Let’s talk about how to live life simply if you haven’t done that before
Most likely, when you hear the phrase “living a simple life in a modern world,” you picture exceedingly tidy shelves, a neat wardrobe with a set number of shirts, or a person who can fit their entire life into a backpack. But that’s not the case at all.
What does it mean to live simply?
In actuality, living a more simple life doesn’t mean living off of air and love and giving up all of your material goods. Instead, it refers to the belief that one should pursue vital ideals, live as freely as possible, and avoid the present consumer culture as much as possible.
Living a simple life is how minimalism manifests as a way of life. Having items that you need, provide value to your life in the form of memories or self-development, or provide you with ongoing emotional support.
As an intentional way of living, minimalism attempts to encourage you to let go of modern consumerism, pursue your goals, and further your journey toward self-realization. It’s a way of life centered around joy.
You can concentrate on your inner world, locate everything that matters there, and increase your motivation and willpower to achieve your goals by reducing the tangible possessions around you.
Minimalism broadens our horizons, gives us chances to enjoy life and achieve something remarkable, and liberates us from constraints.
Implementing minimalism requires a shift in mindset and way of life. It takes time to adjust, and you are the only person who can do it. Others can’t be changed, yet they can still pick up tips from you.
Although the minimalist lifestyle may be applied to many aspects of life, including daily routines, interpersonal connections, and the workplace, home life organization is thought to be the most crucial foundation for implementing minimalism, and that’s what we’re going to focus on today.
Now I’m going to offer you some suggestions about living a simple life in a modern world that you can use to bring more order, peace, and independence into your life and your home.
The main ideas behind living more simply
Be grateful for what you have
It’s not necessary to limit your possessions to just 10, 20, or 30 items to live a minimal lifestyle. It’s based on the idea that one should cherish what’s significant and avoid being overly dependent on material possessions. Things aren’t what define life.
The true worth of life is found in experiences, relationships, and emotions. A minimalist can enjoy life without continually consuming by learning more about their principles and putting less of an emphasis on material possessions.
Regain perspective and reestablish your priorities
A minimalist way of life begins with observation. Try to examine your house, your belongings, and yourself objectively as you look at them.
Is your closet always disorganized? Is it difficult to find the right-sized pots and pans in the kitchen? What do you use every day, and what has been gathering dust at home for a while, taking up room as you wait for the “perfect moment”?
There is nothing wrong with owning things and getting new things, but frequently, individuals place an excessive amount of importance on possessions, which can lead to increased stress and be financially costly.
Evaluate your options before making any purchases
A minimalist must give it careful consideration before making a purchase or bringing something home. Before making any rash purchases, ask yourself, “Why do I want this now?”
Did the red 50% off banner tempt you to reach for new cups at the store, or were you motivated by a genuine need?
A minimalist now questions whether a sale is a good enough excuse to make a purchase.
In addition to keeping your home clutter-free, it may feel strange at first to ask yourself such uncomfortable and tough questions, but doing so can help you organize and clarify what is truly essential to you.
Organize your home
Stress is brought on by chaos, even if a person is unaware of it. Once you have established your own priorities, organizing your home is the next step. Even if it’s not an easy process, the good news is that starting is the hardest part, and you don’t have to complete it all at once.
Most of us have collected items over our lives that are just useless but that we haven’t yet gotten rid of for a variety of reasons. You could begin with the items for which you have different versions that are similar.
Do you really need seven pairs of jeans, or will two do? It’s crucial that you let go of not only the things you don’t use or need but also the things that make you unhappy.
One room at a time
It’s not necessary to organize and clean the entire house at once. Choose a room to begin collecting unwanted items in order to give them to those in need or take them to a reuse facility. Starting with the simplest room is a smart choice because it will inspire you to take further action.
Only keep what is necessary
Choosing which items to keep and which to discard can frequently turn out to be considerably harder than first thought. It’s worthwhile to consider the following questions for this: “Do I really need this? When should I use it? If I didn’t have one, what would I do?”
Analyze your behavior
Think for a moment about your initial motivations for choosing to live a simple life. Is it the need for more free time or saving? Isn’t this motivated by the urge to replace outdated items with newer, trendier ones?
Above all, the concept of giving purpose to action is crucial because we must remember the minimalist approach that emphasizes having a more fulfilling life rather than simply getting by with fewer possessions.
Now, before we start your journey towards living a simple life in a modern world, mark three plastic containers or boxes as “to be sold,” “to be donated,” and “to be thrown away.”
Everything that you come across that you feel you don’t need should be put into one of these three boxes.
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How to live a simple life and how to start your journey
1. Let’s start with your kitchen
Utilize the stuff that is in your pantry. When you open the food cupboard, sort through the items and discard any expired products.
Try using the oldest date first if it still works but hasn’t been used in a while to save it from being thrown away. The same goes for frozen berries from last summer and packages of minced meat that have been there for months.
What kitchen tools do you frequently use? Which ones have you not used recently? Put the items you haven’t used and aren’t likely to use anytime soon in one of the three boxes that I mentioned before.
If you haven’t baked waffles in two years, find a new owner for the appliance who will love it more than you do and appreciate it more than you do.
Your kitchen is frequently cluttered with small appliances, a variety of dishes, and pots and pans. When choosing plates, bowls, and other items, think about how many people live in your family. How many dishes actually get used each day?
How many guests do you usually invite to a party? There’s no need to keep 20 sets of plates, glasses, etc. in the cabinet if there are typically no more than 12 people present in your home at any given moment.
How conscientiously do you bake and prepare food at home? Baking would only require one baking pan. For cooking, two or three pots of various sizes and one pan are sufficient. Maybe you only need a single pan spatula, a ladle, a cream jug, and a rolling pin.
How many boxes are typically required if you keep food in your refrigerator? People who keep food in boxes frequently have a separate cupboard just for them. That takes up so much space.
Reduce them to the point where you can pack what you need without having to have any additional boxes.
TIP: Here are my favorite glass food containers for the fridge. They stack into each other for easier storage, which is a must-have!
Living a simple life in a modern world is all about organization. Keeping items in the cabinets that you don’t use or don’t need is pointless.
You can much more easily find what you need in the cupboards when you have less stuff. There won’t be any questions like “Has anyone seen a filleting knife?”
Maintain organization by giving each item its own location. Keep exactly as many cups and plates in the kitchen cupboard as there are members of the family.
This prevents things from being carelessly put into the dishwasher or sink, and it also prevents new dishes from being pulled out of the cupboard one at a time.
2. Now let’s move on to the most important room, the bedroom
Your bedroom is a place where there shouldn’t be any stress, and it should be especially clean. Before going to bed, you shouldn’t see a pile of clothes in the corner or any cluttered nightstands or bookcases.
One of the most crucial components of feeling good and having a happy soul is getting a good night’s sleep.
Think carefully if you actually need the items in your bedroom before cleaning every surface. Could you take these things out of the bedroom and put them somewhere else? Things that are nostalgic and make you feel good may stay in the bedroom.
The wardrobe is the room’s most entertaining space. We have four seasons, so we dress according to the season. Thankfully, we can wear many of the same outfits from spring through autumn, but we layer up more in the winter.
Look inside your closet and you’ll see the truth! How many outfits do you own? Then, consider whether you could get by with less.
First, remove anything from your closet that doesn’t suit you. Keeping inspirational clothing in the closet with the hope that you’ll wear it again someday is pointless.
Usually, there is little chance of this happening, but if it does, you should probably treat yourself to something new to celebrate your accomplishments.
Now remove everything from your closet that you haven’t worn in the previous 12 months. There is undoubtedly a reason you haven’t worn them.
Next, remove whatever you are uncomfortable with. Your dress should make you feel good, not horrible. Put all of those garments in the box marked “for sale” or “donate.”
Consider arranging your wardrobe as a kind of decluttering in your journey towards living a simple life in a modern world. In order to concentrate on the vital, you discard the unneeded. After that, you will only see the items you require and have easier access to them.
The most crucial factor is whether your clothing makes you happy. Regardless of what the brand or price tag claims, you only need this if wearing it makes you feel joyful, attractive, and cheerful.
Additionally, count the number of bedlinen sets you truly need to survive. Most of the time, there aren’t enough pillows and blankets in your house to fill the sets.
Women adore jewelry. However, in this instance as well, it would be vital to choose your favorites and recognize that you don’t need ten bracelets.
The same goes for other jewelry. If the sentimental brooches and other heirlooms you inherited from your grandmother hold special significance for you, keep them.
3. The next step: bathroom
How many bottles of cleaning supplies and shampoo are there in your bathroom? For body care, one shampoo, conditioner, and soap or shower gel would be sufficient.
The same goes for household cleaning products. You don’t need tons of separate products for every surface. The same cleaning tool can also be used on different surfaces.
TIP: Castile soap like this one is an organic 18-in-1 soap. You can use it for laundry, hand-washing dishes, all-purpose cleaning, washing pets, and more. Besides, more soap per bottle means less waste in packaging!
When it comes to bath towels, you should consider how many towels are typically used each week and set a limit for yourself.
It makes sense that the majority of bathroom cupboards are stocked with cream pots and cosmetics because women desire to look radiant and lovely. There’s always the urge to get more of them at the store and discover something more unique than what you already have at home.
They’re all used for the same things, and the only differences are their names, colors, and designs.
Since the shelf life of an opened container of face cream is just six months, and since we don’t have that many faces that we could use four jars in that time, it makes no sense to store four jars of face cream in the cupboard.
Keep in mind which makeup products you used in the previous month and only keep those! Less is easier, obviously. If you’ve already used only those for a month, you can manage with them for the subsequent months without a doubt.
Check for expired nail paint and cosmetics. Women can be sentimental when it comes to private matters, and this also holds true for our products.
However, because makeup products also have a shelf life, they can damage the skin if they have been kept on the skin for an excessive amount of time.
Keep all objects off the bathroom’s surfaces, and store as much as you can neatly and out of the way in the cabinets. Otherwise, harmful bacteria will get onto toothbrushes and cosmetics.
USEFUL TIP: to be more eco-friendly, use solid shampoos like this one and solid conditioners like this one in the bathroom.
4. Next: living more simply by organizing your living room
The room in the house that typically holds the most items is the largest. When you’re at home, you spend time there with your family, so it should be both motivating and calming for everyone.
It serves as a repository for your most precious possessions and a space where you can indulge your interests.
Start by removing anything from the space that makes you feel bad. Give items a new home and get rid of anything you haven’t used in a year. Keep only those decorative pieces that truly bring you delight and have a unique history in the room.
Replace any old, uncomfortable, or broken furniture with a new (it can be new to you!) item that is both comfortable and functional. Choose only your favorite items and try to get rid of the rest if you’ve developed a passion for collecting dog figurines or different vases over the years.
Indoor plants can also improve the ambiance of the space and make it cozier to be there, but take care to monitor their health and prevent them from overrunning the space. To maintain a nice home atmosphere, a few plants are sufficient.
You never know what wonderful finds you might unearth if you go through your cabinets. The things you won’t miss are the ones you weren’t aware of.
You may even find gifts that have not yet been opened in some of the closets. Give them away! Giving or donating items that you have personally received as gifts is now completely acceptable.
You’ll notice how the air circulates much more comfortably, and that strange feeling will eventually go away if you keep the surfaces and cabinet contents as tidy as possible.
Reorganize your computer’s files as well. Gather your favorite photographs that represent a significant feeling for you and allow them to come to life. Buy a large photo album and fill it with all of your most treasured moments.
5. Time to organize your hallway
The hallway closets are a great place to store all kinds of out-of-season clothing and footwear that tend to get left in the closet corner over time. Examine all of your shoes, clothing, scarves, and hats. Anything that doesn’t fit or fits poorly should be taken out.
Try to keep just one jacket or one coat for each season for casual wear, one extra for special occasions, 2-3 scarves, two hats, one or two pairs of gloves, and one to three pairs of shoes for the summer, fall, winter, and spring.
In this manner, you won’t have to search for anything when you leave the house because you’ll be aware of all of your shoes and outerwear.
As a general rule, try to put quality before quantity. Purchase high-quality sneakers that will last more than one season.
High-quality outerwear can be used for many years and can be quickly exchanged for newer models by selling them for nearly the same price on the secondary market.
6. The attic and storage room also need your attention if you want to live a simple life
Ideally, these areas should be quite unoccupied. Some hobby supplies might be utilized at least once a year, but not on a regular basis. For instance, camping goods, craft materials, juicers, interior tools, lightbulbs, and seasonal decorations.
Keep everything organized by labeling the boxes you use to store it all in their proper locations. Searching for things takes less time because they are organized aesthetically.
We’re all about living a simple life in a modern world, right? So, the feeling of peace during the holidays should come more from within than from the outer world.
Although the decorations are lovely and heartfelt, you can also use them more subtly and without going overboard. Old, broken decorations that haven’t been hung on the tree in years can be thrown out or donated.
Never move your outdated items or those you’ve sorted out and want to sell or donate to a storage space or attic. If you do, you probably haven’t actually removed anything from your life; rather, you’ve just relocated items from one location to another. Things will remain static in this way.
7. Don’t forget your garage
It’s not advisable to have broken lawnmowers and rusty, old, and broken cars at home. Every time you gaze at them, the negative energy and tension levels increase.
Check if you have duplicate lawnmowers. When performing repairs around the house, one high-quality cordless drill can be utilized very effectively, and four screwdrivers with the same tip will not result in better screwing. Take everything out of the garage that you don’t use or need.
Besides, due to the high cost of construction accessories, it may be more practical and economical to borrow a machine or cutter from a friend rather than make a hasty purchase.
8. Last but not least, services
This covers magazine subscriptions, online subscriptions, etc. Reviewing all of your monthly spending is a good idea.
Online magazine reading is now more affordable than ordering physical copies to read at home. Maybe you will discover a cheaper phone plan and insurance than what you have right now.
Does it make sense to pay 10 dollars per month for a streaming subscription if you just occasionally watch content from it? You paid almost 40 euros for a gold package on Tinder, although you could still go on dates there without it.
These are costs that we can somewhat influence, and we can choose if they are important enough to us to devote our time and resources to them.
Get a phone plan that includes limitless internet access. You can share this Internet with your laptop as well. If you do watch movies and series, you can forgo the typical TV service and save money by doing this. Join Netflix or Hulu to access an endless library of movies and TV shows on your TV.
Living a simple life in a modern world doesn’t have to be hard
It is already shocking to learn that you have so many things at home when you have finally had a chance to take a tour of the house and observe the number of items without which you may get by very well.
We shop because we enjoy the sensation of purchasing something “excellent” and “new.” Some people find it calming. For some, it’s a dependency.
If we look inside, we see that while we don’t actually require all of these lovely and exciting things, we do yearn for other things like communication, experiences, emotions, self-development, and encounters.
To be truly happy, we should focus our attention on these things. Feelings are what make us joyful, not things!
You will realize that you have more quality free time that is not spent rearranging, organizing, or cleaning after living a minimalist lifestyle for a while.
Additionally, because you spend less on new goods, you have more money. In the end, a minimalist lifestyle is more sustainable and environmentally friendly since it minimizes excess consumption and emphasizes the important things in life.
What’s your opinion on this topic? I’d love to hear your thoughts about living as a minimalist.
I’m a personal growth and self-care expert, as well as an avid motorcycle enthusiast and coffee and sweets lover. Through Lauraconteuse, I provide insightful and practical advice on topics such as self-care, self-love, personal growth, and productivity, drawing from my very own extensive experience and knowledge in the field. My blog has helped countless people achieve their goals and live more fulfilling lives, and my goal is to continue to inspire and empower others.
