Are you overwhelmed with how much you own and want to learn how to live with less? Learning how to be happy with less takes practice, but the effort is well worth it. Decluttering your mind and physical space of unwanted and unnecessary ‘stuff’ is an essential aspect of minimalist living.
In this article, I’ll touch on what it means to live with less and the best minimalist lifestyle tips you can integrate into your routine while living a fulfilling and happy life.
Read on to learn about how to live with less and enjoy a happier life.
What Does It Mean to Live With Less?
Keeping What You Need and What Brings you Joy
Living with less means taking an inventory of what you own and deciding whether or not it brings joy to your life. Owning less possessions doesn’t mean you need to completely get rid of everything you don’t need – it simply means deciding whether or not items bring you joy. For example, let’s just say that you own a rare collection of sports jerseys. To the average person, tons of extra clothes laying around simply means extra clutter. However, you enjoy pulling the process of searching for, bidding on and securing a rare hockey or soccer jersey. In general, when you live with less, you’ll declutter your home of things that:
- You don’t use enough to justify keeping
- Duplicate items
- Junk and items taking up clutter that aren’t part of a collection or a hobby (such as sports cards)
Learning How to Live With Less is All About Your Mindset
Before getting into the practical aspects of living in less, I need to touch on the most important part: your mindset. Learning how to live with less starts with your ‘why.’ Why do you want to live with less? Generally, the answer to this is simple: living with less means you’ll have less to worry about.
More Stuff = More Worries
Think about it: the more physical possessions you own, the more you need to take care of. For example, if you own two cars, you’ll have twice the maintenance and double the cost. Even if you can get a discount on auto insurance, owning one car is thousands of dollars cheaper per year. Aside from the cost, the main point is that you’ll have twice as many things to worry about. A minimalist lifestyle where you own as little as possible will automatically reduce stress!
Document Your Goals
Once you’ve determined the practical reasons for learning how to live with less stuff, think about how you’re going to commit to a clutter-free, minimal lifestyle. Write your reasons down in a journal and look back it regularly. Some reasons you may want to include might be:
- Less mental energy spent on maintaining multiples of the same item.
- Reduced time spent choosing what to wear (you’ve committed to stocking a capsule wardrobe).
- Increased savings – when you own less, you’ll spend less on maintenance and repairs and the money you’ve saved can be put in a savings account or invested.
Whatever your reasons, write them down! Better yet, write them on a large piece of paper and stick them in a visible place in your home such as on the fridge. When you see your goals and reasons for living with less, you’ll be a lot less tempted to accumulate stuff you don’t need.
Live Below Your Means
A core aspect of learning to live with less starts with learning how to live within your means. If you haven’t gotten in the habit of creating and maintaining a budget, it’s time to start!
Take an inventory of exactly how much you make per month after tax. Next, calculate how much you spend on essentials and non-essentials such as:
- Rent or a mortgage payment
- Utilities
- Gas
- Car payment
- Groceries
- Non-essentials such as entertainment, subscriptions, travel
- Debt repayments
- Retirement contributions
Reducing Non-Essential Spending
Next, take a look at how much you spend in the non-essentials category. Why? This is the easiest category in which you can reduce spending, and the most common area that we tend to overspend in. It’s so easy to just drop $25 or $50 here and there on dinner, cocktails or the odd new sweater, right? While there’s nothing wrong with indulging every once in a while, if you want to live with less, cutting spending in non-essentials is the best place to start.
Be honest with yourself – there’s no shame in admitting you spend a little more than you should. Whatever the number is, decide how much you want to reduce it by in the next month. Even $50 or $100 is a great start. Whichever number you decide on, make it an achievable goal. If you’ve never saved more than $20 a month, start with $50 monthly as your personal savings challenge. Alternatively, if you want to challenge yourself, try a no buy month. Also known as a no spend month, you’ll forgo any non-essential spending.
Whatever you do, set realistic goals that you can achieve. Why is it important to set realistic goals? If you set achievable goals and hit them, you’ll feel a lot more motivated to keep and maintain good habits! The benefits of saving money cannot be understated. When you have extra cash on hand, you’ll be able to fund any emergencies that come up, invest for retirement or your kid’s education, and even save for fun purchases!
Set a Limited Budget for Wants
Once you’ve consistently cut down on discretionary spending, create a set monthly budget for nonessentials. Living with less doesn’t mean you have to completely cut out fun stuff. Set aside $100 or $200 for takeout, a new pair of shoes, or whatever else brings you joy.
How to Live With Less and Enjoy Life: Focus on Experiences
While you can and should set a limited budget for wants, if you want to learn how to live with less and be happy, focus on experiences. Are there some experiences you’d like to buy instead of physical possessions – for example, a skydiving ticket or trip to the West Coast? Focusing on experiences can help you appreciate living with less. Even if you aren’t a huge traveler, you can focus on allocating your budget towards a family trip to a state park or a movie night. Spending money on experiences will allow you to strengthen relationships with family and friends!
Focus on Life’s Simple Pleasures
Aside from setting a budget for fun purchases and focusing on experiences, what about life’s simple pleasures? What’s the saying again.. “The best things in life are free.” There are tons of free things that bring joy. In our busy lives, we often overlook them. Slow down and appreciate the little things in life. Open your blinds and take 30 seconds to enjoy the sunlight pouring through the windows. Make a cup of coffee and instead of rushing out the door, take an extra 20 minutes in the morning to sit on the porch, sip it and hear the birds chirp while reciting or thinking about a few gratitude affirmations.
Simple pleasures can help you slow down and enjoy what you have in life before going about your busy day. When you learn to appreciate what you have, you may be less likely to feel tempted to fill the void with physical possessions that only bring you temporary joy – and cost you financially. Collect moments, not things!
Declutter Your Home
Aside from cutting down on nonessential spending and learning how to value experiences over physical possessions, decluttering your home can help you appreciate a more minimalist life with less. Here are the essential steps you should take when decluttering different rooms in your home.
Invest in Cleaning and Storage Supplies
Firstly, to maximize your time spent decluttering, you should invest in cleaning and storage supplies. Purchase or dig up your broom, dustpan, mop, mop bucket, sponges and soap. Additionally, find 4 bins. They can be laundry bins, baskets, boxes or even garbage bags. Label them each with ‘Throw Out,’ ‘Recycle,’ ‘Donate’ and ‘Keep.’ When you have your supplies ready, you’ll spend less time digging them up and subsequently less time completing your decluttering routine.
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Start Decluttering Room by Room
Living with less means choosing to declutter your home. However, don’t feel you have to tackle everything all at once! Go room by room. Not sure where to get started? Personally, I like starting with the bedroom and challenging myself to do a quick clean in 30 minutes. The bedroom is the room where one is most likely to accrue clutter. Think about it: when a guest comes over, you can just shut your bedroom and hide the mess. If you live alone, you won’t have a partner to answer to or argue with about your mess. Regardless of which room you start with, here are the steps you’ll need to take when decluttering your home:
Create a Decluttering Checklist
Before starting, create a decluttering checklist. Write down every single room you want to declutter, the date you want to declutter the room by and why you want to declutter it. When you create a checklist, you’ll be a lot more likely to stick with your goals. Why? When you see what you want to accomplish, you’ll feel motivated to keep going.
Dump Everything on the Floor
Let’s say you’re starting with your bedroom. Regardless, use these steps for every room you declutter. First, take everything out of each closet and shelf. Look under the bed. Next, throw everything on the floor. I know what you’re thinking – “Isn’t that creating even more of a mess?!” When you dump everything on the floor or on the bed, you’ll be a lot more likely to clean it up. Why? When you can’t physically walk or sleep on a messy bed, you’ll be forced to declutter and clean your stuff.
Sort Belongings by Final Destination
Once everything is on the floor, it’s time to get those baskets. Pull each item off the floor and decide where it’ll go. If you’re not sure whether to keep or give away an item, put it in a fifth pile or basket called ‘Undecided.’ Wait 24-48 hours. After this time period has passed, decide whether or not to keep or donate it. Generally, if you aren’t sure, you should think about whether or not:
- The item is worn at least once a month (the exception would be special occasion items or seasonal items such as a winter jacket)
- The item brings you joy
If it fits neither of these categories, you can likely give it away. When you give away clothing or other items to a secondhand store, not all is lost! Donating items to a secondhand store means that you’re empowering less fortunate to purchase clothing, household items and electronics at a price a fraction of the cost of retail. Additionally, most secondhand stores donate a portion of their profits to a worthy local charity. Clear you closet, reduce mental clutter and help those in need at the same time!
Live With Less in Your Closet: Stock a Capsule Wardrobe
Once you’ve decluttered each room in your closet, you aren’t necessarily finished! If you’ve gotten rid of a large number of clothing items, you’ll need to determine whether or not you own enough clothing for every occasion in your life. What’s the best way to live with less while owning enough clothing that’s:
- High quality?
- Suits a variety of occasions?
- Looks great without breaking the bank?
Simple: stocking a minimalist capsule wardrobe with quality secondhand and used items! Here are the essential steps you’ll need to take when creating and maintaining a minimalist wardrobe.
Take an Inventory of What You Own
Firstly, pull out every single item of clothing in your wardrobe including what’s in your closet and dresser. Dump the clothing on your bed so you can sort through it. Grab a notebook and pen. Write down every single item of clothing including:
- What it is (t-shirt, jeans, peacoat etc.)
- The color
- Its condition
Compare It To a Minimalist Capsule Wardrobe List
After going through every single item of clothing, compare it to a core minimalist capsule wardrobe list. Generally, your minimalist capsule wardrobe will need to include the following items:
- Black and white t-shirt and tank top
- Jeans
- Denim jacket
- Leather jacket
- Neutral sweater or hoodie
- White tennis shoes
- Black dress pants
- Black dress shoes
- White button-up shirt
- Handbag or satchel in white, black or tan
Replace Old Items and Stock What You Need
Next, the fun part: shopping! Ideally, you’ll want to first go to a secondhand store and find items. Why? Secondhand stores often carry quality items for a fraction of the price of retail. However, don’t be afraid to go to a department store and invest in quality items. If you have the money, it’s well worth it to buy higher quality items. Why? When you purchase an item of clothing for, say, $100 and it lasts 5 years, you’ll end up spending less than if you needed to replace an item every single year that costs $40. If you buy the $40 item, you’ll end up spending $200 total over 5 years.
While $100 doesn’t seem like a lot of money, if you apply this principle to multiple clothing items, your savings can really add up. Additionally, higher quality clothing generally looks better. Look good and enjoy a thicker wallet!
If money is tight, focus on one or two items you wear a lot, such as a pair of jeans or white tennis shoes.
Sustain a Capsule Wardrobe with the ‘One In, One Out’ Rule
If you struggle with maintaining a basic wardrobe and buying stuff you don’t need, try the ‘one in, one out’ rule. For every item you purchase, you first must donate an item – or recycle or throw it out of it’s beyond repair. Adhering to the ‘one in’ one out’ rule can help you minimize accumulating items you don’t wear regularly.
A Final Word on Learning to Live With Less
While it can be challenging to know where to start, there are many ways to live with less. Focusing on life’s simple pleasures, reducing non-essential spending and building better grocery shopping habits are all great places to start. Don’t beat yourself up if you slip up and go on a spending spree. Living with less is all about your mindset. Start with learning how to appreciate with you have, then take a hard look at what you need to be happy.
When you learn to live with less and commit to frugalism, your mental health and wallet will thank you!
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Janita is a frugal living expert and owner of Frugal Fun Finance. With over five years of personal experience finding and trying out the best ways to make and save more money, she's eager to share her knowledge. Janita's strategies have helped her save thousands of dollars for funding investments and traveling to over 20 countries.
Janita completed training in personal finance at The University of Western Ontario and McGill University, two prestigious Canadian universities. Her expertise has been shared on GoBankingRates, Yahoo Finance, and NASDAQ.com.
