Minimalist Families: Carrie and her family

This is Carrie’s story about downsizing and the benefits to living with less. Many thanks, Carrie!

When clutter, ‘heavy’ and disorder gave way to freedom, ‘lightness’ and extreme organization, I knew I was on the right path.
And I remember the very moment my skepticism was laid to rest.
Once again, the societal curse of generalization had reared its ugly head and at first, left me in disbelief that my prospective decision could be a good one for my kids.
The fact it could become their utopia and a panacea to the standard communal concerns of over-consumption and hyper-commercialism that were beginning to grip my otherwise innocent 5 and 7 year old angels, was something I never even considered.
Through Pop-Cultures ever-present opinionated hand, Minimalism has been reduced to a lifestyle choice restricted to the heretical few.
The youthful present-day Hippies.
The free-spirited vagabonds and drifters with no real life goals.
The otherwise unengaged who opt to live off the grid.
The reckless and their ‘no dependents’ lives.
Oh, how wrong we’ve been.
Minimalism is the very essence of what every FAMILY needs.
My initial uncertainty has found clarity…..
….. Because I took the plunge.
It amazed me how much a modest 2-story family home with 4-bedrooms could gather ‘stuff’.
But ‘stuff’ is what we had.
And the evidence was everywhere.
Due to gifts, second-hand-hand-me-downs, manic consumerism habits and the variety of other ways through which we all tend to accumulate, my 1,000 square foot home was absolutely crammed to the gills with the usual suspects I’m positive you will find familiarity with:

1. 4 Full Dish Sets (60 pieces of un-matching dinnerware)
2. 3 Complete Silverware Sets (just in case I needed 22 forks one day)
3. 7 Chef Knives (none of which were sharp)
4. 27 Kitchen Towels (some with the price tags still attached)
5. 128 Pieces of Clothing (and that’s just MY closet… 80% of which I had worn once or never)
6. 17 Bath Towels (4 people, bathing once per day… do the math)
7. 56 Movies (more than 20 of which were VHS tapes)
8. 163 Individual Toys (the majority of which my kids played with once… 3 years ago)
9. 32 Pieces of Furniture (which was more about ‘filling space’ than it was ‘function’)

Now, if you think my numbers are inflated and that perhaps I represent the fringe of people who truly over-consume, do me a favor and count the inventory in your own house.
You are going to be VERY surprised (maybe even nauseous).
So, with the outcome slightly obscure but my conviction firmly intact, I decided to do what is both counterintuitive and grossly unpopular in our ‘me’, ‘consumptive’ culture – get rid of ‘stuff’ and take up less room.
Here’s a rundown of the chronological events:

1. Put my home in the market (December 27, 2010)
2. Start browsing ‘Craig’s List’ for dwellings in my area
3. Home sold to the first prospect (January 2, 2011)
4. Negotiate a settlement that included 1-month free at my current home prior to vacating
5. Took my kids to each and every dwelling tour I made (yes… a 5 and 7 year SHOULD be included in these decisions)
6. Found and immediately gobbled up a new home – 3 bedroom, 1931 fully restored gem complete with original hardwood floors, wooden mouldings and claw-foot bath tub (which indecently, reduced my living expenses by more than $800 per month on rent alone)
7. Spent the ‘swing’ month (February 2011) in which I was living rent free in my old home while paying rent on my new home to throw out, de-clutter and move the NECESSITIES into my new dwelling
8. Moved, with my kids, on March 1, 2011 to a ‘user-ready’ new home

And the final totals:

• My monthly living expenses have been reduced by more than $1,000.00
• I donated more than 3,000 pounds of perfectly good ‘stuff’ to the local Salvation Army
• I now have exactly 11 pieces of furniture and 1 set of dinnerware

The fallout has been tremendous.
Frankly, I could go on and on about everything ‘good’ that’s happened since.
But this is the very best example of why my move to become a ‘Minimalist Family’ has been so rewarding…..
My 5 and 7 year old have instituted their own rules has it relates to toys.
Whenever they receive gifts or new toy purchases, they’ve decided that in order to ‘accept’ they must first choose which of their current toys gets donated to less fortunate children.
“There’s no point in just getting more stuff” said my brazen 7 year old to me a few nights ago.
“If I get new things, it’s really important to find the toy I don’t use much anymore and give it away to some other kid who really needs it”.
Be still my heart……………

Like what you read here at The Minimalist Mom? Sign up by RSS or Email to get posts delivered to you. You can also find The Minimalist Mom on Facebook(I’ve deleted my personal account but have a page for this blog). Comments are always read, appreciated and responded to – even if we don’t agree on the subject at hand.