9 Minimalism Tips for Simplifying Your Life
People often misunderstand minimalism and believe it to feel like a waiting room at a doctor’s office devoid of color and life. This is not minimalism. Minimalism, at its core, is about clearing your life of clutter so that you can focus on what you love the most.
It’s about being intentional and getting rid of things that distract us. Our homes feel cluttered, our brains work overtime, and our schedules leave little to no breathing room. That’s where minimalism comes in.
Practicing minimalism simplifies your life. Stop feeling overwhelmed and start feeling free with these 9 minimalism tips.
1. Spend Less Money on Stuff
When you go shopping, does your cart fill up with odds and ends? Are you pulled to Target’s Dollar Spot? Do you always leave a store with more than what is on your shopping list?
These habits lead to filling your life with clutter and wasting money. Stop spending money for the sake of spending money. Spend money when needed and not just because you can. Make a list when you go shopping and stick to it.
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2. Make Decluttering a Regular Practice
We know we need to declutter, yet we rarely do. If you are decluttering only because your home has started to look like it belongs to a hoarder, you aren’t decluttering enough.
Instead of thinking of decluttering as a once-a-year spring cleaning chore, make decluttering a regular practice.
Go through your home on a regular basis and get rid of anything that doesn’t serve a clear purpose. Keep finding items to donate, sell, or throw away.
3. Buy What You Need
Just because something is for sale, it doesn’t mean you need it. For example, there are countless kitchen appliances and gadgets that are neat, but unnecessary.
If you don’t eat a lot of sandwiches, do you need a sandwich press?
When you go to make a purchase, ask yourself if it will make your life easier and more productive, or if it will just take up space and make things more complicated.
4. Fill Your Shopping Cart with What You Feel is Beautiful
Marie Kondo famously suggested people only keep the items that spark joy within them.
When it comes to decorating your home, keep this same idea in mind. It’s easy to shop at Target or Costco and buy things to fill your walls or mantle. But do the things you buy bring you joy?
Instead of buying mass-produced items, look for home décor pieces that you feel are beautiful and give your home character. You can make your own for pennies on the dollar with our DIY hacks.
But, if you prefer, head to thrift stores, shop online at Etsy, and fill your home with décor that represents you and sparks joy.
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5. Know Where Items Belong in Your Home
Have you ever bought something only to get home and not know what to do with it? It happens.
One of the main mantras of minimalism is “a place for everything and everything in its place.”
The goal is to avoid purchasing anything unless you already know it has a place in your home.
You may want something, but where are you going to put it? If you can’t visualize where it fits in your home, it doesn’t need to go with you.
6. Switch to Reusable Products
Instead of filling your shelves and cabinets with disposable products, invest in reusable items. They take up much less space and are much better for the environment.
For example, stock up on Swedish dish towels, and you won’t have to worry about paper towel storage.
Invest in reusable food storage options, beeswax wraps food covers, and water bottles.
7. Eat Better
There are only two ways to care for the body: move it and feed it.
Part of living a minimalist lifestyle is to simplify your eating habits. Eat fresh, healthy foods instead of filling your home and pantry with processed foods.
Adjust your spending to include better-quality foods that are nutrient-dense.
Think pasture-raised food animals, pasture-raised eggs, and pasture-raised dairy. Check out your local farmers’ market for fresh, organic produce and baked goods.
Look for local farms that offer Community Supported Agriculture, where you purchase a share of the farm’s output and receive seasonal produce through the growing season.
You are what you eat, so eat well.
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8. Focus on Quality, Not Quantity
If the choice is three cheap shirts or one quality shirt, choose the quality shirt.
More does not equal better. More equals clutter.
Plus, quality items last longer than cheaply made items. You will have to continuously replace those inferior items, but quality items will hold up and last year after year.
When shopping, focus on purchasing well-made, long-lasting items.
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9. Clear Mental Clutter
Minimalism doesn’t just apply to items in your home or your shopping cart; it also applies to your mind.
When your mind is full of clutter, you can’t focus on what really matters.
Take some time to think about what is filling your mind. Take a notepad and write down everything that is taking up brain space.
Analyze your thoughts and prioritize what needs your attention and draw a line through those thoughts you can’t control.
Practice mindfulness. Be present when clearing your mental chatter so you can focus on what matters.
Look Around and Enjoy
As you begin to simplify your life with minimalism, take time to appreciate how far you’ve come. Enjoy the space in your home and calendar. Enjoy the functionality of the items in your space. Enjoy the things you find beautiful. Appreciate what you have and the progress you have made.
- Shop with a purpose.
- Buy items that make your life better long term, not just at the moment.
- Continually declutter your space and your mind.
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*Capital One Shopping compensates us when you get the Capital One Shopping extension using the links we provided*
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About the author Michelle Salater
Michelle Salater is a freelance finance writer with a passion for personal finance education. When she’s not in front of her computer, she’s reading biographies and exploring remote areas of the world. She also freelances for Wooster Media Group LLC.
