Don’t you just love that rush of knowing with absolute certainty that you got a good deal on something? I love that feeling!
When Jeff and I first started out, we lived in a 732 sq. ft. apartment in South Miami. The place was a dump, but the location and rent couldn’t be beat so we stayed way longer than we should have.
Our jobs back then paid us nearly nothing. We had very little expendable income, but even at age 21, I was determined not to carry consumer debt. We didn’t have a budget per se. Truly, had we actually sketched out how little money we had, we probably would have been tempted to quit tithing, so I just went about my shopping conscious of every penny.
My approach to shopping when I had very little was maximizing every dollar. So, when I found a good deal, I would jump on it, often purchasing things I didn’t need because I could, the deal was just too good to walk away from, it had the potential to be a gift for someone, etc. etc.
What ended up happening was my previously empty 732 sq. ft. apartment suddenly became a lot fuller and a lot more cluttered with things I didn’t need.
Even as our household income increased, my shopping habits did not change.
As time wore on, living in that apartment started to feel like a jail sentence. It was so small, so cramped, and had no natural lighting. After a failed attempt at purchasing a home, Jeff and I decided just to jump ship and start leasing a much larger townhome just 2 blocks from our old place.
The townhouse was about 1,250 sq. ft. I kid you not, when we started moving out of the apartment, and into the new home, we instantly filled the townhome with all of the things that came out of the apartment. I was truly ashamed at how bad the shopping had gotten.
I started asking myself, “why am I shopping like this?” I would justify it by saying, well, you’re not in debt, so it can’t be that bad. But, it was that bad. My house was full of things that I did not need. I realized that I was so unhappy with my old job and frustrated at myself for being stagnant, that I was shopping to distract myself.
During my time in the townhome, the shopping really slowed down. Truth be told, it was a mixture of my grandmother’s passing, the demands of my old job, the desire to keep this new place clean and organized, and the pandemic.
When we finally found a home to purchase, I started purging things that I didn’t need. We were moving to a new home, in a new city, and I was starting a new job. I just didn’t want (or need) any excess baggage making the journey with me.
My husband and I joke that we have never been closer to divorce than the day that we moved into our new home (and it’s true). Even with all of the purging that I did, we still had so much stuff when we got here. So as I unpacked, I kept getting rid of things.
The process of moving turned me on to minimalism. I have learned that there are so many different aspects of minimalism and so many people have different definitions of minimalism. Minimalism to me is about being intentional about every item that comes into your home and every item that comes into your home must have an immediate (or near immediate) functional purpose and a durable shelf life.
In other words, no more spending money (even if it’s a good deal) on junk I don’t need.
My home is 2,050 sq. ft. and I would venture to say that we have filled about 40% of it. I have no plans to add anymore stuff. I have implemented a rule that for each item that comes in, something has to go out. This is true of food, furniture, and clothing.
My house still has spots of clutter, but for the most part, you could walk into my house on any given day and it would look clean and organized. I also feel much better about the positive environmental impact that this change in life style has lead us (y’all, we generated SO MUCH trash at the height of my buying).
Minimalism may not be for everyone, but it is working so well for me and my family. We are not perfect, but we are trying and that is all that matters.
The Lady Esquire 