7 Benefits of Minimizing During a Move
Being less stressed. I can’t explain how exactly, but I’m telling you, less stuff is less stressful. Less to clean, less to maintain. Less of everything. You’ll walk into rooms and feel good.
Being mindful. With less stress and less time cleaning, you start to become aware of things going on in your home. You too will be more mindful of people, time, anything that detracts from remaining in a happy place. Part of being mindful for me is maintaining our minimalism. I don’t want to go backward.
Having more discretionary income. First, it’s from spending less. You’ll never realize how much you spend until you stop. When you need something — I recently purchased a new pair of trail running shoes — there’s no guilt. There are no more mindless, robotic, consumerist purchases. You aren’t filling any void by throwing money at it. Then, instead of ignoring bills and phone calls from creditors, you’ll begin chipping away at debt. Not only because you have more money to do so (and it will start slowly) but because you’ll have a mission to continue less stress and debt is stress. This takes time, but having a plan in motion feels fantastic! Usually, people downsize when they minimize and this can cut costs tremendously. We can’t change our rent or downsize square footage right now, but we can check the internet and TV fees and reduce electricity by going as small as possible. We also chose a home that has a fireplace and often you can get wood free which is an additional saving. In every way possible, the mindset changes to that of spending less.
More time. This one actually was the scariest for me. Even the belongings I struggled to let go of were easier. I knew one way or another they could be replaced. But having time forces you to come to terms with things you don’t like to think about. On the flip side, it also means you can remember what you really like to do. I downloaded books on to my Kindle and got my sewing machine fixed….. I realized I don’t really have as many big, bad demons as I thought. Most of my stress was eliminated or greatly reduced by minimizing. Addressing issues head-on means they dissolve — even if it takes time. I have better relationships and enjoy myself more.
Example to my kids. Although I’ve allowed the kids to participate in minimizing more peripherally, they’ve been on board. I tell them I’ve gone through a room and everything in the boxes is being donated. There have been a few things we decided to keep, but mostly it was a great conversation on why we can let it go. As we let go of home items, they were able to let go of their personal items. They’ve asked more over time to do things that are important to them instead of buy things.
Less stuff but higher quality. I’m a stuff snob. It was bad because not only did I want brand names, I had A LOT. Now I have less, enjoy it all, but I kept the high quality. I owned approximately 30 purses. I have two now for work and 2 smaller ones that get used a lot. I’ll probably pare it down more, but it’s much better. I’ve gone from nearly 200 pairs of shoes to under 30. Once you pare things down by getting rid of things, you know what you want to replace as well. We replaced a coffee table, repurposed some things, and have a very small list of things that we want to replace.
Looks, Matter. When my friend said my house was overwhelming due to all the stuff comes over again, I want her to walk in and feel relaxed. I want my home to be an escape from the stress — not the reason. Having it clean is great, organized is fantastic, but minimized is by far the best. This will be the most difficult to maintain with kids. Not just toys, but books, computers, papers, socks, hair ties, pens, and pencils…….. With the move, I want to make sure the things we keep all have a place and it’s not on the counter or table.
Originally published at https://www.momof18.com.
Jenn is Mom of 18, Transformational Coach for Christian women, host of At A Crossroads with The Naked Podcaster, Author, Runner, Minimalist, & Healthy Lifestyle Advocate
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