Grab it on Amazon by clicking HERE — How to be a Minimalist: A Beginner’s Guide
My book, How to be a Minimalist: A Beginner’s Guide is now up and available for purchase in ebook format! I’ve really loved working on this project and I hope you enjoy reading it. Thanks so much for checking it out and supporting me/my family/my work!
Note: The paperback will be out in a month or two in case you’re interested.
You can now purchase my book, How to be a Minimalist — A Beginner’s Guide! Click HERE to see the details. I sincerely hope you enjoy the book and thanks for supporting me/my family/my work! The ebook is out now and the paperback will be out in the next month or two.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FHSMQLL
Welcome to a short and sweet episode of the podcast. Minimalism has been a great help in my life and this past week, I had another insight into why. No article today, you’ll have to hit the play button below to hear all about it. Thanks for being here!
My book, How to be a Minimalist with Kids: Finding YOUR Kind of Minimalism
Broden and the Shark-Toothed Chicken — Book 1 of this chapter book series (should be marked as free)
My latest videos on YouTube:
Simple Crunchy Granola Recipe
Vegan Cheesy Fry Sauce
How to Make Cashew Yogurt
Sushi Bowl Salad
Your support of the show is so very appreciated! Ratings, reviews, and Patreon patronage all sustain this show. Don’t forget that Patrons now get bonus episodes! Thanks so much!
Want to leave a tip in my virtual tip jar? You can Venmo me @HowtobeaMinimalist Thank you so much for your support!
Practicing Minimalism by yourself has its own complexities, but practicing as a couple is a completely different story. While my husband and I are now on the same page regarding minimalism — most of the time — we weren’t always, which led to both struggle and growth. These four practices have helped us to work our way through the difficult minimalist moments, as well as work on building a lifestyle we love.
Press play to listen, or read the rest of the article below.
These are our top four practices:
Spending time supporting each others’ dreams, hobbies, and creating a simple-living lifestyle together has been some of the best work we’ve put into our marriage. Again, most of the time, it’s really fun, especially considering the fact that we used to spend a significant amount of time on the insignificant and — in retrospect — boring. Not only was it a waste of our lives, but we weren’t creating stronger relationship bonds. Now that we’ve refocused our goals, our life is just better.
Minimalism as a couple hasn’t always been easy. In fact, there were several years when we really clashed and it was a major struggle to overcome. Learning to practice minimalism and incorporate it into our life has been a slow process, but absolutely worthy of our efforts.
I hope these minimalism-for-couples tips help you along your path. Remember, it’s all about the experiences, not the stuff.
Here’s the article I talk about on the show, 6 Surprising Ways to Communicate Better With Your Partner
The PRE-ORDER for How to be a Minimalist — A Beginner’s Guide is up! Click HERE to see the details. I sincerely hope you enjoy the book and thanks for supporting me/my family/my work! The ebook will be out September 1st, paperback will be out in the next month or two.
My book, How to be a Minimalist with Kids: Finding YOUR Kind of Minimalism
Broden and the Shark-Toothed Chicken — Book 1 of this chapter book series (should be marked as free)
My latest videos on YouTube:
Simple Crunchy Granola Recipe
Vegan Cheesy Fry Sauce
How to Make Cashew Yogurt
Sushi Bowl Salad
Your support of the show is so very appreciated! Ratings, reviews, and Patreon patronage all sustain this show. Don’t forget that Patrons now get bonus episodes! Thanks so much!
Want to leave a tip in my virtual tip jar? You can Venmo me @HowtobeaMinimalist Thank you so much for your support!
The PRE-ORDER for How to be a Minimalist — A Beginner’s Guide is up! Click HERE to see the details. I sincerely hope you enjoy the book and thanks for supporting me/my family/my work! The ebook will be out September 1st, paperback will be out in the next month or two.
There are so many different ways minimalism has saved us money, it will be a recurring theme on this podcast. All of the emotional, mental, and spiritual benefits of minimalism are wonderful and I certainly go into some of that here. However, there’s also this other side that’s simply practicality and there’s NOTHING wrong with that. I hope you enjoy the episode (hit the play button) or feel free to read the article below.
1. Practicing Simple Living means a slower life for us, or faster paces in nature, which is often free or inexpensive. Going on a hike pretty much costs fuel and food/water and most people likely already have the necessary gear. The views, getting some exercise, accomplishing a challenge all are worth much more to me than spending ten bucks on some random item I find at the store. I’ve used the example of hiking here, but there are so many ways that living simply adds joy and beauty to our lives without expensive price tags and stuff that will ultimately become a strain on our time and space.
2. Multi-use items save both space AND money. I also find them to be more natural, which is appealing to me, personally. Do you know how many items baking soda has replaced in our home?? That stuff is amazing and really inexpensive. I also now only keep one homemade cleaner in the home instead of ten different cleaners for ten different things. Simple, inexpensive, natural — so many things I like.
3. I no longer head to the store to look for something to buy, I now go to the store to buy what I need. I have lists, I’m organized, and I avoid sections I don’t need anything from. That’s a major shift in mindset and definitely saves us money!
4. Lastly, the more I practice minimalism, the more I have an abundance mindset. Don’t get me wrong — I still struggle at times. However, in my general, daily life, I feel content with what I have and I don’t want more, which absolutely keeps me from buying more and ultimately saves money. Not only am I grateful to have what I need, but I’m happy to be able to use and enjoy my things in my uncluttered home.
I hope these tips help and remember — it’s all about the experiences, not the stuff.
7 Way to Simplify Your Life article
My book, How to be a Minimalist with Kids: Finding YOUR Kind of Minimalism
Broden and the Shark-Toothed Chicken — Book 1 of this chapter book series (should be marked as free)
My latest videos on YouTube:
Simple Crunchy Granola Recipe
Vegan Cheesy Fry Sauce
How to Make Cashew Yogurt
Sushi Bowl Salad
Your support of the show is so very appreciated! Ratings, reviews, and Patreon patronage all sustain this show. Don’t forget that Patrons now get bonus episodes! Thanks so much!
Want to leave a tip in my virtual tip jar? You can Venmo me @HowtobeaMinimalist Thank you so much for your support!
I’m pleased to announce that the second book in the How to be a Minimalist series is now available for pre-order with a release date of September 1st! NOTE: Ebook only at this time — the paperback will be out in the next month or two. You can find the Amazon link HERE or by clicking the book cover above. Pre-order now and it’ll show up on your device when it comes out September 1st.
While How to be a Minimalist With Kids: Finding YOUR Kind of Minimalism focused on parents/families, this Beginner’s Guide is all about the individual and the various ways they can implement minimalism into their personal lives. It was a pleasure to write this book and I sincerely hope you enjoy!
DESCRIPTION:
Excited to start practicing minimalism, but uncertain about where to start? This book is — as titled — a guide just for beginners, and a great starting point. However, because of the variety of areas this book covers, experienced minimalists might also enjoy the different ideas explored in each chapter.
Although it’s difficult to capture EVERY aspect that simple living and minimalism can encompass, this guide goes over more than just how to go about decluttering your home. The reason for that? Minimalism is about more than just your possessions — it’s about your calendar, spending time on your goals, self care, maintaining your home once you’ve put in the effort to declutter it, emotional minimalism, and even keeping your budget in line. Don’t worry, though, this guide doesn’t skimp on the details of how to ditch, donate, and declutter so that you can move forward with confidence in your minimalistic practices.
That’s the beauty of minimalism — it can touch every aspect of your life. This guide is here to get you started with practical, realistic, and thoughtful methods so that you can find YOUR kind of minimalism.
I learned about the Law of Attraction, Thoughts Become Things, and the Power of Positive Thinking nearly a decade ago, but I feel like I’m just now learning to harness the power of this kind of positivity, combined with knowing what I want, and also taking action. The final push for me giving these kinds of mindsets a try? Negativity was getting me nowhere.
Because this episode was so long, detailed, and personal, I’ve decided I won’t be writing an article to go along with it this time. If you’re curious, you’ll just have to listen by hitting the play button below.
In case you missed it, my latest video is out: Simple Crunchy Granola Recipe
Article on speaking to yourself in the 3rd person potentially making you wiser
My book, How to be a Minimalist with Kids: Finding YOUR Kind of Minimalism
Broden and the Shark-Toothed Chicken — Book 1 of this chapter book series (should be marked as free)
My latest videos on YouTube:
Vegan Cheesy Fry Sauce
How to Make Cashew Yogurt
Sushi Bowl Salad
Your support of the show is so very appreciated! Ratings, reviews, and Patreon patronage all sustain this show. Don’t forget that Patrons now get bonus episodes! Thanks so much!
Want to leave a tip in my virtual tip jar? You can Venmo me @HowtobeaMinimalist Thank you so much for your support!
Keeping things minimalist-minded when it comes to my cleaning routine has saved me hours of cleaning time and kept me on track when it comes to having a tidy home. My family and I all benefit from having a nice space and I’m happy I don’t have to spend extra minutes cleaning — some more bonuses of minimalistic practices.
Hit the play button to listen to the episode, or you can quickly read through my tips below.
If you’ve listened to many of my podcast episodes or read my book, you’ll know that I dislike cleaning, but I love having a clean house. Minimizing the amount of time I spend on chores but also being able to enjoy a tidy home is one of my goals with minimalism and here are my top tips for having the best of both worlds.
Jenny Mustard Minimalist Cleaning Habits — Get Tidy + Organized
Broden and the Shark-Toothed Chicken — Book 1 of this chapter book series (should be marked as free)
My latest videos on YouTube:
Vegan Cheesy Fry Sauce
How to Make Cashew Yogurt
Sushi Bowl Salad
My book, How to be a Minimalist with Kids: Finding YOUR Kind of Minimalism
Your support of the show is so very appreciated! Ratings, reviews, and Patreon patronage all sustain this show. Don’t forget that Patrons now get bonus episodes! Thanks so much!
Want to leave a tip in my virtual tip jar? You can Venmo me @HowtobeaMinimalist Thank you so much for your support!
Listen to the podcast episode below, or stroll down to read my post that briefly goes over my six tips.
Every day, I see ads, spot things in stores, or see images and video of people using products that make me pause and wonder whether I, too, would like to own that item. As a minimalist, I’m constantly trying to avoid this kind of temptation, and I turn down 99.9% of the things I see.
The thing is, even with all of my constant efforts to say, “no,” there are still items that wear out, tools I need, and others in my family that would like to own things that I’m not interested in. Purchases are inevitable, even if that means buying a fresh pair of undies on occasion.
Knowing this, here are six tips that will help you — and me — to stay on track when it comes to deciding whether or not you’ll be bringing something new into the home.
There are so many different ways to make mindful purchases, but I hope one or more of these tips helps you to create a home you love and feel comfortable in.
Your support of the show is so very appreciated! Ratings, reviews, and Patreon patronage all sustain this show. Don’t forget that Patrons now get bonus episodes! Thanks so much!
Here’s the video I talked about on the show — Simple Happy Zen’s 25 Things I Only Own 1 Of
My latest videos on YouTube:
Vegan Cheesy Fry Sauce
How to Make Cashew Yogurt
Sushi Bowl Salad
My book, How to be a Minimalist with Kids: Finding YOUR Kind of Minimalism
Want to leave a tip in my virtual tip jar? You can Venmo me @HowtobeaMinimalist Thank you so much for your support!
Budgeting with a minimalist mindset has totally changed the way I view money, budgeting, and using money as a tool, instead of something I simply want or need more of. I hope some of these tips can help you to harness the tool that money can be and empower you to have peace of mind and better use of your resources.
As always, you can listen by hitting the play button, or read a quick snippet below. Also, don’t forget to check out Dave Ramsey if you’re financially struggling.
This ended up being a long podcast episode, so summing up the entire thing would be a little tricky. However, my top tips would be the following:
Create a Monthly Budget:
If you don’t currently have a budget and are going to implement only one thing from this list, create a monthly budget. I think most people just check their bank accounts to see when the money is gone, but creating a budget will empower you to save, get out of debt, or simply take control.
Simplify Your Budget:
It can be tough to let go of stuff — like your favorite holey sweater — but it’s also difficult to decide to get rid of a streaming subscription or that gym membership you never use. The thing is, you can ALWAYS re-subscribe or sign back up to stuff you actually miss. If you’re trying to get out of debt or just get a hold of your finances, ditching subscriptions is one of those things that can be super helpful. It’ll make it easier to look at a cleaner budget, plus, it’ll put more money in your pocket to use as a tool for whatever goal you’re working on.
Money is a Tool:
I used to feel very negatively about money/budgeting/etc., but since coming to the idea that money is a tool, I feel so much more peace about it. It gives me direction about what I’d like to do with it. The idea also keeps me centered on getting experiences, not more money just for the sake of wanting more money. Money isn’t bad, it’s what we do with it and think about it that can get us into trouble. Having a healthy relationship with money has made all the difference for me.
Budget Fun Money:
Even if you can only scrape together $1, budget a little fun money. Maybe you want a box of candy to go with movie night, to download your favorite song, or to buy a marker for your art set. $1 isn’t nothing. And if you have $50 to set aside, you could do even more — camping trip, gas to go to a new city, or have a nice dinner with friends. The important thing is that you have some money to enjoy experiences, because practicing simple living and minimalism are all about experiences.
Use Your Budget to Prepare:
Do you know whether your kids are going to need a new winter wardrobe? What a are you going to do about that hole in your shoe? Note: I literally have a hole in my Birkenstock, so shoes are on my mind as I only have 4 pairs. Christmas will be here before we know it, plus you’ve been wanting to go on a little vacation. Note: Last year, we gave our kids a budget for planning a day trip as their major Christmas gift and it was awesome. They absolutely LOVED planning a trip!
The thing is, some stuff just pops up on us and we have to deal with surprises as they come — Dave Ramsey suggests having an emergency fund of $1,000 for these surprises like a popped tired, etc. But some things we see coming. If we take the time to prepare, we can do so with a minimalist mindset and purchase only the things we need or truly want to bring into our home, instead of buying excessive amounts that don’t necessarily fill out needs.
I hope these tips help you on your minimalist journey! Taking control of our money has been one of the most empowering things we’ve ever done and it feels good to be getting a foothold, even if it’s felt impossible at times.
Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover
My latest videos on YouTube:
Vegan Cheesy Fry Sauce
How to Make Cashew Yogurt
Sushi Bowl Salad
My book, How to be a Minimalist with Kids: Finding YOUR Kind of Minimalism
Your support of the show is so very appreciated! Ratings, reviews, and Patreon patronage all sustain this show. Don’t forget that Patrons now get bonus episodes! Thanks so much!
Want to leave a tip in my virtual tip jar? You can Venmo me @HowtobeaMinimalist Thank you so much for your support!
There is so much power in positivity, I’ve made one of my life’s focuses attempting to surround myself with as much of it as possible. I’m happier, I get more done, and I personally feel I have more positive impact on others when I’m positive. Minimalism and positivity go hand in hand — removing negativity means making free spaces in our minds and homes so we can live our best lives.
Listen to the full episode by hitting the play button, or read a shortened snippet below:
There are so many tools out there to support embracing positivity. We’re all different, though, and what works for one person won’t work for another. While I’ve tried a lot of different positivity practices, these are just a few of my favorites.
Vision Boards
I’ve been using some form of vision boards since I was a kid. My brother was the first person to teach this to me, though he didn’t call it a vision board or even have a traditional one — he had posters of those that inspired him on his wall. This left a great impression on me and I used the same technique growing up until I discovered more traditional vision boards.
Journalling
I’ve also used journals to focus on my goals since I was kid. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was also able to remove negativity by expressing myself. I now have two different types of journals — one strictly for emotions I’m processing that I’ll toss someday, and another for posterity. Journalling is inspiring to look back on and helps to give a beautiful vision of how far we’ve come. Or where we can improve.
Ideal Live Vision
I’ve used this idea (see link below) in the past, though I’ve never taken the official course, so I’m really not certain about whether I’m doing it “right” or not. However, I HAVE felt the positive effects of writing out and recording my goals and dreams as if they’ve already happened and listening to it daily. It’s been a beautiful way of assisting progress.
Remove Negativity From Your Life
This one is tricky. I absolutely don’t mean to be selfish, brush problems under the rug, or ignore feelings. However, after validating my and others’ issues and feelings, dealing with problems with a positive outlook has been really helpful to me and I feel I’ve been more supportive to others by doing my best to be uplifting.
Thoughts Become Things … Choose the Good Ones — Mike Dooley
I’ve got to say, Mike Dooley is my favorite Law of Attraction-type guru. I can relate so well to his main idea of “do your best with what you’ve got right now.” It’s so easy for me to get on board with this idea that being positive and doing your best will get you to your main destination more quickly and happily. My favorite book from his is linked below.
It’s not always easy to practice being positive. Sometimes life sucks — there, I said it! But having a few tools to help me out of emotional ditches has vastly improved my life. I hope you’ll find some of these ideas helpful to you, too.
Mike Dooley’s Infinite Possibilities
My latest videos on YouTube:
Vegan Cheesy Fry Sauce
How to Make Cashew Yogurt
Sushi Bowl Salad
My book, How to be a Minimalist with Kids: Finding YOUR Kind of Minimalism
Your support of the show is so very appreciated! Ratings, reviews, and Patreon patronage all sustain this show. Don’t forget that Patrons now get bonus episodes! Thanks so much!
Want to leave a tip in my virtual tip jar? You can Venmo me @HowtobeaMinimalist Thank you so much for your support!