We talk a lot about what minimalism looks like but to change things up a bit today I wanted to talk about what minimalism sounds like.  (I also talk about this in my book)

‘NO’

Minimalism in stuff means going through all our belongings and deciding what we need and love and getting rid of the rest.  Minimalism in time is the same.  Look at what is on your schedule now and treat it like it was your closet.

I have said it before and I say it again – time is so much more valuable than money.  There will always be a way to find more money but time is limited.   Read the rest of this entry →

Photo Credit: Image: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I have seen this idea in many different places.  I used it in Project 333 for cloths, just last week I saw it on Jill’s Blog with toys, I put it in my book a few months ago.  It is everywhere because it works.

Need help with minimalism?  Want to simplify but having a hard time getting rid of stuff?  Try this:  Read the rest of this entry →

Image: Surachai

I wanted to write up this Minimalist Tip because it really does apply to everyone.  If you are self employed or not.  If you are trying to start a business or succeed in business or not.  If you are living in the world now it is good to know. Read the rest of this entry →

Image: africa

It’s one thing to go through your house as minimalist, simple-loving tornado getting rid of everything you don’t love, don’t need, or don’t use.  That step, by itself isn’t always easy.  However, what about all the stuff you know you will use in the future, or could use.  I call them ‘usables’.  They are things that will be used up at some point through living.  They are all through the house: kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and more.  These ‘usables’ can really add up, they can become their own clutter.  This is sometimes hard clutter to deal with because it legitimately is something that you could use up. Read the rest of this entry →

I am pretty excited to share this opportunity with you today

Do you need a library for simple living?  How about a minimalist one that can be stored on a Kindle or computer? No shelf space and tons of wisdom

Corey from Simple Marriage and Mandi from Life…Your Way have brought together some of the top authors in the family life space with 38 ebooks covering a variety of topics related to family life.

I am so honored to have my book 321-stop included in this package with so many amazing writers. When I got a list a few weeks ago I was blown away with the value.  I was really excited to see lots of books that I have wanted to purchase and read included.

And the whole list of books look great!  It truly creates a years worth of reading (give or take depending on your speed) that can make a positive difference in your life in many different areas.  I am excited about learning and reading lots of them.   If you have been interested in purchasing my book 321 Stop – stop running and start living and haven’t gotten a chance yet, this is a perfect opportunity to get it with a great deal

When purchased separately, these ebooks are worth $375, but for four days only, you can purchase the entire collection for just $29!  A whole library for the cost of about 1.5 hard cover books! Read the rest of this entry →

Image: Michelle Meiklejohn

A few weeks ago we said ‘good-buy’ to ‘the turtle’. The turtle never had a specific name beyond ‘the turtle’ but he had great history.

I met ‘the turtle’ about 12 years ago.  I was approached in the streets of Papua New Guinea by a street vendor who had carved it out of a single piece of wood.  I don’t have a picture of the turtle, but he was an impressive 30 inches long by about 18 inches wide.  It was a wooden dish instead of a shell that had a tale, 4 legs (with cute carved toes) and a long neck and head with shells for eyes.  The whole thing was stained and finished a dark walnut color.  ’The turtle’ was pretty cool.

Read the rest of this entry →

Here are my cloths before project 333

I found this challenge a few weeks ago on Be More With Less and thought I would try it out.  I pass on the challenge now to you

Project 333

Can you get down to 33 items in your closet?

Included is:

• All your cloths and outer wear like coats etc
• All your jewelry
• All your shoes

Not included:

• sentimental jewelry (like wedding ring) you never take off
• Work out cloths (that you only wear to work out)
• Undergarments, lounge, and sleep wear

Can you do that for three months?  Can you set a wardrobe for April through June?

You don’t have to get rid of them entirely.  Just get them out of your closet and deep into storage – far, far away for the 3 months.

I thought I would try it.  I have had a minimalist closet for about a year now and wanted to know how many things I did have.  I pulled it all out and stacked it on the bed. Number came out at about 57.  Not bad right?  I got down to about 40 pretty easily but the last few things was harder.  I made it down to 33.  (not everything is pictured, 2 shirts in the laundry and the cloths I am wearing count into the 33)

After tackling my closet I decided to try it out with the kids. Worked great for them too.  Here is the kids piles of 33 items:

I was asked what my kids kept.  Here is a list.  My kids are Lily (8) and Ian (5).  I am going off memory on Wednesday and the picture because I didn’t want to pull it all out again and stuff is in the laundry already

Lily:

• 4 pieces of jewelry (2 rings, bracelet, necklace)
• 6 pairs of shoes
• 1 sweater
• 3 dresses (2 for church and one less fancy for weekdays)
• 4 pants (2 jeans, 2 stretchy cotton)
• 4 pairs shorts
• 8 short sleeved shirts
• 2 long sleeved shirt
• mystery item I can’t remember (I know we had the 33 total on Sunday)

Then I went and pulled my husbands stuff out of the closet and got him down (with his help of course) to 33 items.  I forgot to get a picture before I put everything back in but here is a peek of our closet now.

This is all of our hanging cloths on the left hand side.  The two baskets are my hubbies cloths separated between ‘good’ and work (construction). Not pictured well, on the right side I have 2 black cloth baskets. One for pants and one for shirts. 2 baskets below the hanging cloths hold our shoes and the rest of the closet holds our home office stuff (and the chocolate stash the kids don’t know about )

There you have it.  Can you get down to 33 items?  I haven’t been one for counting belongings before, but this exercise really helped with the closets.  Give it a try this week for the start of April and let me know how it goes.

Image: tungphoto

Minimalism and simple living is exciting, isn’t it?  If you have been hanging out with us for a while (or if you are joining us ‘Welcome’) these concepts are freeing, liberating, stress-reducing and just plain exciting.

First there is the flirting with the idea, then as you look around the house and clean up you start to realize that you don’t need all the stuff you have.  You realize that there is ‘stuff’ in your life holding you back.  You take a closet and go through it, or a shelf, or a dresser and find stuff you can pass on to someone else….or stuff that is good for nothing but the dump and has been cluttering your house for too long.  With more minimalist exercise you are getting stronger, gaining steam, smelling freedom. (cue the music, more lighting, and glowing special effects)

Then…

Significant other(s) in your life (spouse, parent, child, other family member) don’t agree with what is going on. They may be for or against the whole minimalist process, but they do feel the strong connection and value of the “insert item here” you wanted to tag for removal from the home.  All this new minimalist strength and momentum can either wither away or be used as a weapon.  Neither of which is good!

Just to clarify some things:

Minimalist and Simple Living = Good

Relationships = Best

Minimalism isn’t a tribe or a religion.  It isn’t something you need to become or convert to.  It isn’t even something you are or aren’t.  It is a tool.  In this world people and relationships are most important.  If the tool doesn’t help the relationships than it needs to be used a different way.

Now, I love minimalist living and think there is ways that it can add to and help everyone’s life and relationship, but everyone may need to adapt the principles differently.

Here are some ideas for you to think on if you are running into relational minimalist tension:

1. Change yourself first. It may be that the biggest and bulkiest and most unnecessary items in the house are not only yours.  Focus on things that are yours first.
2. Explain your new way of thinking and minimalism and how you see it affecting and benefiting you and how you see your benefit also affecting the relationship.  For example ‘once I get rid of my collection of 200 painted frogs, I will have 2 extra hours every other week where we can do something together instead of dusting the frogs.  (sorry, reaching for far fetched examples so as not to offend anyone or try to point out how you should apply or what you should keep)
3. Time. Different people can change in different ways faster and slower than others.  My husband and I didn’t always feel the same about keeping different things, but if something was a question to either of us we kept it.  Lots of those same things are gone now, it just took a bit more time for the other person to be okay with removing the item.
4. Team effort. Family is a team no matter how your family situation is set up.  Minimalism isn’t a way to point out or accuse someone for having too much stuff or criticism or poke each other for not changing.  Cutting back for the teams benefit and for team rewards can really strengthen a relationship.  (Check out Warren and Betsy Talbots story in Dream Save Do – A No-Nonsense, Step-By-Step Blueprint for Amassing the Cash You Need to Live Your Dream (Live the Good Life), I laughed and was inspired with how they changed their life and their marriage)
5. If push comes to shove let the relationship win.  However, this is for healthy relationships not for controlling ones.  You have control of your stuff and what you keep.  Keeping the family furniture or the family house is a relationship thing, but you have control over your cloths, books etc.

Live, love and enjoy simple!

321-Stop coming out tomorrow!

All set and ready to go!  It looks super great!

3-2-1 Stop is all about simplifying and I LOVE that! It’s what I’ve been trying to do (very slowly) for some time now, and it has me really excited about it because it walks you through the process step by step, in a straight forward way, by someone who has lived it! It can be done! I am excited to have begun my own journey toward less, and therefore more – of what I really want! — Heather Raising Memories

New giveaways are live now at:

• Tasmanian Minimalist
• Home Maid Simple

Photography by Bryon Lippincott

Sometimes the littlest things can derail simplifying the home space.  I want minimalist simple living and I know you want it too because you are here.  I have had questions from friends about what they should keep if they decide to have another kid and I wanted to do up a post on it.  Really, the big question is:

“What if I need this stuff down the road?  Shouldn’t I keep it?”

So, this post is specifically for those trying to sort out baby cloths, but the principles can spread just about anywhere. (so feel free to change the wording to apply to your specific situation if you want)

So you have your first darling little child. Life turns upside down and the contents of your house doubles.  Baby showers, grandparents, friends, and ever excited parents acquire everything possible that junior will ‘desperately’ need.  Typically there is a move or planned move to a larger living space.  Everything follows mommies belly and expands.  Storing stuff that junior is going to use or need for the next year or two becomes a problem.

After junior starts growing out of things and exiting the first few baby stages stuff starts being stored for junior #2.  The problem comes from the volume of stuff that junior #1 actually had.  Parents are still feeling the burn of the expense of junior #1 and are excited to try and spread the expense out on juniors #2-#15 .

But, stuff is stuff and we want less of it right.  As soon as you keep 15 boxes of baby things it makes sense to keep lots more things ‘just in case’ and the cycle carries right back to where you started….with too much stuff and wanting a simple minimalist life.

I wrote up some steps or questions to go through to tackle this tough issue.  Feel free to get rid of anything that fails these questions.

1. Did junior #1 use it? – …. still have new baby outfits that were never worn? Shower gift packages that were never opened?
2. Did junior #1 need it? – so much stuff is used because it is there, but it wouldn’t be missed if it wasn’t.
3. Is it gender specific?
4. Is it season specific? – 3-6 month cloths for a kid born at a different time of year don’t work well
5. Is it stained?
6. Is it broken?
7. Is it recalled?

I would keep some of what is left only if you have plans for another child in the near future.

Lets look at a worst case scenario of what might happen if you get rid of all of it.  If you are embracing minimalist ideas, even though you have to buy again you will be buying much less because you know and understand what you need this time around.  Also, now that you are a mom and hang out with other moms there is a good chance someone will be looking for someone to hand down their baby things too.

But lets look at this farther.  If this storage is contributing to you having a bigger living space, bigger garage needs, or a storage unit take a look at those costs.  Lets average the cost of storage space at 50-300 dollars per month.  The low end being storage unit costs, the high end being bigger houses to hold all the junk (it could be much more, but lets keep it here).  For 2 years between kids this costs on the low end is more than 1000, and on the high end more than 7000.  I don’t know what you spent on all your baby stuff but mine was less than 1000.  If it is 3-5 years between kids….you get the idea.  Storing stuff is not always cheapest.   

I would suggest taking that money and having the fun of purchasing (new or used) specific stuff for the next little junior.

Sure, there are some things to keep.  I have kept an outfit or two from both my babies as memories and I think they will love to see and have that as they get older.  Some things might go through the list above and still make the cut to keep.  This is totally up to you, your family, and your plans.  Just don’t let the ‘what if’s’ derail the whole simplification process.

Proving the point with an example:

When my son was born my friend and next door neighbor brought over a box of cloths from her son that she wanted to pass on.  This was super sweet and I totally appreciated it.  The thing was that her youngest son was in eighth grade.  I went through the box and learned that it is a waste to hang onto things that long.  Lots of the cloths had elastic in them and the elastic had turned to powder (or popped when I tried to tug on it).  The styles were far gone.  Any stain or water mark had become a huge spot.  I was able to pull one cute button up shirt with sail boats on it out for him and it looked really cute.  However, the moral of the story is that it was a waste of space, hassle to move several times, and just baggage for all those years.

Happy sorting!

Image: Danilo Rizzuti

Here is my simple minimalist living get rich quick secret

Tax time is a good time to take a look at the year from a money perspective.  We did our taxes a few weeks ago and learned several things.  First of all, we made very little money.  No matter what, everyone probably thinks they make very little money.  Turns out for us we embraced minimalism at the right time because our income has been dropping significantly each year as the construction business rides through this economy.  This time our taxable income was almost low enough for us to qualify for government assistance.

That is a bit embarrassing to share honestly.  Both my husband and I are college graduates and I want to think that we make more than we do, …but we don’t.  The two main reasons for our income  amount are that we want to work for ourselves instead of someone else and we want me to be able to stay home and home school the kids.  These are both expensive decisions, but I believe in them both.  There are many people that have to  live on less than what we do, but I am learning to be okay with the fact that, right now, most people make much more.

However, this is a post about being rich right?  I am rich.

Our financial goals met last year:

1. The combination of what we gave away (charity) and what we added to our long term/retirement savings was over half of our taxable income.
2. We took a 5 week vacation all over the west coast of Canada and the US (as well as other time off for other things during the year)
3. We purchased a new car mostly with cash and paid it the rest of the way off in 4 months
4. We are putting a lot of our extra time and energy into developing our passions
5. Everyone is fed well, clothed, and healthy

I sure wish we were making a bit more, it would be much easier, but right now I am happy with the decisions we are making.  I refuse to run after more money at the expense of not having our family time, passion time, and vacation time.  Money is a tool and I want it to support these three areas instead of taking their place.

How do we do it

1. Minimalism.  Adopting it in the last year has brought in some money from sales of the things we have gotten rid of.  The big gem of this is not purchasing stuff.
2. Doing things for our self.  We do everything we possible can for our self.  Cooking, cleaning, child care.  I cut my kids hair.  My husband did my dreads.  We don’t pay for much service of anything if we can figure out how to do it ourselves.
3. Buying cheap. What we do buy, usually cloths, we buy used as much as we can.  I am a bit of a brand snob.  Better name brands really do hold up longer and better even if they have already been used.  I look for good name quality cloths at garage sales and Goodwills when we need them.  The biggest money savings for cloths I think is in minimalism, just not buying as many, but buying them used cuts the cost to almost nothing.
4. Apartment living. It has been almost a year now and there are some great perks to apartment living.  We live in the cheapest apartment we could find in an area of town we wanted to be in.  It isn’t anything special for the actual apartment, but the location is great and the indoor pool is a good perk. The cost is much less and the maintenance is nothing freeing up lots more of our time.

There are people struggling out there with money, but so much of it is still a choice.  Just think of all the things that weren’t part of the budget 20 or 30 years ago:

1. prepared food-store prepared food, restaurant food, fast food, even all the bottled drinks and water
2. cell phones-huge extra bills
3. cable and internet
4. second car
5. big house

The list could probably go on.  All these things are great, but they aren’t essential.  And these are just the new things.  Being rich is about having money to spend on what you want, if there are things you want to spend money on now and you can’t find the money, take a good hard look and figure out how to make money the tool you need it to be.

Book update:

Review from Nina (you have to check this girl’s webpage out, she is amazing.  One of my favorite minimalists):

“In 321 Stop, Lorilee lays the ground work for decreasing the tendency to run around without any meaning and to really start living our one beautiful life in this world with purpose and intention. In a world filled with noise, many of us are in dire need of coherence and silence in the mess. Whether it’s simplifying your home or taking care of the self, 321 Stop will help you find that much needed clarity.” — Nina

Book will be released on March 21 in 16 days.

The goal is to get it off to the designer tonight for some fancy designing magic  More reviews and information developing at 321-stop.com.