Minimalist Archives - Making Sense Of Cents

Learn how to downsize your home, stress free!

January 21, 2019 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 11 Comments

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Are you ready for something simpler or smaller and wanting to know how to downsize your home? It can be big process and less and less people seem to be doing it these days.

The average home size in 1950 was less than 1,000 square feet. Fast forward to 2017, the average home size has increased to nearly 2,600 square feet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Related posts:

When we did live in a “normal” home, it was fairly close to that average home size. The house we owned in the St. Louis, Missouri area was around 2,500 square feet if you included our finished basement, and it was just for myself, my husband, and our two dogs. [Read more…]

Smaller Can Be Better- Maximize Your Savings With A Small House

September 3, 2018 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 36 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.

Hi, I’m Ariel, Michelle’s sister-in-law and editor. I’ve been editing and learning from Michelle’s blog for over two years now, and if you’ve read any of the posts I’ve written for Michelle, you know I’m conscious about my savings and spending. I have a degree in English Literature, and I make a living as an editor, preschool teacher, and knitting instructor.

My husband and I were recently faced with the reality that we would have to find a new house and move. I’m not going to spend too much time on specifics, but it has to do with a retail development going smack dab on top of us.

We were only 19 and 20 years old when we bought our house and had very limited buying power. With what felt like nonexistent options, we fell in love the minute we walked into our little 900 sq ft. brick bungalow. It was the dreamhouse we never knew we wanted, and we were pretty certain we would never leave. [Read more…]

Are You Making Your Life Difficult? 18 Ideas To Simplify Your Life in 2019

December 11, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 51 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.

Learning ways to simplify your life in 2019 can completely change your life and future for the better.

Trying to manage your life, especially your financial life, can be difficult in today's age. Between planning for retirement, paying bills, raising a family, etc. life can be exhausting. And, we all have a lot of clutter in our life – not just physical, mental as well!

Due to that, wouldn’t it be nice if you learned ways to simplify your life in 2019?

There is no better time than right now to start thinking about how to simplify your life for the future. The New Year is always a good time to make goals, and 2019 is the perfect year to focus on simplifying your life. You'll be able to apply that knowledge and experience for years and years to come.

By simplifying your life, you can learn how to be happier, be in more control of your life, waste less of your valuable time, and more. All of this will allow you to enjoy life even more! [Read more…]

Less is More: Guide To Becoming a Minimalist

March 15, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 35 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.

Are you looking to become a minimalist and start minimal living? This blog post will help you manage a minimalist wardrobe, a minimalist house, and more! Are you interested in becoming a minimalist? Or, maybe you just want to get rid of some clutter and extra nonsense in your life?

Whatever your reason may be, cutting back on the number of things you own can help you in many ways.

Here are some interesting facts about how clutter impacts our lives:

The average house has 300,000 items.
Nearly 10% of households also rent a self-storage unit.
The average person spends 12 days per year looking for things they can’t find.
Every day the average office worker spends 1.5 hours looking for things (when a simple filing system like one of these would solve this problem!).
In a recent survey, 55% of consumers stated they would save anywhere from 16 to 60 minutes a day if they were organized.
23% of people pay bills late and have to pay late fees because they are unable to find their bills.
In the last few decades, the average home has nearly tripled in size.

If you're looking for blog posts on how to become a minimalist and becoming a minimalist, then you've come to the right place. [Read more…]

Stop Comparing Yourself To Others And Live Your Own Life

February 13, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 50 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.

Do you find yourself comparing yourself to others often? Here are reasons you should stop comparing yourself to others and start living your own life. I think we can probably all agree that your life might be different if you decided to stop comparing yourself to others.

Over the years, I've compared myself to others plenty of times. I've compared myself to others when it came to school, looks, money, and more. I know that sounds bad, but without acknowledging that, it would be hard to stop.

Many people compare themselves to others too.

In fact, everyone has done it at one point in their life.

People often compare themselves to others to determine how well they are doing in life and base their personal value on that. However, that usually doesn’t lead to feeling too good about yourself. Plus, who actually wants to judge themselves in a negative way? [Read more…]

59 Things To Do Instead of Watching TV So That You Can Take Your Life Back

January 23, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 75 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.

Did you know that the average person watches over 30 hours of TV a week? Even if you used just half of those hours finding things to do instead of watching TV, you could probably accomplish something great!

How often do you watch TV? What if you could stop watching TV and spend that time more wisely? Here are 59 things to do instead of watching TV! Now, I'm not completely hating on TV.

I have my favorite TV shows and can sit in front of a TV for hours on end.

However, for the most part, the average person probably spends way too much time just flipping through channels or watching something that they probably don't even like.

We got rid of cable and even Netflix over one year ago (I recommend getting a digital antenna!), and it's the best decision we've ever made. We're able to save more money, we waste much less time on TV, and we've found plenty of better things to do instead of watching TV.

If you feel like you aren't accomplishing your goals in life or that you are always pressed for time, then you should first analyze how much time you're wasting each day, especially when it comes to how much TV you watch.

You may not even realize how much time you spend in front of the TV! [Read more…]

The Less You Own, The Less That Owns You

January 9, 2017 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 83 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.

The less you own, the less that owns you. Minimalist living has changed my life for the better. If you are interested in having a minimalist house and life, then you must read this! I haven't always been a minimalist, nor have I always been interested in minimalist living. I used to purchase crazy amounts of clothing, random items for my home, wasn't interested in becoming a minimalist, and so on.

I hoarded lots of items, hoping that one day I would find a use for them. I often thought that I needed things, so I would purchase crazy amounts of them even though I should have put my money to better use.

Then, around two years ago, I realized that I had too much stuff and that I had an unhealthy relationship with material things.

Over the past two years, I have donated or given away the majority of my belongings. I now pretty much only have the things I need to get me through the day or week ahead. There is no extra, and before I purchase anything, I always think about what use I'll get out of it. [Read more…]

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