Saving your families sanity
If you suffer from anxiety or depression – minimalism is probably for you. It keeps things in your home and life much simpler. Coming from someone who has chronic anxiety, it really does make a difference. I’m not going to lie, at first it can seem overwhelming, but I promise it gets better.
For some, it may be a trend, but if you’re anything like me, minimalism should be much more than just a phase. Make it your lifestyle.
Less Stress
Having less “stuff” reduces the amount of stress in your life. You have less to take care of and less to pick up. It won’t look like a tornado whipped through when you get behind on housework. Okay, maybe I’m being overly optimistic here. Even with less in your home, messes are likely to occur. BUT instead of taking hours to clean, it could take you half that time.
If you’re not O.C.D like me and clutter doesn’t bother you, there are still other benefits to this lifestyle, such as saving money and paying off debts. Buying less means you can save more money, and who doesn’t want to do that?
More Money + Less Debt= Less Stress
Children benefit too
If you have children who are accustomed to shopping sprees and tantrums over toys, minimalism can be helpful here as well. This may take some time. However, once your children see you living differently they will begin to understand the change. This means fewer meltdowns at the store because they already know a new toy is not an option. Less meltdowns make everyone happier.
Of course, there can be exceptions to the new toy rule. Feel free to add your own exceptions, but I try to follow these two:
- If a child is told prior to the trip they are allowed to choose a new toy
- The child decides before the trip they would like to exchange (donate) an old toy for a new one
TIP: Something that works great for me is telling my children that I will take their picture with the toy or object they want.
It works well for me because it reminds me what they want for their birthday or Christmas. It seems to work for them because I’m not saying “no”. I’m basically saying another time, another day.
I call this a mom win.
Photo by Vecislavas Popa
