It was late 2014 when a friend of mine introduced me to minimalism. At that time she was preparing to move cross country and had gotten rid of many of her belongings. She also told me about Joshua Becker’s blog, Becoming Minimalist, so I decided to start following his page. This introduction was a meaningful start to my journey. In today’s post, I am going to discuss my journey toward minimalism and reveal how it’s simplified my life. I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

At this time, I was in the process of moving and the “epiphany” of how to “let things go” did not come to me until much later. At that time in my life, we had a 1-year-old child, and my husband and I were preparing to move to our new home. We were in the process of staging our house to sell and, as a result, needed to declutter our house. We made the horrible mistake of taking all of the unnecessary items and putting those items into boxes. Those boxes went to our garage and then eventually moved to our new home! I can’t say how much I regret that choice! The good news is that I actually learned something in the process. I loved the feeling of minimalism! The space started to feel more calming, it felt good, and overall it just seemed more simple.

The Hard Work Begins

When we moved into our new house all of those extra items came with us. We purchased a three-bedroom house that was much larger and included a bonus room. The bonus room was the designated area for the extra stuff. Those extra boxes sat there untouched for about 6 months. And then, I got pregnant with my second child.

My office needed to become a nursery. The bonus room, storing my stuff, needed to become a functional room for me to use as my office. My husband volunteered to remove the wallpaper and paint the walls. But, first I needed to get rid of a bunch of stuff!

As I started going through boxes, I realized most of it I would never need again, and some I really did not even want. Other items I didn’t even know why I still had. Yet, it was still hard to part with many items. Some I wanted to sell, they had been sitting in a box for a long time for that purpose. Some items were clothes that I had hoped to fit in again someday. It was overwhelming!

I did, however, make progress and started moving in the right direction. I felt good about my progress but was still overwhelmed by how much stuff I had. In addition to my things, my daughter had a lot of stuff too and I had another baby on the way. The items in my house were multiplying!

Ultimately, I made progress. Everything found a home. Some got donated, and some boxes and containers were put into closets.

Trying to Become a Minimalist with Kids

In early 2016, the moment that really helped me breakthrough my mindset was when I purchased Joshua Becker’s book, The More of Less. I was reading it on my phone each night as I rocked my newborn son to sleep. And then it clicked! At some point in that book, I remember sitting there rocking my son, and I had a huge “epiphany” that somehow let me start letting go. Emotionally, I was able to move forward, and aggressively I did.

Key Takeaways

Some of the key takeaways I had from the book:

• Holding on to many of these items was not only creating physical clutter in my lift but I think most importantly it was creating mental clutter! It was time to declutter!
• Doing something was better than nothing. He suggested, when looking at emotional items, to try cutting them down to half. This made it less daunting!
• Keeping only what is important to me, only the best, allows me to enjoy more of the items that I have.
• Trying to sell stuff was not actually what I wanted to spend my time doing. If I wasn’t going to sell it then, the only logical thing to do was to sell it. If not, get rid of it!

Being able to get rid of items with emotional attachment was a huge step in my journey. This came during a period when I realized many of the emotional connections with these things were not positive. I actually resented having these items. I felt like I had to keep them because they were given to me, were in my family, or because I spent money on them, and, well, they were worth something! 

But what I didn’t realize is that it made me feel angry and that that item actually had a negative impact on my life. When I decided that it was ok to let go and only keep the items that brought me joy, it was much easier, and actually, it was bringing me happiness so I was starting to feel like a weight was being lifted off my chest! 

Decluttering My Life

I continued on this journey until the spring of 2017 as I was working towards a minimalist lifestyle. This is when I discovered the 40 bags in 40 days decluttering challenge, which happens over Lent. You focus on one area a day and grab a bag. Then, you get rid of the bag. I got rid of 72 bags during this time.

Most bags were donations, and some were garbage. Each week I was loading up our CRV full of bags and my husband would drop them off at the donation center. It also felt good to know that I was giving new life to items that deserved it and, most importantly, to people who needed or wanted them. This entire process gave me energy. This was an incredible part of my journey.

It was freeing to see these items leave my house. It meant that I had fewer items to organize and that I had more visibility and time for the things that I did want. My closets of boxes started to become functional areas. The shelves of books that were emptied became spaces for the children to use to store their toys and added function to our life, for what was important, playing with my kids.

I sold some things too along the way. I started selling stuff online on Facebook Marketplace. The money then went into a jar. This is when my husband got on board. He started finding things around that house that we didn’t need and we started selling them! We were on our way to having a minimalist home.

What I learned here is that you have to be aggressive and focused or you won’t make enough progress to keep you going.

Becoming a Minimalist With Three Kids Under 5

Somewhere along the line, I started following The Minimalists, who are Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus. And then in April of 2017, they came to Pittsburgh for their “Less Is Now” ” tour. So that Thursday, I went to go and listen to them, which was really inspiring to me! Then, at the end of the event, I waited to go and meet them. I bought their book, Essential: Essays by The Minimalists, got a couple of hugs, and then asked them to autograph it.  This book was really good, and I loved how it was formed by essays so that I could read a chapter independently, which was great because I had two toddlers running around!

Reading this book kept me going during the next phase of my life – living a simple life and kids. That Sunday, I finished the bag challenge. And, one week after that I found out I was pregnant with my third child. So, I had more work to do as I needed more space and my life was getting busier by the moment!

Becoming a Minimalist Tips

Minimalism is a lifestyle.

The thing about minimalism is that you can’t just get rid of your stuff and expect to have your issues solved. You continue to accumulate things! You have to be aggressive to achieve minimalism and then there are habits that you need to change to maintain that lifestyle. I’m continuously working on changing my mindset, behavior, and habits.

I live with more intention.

I stopped shopping for fun and no longer go to the store because I am bored and come home with a bunch of items that I did not intend to buy before going into the store. Minimalism brought more intentional living into my life. If I am going to the store now, it is for a very specific reason and for a specific item that I want or need.

It’s not just shopping, it’s a way of living. It’s more about making decisions on what to do with your time so that you can focus more on the things that mean the most to you. Many people believe minimalism is about the stuff, but I promise you it isn’t! It’s about your time and how you chose to live your life.

I continuously evaluate the items in my house.

More things naturally make their way into your house, especially with three kids! I continually evaluate the items in my house and decide if they still bring me joy or have a function in my life. If not, I donate the item, list it for sale, or consign it. I used to consign more but at this stage, I prefer to just donate more items. This makes me feel good and it has an immediate impact on my day-to-day living.

Every Lent, I complete the 40-day bag challenge. I am not as rigorous at this point but each day I focus on one area and it helps me maintain. In October, I am also pretty aggressive before anything Christmas-related can make its way into my house! 

I quickly get rid of things I no longer need.

When I decide to donate items, I get rid of them within a few days. This way I am not sifting back through bags or boxes questioning my decisions or seeing the clutter sit in a corner of my house. When I buy something new or replace an item, I immediately get rid of something old.

I immediately list items I wish to sell.

If you are going to keep items to sell, well, then you need to actually sell them. If you don’t list them in a week then donate them. Because you need to take action. 

I evaluate items and activities before I say “yes”.

I evaluate items before I bring them into my house, no matter the cost! Controlling the items that come into our house makes it easier. I have to constantly think about what the value is of the things I am bringing into my life. Likewise, the same is true for activities that we say “yes” to.

Resources on Minimalism

View the website Becoming Minimalist to learn more about minimalism and follow his blog.

View The Minimalist to follow their blog and listen to their podcasts.

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