More and more Americans are discovering the joys of a more minimalist lifestyle, but what does that actually mean? What it comes down to is intentionally living with fewer possessions — focusing only on the ones you need.
Living with less may be the right choice if you’re feeling overwhelmed with clutter, if you’re looking for fewer distractions, or if you’re looking to cut back on spending.
This lifestyle choice dovetails nicely with the beginning of a new year, and the resolutions that come with it. Throughout January, Goodwill Central Coast invites you to embrace minimalism and discover sustainable ways to start living with less stuff.
Join us in our mission to jumpstart lives through employment by donating your pre-loved items. Your contributions will help us continue our efforts to empower individuals in our community, creating a positive impact on countless lives.
Not sure how to become a minimalist? It’s certainly not a complicated concept. Don’t let the pressure to adopt the all-or-nothing attitude of extreme minimalism, where your life is altered dramatically.
Don’t think of minimalism as “deprivation” but rather “freedom.” It’s simply a willingness to start becoming rich on experiences, not belongings. It’s about pursuing passions and having fewer possessions.
There are several benefits of minimalism:
- Improved quality of life. Embracing minimalism helps you better understand what you value, and it gives you a way to create space for those values, which can help you improve your overall well-being.
- Decluttering your home. It allows you to cut back on the amount of material possessions you have in your home, which means you won’t have to clean and organize as often.
- Saving money: By cutting down on unnecessary purchases, you’ll find that you can reduce financial stress and even save money for things that actually matter in your life.
- Living more sustainably. Become a more conscious consumer and reduce the amount of waste you create.
How to take the first steps
You don’t have to give away all of your belongings and buy a tiny home to adopt a minimalist philosophy. While minimalism can be applied to every aspect of your life, maybe your journey starts with merely cleaning out your closet. It could also mean learning to purchase fewer things.
What can you not live without? Making a list of your favorite clothing, decorations, and household items is a simple step toward minimalism. Stop getting hung up on what you “should” keep. It’s easy to let an unwanted gift from an aunt collect dust, but if you’re never going to use it, and it doesn’t bring you joy, it’s time to say goodbye. Take inventory of what you actually want and need in your ideal life. Need some emotional support while getting rid of sentimental items? Listen to this TEDx Talk on The Art of Letting Go.
After determining what’s necessary to keep, it’s time to purge physical clutter. GCC’s 29 donation centers make it easy to drop off your gently used items. Every single donation helps work wonders in your community through our mission services, which extends the good feelings already inherent in the minimalist lifestyle.
Remember, maintaining minimalism is a continual dance. Doing one major purge of your belongings is often not enough. Set a schedule to declutter your home each season or every month, depending on what works best for your family.
Moving forward, it’s also vital to change your buying habits. Only purchasing what you need means you could be done with decluttering forever. Before you buy an item, think about if you’ll still need or want it in a year. If the answer is no, don’t make the purchase in the first place. Or if you do need something, consider buying secondhand on the same day you make a donation.
If you do end up buying a new item, here’s a tip: Prevent acquiring excess items by donating something else to GCC to maintain a feel-good balance.
It’s all a win-win-win, for your new lifestyle, for your friends and neighbors searching for employment and for the environment. Each year we divert many tons of unwanted items from our landfills, and every secondhand purchase protects natural resources not needed to make and transport manufactured goods.
The new year is a great time to vault you into a more minimalist lifestyle, but be sure to create momentum to carry you forward through all 12 months. It’s more than a resolution, it’s a promise to yourself, your community and the planet. Good luck!