to buy another pair of jeans… or those same dollars could allow a struggling single mother to bring home pizza on a Friday night for her family and get a little extra rest. The jeans may look good for a few wears… or that single mother may be encouraged and empowered by your simple gesture in ways you’ll never understand.

Our money, you see, is only as valuable as what we choose to spend it on.

And the bigger the goal we set for ours—no matter how much we have—the less likely we are to waste it on futile purchases. Very few of us would purposefully choose to upgrade our phone at the expense of a starving family down the street.

What problems in the world are you passionate about solving? Who needs your help and support? What good deeds for others can your money accomplish? Name them, list them, and begin seeing the full potential for the financial resources in your life.

Many people dream of being wealthy. But here again, if I could challenge that thinking, saving money just for the sake of having a lot of money will eventually fall victim to clever marketing.

When you think about it, just having a lot of money in your bank account isn’t really a very motivating goal. The bigger question is, “Why am I saving this money? What’s the end goal for it?” And if we haven’t gotten clear on a bigger goal for our dollars, they will eventually get spent on things that don’t matter.

If you want to stop wasting money in your life, choose bigger goals and dream bigger dreams for it.

—

As an added bonus, this strategy also helps us fight the presence of envy in our lives—at least in terms of things that money can buy.

Let’s say I am passionate about a specific problem that I see in the world and begin using my money to solve it. Suddenly, it doesn’t matter to me that my neighbor bought a boat… my best friend got new shoes… or my relative just went on an extravagant vacation. My money was spent on something important to me. It doesn’t matter that I have less because of it; I am proud of where it was spent.

When we begin to see the full potential for our lives is far greater than selfish and worldly pursuits, we are less likely to waste our resources chasing them.

How Minimalism Saved Our Family of Seven from Financial Ruin

Note: This is a guest post by Stephanie Giese of Binkies and Briefcases.

I credit minimalism for saving our family, and I truly don’t think that’s an exaggeration.

In 2018 my husband and I were foster parents. We had three children who were already officially part of our family, and were headed to court to adopt two more children who had been placed with us for over a year.

It was a difficult placement, not because of the children, but because of their previous life experiences. We spent a lot of time in and out of court and they were even called to be witnesses in a criminal trial that extended over months. My oldest son was also extremely sick.

It was a year of intense stress and growing pains. We had a nice, large home in the suburbs and two cars. We also had over $120,000 worth of non-mortgage debt.

We had tried for years to conquer that debt, going to classes at our church, reading books, watching videos, and creating spreadsheets about debt snowballs. Yet the debt just kept growing because our debt didn’t actually come from overspending.

Yes, we had a big house, but we shared our home with my mother, and split the living expenses.

We went to church clothing exchanges and our furniture came from Craigslist or was handed down from family. Our children attend public school. I drove a fourteen-year-old minivan that didn’t have air conditioning or working windows.

We had a nice paycheck, a small amount of savings (though it always tended to go immediately back into medical bills), and retirement accounts. My husband did also have some student loans, but we had already paid several of them in full by this point.

I thought, and still think, that we were actually being fairly responsible with our money. But there was still always so much debt. By 2019, our debt was primarily due to the medical expenses that come from caring for children with disabilities. And it just would not stop coming.

I kept reading advice to “stop the bleeding” by not going to restaurants or cutting cable, but we were already doing those things.

I’m sure “don’t do that” is wonderful advice if your debt comes from buying designer clothing or season tickets to sporting events and you are able to pivot and make different choices in those areas, but it truly doesn’t work at all to tell parents to stop taking sick children to hospitals.

Our debt didn’t come from credit cards or poor choices, so putting my credit card in the freezer wasn’t going to help. Our debt came from ambulance bills and doctors.

It seemed like there was always more month than money, and in the beginning of 2019, our oldest son spent several more months in the hospital. Thankfully, he is well now, but the experience piled even more debt on top of what already seemed to be insurmountable.

I knew we had to make drastic changes.

I felt lost and out of control.

I was desperately seeking a sense of calm in my life.

In January, I stumbled upon Marie Kondo’s show on Netflix and latched onto the idea that, while I couldn’t control the chaos going on around us, I could at least take control of the clutter in my own home. I started by clearing out my own clothing, and was thrilled with the sense of peace it brought, but I needed more. I began seeking out any information I could possibly find about Minimalism.

I read Joshua Becker’s The Minimalist Home and I found The Minimal Mom’s YouTube channel. I got so much encouragement from those resources because it opened up the idea that large families actually could live more simply and thrive.

If they could do it, so could I.

I started by cutting the amount of items we owned in half. Some people don’t need a guideline, but for me having a specific goal was helpful. I would literally count each category and donate fifty percent of whatever it was.

For example, if we had fourteen blankets in the linen closet, I started by keeping my seven favorites.

I did that for everything: books, dishes, clothing.

I even got my children involved in the toy category. I told them we were fortunate enough to have more than we needed, and asked them to help me choose what we could give to other families who didn’t have as much. We sat together and counted how many Barbies or toy dinosaurs we had, and I would ask them to pick a certain number of their favorites to keep in our house. If we had ten toy cars, I asked them which five were the best ones to keep.

I never made them donate something they weren’t ready to part with, but if they told me they wanted to keep extras in a certain category, my response was always, “Sure, of course you can keep that. What would you like to pass on to someone else instead?”

At the advice of a friend, we donated some items that were harder to part with, like our large play kitchen, to the school and/or church nursery. That way our kids could still see their items and play with them, but they were out of the house and benefiting others as well.   

We went through the entire house twice, aiming to get rid of at least half of each category both times.

In the end, we had eliminated about 80% of our stuff, and somehow we still had more than we needed!

It took a full year to declutter our home, and it is still a work in progress. After the second pass, I might have had three blankets left in my linen closet. Now I only have one: the quilt we take to the beach.

There were so many benefits I hadn’t anticipated. For example:

My own mental health was better.

I was no longer resentful of my family for the mess in our home.

My children are able to clean their rooms and put away their laundry independently.

It was easier to cook and make healthier choices in a kitchen that wasn’t cluttered.

We could always find what we needed, there was no more searching for a certain shirt or pair of socks before school.

We were caught up on laundry and dishes for the first time ever.

Less things were getting broken.

My children were playing more intently with their toys.

Magically, we had more time together on weekends because we weren’t spending hours cleaning, and our saving account started growing.

I have never really been a spender, but now I could buy things more intentionally.

I now knew how many shirts or pairs of pants each child already had and when they truly needed something. I started paying closer attention to the way we actually live. Suddenly, there was no real reason to buy my boys pajamas because they both prefer to sleep in athletic shorts.

It was okay to give myself permission to sell the expensive sewing machine and stand mixer even though they are nice and my mother gifted them to me, because I could admit I just don’t have time to use them in this season of my life. (I did talk to my mom and ask if she wanted them first.) We were even able to sell large pieces of furniture like dressers because we had decluttered so many clothes that what we owned could now easily fit inside the closets.  

Watching truckloads of trash, donations, and sellable items leave your home is a real wake-up call about your impact on the planet and the values you are passing to your children. We started to live more sustainably.  

We realized that we didn’t actually need as much space as we thought, and we stared to consider major life changes.

We knew we had to take a big leap if we were going to get out from under the debt. My husband applied for a job in a different state, in an area with lower taxes and lower home prices. He got the job and with it an increase in salary, and we also decided to cut the size of our home in half. We left a home that was over 3,500 square feet and bought one that was about 1,600 square feet.

It wasn’t an easy or comfortable choice. It meant leaving friends, family, and established healthcare providers. But with the move came a lower mortgage payment, lower utility bills, and much lower real estate taxes. While we do now pay a small HOA fee because of the neighborhood we chose, our housing costs were reduced by over $20,000 per year, and we also automatically gave ourselves an additional four percent raise by choosing to relocate to a state with no income tax.

We intentionally purchased a smaller home in a resort-style community in Florida, where there is built-in entertainment for the kids and less outside maintenance for us to worry about.

Our new neighborhood is much more walkable. The kids walk or take the bus to school. We can walk or bike to local parks, restaurants, and a farmer’s market. There are neighborhood pools, a game room, and outdoor movie nights. For the first three months after our move, we spent zero dollars on entertainment.

I rarely have occasion to drive and the pandemic made it easier for my husband to work from home, so our gas and car maintenance costs also went down considerably.

By the end of 2019, we had gone from drowning in debt to being completely debt-free besides our mortgage!

That may not last forever because we still have large medical expenses. But it gave us the jump start we needed.

More of our income is free to go to charitable causes. We opened college savings accounts or ABLE accounts for each of our children. We have taken our children to Disney World several times (although we still do it frugally because we can drive to the park from our house, and we get discounted tickets as Florida residents.) We have been able to plan weeks-long extended vacations for the first time in our marriage and pay cash for them.

Minimizing as a large family is possible. It’s one of the best things we have ever done for ourselves and our children.

If you have been struggling with where to start, I would encourage you to pick just one category, such as your own t-shirts, and see if you can reduce the number by half. I’m so glad we did!

***

Stephanie Giese is a mom of five and an advocate for American children’s mental health. She is the author of All I Never Knowed: Mental Illness, a Mother’s Love, and a Broken System. You can also find her on Facebook.

Investing in True Wealth

Note: This is a guest post by Mike Donghia of This Evergreen Home .

On the surface, the message of minimalism is about less stuff.

But dig a little deeper and it’s clear that for most of us trying to live simply, minimalism is a means to an end. 

Minimalism is a pathway, not a destination. It frees up your time, money, and energy to pursue more of what matters most to you.

How you choose to invest that newfound wealth is a separate matter altogether. The wealth you attain can just as easily be used to pursue a frivolous life, as one that is rich in meaning.

The former I’ll call cannibalistic wealth, for reasons I’ll get into shortly, and the latter I’ll call true wealth. Let’s dive deeper.

Cannibalistic Wealth

Have you ever noticed how eating a small amount of junk food stimulates your appetite for even more? When it comes to junk foods like Pringles or Oreo cookies, it’s easier to eat none than to stop at one.

Certain kinds of pleasure are like that. The pleasure itself is undeniable, but doesn’t quite scratch the itch, and so you go back for more. 

In the case of junk food, it’s clear what would happen if this became a regular pattern. In order to maintain the pleasure of eating whatever you want, whenever you want, you would have to sacrifice other pleasures— like the enjoyment of good health, regular energy, and a wider palette of tastes. 

That’s what I call cannibalistic wealth. It is a form of wealth that, given enough room to expand, will consume other forms of wealth that you enjoy. 

To carry the financial imagery just a bit further, when you invest heavily into cannibalistic wealth, it’s possible to lower your overall net worth rather than raise it.

Here are some examples to be aware of:

Luxury goods and experiences. You can make wonderful memories on an extravagant vacation, splurging at an expensive restaurant, or purchasing a beautifully crafted item. But if you allow yourself to expect this level of experience, you may be trading away your ability to enjoy simpler, less-refined pleasures in the company of those you love.

Status and popularity. Who doesn’t love to be appreciated, enjoyed, and even respected? It is natural and good to occasionally enjoy the spotlight when it is pointed at you. But make this one of your highest aims in life, and you may lose a sense of inner contentment that doesn’t depend on the applause of others.

Comfort and ease. We all have a psychological need for comfort to some degree, and rest is an important and beautiful aspect of being human. But make comfort your true north, and you will come to resent anything that looks like hard work or inconvenience. And let’s face it, so many good things in life require the messy struggle of discomfort to produce good fruit.

Just to be clear, nothing in this list is necessarily bad. There is nothing wrong with enjoying them provided you are able to enjoy them with the right perspective. My personal approach is to try to enjoy these things as pleasant surprises when they arrive in my life, but not to put too much time seeking them out. Far better to invest in wealth that is more robust.

True Wealth

True wealth is the real deal. 

While it is possible to corrupt these forms of wealth, and turn them into something they were not meant to be, they tend to be enjoyed more innocently.

Instead of robbing you of other pleasures as you enjoy them more frequently, they tend to expand your world, compound your happiness, and add richness to your life. 

Here is just a small sample of the kinds of true wealth you might pursue:

Physical energy. Ample energy to live your life with full engagement.

Worryless sleep. Rest your head on your pillow in peace.

A project of your own. A bit of work that is untainted by the demands of others.

A hearty appetite. Nothing better than to arrive at a good meal with a strong hunger.

Mutual intimacy. Drawing close to another human being through conversation or touch.

Having enough. The realization that you have all the raw materials you need for a meaningful life.

Deep laughter. Found most often alongside close friends in unrushed environments.

Occasional surprises. Enough to keep alive your child-like sense of wonder.

Solid hope. Something to look forward to that will endure.

Conclusion

Minimalism is great, but it’s not enough on its own. Practicing minimalism will not automatically make you content or turn you into a better person.

The choice is up to you to decide the kinds of wealth you will pursue with the freedom that a simpler life enables.

I hope you will choose wisely and invest into wealth that multiplies life both for you and those around you.

***

Mike (and his wife, Mollie) blog at This Evergreen Home where they share their experience with living simply, intentionally, and relationally in this modern world. You can follow along by subscribing to their twice-weekly newsletter.

Inspiring Simplicity. Weekend Reads.

Fill your life with stories to tell, not stuff to show.

The simplicity/minimalism movement is a beautiful community. And I enjoy any opportunity to promote writing that encourages people to live more by owning less.

I invite you to fix yourself a nice warm cup of coffee or tea. Find a quiet moment this weekend. And enjoy some encouraging words to inspire more simplicity in your life today.

Does Being Minimalist Mean I’m a Cheapskate? | The Fun Sized Life by Renee Benes. “Minimalists often see that they already have enough and are grateful for what they have. Cheapskates often fear they will never have enough.”

20 Ways to Simplify Your Life and Create More Ease and Space | Balance Through Simplicity by Antonia Colins. “Our home, schedule, heart and mind fill with stuff and our focus is drawn away from the things we want to do towards the things that we have to do.”

How to Live a Slow, Simple Life as an Extrovert | Medium by Charlie Brown. “It is possible to create a busy yet intentional schedule. One that satisfies your need to see people but doesn’t exhaust you. Figuring out your priorities is a good place to start.”

4 Lies Our Consumer Society Is Telling You That You Should Reject Right Now | No Sidebar by Jessalynn Jones. “I’m sure you have heard that we live in a consumer society before. It means that our economy is driven by consumerism in America and many other nations. But what does that really mean?”

A Guide to Practicing Trust | Zen Habits by Leo Babauta. “If we have a lack of trust, we might be tempted to blame ourselves or feel that there’s some wrongness to this lack. But what if we trusted that there are good reasons we don’t trust?”

10 Rules for Using Social Media Intentionally | Joshua Becker on YouTube

Living in a Van Full Time: 10 Things We Found We Really Do Not Need

Note: This is a guest post by Bradley Williams of Dream Big, Travel Far.

For the last 2 years, my girlfriend and I have been living almost full time in our custom-built camper as we continue on our goal to drive around the world. 

Prior to this we have spent much of the last 6 years backpacking, living out of little more than a shared 65 liter backpack- much of which is filled with laptops and cameras for work, or medical gear for my girlfriend’s type 1 diabetes.

So we were sort of forced down the route of minimalism!

Living in a van actually allows space for a few little extras in comparison to living out of a backpack, though it is still extremely limited.

But whereas most of our friends and family would be aghast at such an idea, we have come to love this much more reduced way of living. In fact, it makes you appreciate those added “luxuries” even more and shows you just how much stuff in a traditional home you really don’t need.

This article presented a chance for me to put pen to paper (at least digitally) and take stock of those top 10 things that I realize I no longer really need. They are …

1. A TV

There’s a scene from the show Friends, where Joey gets to the Bahamas and meets some paleontologists who say that they don’t own a TV, to which Joey responds “What does all your furniture point towards!?”

I think it’s both hilarious, and worryingly accurate, that this is how homes are laid out. Don’t get me wrong, we love watching movies and TV series. But our laptop does this just fine, especially as we benefit from modern streaming services like Netflix, Prime and Disney Plus. 

We just download a few episodes every now and then when we get WiFi and then we know what we are watching. No ads. And no back and forth “so what should we watch tonight?” When you can’t flick through endless channels and are instead limited to what you have downloaded, it’s surprisingly liberating.

Or better yet, we just talk to each other as setting up the laptop requires more effort so the lack of convenience makes us less likely to stare at the screen.

2. Endless books

I love reading and I love books, but really they do build up! And, for me personally anyways, I don’t think many people really re-read the same book twice. At least not for many years.

I quite love finding second hand book shops or those little shelves in hotels and hostels which let you “take one and leave one”. You’re never short of a story to read, but in a practical sense, there simply isn’t room for dozens of physical books in a van, especially ones you have already read!

Even better, I can download modern books from the Kindle store on Amazon and have instant access to whatever it is I fancy reading next.

3. 14 pairs of shoes

We have this small box area where all of our shoes live, and I love it! It forces us (cough, my girlfriend, cough) to only have the one or two pairs of shoes that we wear 90% of the time.

For me, my day shoes double as my gym shoes, so other than that I only have a pair of hiking boots, and my Reef flip flops.

4. A floor-to-ceiling fridge

We have this compact 80 liter fridge which even has a small freezer containing space for a bag of frozen vegetables and fruit. And it does us absolutely fine!

With some added non-fridge space for canned goods and vegetables, we can easily store enough food for a week or more. 

When I’m back at home, I have this habit of buying food, half eating it and then putting the container back in the fridge to forget about it. No room for that luxury here, and it means we waste far less food, which is nice.

5. That miscellaneous junk drawer

Everyone has that drawer (or drawers plural) in their home that contains reams of tangled cables, tools, batteries, toothpicks and God knows what else. We like to tell ourselves “oh this will come in really handy one day”.

But the problem is, because the drawer has SO MUCH junk in it, you don’t remember what you put in there and it just builds up. Now, we have a rule. Are we going to definitely use this in the next 3 months?

If the answer is no, then we pass it on or throw it away, or just simply don’t buy it in the first place! Otherwise we are paying good money on the fuel to cart drawers worth of useless junk around the world.

6. More than 4 plates

In our van, we have 4 plates, 2 bowls, 2 soup bowls (pretty frivolous, I know), 4 pairs of cutlery, 4 glasses (2 wine and 2 tumblers) and 2 mugs. That’s it and it’s all we need.

Even with guests we muddle through, as our soup bowls can double up and get us through. Any more would be unnecessary. I know for a fact my parents’ home has at least 3 dozen mugs in one cupboard. It’s rare that 2 or 3 would ever be in use at one time!

7. The latest … well … everything!

I’ve realized that, at least personally, the vast majority of my enjoyment from daily life comes from experiences and being in new places. I don’t need the latest phone, camera, clothes, shoes, backpack, or whatever else, in order to feel that way.

It’s all too easy to get caught up in what others around you have and wanting to get that fresh version of the latest thing to somehow get more pleasure out of something.

As long as our van is running and we have our laptops with us; then we can travel, run a business and love life. Sure, you have to renew tech at some point, but only to a certain extent. Needing wireless chargers, and the latest iPhone or weatherproof jacket just isn’t necessary.

8. Washing machine

Quite a simple one here, but doing laundry is actually surprisingly easy on the road. We just have one bag, and when it gets filled we head to a laundromat, it takes an hour of the day to wash, dry and get back on the road. 

We have actually seen some van videos of those with larger van builds incorporating washing machines and dryers! I mean, that’s an interesting idea. But laundromats are everywhere and we have never struggled to have clean clothes. 

Also, it’s super cheap and doesn’t require spending hundreds to own that equipment and then having to pay to get it fixed if something goes wrong.

9. Microwave

These can be really handy, and growing up I would use this to prepare food at least once a day, probably much more during my time at university.

But since being in the van, I realize that you really don’t need one! 

The only real time they would prove convenient is to quickly cook up a frozen meal from the supermarket. But these are always super unhealthy anyway, so it forces us not to rely on quick meals like that.

We actually have an in-built oven with two hobs on top, which by many vans standards, is luxury. 

10. A make-up area

To finish up, here’s one from Cazzy. Back home she would have drawers filled with different makeup products, shades of eyeliner, lipstick and god knows what else.

In the van she has a small bag with what she uses and she puts this all on using the mirror on the sun visor of the passenger seat.

And it works just great! Again, it boils down to the 80:20 principle. She carries the 20% of gear that she wears 80% (or probably more like 98%) of the time.

No need for anything more.

What’s the bottom line here?

I’m not saying living in a house is bad, and that it’s not okay to have things you don’t use every single day.

But it definitely is a liberating feeling to know exactly what you do own and don’t own.

If I need a tool or part or piece of stationary to mend something, I know exactly whether I have it and where it is. There’s no hours spent rifling through drawers and asking everyone where it might have gotten lost. 

It’s surprisingly freeing to have less and to realize you don’t need to have immediate access to everything.

I find this particularly liberating on the television front. By downloading one series at a time, that’s all we watch and it’s great. Back at home, It’s easy to get into this horrible habit of trying to work out what we are “in the mood” for that night.

But not being “in the mood” for something is driven simply by having too much choice. 

Instead, whenever I am back at home, I can then really appreciate things like a long shower (or even a bath!) which are luxuries that I fully appreciate rather than take for granted. It really helps better put things in perspective.

***

Bradley Williams is one half of the blogging duo over at Dream Big, Travel Far. Here, he and his girlfriend Cazzy document their adventures traveling around the world. They are currently 2 years into a 3-4 year journey of driving their self-converted camper around the world. You can learn more in this blog post or on their YouTube channel.

Six Lessons I’ve Learned in My First 2 Years as a Solo Female Nomad

Note: This is a guest post by Julie B. Rose.

It was July 24, 2020, my 35th birthday. My realtor called me at 9 a.m. with an offer from a couple that wanted to buy my 1,600 square foot house in Phoenix. It was the first showing of the day. Did I want to accept it?

In that moment, I had to decide: was I really leaving home ownership and stability behind? Was I really going to purge all my life’s possessions… in exchange for a life on the road, living nomadically and traveling North America with my dog – the opposite of what a single, never-been-married woman was “supposed” to be doing?

I accepted, and thus began the process of liquidating 35 years of belongings and items accumulated during 15 years of living on my own.

I kept only the things that I could fit in my SUV that I would need for the foreseeable future on my perpetual road trip. I deposited a few things I didn’t have time to deal with or couldn’t sell in a closet-sized storage unit. And everything else — 98% of my former life — was sold, consigned, bestowed, or donated in the weeks before I started my new life.

I’ve been traveling ever since, in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, never staying in one place longer than a month. Here are some things I’ve learned in that time. 

1. I had to be mindful of all my belongings; space was a luxury.

When you’re living out of an SUV, you learn real fast what you like and need, and I used even less than I thought I would.

There was clothing I never wore, or wore so infrequently, it wasn’t worth bringing with me. I wore the same three pairs of shoes all the time, despite having a dozen pairs with me for different occasions or climates. I couldn’t collect new items on a whim because I didn’t have room for boundless additions. Everything I owned was being stored, organized, and carried as I traveled from place to place, so it all had to serve a true purpose.

2. Living nomadically and traveling actually cost me less than when I lived a traditional life.

Finances is probably the #1 excuse for a lot of people who say they could never live nomadically. But in checking my records, and comparing 12 months of spending while I owned my house and 12 months of spending while I was traveling all across the U.S. staying in hotels and Airbnbs — I actually spent less traveling. And when I think about it, this makes sense — when I stayed in hotels and Airbnbs, utilities were bundled in and household items like dish soap and paper towels were included. When I was a homeowner, I was responsible for not only my mortgage, but electricity, internet, real estate taxes, household items, and maintenance and upkeep. Those costs are steep. And naturally, I bought less because I didn’t have a house to fill up.

3. I never missed the things I gave up. 

Once in a while I look back at photos of my former home or where I’m wearing certain clothing and I think, “I wonder where that actually ended up!” but it’s a fleeting curiosity, not a wistfulness — and it feels like a lifetime ago. Out of sight out of mind is real, and I am much happier having given it all up than I would be paying to store it or dragging it around with me. Anyway, no decision is truly irreversible — sure, I gave up my citrus juicer, but it’s not like I can’t buy another one if I really need it (and as much as I like lemon in my hot water, the verdict is still out on whether it’s an essential purchase).

4. I truly embodied the experiences > possessions mindset.

My spending shifted in a big way. I had some incredible meals. I went hiking and sailing and wine-tasting and horseback riding. I didn’t want to collect things, I wanted to collect memories. And that meant I had to have some hard conversations with my family in advance of Christmases and birthdays where I told them: “Please don’t buy me anything. I don’t have the space nor do I want to be weighed down by anything else I did not consciously choose.” This took the wind out of the sails for some of my loved ones who really relished the act of gift-giving. My family had to get used to the new me. 

5. I don’t relate to everybody, or rather, not everybody can relate to me.

On that note, some people did not understand. My pursuit of happiness looks much, much different than theirs, and it’s counter to the programming we’ve all received during our lifetimes living in a capitalist, commercialist Western nation. Some even took my journey to downsize, minimize, and to live simply and travel as a personal affront to their consumerist habits! 

I’m single, and a lot of single men I meet can’t relate to me either. They are locked into the traditional life, the endless make-money-spend-money-and-collect-stuff cycle. They admire me, but they don’t want to be with me. I’m a wild card.

Still, even if I’m an anomaly, I like being a shining example to people out there — that material things, appearances, and status — do not automatically equal success and happiness. There is another path besides the one we’ve all been told to follow, and it starts with being true to yourself.

6. The material things may be gone, but I held on tight to my memories.

There were sentimental items that I tossed. There were items with meaning and history that I gave away or donated. There were things that I loved but simply had no use for or place for. But what cannot be taken from me is my memories. And the fact that the physical, tangible item is gone doesn’t mean the meaning and the memory went with it. 

Summary

I cleaned out my storage unit in November 2021, and sold and gave away a lot more of what I had stored. I took a photo of the contents of that storage unit, now stacked inside my SUV, and posted it with the caption: “This is my life… my life reduced.” A follower commented, “Don’t you mean… your life maximized?” 

That commenter was right. Having less has made my life bigger. Having less has allowed me to travel full-time, visit my 50th U.S. state, spend six months exploring Mexico, and late summer, I’ll travel to Eastern Europe. I may wear the same three pairs of shoes, but I have seen and lived more in two years than many people live in their lifetimes. 

I am pretty detached from the material world, but closer than ever to knowing myself and living in the moment. I relish my days, which are filled with doing things that I love. I feel like I am a child again, connected to the earth, to playtime. I’m curious and I love to learn, and I am lighter, looser, freer than ever. My life is big, and I’m grateful.

***

Julie B. Rose is a full-time nomad and minimalist who travels the world with her dog Penny. She shares her experiences at juliedevivre.com, where she aims to inspire and empower positive lifestyle change. You can also find her on Youtube and Instagram.

How to Continue Decluttering When You Feel Like Quitting

Note: This is a guest post by Rachelle Crawford of Abundant Life With Less.

I’m not a DIY kind of person. While I’m certainly not afraid to get my hands dirty, attention to detail just isn’t my thing. People who take on home renovation projects themselves amaze me. I’ve got a good friend who tiled her entire shower by herself. You see, there are people who tile, and there are people who pay people to tile. I fall into that second group.

However, back in April 2020, I had to cut my husband’s hair. Talk about attention to detail. I had never cut anyone’s hair prior to then. Well, I did trim my bangs a couple times back in the 90’s. Let’s just say, I learned the hard way that cutting human hair was not the career path for me.

With the world locked down and my husband’s hair too long for comfort, he went ahead and tried to order a set of hair clippers off Amazon. Of course, everyone else was doing the same thing so they were totally sold out. Beard trimmers were the only available option. Fun fact: When these high quality trimmers finally arrived, the box actually read, “Bread Trimmers,” instead of “Beard Trimmers.” I kid you not. Any port in a storm, I guess.

Hopped up on coffee and adrenaline, with only a YouTube degree to rely on, I hesitantly took that first swipe up the back of his head with my bread trimmers. With each successful graze I grew just a little bit more confident… that is, until it came time to switch from trimmers to scissors. It’s surprisingly difficult to use a comb and scissors at the same time. They make it look so easy.

I fumbled quite a bit, stabbed myself more times than an adult wielding scissors should and felt like tossing in the towel. My husband, however, made it very clear, quitting mid haircut wasn’t an option, so I had to figure it out.

It took me far longer than it would have a trained professional, but in the end, it didn’t look too shabby. For the remainder of that weird year, I became the family stylist. With every haircut I got a little faster, grew a little more confident and lost a little less blood.

Decluttering our homes is often a similar experience. Well, hopefully minus the blood loss. We realize our home has grown a little crowded, hesitantly start pruning the excess, and then panic when it starts to get tough. I know this because that’s exactly what happened to me. After just a couple weeks of decluttering my home, I freaked out. “What have I done?” I thought. The space around me was growing uncomfortably sparse and I started to second guess myself.

In a recent, not-so-scientific, Instagram survey, I asked fellow minimalists if they too recall hitting a wall while decluttering. Of those who responded, exactly half of them found themselves overwhelmed during the decluttering process. Of those who hit a wall, 18% opted to toss in the towel entirely. They were just too overwhelmed to continue. But 82% continued to declutter despite the wall. They found a way to press on. I wanted to learn what worked for them.

I asked my Instagram community exactly how they either managed to avoid a head on collision with decluttering fatigue or how they survived it. Here are the top three answers.

1. Take a Break

You’d think it would be common sense, you know, when you’re tired or overwhelmed, to take a break. However, in a culture pushing us into the busy life, we’ve gotten pretty used to hustling until we burn out.
If we want a clutter free home though, we’ve got to play the long game. Slow and steady is far more sustainable than intermittent rage decluttering. Taking regular breaks is the number one way to stay the course.

Those who managed to avoid the wall altogether, decluttered in waves, taking regular breaks or “breathing points” as Megan so beautifully put it. She went on to explain how she got into a nice rhythm. “Each time gets better and better… It’s a good balance of meeting my clutter threshold and making sure the rest of my family feels comfortable.”

Those who hit a wall but kept moving forward recognized when they needed to pause. They took time, a few days to a few weeks, to both enjoy the progress they’d made and spend time doing something they enjoyed. Then they got back to it.

Very few people manage to declutter their homes in one fast, furious, and efficient swoop. It’s a process, an important one. If you feel like quitting, it’s a clear sign that it’s time to rest. Get outside, indulge in a hobby, enjoy your progress, or take an actual nap if you need to. Then start again.

2. Focus on the Benefits

My daughter is currently in the process of learning to ride her bike without training wheels. It’s a whole thing. What I noticed the other day is that she doesn’t look ahead. Instead, she keeps her eyes on the pedals. I don’t blame her. However, balance is next to impossible when you’re looking down at your feet.

The same goes for decluttering our home. It’s hard to make any real progress when we’re focused on what we’re giving up. If we’re going to stay the course, it’s imperative we focus on the benefits. This tip hit home for me because it’s exactly what kept me on track as well. When I focused on the piles, I grew anxious. However, when I focused on what lay ahead, I grew hopeful.

We could spend weeks, a lifetime even, fixating on how much money we spent on all the clothes we’re now donating. If we only focus on that though, we’ll never get any further. If instead, we focus on the people who will benefit from our donation, the money we’ll save by developing better spending habits and the space we are gaining by letting go, decluttering gets a whole lot easier.

Mollie said, “Once I got going, I just didn’t want to stop because the personal impact to the logistics of my life and my mental health were so significant… I saw immediately the daily benefit of less. Then I couldn’t unsee it and I had to tackle the rest of my home.”

It’s easy to lose sight of what we’re after, but we don’t have to stop there. Look up and start focusing on what you’re getting in return. Don’t forget to look behind you from time to time as well. It’s incredibly encouraging to see just how far you’ve come.

3. Declutter in Smaller Waves

It’s so easy, in all the excitement and hopeful anticipation, to bite off more than we can chew. We dive in, gutting cabinets and wreaking havoc, overestimating our energy level while underestimating just how long it’s going to take.

Finding yourself still awake at one in the morning, bagging up piles of old high school t-shirts will only leave you afraid to ever tackle another room in our home. Go big or go home isn’t the only option.

Many of those who stayed the course did so by decluttering in small waves, allowing themselves to build both momentum and confidence. Tenielle said she “decluttered in light layers several times over the last five years, each time getting a little more ruthless. I would have found it too overwhelming to tackle more at once.” 

Samantha said, “I never hit a wall because I kept it manageable by doing small manageable goals. Instead of my entire closet in one day, I gave myself a month to slowly declutter my entire closet. If I feel like doing more I can! But I’m never completely overwhelmed by too big a task.”

Those who pressed on despite feeling overwhelmed simply recognized they had taken on a little more than they could handle and course corrected. Instead of quitting, they started setting smaller goals. For example, they’d opt to declutter one cabinet at a time rather than tackling an entire room.

Here are a few more helpful strategies shared by those who pressed on when the going got rough:

Enlist help from a friend.Look for minimalist inspiration on social media.Take pictures of special items.Make a list of your progress.Move your excess stuff into a bedroom or basement, and donate it all after a predetermined amount of time.Read minimalism books from different perspectives.Reflect on before and after photos.

If you find yourself waist deep in clutter, wondering why you ever thought minimalism was for you, know that you’re not alone. I’ve been there too. As a worry-prone, messy person, I’ve got to say: If I can do this, so can you. If you start small, take regular breaks and keep your eyes on the horizon, one year from now you’ll be looking at a totally different space.

***

Rachelle Crawford is the author of Messy Minimalism: Realistic Strategies for the Rest of Us. She blogs at Abundant Life With Less where she shares a grace-based approach to living clutter free. For more inspiration follow her on Instagram. 

Seven Ways to Fight Decision Fatigue

Note: This is a guest post from Julia Ubbenga of Rich in What Matters.

One of my favorite quotes about clutter goes like this: “Clutter is simply the result of delayed decisions.”

It’s true.

When what we last touched—around the house, in our car, in our inbox—becomes “left for later” it becomes clutter.

So why do we do this? We want to live in an uncluttered environment, but our willpower doesn’t always win out.

Here’s one explanation: decision fatigue.

This term, first coined by social psychologist Dr. Roy Baumeister in his research at FSU, simply means the more decisions we make, the more difficult making our next decision becomes. Baumeister discovered that humans have a finite amount of daily willpower that wears away as we make decisions.

Think of it this way. Our decision-making power source is like our iPhone battery. We start out the day on 100%, but as the day goes on and decisions are made, our mental charge depletes.

Do I hit snooze or get up with my alarm? Down to 99%.

Do I make the bed? 98%

Do I check my phone or do quiet time first? 97%

And so the decision making continues into our day.

Some are easy: “Mom, can I jump off the kitchen table and show how I fly?” (“Um, absolutely not—get down now!”) Down to 65%.

Or more weighted: Do we send our first grader to school this year or homeschool? Down to 40%.

With every decision made, our decision-making reserve decreases. When our battery gets low (could be by noon depending on the day), so does our willpower and ability to make good decisions.

This is why we’re more likely to grab junk food in the evening instead of a healthy option, leave the mail on the counter after work instead of filing it away, and drape those pants we’ll wear again over the exercise bike instead of hanging them in the closet. By this point, our brain seeks the path of least resistance, which often creates clutter.

So how can our decision-making reserve get a better battery life?

How can we minimize trivial decisions to save our mental charge for “bigger” decisions that matter (including those that help maintain a decluttered environment)?

Here are 7 ways to decrease decision fatigue:

1. Simplify your wardrobe

Minimizing your wardrobe reduces the number of outfit options you have to consider.

While you don’t necessarily have to take it as far as Mark Zuckerberg and basically own duplicates of one outfit, great minds like his are onto something.

By minimizing your wardrobe, you also minimize the number of morning decisions you make, saving your decision-making power for more important things later in the day.

One practical option is creating a capsule wardrobe comprised of interchangeable pieces to give your wardrobe variety while greatly simplifying the decision of “what to wear.”

2. Practice a morning routine

Implementing routines and rhythms into your day is key to reducing decision fatigue.

If your mind is bombarded with choices first thing in the morning, your mental energy will be zapped by noon. Instead, keep things as predictable as possible in the morning.

Get up at the same time, have coffee (or a drink you look forward to), spend time in quiet, read something inspiring, meditate on affirmations, exercise—whatever gets you most ready for the day, plan to do that.

Morning routines prepare your mind to tackle the day from a place of positivity with less decision fatigue throughout the day.

3. Reduce clutter in your environment

Everything in your environment competes for your energy and attention.

If your environment is cluttered, you’ll constantly see items that need addressed. The stack of bills in the corner … you weren’t planning to pay them today, but now that you see them, maybe you should. And the pile of broken toys on the counter … you weren’t planning to fix them today, but, well, maybe you should.

Bottom line: clutter is distracting and draining, leading to even more delayed decisions (which causes more clutter!).

4. Apply the Rule of 3 to your to-do list

Productivity experts agree the magic number of priorities on a daily to-do list is three.

Each night, write a list of everything on your mind to accomplish the following day.

Then choose the three tasks that are most important and commit to doing them (save the other tasks for another day).

By clarifying what you want to accomplish, you start your day with a plan. You work deliberately, not reactively. Plus, your mind stays sharp because your mental energy is not bogged down trying to decide which tasks to address and which to let go.

5. Slow down your schedule

Our culture promotes touting an overflowing schedule. But behind every overly busy calendar is an equally busy brain attempting to juggle it all.

Truth is, we’re not called to do it all. And every decision you make about trivial calendar items pulls precious willpower from the things that matter.

Scan your schedule for half-hearted commitments. Then eliminate them. Try rating each commitment on a scale of 1-10. If it’s not a 10, use that time and energy for more meaningful pursuits.

Then, practice putting boundaries around your schedule to keep it slow.

This may mean limiting your child’s extracurriculars to one a week, or only allowing one appointment a week. With guidelines around your schedule, you guard your time and your decision-making power.

6. Simplify your meal routine

Studies show the average American spends 40 minutes a day thinking about food.

That’s more than 240 hours (10 days) a year.

Save that brain power for more important decisions by creating a streamlined meal routine. Set parameters for your meals that allow for variety within your guidelines.

This might mean breakfast is a protein smoothie each morning, but you vary the added fruit. Lunch may consistently be a salad, but you vary the toppings. Dinner is meat and veggies, but you mix and match the pairings and cooking methods.

When you set parameters for your meals, you make fewer decisions planning, shopping, and preparing, leaving your mind sharper throughout the day.

7. Ask yourself what decision would be best for your brain

Prioritizing and optimizing brain health will help reduce decision fatigue.

When faced with a decision during the day, try asking yourself this simple question: “What would be best for my brain right now?”

Watching Netflix or a walk in the sunshine?

McDonald’s for lunch or a meal made with unprocessed foods?

Time spent scrolling mindlessly through Instagram or quality time connecting with a loved one?

The more choices we make that support our brain health, the stronger our “decision making tool” becomes.

The late author Wayne Dyer said, “Our lives are a sum total of the choices we have made.”

His words put the importance of making good decisions into perspective—our decisions create our lives.

Let’s work today to reduce decision fatigue so we have more “charge” to live life intentionally, and ultimately, with less clutter.

***

Julia Ubbenga is a freelance journalist and mom of four who documents her family’s journey into minimalism on her blog Rich in What Matters. Her teachings on simplicity and intentional living help others live with less stuff and more life. You can find her on Instagram or check out her free decluttering guide.

Encouraging Simplicity. Weekend Reads.

Never underestimate the importance of removing stuff you don’t need.

Encouragement provides us with motivation to persevere. It invites us to dream dreams of significance for our lives. And it begs us to work diligently with optimism and promise.

Overcoming the pull of consumerism is a difficult challenge regardless of our stage in life. Simplicity requires encouragement. To that end, I hope you will find motivation in these articles below.

Each post was intentionally chosen to inspire simplicity in your life. For maximum effect, find a quiet moment this weekend and enjoy them with a fresh cup of coffee or tea.

Why this CEO Who Owns Less Than 100 Personal Items Says Minimalism is His Key to Success | CNBC by Ashton Jackson. “For many people, being able to splurge on material items is the ultimate indicator of success. But Ganesh, who currently owns 89 personal items, believes the complete opposite, finding that the less he owns, the more freedom he has.”

10 Ways To Live A Simple Life That Will Make You Happier | Medium by Mvoca. “What is simple for you may be something different for someone else; this difference lies in the things that fill your life with enthusiasm and courage, and in the things that enrich it.”

Mega Millions $1 billion-plus lottery jackpot: Will winning make you happier? | New York Post. “One stressor associated to a major cash windfall is dealing with people who come out of the woodwork to share your prize — or, rather, try to rob you of it.”

Getting to the Heart of Impulse Shopping | Zen Habits by Leo Babauta. Why have we been more compelled to shop for clothes, gadgets, workout equipment, hobby toys and more?

It’s Worth Embracing a Minimalist Lifestyle. Here’s Why. | No Sidebar by Emma Scheib. “The journey might start with clearing the clutter but it usually continues with a deeper look inwards. A look at the most important things, how we spend our time and how we love others.”

The Empty Promise of Consumerism Summarized On One Receipt | Joshua Becker on YouTube. A friend of mine recently returned some items and showed me the receipt. I can’t think of a better summary of the empty promises of consumerism than what it said.