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And so it begins...

.... the transition to a minimalist lifestyle.

My husband has recently been reading some books on simplifying and minimalism, and he came to me (big grin) about embracing a minimalist lifestyle. He spoke about less stuff requires less maintenance, less cleaning, less space for storage, and costs less. We would pay less for housing since we need less space, which would reduce our utility bills. I was hesitantly excited. Could this really be happening?

This morning, we sat down together for breakfast and I asked him if he was certain he wanted to go down this path of minimalism, and he responded with all the right answers. We talked about what it would mean for us, individually, and as a family. And in the end, we added it to our list of characteristics which define our family.

Coincidentally, I am reading, on my kindle, the ebook "Adopting the Minimalist Mindset: How to Live with Less, Downsize, and Get More Fulfillment from life" by Ben Night, which includes an overview of minimalism and then steps and tips for adopting a minimalist lifestyle. It is one of the many free books I've picked up off amazon for my kindle.

One of the topics in the book is the big purge vs removing one item from your home daily. And he makes a good argument for the latter over the former. The last thing I want to do is all the work of a major purge only to over time bring it all back in again. I truly, want us to learn to live with less, so one item at a time, on a daily basis.

I'm kind of excited because I already know where I'll start.... in the kitchen. It is just so easy to accumulate stuff in the kitchen, especially when I can buy it all so inexpensively at the thrift stores. PYREX/Corning for $1.00?! Yes, please! And so today, I will select one of my covered dishes and a pie plate (I have made 2 pies in my entire life and have 3 pie plates.) to keep. The rest I'll either sell  or donate back to my favorite thrift store. Oh, the irony!

Keeping just the one with the handles and decorative edge.


Keeping the clear, round set on the left.

And these unlidded smaller dishes can go with the large one.

And because we're adopting minimalism as one of our family characteristics, I'll be introducing the concept to our daughter through the Children's Bedrooms series of photos. Afterward, I will help her select her first toy to pass on to another child.

I am so excited as we go together toward our new minimalist lifestyle.


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Comments

  1. Unknown04 August, 2016

    @ Ann

    i am reading Lovely minimalist lifestyle books.

    Regards
    Jessica | Animation Course

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ann19 May, 2017

      Jessica -- I just picked up "The Power of Half" which so far is an amazing book about a family's journey in cutting back, specifically by half. It started with the daughter's inspirational realization that if some people had less then others could have more which became their launch point for selling their $2 million home and giving half to a village in Ghana and helping them build their own corn mill which improved the lives of so very many, as well as other projects.

      Happy Reading!
      Ann

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  2. Unknown07 April, 2018

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