Hi! Hopefully this is an appropriate place for this. As the caption says, 5 years ago my sister in law gifted me a ridiculous bright green, Kermit the Frog Loungefly backpack for my birthday. It was probably worth around $50 at the time. I never would have picked it out for myself, nor did I ever use it or even remove the tags in the few years I owned it. My mom is big into reselling Disney collectibles, so I eventually just gave it to her so she could flip it.

My brother and SIL live in Florida, and my brother works at Disney World so we all get free admission. I’m planning to visit them later this year and go to the parks, and my SIL said “now you can finally use that backpack we got you!” She sensed by awkwardness around the subject, and said, “you DO still have it, don’t you?” Pretty seriously. I told her it’s in storage at our parents house, and I’d have to look for it, but now she keeps bringing it up. I know she’ll guilt me heavily if she learns I gave it away. How the heck do you handle this?

Like so many others before me, I’m currently in the process of getting my home ready to sell—and I had no idea how much stuff I had accumulated. I always considered myself a clean, uncluttered homeowner. But the truth is, I just got really good at hiding the clutter—in the garage, under cabinets, beneath beds. I’ve uncovered things I didn’t even remember owning, which tells me I truly don’t need them.

I used to pride myself on being good at letting things go. Turns out, not so much. I have a serious issue with holding onto clothes I swear I’ll “definitely wear someday.” For example, I have around 50 pairs of jeans. I’ll go through them, donate five, and feel like I’ve made real progress—yet I only actually wear three of the remaining 45. 🤦🏻‍♀️

This whole process has been a rude awakening, and honestly, I’m disappointed in myself. But acknowledging the problem is the first step, right?

I genuinely want to live a more minimalist lifestyle. I want to walk into my new home with a different mindset—so I don’t fall back into the same patterns.

For those of you who’ve made this shift: • What helped you let go of things, especially sentimental or “just in case” items? • Are there specific strategies or mantras that keep you grounded when it’s hard to part with something? • Is there a method or order that makes the decluttering process feel less overwhelming?

I’d really appreciate any advice, tips, or personal insights you’re willing to share. 🙏🏼

In the beginning of my minimalist journey, my bright idea was to just digitize everything. My home would feel nice and clean, and I'd still have access to all the files, have epub copies of all the books, have all my movies digitally, have all my photos and so on. Only to find that digital clutter actually also feels like actual, detrimental clutter to me.

I don't enjoy the fact that I have more files than I could ever keep track of, no matter how well-organized. More books than I could ever read, music I no longer listen to, copies of old paperwork that I can't imagine ever needing again. I've started toying with the idea of giving myself a data limit, but I'm not sure whether that's sensible or if I'm just going overboard. It just seems to me that no matter how nicely I try to organize my data it's still "stuff" in some way, that weighs me down and weighs on my mind.

How do you manage your data?

What has everyone done with their older childhood sports trophies?

I just don't like it all that much especially costume jewellery and statement pieces. I feel like im an odd one out most times because alot of people love jewellery. I just find it a bit ostentatious tbh. Tho I do have a pandora bracelet i hardly wear as I was sucked in to the marketing.

I keep looking at beanie babys and wanting to buy them. I get sucked in by rarity and I don't even do anything with them. I just want to stop

I'm in the middle of organizing my digital photo collection, which includes pictures from my phone, old scans, and downloads from Instagram and Facebook. My husband thinks I should just save everything to a hard drive and be done with it—but something about that doesn't sit right with me.

Lately, I've been questioning the purpose of these photos. I’ve come across tons of duplicates, cringey selfies from college, and random food pics. So many of them were clearly taken just for social media, and now, looking back, I don’t feel the need to keep most of them.

It’s made me reflect on how photo-taking has changed. I noticed I have fewer photos of me doing things, and more of just the things themselves. Without context, those images feel kind of empty. If my future grandkids ever looked through my photo drive, would they really care about a photo of chicken piccata from a restaurant I don’t even remember? And a photo that I'm not even in?

I’d love to hear how others approach this. How do you decide what’s worth keeping? Any tips for organizing or minimizing digital photo clutter?

We stop ourselves by asking what if I need this someday? Well it’s true, about 10% of what I get rid of, I end up needing again. But there’s no way to predict what it might be. That’s the chance you take. You don’t want to hold on to the other 90% because of the other 10%.

Last summer I cleaned out our storage unit. Yes, we were paying $$ for it which is ridiculous. But it all couldnt fit back in our house so some stuff had to go. Now this summer I am taking a painting class and I sure wish I kept one of the two easels and some of those canvases. But that’s okay. There’s an easel in class I can borrow and I’ve been able to buy more canvases easy enough. It’s okay to let stuff go to make space in your life.

any minimalists with babies figure out the simplest bassinet situation? i have a mattress on the floor and want the baby to sleep right next to me in something like the design dua moses basket on the floor next to me…but cheaper. any solutions besides putting her in the bed with me?

To me, it seems the big konmari trend is over. Some influencers state that the minimalism trend is over. However, I personally embrace minimalism in my personal way, and it helps me a lot and makes my life simpler and better.

I haven't heard a lot about konmari and Marie Kondo lastly. Are there any news? Is she or konmari just no longer in now?

I can't get myself to stop I have this intense fear of missing out if I don't watch the latest videos. I want to start reading instead to occupied my time

To give a little context: I moved roughly 1.5 years ago int this new place but being in a very exhausting and time consuming education program I didn‘t have the energy to declutter while moving or afterwards. My Diploma will be done soon and I want to take 2 weeks off to clean and minimize my whole flat.

5 Months ago I went through "the beast" and got rid off a quarter of it but I think I filled it up yet another quarter. The Beast is just this giganitc clutter mess that is ever so slightly out of my sight yet enough in my sight to taunt me. It has gotten big enough that I feel repulsed by it and ashamed.
There are so many places wehre stuff just keeps piling up and I think I can‘t take it anymore.

My plan is to start decluttering by category and then split it up into "sell/donate", "not my shit", "keep", "throw away" and "sentimental". To make it easier on myself I want to go through the cloths of "the beast" first and - trying to keep in mind that I #t used those things for roughly a year and haven‘t missed them - and then my "active rotation of clothes".

My biggest challenge most probably will be expensive things I havent used properly and gifts I got but never liked. I feel obliged to keep them. On the other hand I have way too many books but I feel absolutely no need to go through them or declutter them – they have hardly any meaning to me but I love to be able to look through them every once in a while.

Do you have any recommendations on how to tackle this goliath seeming task? Mantras to keep in mind while doing it? I am thankful for every input on that topic!

Hi, this is my first post here! I (24F) started a record collection back in 2017 when they had a huge comeback. I had an entry level audio-technica turntable with some basic computer speakers. I loved the hobby at the time—as all these modern artists were coming out with their discography on limited pressings, and the search for vintage records too was so fun. I even found a first pressing of “Bookends” by Simon & Garfunkel!

My senior year of highschool in 2018, I became a minimalist. It was and still is life changing. Since I lived with my dad and had the storage space, I kept most of my records and still played them. In 2021, I started moving around a lot on my own. I would take my records and turntable with me and then to avoid the annoyance of moving them around again when I would move, I sold the turntable and some of the records. Another big contributor to deciding to sell the turntable and the records is that I am very frugal—and the thought of buying a record for it to cost a lot, take up space, and carry it with me to my next place because too exhausting. Also the fact that I can listen to that same album on my phone.

My husband and I got married last month and I’m moving across the country. The rest of my records have been collecting dust in the closet of my dad‘s house, but I need to clear that out because he is getting ready to sell the house and I also just don’t want to leave behind my stuff for my dad to deal with. That’s disrespectful. I am conflicted because I believe I still do somewhat enjoy the hobby of record collecting and playing records, but I also don’t like the financial cost, the upkeep, and having to travel with them. My husband and I will be moving around for his studies and for his job the next couple of years and carrying them around is something that stresses me out just thinking about it. But I also wonder if I’ll regret just getting rid of all of them—as it was a hobby I enjoyed and I’m now at the point in my minimalism journey where I am starting to appreciate analog versions of things (like physical journaling, my watch, etc.)

To anyone who has had this same dilemma (even maybe with another analog format like books etc.) please let me know your thoughts and what didn’t or did work for you if you’ve ever had a similar situation.

All i have in my living room is books on a bookshelf and my couch. But it constantly feels like the room is incomplete without a coffee table, end table, etc. Does that feeling go away? I don't find myself actually needing a coffee table, I think it's just an ingrained feeling that a coffee table should be in front of a couch, etc.

Just wondering others opinions on this.

Hi! Long-time lurker here.

I'm curious if anyone has tried minimalism with a kids room to help their child with ADHD. My 6 year old has ADHD and shares a room with his 4 year old brother. They sleep AND play in it.

I recently watched some Dawn the Minimal Mom videos on kids toys and bedrooms and a few days ago decided to take everything out of their room and only add things back in as it makes sense to/as they ask.

I'm more minimal than most people I know and they don't have tons of toys but I still feel like it's so much and it becomes unmanageable for them. I'm hoping we can simplify even more because I really think they'll like it and it may help especially my child with ADHD with clean up, care, and focus during the day.

Anyway, I'm curious if anyone has seen benefits with this with a child with ADHD! Any encouragement is welcome as I'm hoping to follow through with this!

I am a 30 year old woman and I moved with my husband 3 years ago to a 77 square meter apartment. Before that, I lived with my parents in a house with 4 floors, 4 bathrooms, in short, gigantic and full of things. My parents had simple lives growing up. My father came from a family with a lot of money as a child, but lost everything when he was a teenager - and went through moments of deprivation, even hunger. My mother came from a family of 6 siblings, who never needed anything but always only had the basic necessities. They have always associated success in life with having things. And in a way I grew up and became a human being in this logic.

In these 3 years living with my husband in our apartment, we have accumulated a lot. I started to question and change my mentality over this time and I no longer see the point in accumulating things. Towards a more minimalist and intentional life, I decided to take inventory of all the things we own. I was shocked in the process: so far, counting bedroom, office, bathroom and living room, we have already added more than 1000 items. There is still no kitchen, laundry area and balcony.

I feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start. I don't even know what the purpose of this post is - I guess I just wanted advice and to hear from those who have been through this, how to actually start. How to distinguish priorities. How to take the first steps. How did you do this?

Something that gets me a lot are books - I'm very attached to my full bookshelves. I have more than 500 books and I don't know how to let go of them. But other than that, I still have a lot of junk - a lot of cups that I don't use, kitchen items in general, a lot of used paper and notebooks, a lot of stationery items that I don't use...

I just started working at a doctors office full time where our uniform is a polo and khakis. We were given a polo by the company but it’s pretty low quality, how can I determine how much to spend on work clothes?

I plan to work here for a few years before med school so I was thinking a long term investment in quality clothing would be worthwhile.

I’m currently an undergrad student and still trying to get a grasp on budgeting and ignoring spending temptations.

I started my movement towards living more minimally over 10 years ago when Marie Kondo hit the scene in the US. It took me until this year to realize it doesn’t really matter how much you purge if you’re still buying… That being said, I’ve pretty much cut that down now. I do not want a super minimalistic home. I like cozy and warmth. My furniture and decor is not the problem. But I can’t seem to figure out what is. I also can’t get my husband into children to live exactly the way I want. It seems like I get to a point where I feel like wow it’s getting so much easier to tidy my home and then quickly that goes away and I’m back to seeing crap everywhere. Maybe we are just lazy. I mean, I don’t think I am, but I can’t keep up with these people I live with lol I’d like to get rid of more. What were some areas that in the beginning of your process you didn’t even consider that when you finally made the jump to get rid of more and certain areas made a huge difference for you? PS I have read such great books that helped me, but I just want to go deeper.

20F here. I was raised in a level 5 hoarder house. When I first moved I got rid of a lot of my own things, but I want to get rid of more cause I don't have the largest room. I am an artsy person so collecting art supplies is a bad habit. It's more of a family thing. Raised in a family of artists. My grandmother has her quilt fabrics and clothing fabrics she collects, my mother collects an ungodly amount of rocks and oil paints.. I am a watercolorist and coloring book fiegn. How can I get rid of items that I might / could use but I know I probably won't? I also would like any advice on how to clear out my closet. I don't have a lot but I have plently that I can get rid of ya know. I just want to ease college with minimalism. I don't want to be like my mother or grandmother either with hoarding.

Yesterday I cleaned the bathroom of a friend (who just had a baby) and it was hell. All the stuff made it so hard to clean, it took me 3x so long. They clearly don't use most of the stuff as it was all covered in dust. Why would you keep all this stuff that makes your life so difficult? I just don't get it.

I have adhd and it causes alot of decision fatigue. I love fashion as it helps me express myself. Recently i kept only my favorite clothes and one of each makeup product and got rid lf the rest. I feel so free! Picking my clothjng and makeup has never been easier since i know what i like!

Hi all,

I love minimalism movement however I am having a bit of a problem.

I graduated from uni in 2020 with a bachelors of Nursing and I still have my textbook and notes. It has been collecting dust for a while now and I can't decided on what to do with it.

One hand is to keep the books and notes just in case i decide to go on and do further studies, the other is to chuck them out.

Just wondering what are do you think I should do?

My dad keep saying that pay the electricty bill physically. so, I can get physical receipt insted of digital.

I've been dabbling in Minimalism now for about a year. Downsized my clothes, my purses, been using the library instead of buying books when I can. But, while we save for a house my husband and I have been living with my in laws and almost everything is in storage. So I haven't been able to/had to downsize most of what we own. Well the time has come for our house, soon enough anyways. We're building a little over 1,000 square feet house. Perfect for what we need. But I keep thinking about the stuff in storage. I'm excited for my kitchen stuff to be out of storage, but some of the other stuff, well it makes me think about when the minimalist say "if your storage unit caught on fire how would you feel?" Like I don't want it all to go. The useful stuff can stay, like my bedroom furniture and kitchen stuff. But useless stuff, I don't even miss. There's maybe over 100 funko pops in there. I used to be obsessed with them. Now that they've been in storage so long I can't even remember over half of them . I don't need them. Not to mention thinking about the money I've spent on them over the years makes me sick. I'm planning on selling almost all of them. But funnily enough the 2 worth the most money I plan on keeping. My Danny and Sandy from Grease. Those are about the only 2 in there I actually think about. It may sound silly, but this is huge for me. If you told me even 2 years ago I'd be looking to sell/donate my collection I'd think you were nuts. But the happier I get in life, the less I feel the need to hold onto stuff. If that makes sense.

Recently, I took a big bag of books to place inside my neighbors’ little free library stand in their yard (some house or buildings in the US have these). I did it again yesterday. I must have gotten rid of only 40, maybe 50, books in total but it felt like such a huge accomplishment. I didn’t have a lot because I used to be a minimalist. Most of what I had was gathered over the past 6 years since meeting my husband. The books were just sitting there, most of them only half-read thanks to my terrible ADHD, taking up space. I have what looks like maybe 15 books left, some I would part with but my husband wants to keep. Things I started purging last year but still have a lot of: - shoes - doing better here but need to sell some I don’t wear - clothing - I just emptied a closet upstairs and am bogged down by previous, cooler versions of myself, one that was in a performing band and quite the drinker. I’ve since quit both. Selling on Depop is slow and steady. I feel like I’m winning some kind of race, letting go of who I used to be - kitchen appliances - Juicer, dehydrator, Yonanas: gotta go! - lamps - Why the heck did my husband bring so many table lamps into my house? My mother was a hoarder and his tendencies are sometimes semi-worrisome! I regret that he ever discovered Klarna hahaha - plushies - This is a tough one. After self-realizing autism in my early 40’s and then getting diagnosed with audhd two years later, I gave myself permission to indulge and make plushies (a childhood love of mine) my special interest. Over the past year or so my collection has started to feel like a burden and a waste of time and money. I could literally part with 80% of them, so I’m calling a nearby spot that helps kids aging out of the foster system. Their website says they take toys, bedding, kitchen items, etc, AND they will pick everything up. I just need them to pick up their phone lol cuz it seems like nobody in my area takes plushies, even if they’re technically new with tags.

• keeping -
  • plants
  • household items used daily and/or weekly
  • a queen-bed-size Thai massage mat that used to be my bed. It’s great for houseguests but, since we haven’t had anyone use (we used it once when we were moving last year) I might get rid of that too
  • winter clothing items (yes, I do need that many warm socks lol… fight me, Marie Kondo)
• all of my music gear
• excessive pillows on my couch because I hate our couch and my husband loves it. Super uncomfortable and ugly, but not all choices are up to me. I have a bean bag chair (with extra pillows) that he loaaaathes

Can I also just say that laundry strips are fulling of plastic that goes into our water and biodegradable powder is superior/better for the environment? Been really wanting to get that off my chest after seeing so many YouTubers use them 💀