Minimalism is gaining more and more traction lately, and I don’t believe it’s just a trend. I believe that more and more people are adopting this lifestyle because it has to much value and there are so many benefits of minimalism.
So what IS minimalism?
Sometimes it feels like there are so many rules and opinions that go along with minimalism. Rules such as “everything you own has to fit into a backpack” or “you can’t own anything that you don’t need”.
To me, that’s not what minimalism is!
Minimalism can look different for every single person.
Minimalism is being really intentional about the things that you purchase or bring into your home as well as how you live your lifestyle.
I consider myself an aspiring minimalism and I have seen so many benefits of minimalism as I have pursued it over the years.
So why minimalism? What are the benefits of minimalism?
LESS THINGS = LESS TO CLEAN
This is one of the main factors that drew me to this lifestyle.
Although I don’t even have kids yet, I felt as if I spend so many hours every single day cleaning my home.
That’s what initially led me to aggressively declutter my home!
I’ve found that the more items I declutter, the more time I have to do other things and the less time I spend tidying my home every day.
Read more about my daily, minimal cleaning routine.
SPEND LESS TIME LOOKING FOR THINGS
I’m not going to lie, I still lose my car key and my wallet on a regular basis. And that will probably never change!
But as you get rid of items that you don’t need, your home will naturally become more organized. Even if you aren’t an organized person.
If you have less decor, less clothing that you rarely wear, or less throw pillows on the couch, you’ll naturally be able to find the things you’re looking for faster!
As you declutter, it will be easier to give every single item a home.
SAVE MONEY
A key part of minimalism is buying less things. Especially less trendy, single use, short lived items!
During the decluttering phase, I made so much extra cash by selling items that I no longer needed.
The longer you apply minimalism to your life, the more natural it will become to not buy every single thing you want!
Spending money is addicting! Keeping up with trends is addicting! But that addiction can be broken, and it’s so freeing!
Minimalism has helped me prioritize every purchase and save so much money!
We even paid off $33k of debt by applying more minimalism habits to our life!
LESS STRESS
Whether the source of your stress is that you can never find things, that your home is always a mess or that you’re always struggling financially, minimalism can help!
One of my favourite benefits of minimalism is that my life feels so much more simple.
I’ve also simplified my schedule and no longer feel pressure to do things I wasn’t excited about.
Stress is a huge problem in our society today. Stress can even attribute to more serious and long term health problems!
CREATE MORE MEMORIES
Most minimalist will agree that memories and experiences are more valuable to them than things.
When you stop spending money trying to “keep up with the Joneses”, you’ll find that you have more money for the things you do want.
You’ll have more money and more time to spend with your family doing the things you have dreamed of.
Instead of spending the whole evening cleaning your house every day, you can spend quality time with your spouse!
Instead of stressing over car payments that you can’t afford to impress people, you can invest in something that really matters to you.
You may even be able to reduce your living costs, meaning you can work LESS and spend more time with your family.
This was personally a huge reason I decided to pursue minimalism.
I would much rather have less money, but be able to work less and spend more time with my husband than have more money in my bank account but feel like I’m always working at a job that I don’t really like.
INVEST IN THINGS YOU LOVE
Minimalism does not mean that you’ll never buy things ever again.
But it often means you prioritize quality over quantity.
With the money you’re saving from unnecessary and unintentional purchases, you’ll be able to save up for things you previously thought you couldn’t afford.
We’ve been able to invest in home renovations and vacations because we save so much money in other areas of our life.
Disconnecting from society’s rat race and focusing on what you want your life to look like is an incredible benefit on minimalism!
GRATITUDE FOR WHAT YOU HAVE
Another benefit of minimalism is that it allows you to appreciate what you do have.
Instead of always looking to the next trend, the next car, or a bigger house. Minimalism allows us to slow down and appreciate what’s right in front of us.
When we slow down our buying and our lifestyle, it’s hard not to feel grateful for what we have.
There is so much research that shows a connection between gratitude and mental health.
REDUCE YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Even if you don’t live a perfect zero waste lifestyle ( same! ??♀️) pursuing minimalism automatically reduces your environmental impact.
By buying less, you will create less waste and put less of a demand on resources.
