When we sold our house and moved into an RV, we had to give away a ton of our stuff so that we could start living minimally in a smaller space. We gave away a lot of stuff to family members, had neighbors come by and take whatever they wanted, we had Salvation Army come to our home to do a big pickup, and more. We didn’t sell a single thing, instead we gave it all away.
And, it felt great.
Now, we live in a 33 foot RV and are definitely living a minimal lifestyle.
We aren’t the norm, though.
The size of the average home in 1950 was less than 1,000 square feet. Fast forward to 2013, the average home size has increased to nearly 2,600 square feet (according to the U.S. Census Bureau).
We were fairly close to that size when we owned a house. The house we owned in the St. Louis, Missouri area was around 2,500 square feet, if you included our finished basement, and it was just for myself, my husband, and our two dogs. Our home in Colorado was almost as big, at slightly over 2,000 square feet (with no basement).
However, we decided to buck the norm and started living minimally by completely downsizing our life.
This isn’t to say that we are perfect, though. I used to keep pretty much everything I came across, and my basement was proof of that. I would always say “Oh, but I’ll use that eventually!”
And then, eventually would never come, haha!
All the clutter and everything else that went with keeping everything you’ve ever bought can get annoying.
We made the decision to start living with less stuff for many reasons, but the main reason was that traveling nearly full-time added to the stress of owning a home. So, we figured why not just take it a step further and actually travel full-time?
All of the belongings we have are now inside the RV, except for a few childhood items and photo albums that my dad left me after he passed away. Those are all stored at a family member’s home.
Now, life is great.
Living minimally has been great, and I’ve learned a lot by giving away nearly all of my belongings.
Below is what I’ve learned by living with less stuff and living minimally.
I have wasted a lot of money in my life.
Okay, so this is probably a given. If I was able to give away nearly everything I’ve ever bought, that means that I’ve probably wasted thousands of dollars in my lifetime.
Knowing this has really helped me understand how to manage my money better.
Now that I realize how much money I’ve wasted, I am much more able to say “no” at the store when debating whether or not I should get something. I now realize that I don’t really need much, and this helps me to only buy what I need instead of things that will just create clutter.
I can also walk into a store and only buy exactly what I need, even if that store is Target!
I have so much more control over my spending and that has saved me a lot of money in the past year.
Related:
I don’t need a lot of the things that I once thought I needed.
I kept a lot of things because I thought I needed them for the future. On a regular basis, I probably only used around 25% of the things I had in my house.
Actually, probably even less than that.
I know I’m not alone – many people keep items because they think they may need them in the future. You know the feeling – you buy something, don’t use it right away, and years later you find it but just can’t throw it away in case there is some circumstance where you need that exact item.
If this is you, then you should put a timeline of no more than one year on the item. If you don’t use it in that timeframe, then there’s a big chance that you’ll never need it.
Chances are that you won’t miss it much.
When I think about how much stuff we gave away, I honestly can’t even remember half of the things. Now, I know that I never really needed the majority of those things.
Owning more stuff doesn’t make you happier.
Having more stuff doesn’t make you happier.
It’s really that simple. Things don’t make you a better person, they don’t make you more successful than others, or anything else.
I know this because I have less stuff than I have ever had, and I am happier than ever.
You should only own something if you truly want it. Who cares about what everyone else has!
Giving away nearly everything feels great.
Sure, this blog is all about making and saving money, and I could have easily sold a lot of the things that I gave away for thousands of dollars.
However, it felt great giving it all away, and honestly, it was a lot easier.
If I had to do it again, I would do it all over again.
Life is much more peaceful living with less stuff.
Getting rid of so much stuff has made life much more peaceful. Hanging on to so much stuff for years and years can add an insane amount of clutter to a person’s life, both physically and mentally.
I know this personally because I kept many things, such as clothing, because they were things I held onto after my dad passed away. I kept outfits that I wore the last time I saw him, from his funeral, and so on.
It just wasn’t healthy.
By getting rid of things, I was able to finally let go. Hanging onto those things and looking at them every day wasn’t healthy.
It’s easy to start living minimally.
As you can see from the above, living minimally has a ton of positives. One last positive is that it’s very easy to do.
Many people think that living minimally would be difficult because you have to get rid of so much stuff, change your mindset, and more. However, it’s been a very easy change for us.
Having less stuff and spending less money on things we don’t need allows us to spend more time on things we care about and actually want to do. Plus, now we hardly ever have anything break because there aren’t many things in our life that can be broken.
We don’t miss anything, we don’t feel like we need anything – we are happier and much more carefree now by living with less stuff.
Are you interested in living minimally? Why or why not?
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Great post! We have pared down a lot in the last few years and have experienced a lot of the same lessons. The thing that surprised me the most was how little I’ve missed the stuff. I can’t remember the last time I said “man, I wish we still had ___”.
RIGHT?! 🙂
Thank you for this post I really enjoyed reading it
you inspire me and Yes I do think about living minimally I just don’t see that it’s possible because me and my husband don’t share this same interest
I feel like I am stressed by all the things that I own and my house is always cluttered and it just makes me feel awful and stressed and so bad. When I go to my sisters house I feel so comfortable because she has a small apartment and not so many stuff just the basics and not all of them.
I try to minimize my personal stuff and argue a lot with my husband about giving away the stuff we nearly never use and hate by the way
finally just recently we agreed on giving them all away and even replacing some of our furniture which we hate and chose wrongly in the begining of our life together and get new ones that we love
an me too I feel that I buy too much stuff that I don’t actually need and end up being cluttered or thrown away
But I am taking baby steps into changing those habits and your posts inspire me and help me so thank you for that
also we are in so much debt and have no savings and we are always broke by the end of the month.. we live on my husbands income only.. cuz I am a stay at home mom by choice.. I’m just starting the world of blogging and your course is on my wish list and I know I will succeed
PS I am from a completely different culture from yours I am from Saudi Arabia but I wish so badly to have an RV and just drive through countries and travel.. who knows? maybe one day I will
Maybe one day 🙂
RVing is a ton of fun 🙂
Michelle-
I have subscribed to your blog for about a year now (I think…lol), and have read many valuable posts you have written; many of which I had thought to respond to, but then faded back into the shadows……
Then I read This Post~ and I HAD to say something. These are going to be simple words, but I think you will understand them. When I first began reading your blog, I found you to be as near to a ‘Doppelganger’ of myself a few years ago than I could imagine. Not in appearance, but in personality that is expressed through your writing- the topics you select, your eternal optimism, the action and can-do attitude, and of course many, many more examples that are more personal.
I bring this up because whenever I read your material, I got the sense I was looking in the rear view mirror- and then you posted this article. The pieces all fell into place. Nothing in this world Ever Happens By Chance. You “Got” the memo. I can hardly wait to see what comes next for you. Abundance is a Condition of the Heart, and as life in the RV shifts and you travel (or not), you will see and expand your worldview by touching those that you could not inside of a box that was stationary~
I wish you (and your husband….& my pups say…..your pups too!) safe travels and many great adventures.
Best,
Kim J.
Thank you so much Kim. Your comment made my day 🙂
You don’t have to maintain and upkeep the things that you don’t own. That is a huge money saver.
Less things means you have more “TIME” for yourself. The only resource that you can’t get back in life.
Slowly getting there…
Yes, exactly!
We’ve been going through a crazy declutter and purging spree. I doubt we’ll be able to get rid of as much as you ;), but so far it’s been a great success. We’ve gotten rid of half a closet and half my wardrobe already!
Great job!
I’m a minimalist in some areas but not in others. I don’t care about makeup as much so I wear minimalist makeup. However, I love art and so I tend to buy quality art supplies. 😀
Makeup is something that I don’t think I’ll ever get into. I’m all about minimalist makeup as well!
Great job!
Inspiring, and truthful. I took a baby step towards minimalism by getting rid of exactly half of the clothing in our master closet the other weekend. We plan on going through the entire house over the next year or two, and doing something similar.
When we visit our second home, a 700-square foot space, our family of four gets by just fine. Like you are doing, we plan to tour the country in a motorhome a few years down the road. That year will teach us a lot about what we need, and what we don’t.
Best,
-Physician on FIRE
Have you RVed before? You’ll love it!
We haven’t, but we’ve done some window shopping. The new ones now should be reasonably affordable as used motorhomes in four or five years when we’re ready for that big adventure.
The plan is to “road school” with an emphasis on American history and science & nature while seeing many sites firsthand. Our two boys should be middle school age; that seems like an ideal time to us.
Cheers!
-PoF
Sounds amazing! There are lots of families who road school. I absolutely love that idea.
While we don’t plan on leaving our house anytime soon, I too am getting ready to purge a bunch of stuff. I hate clutter and feel I spend most of my days off just cleaning =( Every year that I do this I always feel so much better. We are planning to do a no spend year starting in January where the only things we spend money on are bills, food, and gas. It should be interesting, to say the least!
Well we took the plunge from 3 bedroom home to 1 bedroom apartment and now our final step we just got our 43′ RV and will now be downsizing to it. The one extra thing we will have at the location where we are staying, we have a shed ( a very large shed) so my husband can keep a very extras. We will be traveling occasionally, but will pay to keep this spot for when we return. I can’t wait…stuff stresses me out!
I am a minimalist and always like to read how other people are doing the same. I’ve been fortunate enough to live in a situation where I’ve owned a lot (10K stereo, nice cars, big house, high end kitchenware) and decided that I didn’t like it. I gave away 90% of what I owned. Its good to have been on both sides and learned that I prefer less. Most possessions don’t make people happy. However, there is some trade off. While a Rolex or a piece of art, a new vase, etc probably won’t bring lasting enjoyment, some possessions definitely help. For example, I’ve known people with boats who have a ton of fun with the boat, meet people while on it, develop friendships, fish, travel, party, etc on them. They seem genuinely happy with what they get out of it. A friend of mine built a $80,000 pool, and spends most his free time, utilizing it. Another friend enjoys working on and collecting classic cars, and spends 5 hours a day in bliss working in his garage. The thing to remember is it isn’t about owning little or nothing to be a minimalist, its about being mindful, enjoying, and utilizing what one has. In effect, someone could have a yacht, pool, and antique cars, and oddly still be a minimalist if he gets use and enjoyment out of each thing. Unconventional as it is, what is minimalism for one person might seem materialistic to another.
That makes and keeps anyone humble when they give freely of themselves. That’s true transformation of the heart.