5 Reasons Why I Am Not a Good Minimalist

Apparently I’m not a very good minimalist. I was told, on more than one occasion, that my lifestyle is not minimalist. And yet my bio includes “minimalist’ as the first descriptor. Plus, I share minimalist practices on my website and with clients. The concern comes from the size of my house, two cars, and a vacation home. So it got me thinking.

Good Minimalists

Who counts as a good minimalist? Maybe Colin Wright is a real minimalist. He carries all his belongings in a backpack. Or perhaps Joshua Fields Millburn? After all, he and Ryan Nicodemus started THE Minimalists. Joshua Becker must count since he documented his family’s journey at Becoming Minimalist.

But what I know from reading their work is that minimalism looks different for each and every one of us. Our families are different. So are our jobs, houses, and the areas where we live. We have individual passion projects and goals. These differences are unique to our minimalist journey and yet common ground remains.

[bctt tweet=”Being a minimalist means intentionally promoting the things we most value and removing everything that distracts us from it. –Joshua Becker, Becoming Minimalist” username=”simplyenoughamy”]

As minimalists, we chart our own path. But similarities exist in how we handle consumerism, space, finances, time, and technology.

Here’s why I’m not a very good minimalist.

Reason #1 – I buy stuff.

Yep, you heard it here first. Guilty as charged. I have an Amazon account and I’m not afraid to use it.

Minimalists are not opposed to consuming but rather object to what consumerism has done to our society and the environment.  Minimalism is when your first thought regarding a perceived need is to not buy it. Minimalists look to borrow, repurpose, or simply do without. It’s easier than you think. 

During my minimalist journey, I started to see my purchases differently. I stopped treating shopping as a hobby and realized how much better life was with less. As a minimalist, I walk into a store and no longer feel the adrenaline rush from making a purchase. Instead, I think about how adding more items to my home requires more time and adds stress.

Minimalists live intentionally by freeing their time and money from the jaws of consumerism. Physical items are barriers to what we value most in life; people not things.

No matter how big or small, I scrutinize every purchase. Minimalism creates boundaries and keeps our purchases in check.

Reason #2 – I have a big house.

I own a 2,000 square foot house. Is it too large for our family of three? Yep. But that was never the intent. God had a different plan. His plan brought me to an amazing neighborhood and community of friends. Our house is considered small by the standards of where we live but we’re not tempted to buy something larger. And we do not think it is small at all!

In fact, I’d prefer a smaller house but you can’t buy good neighbors. So for now, I’m not moving. 

The real question is “How do I use the space in my home?” A heat map study by UCLA finds the average family use only 40% of their home’s floorplan regularly. To combat this statistic, our home is void of excess furniture so we can fill it with people instead.

We invite friends and neighbors into our home often. During the weekends, our basement can be filled with the sound of teenagers. On a whim, we host Sunday brunch for 20. Typically inviting them right after church.  (A minimalist home is always ready.)

So while hosting 20 people (or 100 at Christmas) isn’t very minimalist, I’ll do it every chance I get. If the pandemic taught us anything, it is the importance of people, not things.

Reason #3 – I travel a lot.

Somewhere on my minimalist journey, I traded trips to Target for trips to the beach. We love the ocean. In fact, we love it in the summer, spring, fall, and even winter. For our family, the purchase of a second-home made sense. We visit multiple times a year and wanted a place to host family and friends.

After 3 years of house hunting, numerous spreadsheets, and endless conversations about the financial commitment, we purchased a beach house. One that was already enrolled in a stable vacation rental program.

As a good minimalist, I extra scrutinized this purchase. A second home can be fraught with issues and makes life more complicated. But with a thoughtful financial plan, we found a home that wouldn’t leave us house-poor. Or worse yet, unable to travel to other destinations.

This minimalist family believes in experiences, not stuff, so we’ll continue to travel.

Reason #4 – I’m busy.

I will be the first to admit I like to get involved in a lot of things. And it makes my life busy at times. But every scheduled event goes through my values filter.

Show me your calendar and I’ll show you your priorities. –The Minimalists. (Spoiler Alert: Mine match!)

There was a time in my life when stress was high and my health suffered. I landed in the hospital with the worst migraine I’ve ever experienced. That wake-up call, force me to get a handle on my calendar. I set boundaries for work, personal, and volunteer activities. I learned that “no” was a complete sentence.

With a blank slate, I looked at my values (faith, family, friends, health, and generosity) and made sure my calendar told the same story. In the words of Stephen Covey, what’s your “burning yes.” Those items make the cut and not obligations.

But the most important appointment on my calendar is the margin. Being a minimalist means slowing down and embracing days that are completely unscheduled. Days that allow us to rest and recharge and be better spouses, parents, bosses, and co-workers because of it.

Reason #5 – My house has more screens than people.

3 people and 12 screens can get out of hand fast.  Thankfully, our desire to simplify has inspired ongoing conversations about what technology we really need.

New technology must solve a problem. And our old technology is sold or responsibly recycled. In my humble opinion, Alexa, Ring, and Google Assistant do not solve a problem. So we don’t own one.

Additionally, technology incurs a cost long after their initial purchase such as subscriptions, protectives cases, data plans, replacement, and maintenance.

Years ago, we cut the cable cord. Doing so forced us to find free resources (a.k.a less convenient) and encouraged us to be intentional about our TV watching. 

Screen-time is an ongoing struggle for me. But I’m inspired to set the example for my son and abide by screen-time limits on my phone. I leave my laptop in the home office at night, have removed social media apps from my phone, and park my phone every night at 8PM so I can rest my eyes.

I might not be a very good minimalist. But I won’t stop trying.