2786: Easy! 6 Steps to Become a Minimalist When You Have a Family by Rachel Jones of Nourishing Minimalism

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Finance Daily, Episode 2786. Easy 6 Steps to Becoming a Minimalist When You Have a Family by Rachel Jones of Nourishing Minimalism.com. And I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diana Merriam.

[00:00:43] Welcome back to another bonus Sunday episode. This is where we get to hear from one of the other shows in our podcast network. And today's comes from Optimal Relationships Daily. So with that, here's Greg as we optimize your life.

[00:01:01] Easy 6 Steps to Becoming a Minimalist When You Have a Family by Rachel Jones of Nourishing Minimalism.com. The more people you have in your home, the more challenging it is to embrace a minimalist lifestyle, unless you can get everyone on board. This is going to vary significantly from

[00:01:20] family to family. With different preferences, personalities and ages, there is no one-size-fits-all of approaching minimalism or getting the rest of your family to share your vision. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Before you're ready to make any serious changes in your home,

[00:01:39] give your family time to warm up to the idea. If you've been toying with the idea for the last six months, give them that same opportunity. That doesn't mean you have to wait six months

[00:01:49] before starting to simplify, but it does mean you should give them time to mull over the concept before you ask them to get rid of a bunch of their stuff. Talk about articles that you've

[00:01:58] been reading or podcasts you've been listening to. Talk about the benefits of minimalism and how life would look if you aimed for simplicity. Talk about the decluttering challenge that you signed up for, or other people you know that are participating and what sort of goals and

[00:02:12] rewards they put in place. Talk about what you want your family life and home to look like. Ask them what they want it to look like. What do they want the freedom to do on a regular basis?

[00:02:23] Would embracing minimalism help you achieve those visions? Start with your stuff. Your spouse and older children might take time to come around to the idea of simplifying and all the benefits of it,

[00:02:35] but you can give them the best example of how wonderful it is by editing your areas first. What spaces can you declutter then? If you are the only one that cooks, simplify the kitchen. Work on

[00:02:47] your wardrobe and your book collection. Think about the areas of the home that you already have complete control or say-so of and work in those places. Keep personal items in personal spaces. Think through the kitchen, living room, and dining room areas and what is kept there.

[00:03:04] If there are a lot of personal things, come up with a different way to store them. It might seem like more work for your 12-year-old to carry his trombone up to his room,

[00:03:13] but having the open space in your day-to-day life will make the shared living spaces feel so much more company-ready. Backpacks and hobby supplies should be in their appropriate places, not stored in the living room by the front door. Consolidate items. We don't keep DVD or Blu-ray

[00:03:30] cases anymore. Instead, we have several CD wallets where we store all our movies. We were able to get rid of about 200 cases and consolidate them into two CD wallets, which means the entertainment center looks tidy and there's room for the remote to sit down on

[00:03:44] the shelf. In the kitchen, there's no need to have four different bottles of chili powder. Either toss the expired ones, consolidate all of them into one, or give away what you know you

[00:03:55] won't be using in the near future. Replace the abundance of cheap items with fewer but high-quality items. When I was first out on my own, I didn't realize that there were higher quality measuring cups,

[00:04:07] and I just bought the cheap plastic ones. They broke, and I would buy a new set and keep the old ones as well, ending up with quite a few different plastic sets of various colors.

[00:04:17] But you can get rid of all of them when you replace them with a will-last-forever-and-not-just-in-the-landfill stainless steel option. Instead of having a bunch of different cheap pots and pans for cooking, invest in three high-quality ones in the sizes you use the most. Having quality supplies has made a

[00:04:34] difference in my cooking. I would rather wash my favorite pot than to keep the ones that the food sticks to or always burns on the bottom. Work through a program together. Have a teenage daughter

[00:04:46] that loves clothes? Sign up for Project 333 and learn how to create a capsule wardrobe together. Print out the yearly decluttering challenge chart and set some goals and celebrations. Ice cream together? Dinner and a movie? Let them know that getting rid of the excess doesn't mean

[00:05:02] they're committing to full-on minimalism. Walk through the 30-day guides together and find your form of minimalism. There is no right or wrong way to be a minimalist, and it all starts with

[00:05:13] how you view your time and energy. Some minimalists will have a tiny capsule wardrobe and a fully stocked kitchen because they enjoy having a streamlined closet, but they live to experiment in the kitchen. Other minimalists might stick with an extremely minimal kitchen but have an

[00:05:29] elaborate walk-in closet because they thoroughly enjoy fashion. Remember that minimalism is a tool. Minimalism is merely a tool to help you live the life you want to live. It's not going to accomplish things for you. It's not meant to rule your life and give you strict boundaries.

[00:05:46] It's a way to keep things in perspective so you can do the things that are truly important to you. And it's a process. You can't get there overnight, and neither can your family. It takes effort and

[00:05:57] a change of thinking. Editing your home and your calendar will be like peeling off layers. You just listened to the post titled, Easy – 6 Steps to Become a Minimalist When You Have a Family by Rachel Jones of NourishingMinimalism.com. Have you been frustrated with personal finance apps that

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[00:07:09] After trying out Monarch for myself, I understand why it's the top-rated personal finance app. And right now, get an extended 30-day free trial when you go to monarchmoney.com. And a big thanks to Rachel for a great post. Definitely something I'm sure a lot of people

[00:07:36] living with families have at least thought about. It's a great straightforward article, but if there is one thing I might add, it would be to outwardly relish in the new time and space you

[00:07:46] have after minimizing your own spaces. There's a lot of talk in this article about how we can actually minimize, but to get others on board, it'll be a great addition to show them the benefits.

[00:08:00] People's beliefs won't change about anything until they have a new set of rewards to believe in. So if they start to notice you enjoying the space and free time more, and really capitalizing

[00:08:13] in their face on what you claim minimalism has to offer, they'll start to get a better sense of what's in it for them. Manipulative? Maybe, but not really. It's for a good cause, and you'd be

[00:08:24] enjoying the benefits anyway. So you have my permission, go ahead and start doing yoga where the old coffee table used to be, and I don't know, add a little pep to your step when you go out for

[00:08:34] a walk during the time that you'd usually be cleaning rooms that you've since decluttered. That's all for now, everyone. Thanks a lot for joining today and making another episode possible. I appreciate it and I appreciate you. Wishing you all a great rest of your day,

[00:08:48] and hoping to see you again tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.