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Minimalist Living

Written by on January 23, 2012





Minimalist Living


We’re glad you are here to learn about minimalist living. We both have this goal in common. I am here to provide you with information (tips, applications, resources) that will help you with this life changing endeavor; it is something that I started with about 9 months ago and I remember how hard it can be in the beginning.
Minimalist living, in simplest terms, is to live with as less as possible, mentally and physically until you achieve peace of mind. The concept is simple but achieving it is hard. Just look at the desk you are sitting on: how many items does it contain? Is your desk surrounded by papers, notebooks, books, pens and pencils?

What about your closets, living rooms and bedrooms? How much joy does all this clutter bring you? What clutters you physically also disables you mentally.

While I am no expert at living minimally, it is something that I practice. I know how it is when I started so I realize where you are coming from. Please understand that minimalist living is a process that will free you of the excess baggage that nothing else can bring.

What should be your first step? Get rid of excess. Go through your closets and pick out all the things that you don’t need any more. Donate all clothes to a charity of choice. I promise you, this might seem tiring but at the end of it all, you will feel ecstatic for not only helping yourself, but helping others. I will be writing about how to make this process a bit easier.

What was once considered ‘cheap’ (with a negative connotation) is now expressed as ‘minimal’ and ‘smart’ thanks to this economy. If you are curious about what minimalist living is all about, welcome to this website and I hope you’ll stick around!

With that said…

Minimalist Living Isn’t For Everyone!

This lifestyle isn’t for everyone so if this isn’t you, then don’t feel bad. Many people try to be something they’re not–this is never a healthy thing for your mind so do what is true for you and what will benefit you.

However, if you’re here then obviously you were searching for this topic. Have a look around!

You Don’t Need Books to Enjoy a Minimalist Living
It’s true. I think most people know the concept of this lifestyle is easy and most people should be able to achieve it.

But here’s the problem: most people lack motivation. Usually it’s when they get inspired that they take action. This kind of action can seem mentally taxing and the pay-off seems too far away.

It’s for those reasons giving things away was a struggle the first four months. Confession: I still have small moments but I’m enjoying my life immensely and love the freedom it grants me.





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Closet Organization Ideas for a Minimalist Lifestyle

Written by on March 16, 2011


An approach of minimalism for your closet.   Can you do it?  Yes, you can!

Most of us possess a fairly big closet, but more than likely it is still the virtually worthless space in the original layout when you first moved in to your home.  It truly is no wonder things end up “piled up” and absolutely lost in there.  Part of becoming a minimalist is getting organized.  I want to provide you with some closet organization ideas.

First of all, one that I have always loved to do since I was a kid, pull EVERYTHING out of your closet.  Make a quick decision of what you can keep and what you can get rid of.  A good rule of thumb is that if you haven’t worn it in a year, you probably never will.

Once you’ve got decided on what you are going to keep, you must decide how you wish to keep it there back in the closet.  Do you wish to hang it?  Put it about the floor?  Possess a handful of shelves? Or store some things around the floor?  This info, hopefully, will assist you to take the proper steps to get your closet organized once and for all!

Multi-tier hanging clothes rods are extremely useful.  You’ll be able to install “half rods” in several locations as very well.  This can be an superb choice in case you need to have a full length rod spot for dresses and want a shorter hanging space for shirts.  Most of us possess a standard closet with one particular hanging clothes rod all of the way across.  Even simply adding a second 1 down below will positively DOUBLE your closet storage space.  Hopefully, you may not need a second rod if you were able to get rid of a lot of old clothes you never wear anyway.

Use baskets, bins, dividers, or smaller shelves to separate and organize your smaller closet things.  You should definitely place your sweaters in a basket or on a shelf as clothing hangers can trigger them to lose their shape and/or stretch them out.  No reason to ruin perfectly good sweaters because that will cause you to go out and buy more.

Cubbies, as they are called, are good for footwear, scarfs, belts and items like these.  Carousals are great for ties, hats, purses and the like.  If you might be creative you may perhaps would like to use a specific closet organization item for an entirely several purpose.  This really is YOUR project so make it function for YOU.

This really is your chance to customize your closet storage.  Make it accessible, convenient and efficient for what you need to keep.  Some of us have a boatload of clothing and only a couple pairs of shoes.  Some of us even have two pairs of shoes for EVERY outfit (Again, refer back to the paragraph about getting rid of the stuff you don’t use).

What it comes down to is that not one “cookie cutter” closet organization system is for everyone.  For the most effective outcome, take a complete inventory of the things you will be putting back in your closet and make an organization plan that may give the proper amount of space for the things you need.

Are you planning to live inside your current residence for a long time?  If so, a permanent closet organization system is something you will be interested in.  For those who move often or who are paying rent, look at making use of removable closet organization products so you can take it with you when you bail ship.  Otherwise, every time you move out, you will be buying more closet organizers and wasting a lot of money.  Make sure you price out different closet organization systems before making your decision.  Even start online and go to the websites of the big box stores to see what they have.

Most of us out here do not realize the great amount of space that we have inside our closets.  Another thing to consider is the space on the back of the door.  Use that space!  There is room to hang a bag for hats, belts, umbrellas, purses, gloves, and so on.  Actually, it is an ideal location for hanging a shoe organizer. Please take the behind the door space into consideration when devising your customized closet layout.  You may then realize you have more space than you think.

Take measurements and bring them with you when you go looking at closet organization systems.  It is good to have this with you when you go.  In addition, bring the measuring tape, along with the pen and paper with you so you can measure and compare the closet organization system.

Some final words about closet organization ideas.  First thing is first and please make sure to go through your closet for items you have not worn and will probably never wear.  I know that it is hard to let go of things, especially when you paid money for them.   Remember that there are a lot of other people that could really use those items if you donate them to The Salvation Army or Goodwill.  This will be a tax write off too for the value of the items.

There you have it – a minimalist lifestyle approach for your closet!

Less is Positively MORE!™

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Minimalist Lifestyle

Written by on February 20, 2011






Minimalist Lifestyle.  What is it?

A great question that has many different answers in the Minimalist world.  As a general rule, it is scaling down and minimizing your life.  This can be MANY different things to a number of different people.

Minimalist Living, as some may call it, can be anything from the visual appearance of a streamlined living space with an arrangement of minimal furniture, no clutter and/or merely a simple approach with your lifestyle.

The minimalist lifestyle to me is a way of life that doesn’t require the big fancy house, shiny sports cars and “keeping up with the Joneses”.  In fact, I could care less about what Mr. and Mrs Jones have anyway.  I bet they are riddled with debt.  No thanks.

A big part of my simpler life was getting rid of the mindset that I need to have the BMW (although I love the 80’s models of the 6-series), big house and designer clothes to impress my friends.  As a matter of fact, along with the Joneses, almost everyone that I know that looks like a million bucks owns virtually nothing to their names (financed to the max) and have minimum credit card payments that they can barely make (high interest).  Some even personally lease their cars to have a low payment.  Leasing a car is worse than renting one – they are still responsible for all repairs and more than likely when the lease is up, they will have to pay more for the mileage overage to even be able to just give it back and walk away with nothing.  How financially smart is that?

Now, don’t get me wrong…I dress nice (not name brand) and drive a decent car (10 years old but near perfect).  I wear Italian suits ($40 – $120 each – I will share sources) for my profession, but I do not “break the bank” to live this way.  As a matter of fact, when I lost my job in 2009 (11 years with the company), I continued living very well!  Everyone was yelling about how bad the economy was (and still is).  How bad the job market was…along with everything else.

What it came down to is that although THE economy was horrible, MY economy was excellent!  Even after losing my 6-figure job.

Most people live paycheck to paycheck.  Most are two paychecks away from complete financial disaster!  I was once at that point and was so overwhelmed with debt that I was not only swimming, I was drowning in it.

When I grew up in upper middle class America in a well-to-do suburb, I felt that I needed to perpetuate this lifestyle and keep the image of success.  My parents originally moved to this area because the school district was excellent.  It was and still is the #1 public school district in Ohio.  Yes, it was “public”, but you had to pay the outrageously high property taxes there to be part of this “public” school district.  Even though we were situated in the middle of a somewhat larger metropolitan city, our village had it’s own police, fire and sanitation departments.  We had our own village council and even our own public dump site.  Others within the larger city could not use any of these unless if you were a taxpayer of the village that was within the city limits of the larger area.  I know, sounds weird, but that was the way it was.

My battle came in my late 20s when I moved to Chicago.  My credit cards were maxed out and I couldn’t even keep up with the minimum payments.  My debt, due to the 25.7% interest rate, accumulated to about $40,000.  The job that I took in Chicago paid me exactly that as my yearly salary.  Living in Chicago certainly isn’t cheap.  Basically, I was screwed.  I even considered bankruptcy.  Luckily, within a few years, I was able to completely get out of it.  I did not do this by keeping up with the Joneses.  In future posts, I will go through everything that I did to do this.

The purpose of my blog is to share my experiences with the minimalist lifestyle to help others get out of debt, eliminate the depressing clutter, along with anything else that I can share that may possibly improve the lives of others.

Please come back often and allow me to share this with you.  I consider myself to be a “Go-Giver” and my approach with a lot of things in my life is to help those around me, in turn helps me help myself.

Less is Positively MORE!™

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