Have you ever thought that you have too much stuff? Do you think you could live with less? I’ve thought it so I’m making a change.
First of all, what is minimalism?? It looks different for everyone. Minimalism is defined as a style that is characterized by extreme spareness and simplicity. Minimalist living allows you to spend less time and money on stuff and spend more energy on actually living.
To me, minimalism is getting rid of excess stuff we don’t need or use and just having the essentials. I’ve been on my minimalist journey for 9 months now. I started when we moved to Colorado from Florida.
Our home in Florida is 3 bedroom 2 baths. You could say 4 bedrooms because we converted our garage into an office/man cave for my husband. We installed a split A/C unit in our garage. The Florida heat is nothing to be taken lightly.
We currently live in a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment. I’ve been going room by room to minimize our belongings.
Bedroom
We got rid of our chest dressers. We had two, one on each side of our bed. Underwear, socks, etc. are now stored in a storage box (similar to these) in our closet on the shelf. I had these boxes already so I didn’t spend any money.
If my husband didn’t have a desk set up in our bedroom we would only have our bed in the room. I’m looking forward to that day.
Kids Bedroom
They share a bedroom now. I never had a lot in their rooms. The biggest thing that I had to minimize for them were their books. They LOVE books! They had outgrown some books so we passed them on to some friends.
Living Room
We got rid of the end tables. We got rid of our leather loveseat & couch. The leather was peeling/cracking and they didn’t look nice anymore. Currently in our living room is my husband’s massage chair and the glider nursery chair. We’ll buy another living room set when we buy a home here. We also got rid of our TV stand because we plan to hang the TV on the wall.
Closets
I’ve gone through our closets some. I’ve gotten rid of clothes that were too small or faded. I’m waiting to spend a whole year in Colorado to see what we truly need. After that, I can really assess the situation.
Kitchen
I got rid of A LOT in our kitchen. I didn’t realize how much we had until I started going through things.
Got rid of:
-Almost all of the plastic Tupperware I had except for 3, one being by Pampered Chef bowl. Kept all the glass Tupperware.
-All of the baking dishes except for 2.
-All of the baking pans except for 2.
-All the plate sets except 1. (We’re a family of 4. We don’t need 4 plate sets that have the dessert plates, bowls & mugs with them.)
-Mugs. Kept 3 of my favorite and 3 of my husband’s favorite.
-Crockpot. I had 2 I only need one.
-Spice rack
-Knife block
-Extra cooking utensils
Bathroom
I haven’t had to get rid of a lot. Just organizing. I wanted to get rid of some towels. We have TOO many for our family. My husband talked me out of it by saying that they would be good to have when we move so that we don’t have to purchase extra packaging paper. Good point!
How To Become A Minimalist
-Determine what minimalism means to you
Is it decluttering? It is moving to a smaller space? Minimalism is different for everyone.
-Evaluate everything that you have
If you haven’t used it in the last 6 months-1 year more than likely you don’t need it.
-Let go of the personal attachment
Take a picture to remember. If you don’t NEED it, get rid of it. Don’t be a hoarder.
-Organize
Have everything in its designated place.
-Bring in less
If you buy a new pair of jeans get rid of an old pair. One in, one out.
Continuing The Journey
I’ve gotten rid of a lot but I still have a lot of things that we don’t need. Like I don’t need 5 pairs of gloves. I don’t need 10 coats. My husband has A LOT of coats and I think he’s going to give me a hard time when I start going through our coats. 
With minimalism, you can’t force it on anyone. I’ve come to realize that I don’t need a lot of stuff to survive and I’ve never been one to Keep Up the Joneses.
Two ladies that I follow on Instagram, theminimalmom and minimalist.motherhood, have inspired me during my minimalist journey. Theminimalmom does something called the Mins Game AKA Minimalist Game. You start at the beginning of the month and you get rid of the number of items associated with that day. ie March 1=get rid of 1 item, March 2=get rid of 2 items, and so forth. By the end of the month, you will have gotten rid of over 400 items (big or small) in your home.
I’m going to do my first Mins Game in April!! I would love for you to join me. I’ll document everything on Instagram with the hashtag #minsgame. If you decide to join me please tag me, @yolo_mommy. Let’s minimize things in our home together!
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