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Miss Minimalist’s Gift Avoidance Guide

The holiday season can be a challenging time for minimalists: with all those gifts flying around, it’s almost guaranteed that one or more unwanted presents will land in your lap. And after you’ve decluttered your house, reduced your consumption, and pared down to just the necessities, the last thing you want to deal with is more stuff.

Never fear – my handy Gift Avoidance Guide is here! Put these tips into practice, and you’ll greatly increase your odds of coming through Christmas unburdened with extra things. Just think: no more items to return, regift, or defeatedly stash away in your drawers and closets!… {Read more}

Real Life Minimalists: Jessica

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. (Note: the schedule is now full until February — but if you don’t mind waiting, feel free to send me your submission!)

Today, we hear from Jessica, a long-time reader and commenter. She tells us how minimalism has changed her life, and inspired her to share her experiences on her wonderful blog, Minimal Student.

Jessica writes:

The summer before I moved away to university I realized I was in quite a dilemma.… {Read more}

Minimalism 101: Modules

Whenever I pack for a trip, I organize my stuff into modules: for example, I have a toiletry module, a clothing module, a first aid module, and a “long flight” module (earplugs, eye mask, iPod Touch). This system helps me keep everything organized, and prevents me from overpacking.

When I moved overseas with a single duffle bag, I used a similar strategy. I arranged all my possessions in packing cubes: one for pants, one for shirts, one for underwear, one for paperwork, one for kitchen supplies, one for toiletries, etc. It made six weeks of hotel living significantly more pleasant and manageable.… {Read more}

A Year Ago on miss minimalist

Minimalist Living: Questioning the Couch: Have you ever been in a house without a couch? I don’t think I have. I’ve thought about my friends’ houses, my relatives’ houses, and my neighbors’ houses. I’ve thought about all the places in which I’ve lived, from childhood until now. I’ve thought about the homes I’ve seen on TV, in movies, and in magazines. From modest studios to million-dollar McMansions, from inner cities to suburbs to out-in-the-sticks, you’d be hard-pressed to find a living room without a couch…{read more}

Minimalist Furniture: The Bare Essentials: We’ve been in our flat for over two months now, and I think it’s about as “furnished” as it’s going to get.… {Read more}

Real Life Minimalists: Sherry Ott

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. (Note: the schedule is now full through January — but if you don’t mind waiting, feel free to send me your submission!)

This week, I’m happy to introduce you to Sherry Ott. She’s a refugee from corporate IT who is now a long term traveler, blogger, and photographer. She’s a co-founder of Briefcase to Backpack, a website offering career break travel inspiration and advice, and one of the driving forces behind Meet, Plan, Go!… {Read more}

A Short Guide to Consumer Disobedience

I live a minimalist lifestyle for many reasons: for example, I love the freedom, the flexibility, and the financial benefits of not owning a lot of stuff.

But I must admit, it’s also a chance to indulge my inner rebel. I’ve been a straight-A student, model employee, and overall law-abiding citizen; yet when it comes to consumerism, I can’t resist my desire to stick it to the man. ;-)

When I see ads for luxury cars, designer handbags, trendy clothing, and electronic gadgets, I become more determined not to buy them. When I see promotions for loans, mortgages, and credit cards, I become more convinced to stay out of debt.… {Read more}

A Big Thank You

This weekend, I discovered that The Simple Poppy wrote a wonderful (unsolicited) review of my book on her blog. Read it here, and check out the rest of her fabulous site while you’re there.

I was so delighted, I wanted to give her a big, public “thank you” — and for that matter, extend my heartfelt gratitude to all the bloggers who’ve reviewed my book over the last few months:

Minimalist Woman | The Joy of Less is a Joy to Read and Use

Redefining the Meaning of Wealth | The Joy of Less by Francine Jay

My Journey into Minimalist Living | The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide

The Gardeners Cottage: the joy of less

Simplicity by Sunny | The Joy of Less by Francine Jay

The Simple Dollar | Review: The Joy of Less

Shopaholly | Women Who Inspire Me – Francine From Miss Minimalist

Married With Luggage | The Joy of Less: A minimalist living guide

Rowdy Kittens | The Joy of Less

We Live Simply | Miss Minimalist gets it right – the joy of less

(If I’ve missed anyone, please let me know!)

I’m also eternally grateful to everyone who’s written Amazon reviews of The Joy of Less.… {Read more}

A Year Ago on miss minimalist

My Minimalist Story, Part 5: Starting Over: Don’t get me wrong, apartment hunting in a foreign country was an exciting experience—in fact, it’s something we’d always fantasized about on our travels. Unfortunately, however, it marked the end of our blissfully minimalist, hotel life. It had been my long-time dream to live in hotels, with nothing more than a single suitcase; and I was fortunate enough to realize it, for six weeks, while we moved from the US to the UK… {read more}

Minimalist Living: Life Without a TV: For years, my husband and I talked about giving up our TV.… {Read more}

Real Life Minimalists: WellHeeledBlog

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. (Note: the schedule is now full through January — but if you don’t mind waiting, feel free to send me your submission!)

This week, we have a wonderful submission from WellHeeledBlog. She explains that for her, minimalism is not about placing arbitrary limits on her things, but rather being mindful of what she owns and the choices she makes.

WellHeeledBlog writes:

As a personal finance blogger, I am often searching for ways to make my money work for me.… {Read more}

My Minimalist Wedding Ring

This week, Tammy of Rowdy Kittens wrote a wonderful, very thoughtful post about her wedding ring. I liked it so much, I was inspired to write one about mine.

When my husband and I married five years ago, we were already well into our minimalist journey. Instead of a big, expensive ceremony, we opted to elope to Iceland – I packed my dress in a standard ziplock bag, and we sent out postcards from Reykjavik announcing our nuptials. It was a beautiful, romantic experience; and best of all, the event left us with no debt or excess possessions.

Accordingly, I wanted my wedding ring to reflect our minimalist philosophy – so I chose a simple band with seven tiny diamonds across the top (pictured at left).… {Read more}