There are people who believes that minimalist living is synonymous to being cheap because they live below their means and have so much less possessions that most people. These people are able to live off with the least amount of things around them and people cannot relate with how they are able to do it and survive day to day.
One of the reasons this comes off as a hard lifestyle to swallow is because of the consumer-driven mentality that people have been used to. The economy is dependent on how much people spend and that is not really a conducive environment for individuals trying to follow a minimalist type of lifestyle and get by with as little as possible.
Minimalist and frugal living has a lot in common and people often confuse one with the other. Minimalism has a lot to do with living with the least amount of stuff as possible while frugality is more directed with trying to live below their means. The common denominator between the two of them is that they both aim to help consumers live with the least amount of resources as possible and hopefully be able to focus on more important things in life.
One thing that can come out of trying to live in a minimalist lifestyle is that they tend to be able to stay away from debt. Nerdwallet.com shares that an average debt amount for consumers has now reached about $130,000 to include mortgage loans, student loans and even credit card debt and other. Living with as little as possible can help eliminate or lower the need to take out loans for purchases.
Where clutter usually comes from
Minimalist living usually results to financial downsizing which is one of the things people are aiming for. To get there, they need to address the clutter in their life and one way of doing that is understanding where it is exactly coming from. Here are a few of the reasons why consumers end up with so much clutter in their life which impedes their minimalist living objective.
- Acquired stuff. Theminimalists.com defines minimalist living as a lifestyle that thrives with having less than 100 things. This is a challenge for a lot of people especially when clutter comes from simply acquiring stuff from people around you. Your parents, siblings, other family relative and friends would be giving you stuff from time to time and it is up to you to determine whether you hold on to it or find a way to let go of the things being given to you.
- Things you paid a lot of money for. One way of giving your finances a boost through minimalist living is to keep an open mind about the things that you bought yourself. Oftentimes people find it hard to let go of items that they invested in. That unused exercise bike in the garage or that expensive rug in the living room that is just collecting dust are just some of the examples. You have a hard time letting go because you know how much the items are. You are usually left with no choice but to leave them there and hope you get the chance to use them again in the future adding to the clutter in your house.
- Emotional stuff. Another source of clutter at home is being an emotional collector and holding on to as much stuff as you can to remind you of people, events or emotions. As a parent, you might be holding on to all the baby clothes of your kids and even their toys that you already have boxes of stuff in the corner of your room. It might be best to focus on the things your kids will appreciate such as pictures rather than a small piece of clothing they might not even remember. There is nothing wrong with keeping a few things to help you remember the past or people in your life but you can limit those memorabilias to a few items to lessen the clutter in your life.
- Too much of useful items. This is a little tricky to address because you are trying to decide whether it is clutter or something useful and at times a need around the house. You might have been able to buy those tissue rolls at a fraction of a cost but they are just under the sink and it is close to a year and you haven’t been able to use even half of them. You need to think long and hard if they are just starting to be clutter because if they are then you are just wasting money buying in bulk and you will have a hard time trying a minimalist type of living.
Effective ways to get rid of clutter
Now that you have an idea where clutter comes from, here are some great tips to keep in mind to help you ensure that they do not pile up in one corner of your house. You can use these to keep you on track with your minimalist lifestyle.
- Put together a garage sale. Apart from being able to make extra money, a garage sale is a great way to make sure that you keep your possessions to a minimum. Conducting a garage sale forces you to take a close hard look with the things you have and helps you dispose of those that you are no longer using. It can be that old vacuum cleaner that you have forgotten or old chairs you were using in the past. You get to clean up your clutter and you earn some extra cash on the side.
- Donate the items. You can also choose to donate the items rather than earn off of them. You might have a lot of old toys your kids played with when they were small. You can bring that to a local orphanage or even the hospital so kids can enjoy them. There are a lot of organizations that needs specific items so look at what is in your area and what you can give them.
- Sell them online. The more modern version of a garage sale with the help of technology is online selling. Statisticbrain.com shared that online sales os projected to reach $98 billion for year 2016. This is getting bigger and bigger because of the access and convenience it brings to people. You can put this together in the convenience of your own home and try to sell your items online. The great thing about this is that you do not have to keep watch like what you normally do with a garage sale and just check up on your account from time to time to see if you have any inquiries.
Minimalist living can do wonders for your budget and your way of life. Do you remember how simple life was when you were still young and you only worried about your toys? The idea is to work towards that same environment where you do not really have a lot of things to worry about. You get to focus on more important things like spending time with family and using the money you earn to plan your future.