Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details.
This week, we have a wonderful contribution from The Chasse Family. They began their minimalist journey over a decade ago, and are still finding ways to simplify. Please visit their blog to read more!
Larry writes:
My name is Larry Chasse and I blog about simple living at my blog: http://www.cagefreeology.com/. We have been on this journey now for over 11 years and we are still learning.
The first thing I usually like to read is the why. Why did we begin our journey into simple living? We began our journey as a family way back when my son was first born.
My wife wanted to be home for our son, so we took a hard look at our current level of spending and possessions. What could we cut from our budget and get rid of in order for our family to live on one income?
The process of simplifying and paying off debt had begun for us. Along the way we had job and life changes that were made easier by having a simpler life. The road was still long and we certainly had some setbacks here and there with regard to Murphy expenses.
When you get to the point of having an emergency fund, fewer debts and fewer possessions, Murphy does not have the same impact as he once did. We noticed our stress levels decreased as we removed debt and clutter from our home.
Here we are 12 years later and we are still finding ways to simplify our lives. We have moved from a 2,000 square foot home into a 900 square foot home.
Remember there is a real cost to everything we own. Homes, cars, lawn mowers, and other items all have maintenance and upkeep costs associated with them. If you add those costs up and divide by your hourly pay, you get the number of hours you have to work have these things. Remember to take into account your government taxes when calculating your true hourly rate.
Why the smaller home? Simple, you have less to clean, less to maintain, it is cheaper to heat and cool and honestly it is enough room. We took a very close look at the rooms we actually use on a daily basis in our home and concluded we did not need all that extra space.
Simplifying your life or minimalism is all about the journey. We are constantly learning about ourselves and finding out if we can be happier with changes in life. Some people like the bigger homes or automobiles. You need to find where you happiness lies and then make every effort to get there.
For my wife and I, we have found the simpler we live, our happiness has increased. We would rather have the money to go on family trips or creating memories than in our stuff.
{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}
Thank you so much for sharing our story miss minimalist. Your writing and posts continue to educate and inspire us on our family’s journey forward. Have a wonderful 2015!
Larry, I enjoyed reading your story, I wish I had learned about minimalism when I was younger, but it’s never too late! The feeling of lightness and freedom of clutter-free living can’t be beaten.
Thanks Janetta, really appreciate the kind comment. We are teaching our son in hopes that he has a good head start. We always say we wish we would have started this earlier as well. :-)
I think you really hit the nail on the head. With less stuff comes financial freedom and more time to spend purposefully. Minimalism to me is such a broad field and it’s interesting to see what different people put emphasis on. To some it’s the money saved, to some the sustainability, to some it’s just for the feeling of clarity.
What I especially like about you is that you don’t take it to the limit. “Less is more” doesn’t mean you have to sleep on the floor. It’s not the lifestyle of some freaks or people with extreme views. Modest and frugal living is for everyone.
Keep it up!
Thanks for the kind comments and words of encouragement Tobias. It is a constant learning process and journey for our family.
That is inspiring! I am – hopefully – on my way there with my Less is More project. Let’s keep sharing about our experiences so that more people hop on the bandwagon!
Thanks Happiness, I really appreciate your kind words of encouragement.
I have never slept on the floor. However, we live with one car and take the bus or train if we go into the city. we don’t need to own much because we use the public library almost every day. We never buy more than a 1 or 2 week supply of things because in over 40 years of marriage we’ve never needed to stock up. I am still finding things to give away. My daughter brings me magazines from her friends and I send them coupons I don’t need from the paper.
I sat with my friend watching people stock up at Sam’s Club. she has a membership for the cheap gas. I don’t stock up on anything and I don’t want to belong to a grocery store. I don’t have room for 3 big bottles of shampoo, besides, it would be a 3 year supply.
I am reading about people who use payday loans because they have no savings. It is tragic. I believe most people have some slack in their budgets and could save enough for an emergency fund. I have friends who don’t understand credit cards and that boggles my mind, too.