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Frugal, Space Saving Hobbies

Last Updated: March 15, 2017 BY Jordann - 25 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Frugal, Space Saving HobbiesEnjoy this post about frugal, space saving hobbies from my amazing staff writer, Jordann. As many of you may know, I’ve spent the last two years paying off over $38,000 in debt. In order to do that, I saved money on rent by moving into a 400 sq. ft. house and becoming a minimalist.

Now that I’m living the minimalist life, I’ve had to find ways to keep my possessions in check. I do this mainly by learning to live with less.

I have fewer clothes, a smaller number of cooking utensils, and less furniture. I pair down, declutter, and eliminate unnecessary possessions on a daily basis. No area of my life has been left untouched – including my hobbies.

I’ve had to give up a few of my more space intensive hobbies, in favour of activities that don’t take up so much precious square footage in my tiny home. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see that I’m also saving a bit of cash by indulging in hobbies that take up a little less space.

Here’s some of them:

 

Photography

I love taking photos. I love capturing special moments and family events. Fortunately for me, photography doesn’t cost much. I use an eight year old DSLR that was given to me after my parents had upgraded their model, and some photo editing software that a friend had lying around.

Sure I’d love to invest a little more money and space into it – I could upgrade my camera, try out some new lenses, and maybe even get a tripod, but for now, my second-hand equipment suits me just fine, and doesn’t take up much space.

[Read more…]

25 Comments
Filed Under: Budget, Minimalist Tagged With: Budget, Frugal, Minimalist

Fall Minimalism

Last Updated: September 2, 2022 BY Jordann - 34 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

fall-foliage-209219_640Every time the seasons change, I like to take a look at my habits, and decide if there’s anyway to streamline them, to minimize them, or to reduce my consumption.

Can I reduce my expenses in any way? Can I stop consuming something that I’ve always thought is necessary, and what do I really, truly need to add to my home this fall to make life a little bit easier to live?

I find these reflective questions to be an excellent way to intentionally and mindfully reduce the volume of stuff in my home.

As a minimalist in a 400 square foot house, I feel that it’s important to continually try to minimize and remove clutter from my house. I’m always trying to weed out the stuff that I don’t need, keep only the functional or beautiful items, and find new homes for the stuff that no longer needs to be a part of my life.

Here are a few ways I’m going to keep my minimalist philosophy in play this fall. [Read more…]

34 Comments
Filed Under: Minimalist Tagged With: Minimalist

Minimalism 101: One Thing a Day

Last Updated: August 16, 2022 BY Jordann - 33 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

I’ve been working really hard in the evenings and on weekends for the past year to generate extra income to pay off my debt. It’s worked!

I’m now only two months from having the entire $38,000 eradicated (I had the same amount as Michelle). Now that I’ve pretty much got my debt in the bag, I’ve resolved to make a little more time for myself and spend less time side hustling and writing.

Since I’ve had a bit of extra free time in the evenings and on weekends, I’ve been on a huge minimalizing kick and becoming a minimalist.

I’ve let things pile up around here, and without the time to address it, it has been driving me crazy.

The problem is, once I start cleaning and eradicating clutter, I sometimes get carried away and before I know it, half of my house is torn apart, and I’ve been so busy flitting from one project to the next that I haven’t been able to actually get rid of anything. Maybe it’s the millennial in me, but when I’m at home, sometimes I have a hard time concentrating on just one project, and completing it, before moving on to the next thing that catches my eye. [Read more…]

33 Comments
Filed Under: Budget, Minimalist Tagged With: Budget, Minimalist

How Much House Do You Really Need?

Last Updated: May 1, 2018 BY Jordann - 46 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Most people, at some point in their lives, want to become homeowners. I’m definitely one of those people. Something to think about is how much house you actually need.

I don’t need a ton of space, since it’s just me, my husband, my cat and my dog. Children are far off in the distant future for me, much further away than I’m hoping home-ownership will be.

When it comes to how much house I want, I seem to be in the minority.

Most people my age seem to want a ton of space (three bedrooms at least) and a nice, updated home (stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops?).

Related posts:

  • I Live in a 175 Square Foot Tiny Home – Sailboat Living
  • Living In A 200 Square Foot Tiny House – Could You Do It?
  • Do You Really Need That MASSIVE House?

Of course, these things come at a price, and with the Canadian housing market still going through a soft landing, this usually means the shelling out of a ridiculous sum of money in the form of a down payment, and stretching budgets to the max to make the monthly payment on a huge “dream home”. [Read more…]

46 Comments
Filed Under: Budget, House, Minimalist, Real Estate Tagged With: Budget, Home, Minimalist

Minimalism for a Balanced Life

Last Updated: December 3, 2020 BY Jordann - 29 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

What is the point of minimalism and becoming a minimalist? Is it to be able to live with 100 items or less? To be nomadic and able to live anywhere, in any city, without having to deal with the hassle of movers?

Are you only a minimalist if you can fit everything you need into your car? Or if your house has more than 50% bare wall space?

Minimalism doesn’t have rules, but it does have a purpose. The purpose of minimalism is to live with less. By living with less, we free ourselves from the shackles of consumerism, and free up our time, money, and emotional capital for focusing on the things that really matter.

Minimalism is not decluttering. Yes, decluttering is a part of being a minimalist, but the idea of decluttering is to get rid of things that build up in your home. Minimalism is not having things build up in the first place.

To completely remove the habits and mechanisms that lead to clutter, so that you can spend less time managing your stuff, cleaning it, moving it around, and more time simply being, and enjoying life. Let’s move towards the balanced life.

[Read more…]

29 Comments
Filed Under: Budget, Minimalist Tagged With: Budget, Minimalist

More Minimalist Confessions – Wedding Edition

Last Updated: December 19, 2015 BY Jordann - 25 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.


Today’s post is by my lovely staff writer Jordann. She is getting married this week!

I haven’t been a very good minimalist lately.

It’s not that I don’t want to be, my desire to live a minimalist life is as strong or stronger than it’s ever been before.

The problem is, I don’t have time to be as minimalistic as I’d like. I’m getting married this weekend, and to save on costs and help me achieve my dream of being debt free, we’re DIYing everything. That means that I’ve been going pretty much non stop for about a month now.

What does this have to do with minimalism, you might ask?

Well, when there’s no time, there’s no spring cleaning, no decluttering, no yard sales. There’s no once weekly sweep of the house, removing everything that has built up in the past seven days. [Read more…]

25 Comments
Filed Under: Budget, Minimalist, Wedding Tagged With: Bargain, Budget, Minimalist, Wedding

Finding Time For It All – Summer Edition

Last Updated: March 15, 2015 BY Jordann - 27 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Finding Time For It All - Summer EditionSummer is here, and with it comes unique challenges of trying to fit all of your responsibilities into the available hours in the day.

Balancing everything in during the other seasons is hard enough, with work, freelancing, and family commitments, but in the summer time, everything just seems to ramp up in a whole new way.

Weddings, family reunions, vacations, camping trips and yard work all compete for our time and sometimes leaves me feeling like I need a vacation from my vacation!

It’s not always easy keeping up with everything, especially if you’re a side hustler like Michelle and I. That said, there are a few ways we can make sure that everything essential gets accomplished, while still fitting in the important things, like family. [Read more…]

27 Comments
Filed Under: Career, Extra Income, Minimalist Tagged With: Career, Extra Money, Holidays

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Hello and welcome!
My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.

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