4035: Six Types of Minimalists by Shawna Scafe of Simple On Purpose on Types Of Minimalism

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_04] I sold my car in Carvana last night.

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_02] Well, that's cool.

[00:00:03] [SPEAKER_04] No, you don't understand. It went perfectly. Real offer, down to the penny. They're picking it up tomorrow. Nothing went wrong.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_02] So, what's the problem?

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_04] That is the problem. Nothing in my life goes to smoothie. I'm waiting for the catch.

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_02] Maybe there's no catch.

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_04] That's exactly what a catch would want me to think.

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_02] Wow, you need to relax.

[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_04] I need to knock on wood. Do we have wood? Is this table wood? I think it's laminate. Okay, yeah, that's good. That's close enough. Car selling without a catch. Sell your car today on...

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_02] Carvana!

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_04] Pickup fees may apply.

[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_02] Expedia and VisitScotland invite you to come experience the beauty that awaits in Scotland. The sweep of wild coastlines, quiet locks and untamed landscapes. Fresh cuisine that feels rooted in the land. Come experience the kind of stillness that stays with you long after you leave. Plan your Scottish escape today at Expedia.com slash VisitScotland

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_01] It's a Minimalist Monday edition of Optimal Living Daily. Six Types of Minimalists. By Shauna Scaife of SimpleOnPurpose.ca. And I'm Justin Malik reading to you with permission from the authors. I cover lots of topics like personal development or self-help, mindfulness, happiness, and minimalism like today. And with that, let's get right to today's post as we optimize your life.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_01] Six Types of Minimalists. By Shauna Scaife of SimpleOnPurpose.ca. Before I ever considered myself a minimalist, I had some notions about what the word meant. It meant someone who lives in an almost empty house. Their home is clad in white and stainless steel and dotted with chairs and furniture that have clean, asymmetrical lines. They're probably well off, and they spend their money on only the best items.

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_01] As I began the process of decluttering my home, I devoured videos and blogs and podcasts by self-proclaimed minimalists. I started to see the wide spectrum of lifestyles that fall into the minimalist category. There are many mindsets that someone can approach minimalism with. In my scientific analysis of YouTube videos, I have found there are a handful of minimalist types that I came across. Of course, I know, don't put labels on people, blah, blah, blah.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_01] Well, you might be one of these types, or you might be more than one. Consider yourself out of the box. One, the frugal minimalist. The frugal minimalist is someone who is concerned with saving money. Therefore, they rarely spend it, and therefore they rarely accrue more and more possessions. They reuse yogurt containers. They sew old bedsheets into curtains. They grow their own food. They aren't worried about the latest fads and products.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_01] They rarely replace things that still work fine. They might be part anti-consumerist. They might be really into self-sustainability. Or they might just be really cheap and taking extra caution with their money. Number two, the green minimalist. The green minimalist is one who is filling their home and life with environmentally sustainable products. They may be frugal, reusing and repurposing items.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_01] They might also shell out cash for eco-friendly and quality products that will last longer. These are the minimalists who aren't producing waste and spending mindlessly. The green minimalist is probably not someone you find filling a basket in the dollar store with trinkets that will end up in a landfill. They're more likely at a place like the soap dispensary and thread up, buying secondhand, buying quality, and buying things that reduce the amount of waste in our world.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_01] Number three, the nomad minimalist. The nomad minimalist is the minimalist who lives out of a backpack and tiny temporary space. Their journey to minimalism commonly begins with them living minimally while backpacking the world. Their clothes are versatile, they only keep their most cherished possessions at hand, and they know the value of a really good pair of shoes. For some nomad minimalists, it is a challenge to see how little they can live with. For some, it's just a practical way to travel around.

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_01] Quite often, they have a home-based storage of their most prized keepsakes. Number four, the aesthetic minimalist. The aesthetic minimalist is someone who may or may not be focused on reducing their possessions, but does aim for a clear and clutter-free living space. They find a lot of peace in a very tidy home and do their best to keep possessions to a minimum, or they store them away wisely to keep them out of sight. Number five, the minimust.

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_01] The minimust is a term I use for the minimalist who is constantly challenging themselves to live with less and less. Where some minimalists approach their possessions as, only keep what I find useful and beautiful, a minimust might approach their possessions with the constant question of, how can I reduce my need for this item and get rid of it altogether? A minimust might also be called an extreme minimalist and join in challenges to reduce the number of items they have.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_01] And number six, the gradual minimalist. The gradual minimalist is someone who is aware that they currently have too much stuff and they want to take steps to declutter. Their focus is on getting rid of the excess that is in their home. Their reasoning for decluttering is more about the physical hassle of stuff and even more so the emotional burden of clutter. I think for many in gradual minimalism, their end goal is to have the home of the aesthetic minimalist,

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_01] but their struggle is on keeping clutter from coming back into the home. You might not see a lot of videos from gradual minimalists because they are such a work in progress that their home probably doesn't look minimized. I most identify with this type of minimalist, and I think many other moms do as well. For me, I feel like it is taking years to choose how minimalism will look in our house and shifting with my family's needs and lifestyle,

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_01] but it is happening and that is what counts. Minimalism looks a little different for everyone. And sometimes the reasons you start are not the reasons you keep going. No matter the reason someone becomes a minimalist, the result is a mindset of the less you own, the less owns you. You just listened to the post titled

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_01] Six Types of Minimalists by Shauna Scaife of simpleonpurpose.ca. And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_00] So good, so good, so good. Everything you want for summer is at Nordstrom Rack stores now and up to 60% off. Stock up and save on the brands you love like Vince, Sam Edelman, Frame, and Free People. Join the Nordic Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite Rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_03] If we knew more about our sleep, what would we do differently? Would we go to bed at a consistent time or take steps to reduce interruptions to our sleep? With Sleep Score, Apple Watch measures your bedtime consistency, interruptions, and sleep duration. Then, every morning it combines these factors into an easy-to-understand score from 1 to 100. So you'll know how to take the quality of your sleep from okay to very high. Know your sleep score with Apple Watch.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_03] iPhone 11 or later required.

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_01] Thank you, Tashana. Whether or not you like the idea of grouping people into these categories or labeling people, I think the basic idea here is that everyone who is into the idea of paring down and living with less has different reasons, lifestyles, and situations. And this covered some of the main ones. For me, probably a mix of these. I'm definitely not the nomad minimalist, but possibly a combination of all of the others.

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_01] And from reading so many different minimalist bloggers over the years, you can get a pretty good idea why they do what they do. Colin Wright is a classic nomad minimalist. He's from exilelifestyle.com. He was one of the ones who could fit everything he owned into a backpack and then travel the world every few months or so living in a new place, determined by his readers. I think he slowed down a bit with that, but it was definitely how he started out. As for Courtney Carver and Joshua Becker,

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_01] they're people with families. They're two well-known minimalist writers. I think they would be more of the gradual minimalist types, probably also constantly challenging themselves, which was the minimust type. And I think that minimust type also applies to Josh and Ryan of The Minimalists. If you happen to consider yourself a minimalist or on your way to becoming a minimalist, the label doesn't really matter though. It's more about the why. And hopefully this article shed some light

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_01] on some of the main reasons why people live with less, which also explains how they've been able to keep the habit for so many years. And with that, we are at the end for today. Thank you for being here. It really means a lot. I'll be curating articles for you here again tomorrow. So have a great rest of your day and start your week if you're listening in real time. And I'll see you tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.