6 Things I’ve Learned in 6 Years of Living a Minimalist Lifestyle

Next week marks the six-year anniversary of my journey into a minimalist lifestyle.

A journey that has been more life-giving than I could have ever imagined. 

As I jettisoned unwanted and unloved items from our home, I made more space for the things that truly mattered. Over a year’s time, I let go of 75% of our stuff.

Our home looked different, yes, but the transformation went deeper than just the visible.

As my focus shifted from amassing and sustaining status symbols to embracing what truly mattered, I felt a renewed sense of meaning and richness.

I started showing up more peaceful and present in my relationships. With less clutter to distract me, I began noticing the beautiful details in my life and practicing gratitude. I traded comparison for contentment, restlessness for authenticity and peace.

A minimalist lifestyle has taught me many lessons over the last six years.

I’ll share six of them below in hopes that they inspire and encourage you to declutter your home and embrace a life with less stuff. 

Here are 6 things I’ve realized after 6 years of living a minimalist lifestyle:

1. You don’t miss what you let go of—you never really needed it anyway

As I journeyed into a minimalist lifestyle, there were moments where I felt paralyzed in my decluttering efforts, worried that I’d miss or need the things I let go of.

After six years of living with less stuff, I can safely say that you don’t miss what you donate—you never needed it anyway. 

You may feel angst or worry as you heave a box of possessions out of your trunk and hand it over to a donation center employee. After about a minute’s time your mind is onto other things—freed to enter the present moment more deeply with less stuff. You’re no longer concerned about your just-donated items. And you won’t be again.

Eighty percent of the possessions in your home are likely unused or unloved (most of us use just 20% of our stuff).

We need so much less than we think to be happy. You won’t miss that 80%. If you’re feeling called to let it go—go for it.

2. It’s okay to live in a way others don’t always understand

A minimalist lifestyle is countercultural living. Not everyone is going to support or understand your choice to live with less stuff. And that’s more than okay. 

You’re not obligated to explain your choices around possessions to anyone. You don’t need to be “on guard,” always ready to justify living with less. 

Truth is, so many people are living heavily influenced by our consumer culture, designing lives around how they’ve gleaned they “should” live instead of living intentionally and authentically. 

By choosing a minimalist lifestyle, you’re breaking the cycle of living life with material markers and social standards as your compass. You’re realigning life with your values and focusing on the intangibles that actually matter (not the stuff).

Many people won’t understand this, which again, is more than okay.

3. Sometimes inner clutter remains unnoticed (unhealed) until physical clutter is removed—there’s a connection

A minimalist lifestyle gives you space to realize that the clutter in your life often isn’t just physical stuff. In fact, inner clutter—comparison, worry, restlessness, caring what others think—often serves as an impetus to accumulate.

When you clear the outer clutter in your life, the inner clutter comes to light. We all have two homes, an outer which houses our physical possessions, and an “inner home,” which houses our soul. 

Once both are decluttered, life truly begins to feel light.

4. More free time is way more valuable than more stuff

A minimalist lifestyle means curating a life filled with less stuff and, therefore, more free time. Every possession we own has a claim on our time as we work to maintain it (clean it, pick it up, fix it). 

Also, studies show that decluttering your home reduces time spent on housework by 40%. That’s four free hours back a week if you currently spend ten on housework. 

Time is the only resource we can’t get more of—it’s beyond valuable. Are you using your time in a way that aligns with what matters? If you were on your deathbed now, is there something you’d wish you would have invested more time in? A relationship or a hobby, perhaps?

Living with stuff creates more time for what matters.

5. Kids really do thrive in a simple environment

Society sells us the message that more stuff equals a better childhood for our kids. 

After six years of living a minimalist lifestyle with four kids (and with baby number five on the way, coming in January), I 100% disagree. 

Before minimalism, I bought our kids more and more stuff constantly. Until I read the research, and realized that kids thrive in a simplified environment.

Once we let go of 75% of their stuff, their play became deeper and more independent. Their problem-solving skills and creativity skyrocketed. And when excess was no longer normalized, they stopped asking for “more.”

In a German study, a kindergarten classroom removed all toys for three months. At first, the kids didn’t know what to do without toys. But soon, they flourished, creating their own games. The study found that removing external stimuli in an environment fosters deeper concentration, self-reliance, and more meaningful social interactions in kids.

The same goes for our home environment. Our kids don’t need more stuff to thrive, they need less.

6. Often, you don’t realize the true weight of your clutter until it’s gone

The clutter in our home is not neutral, but often we don’t realize how truly heavy it is until we let it go. We can feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and scattered at home, but don’t always realize how much our environment contributes to our inner state.

Studies show cluttered homes lead to increased stress (higher cortisol levels) and anxiety. Clearing the clutter has immediate benefits—your nervous system relaxes with each excess possession that you relinquish.

In my experience, a minimalist lifestyle is an opportunity to shed what’s weighing you down and fill your life with what makes you feel lighter and come alive.

In conclusion

One of my favorite quotes about minimalism is by Fumio Sasaki, author of Goodbye Things.

“Minimalism is built around the idea that there is nothing that you are lacking,” Sasaki writes.

To lack nothing, as the 23rd Psalm echoes, is an inner shift that changes your outer environment. Perhaps the biggest lesson living a minimalist lifestyle continues to teach me is that, truly, I do lack nothing and need so much less than I think to be happy. 

A minimalist lifestyle continues to show me that, contrary to our consumer culture’s push for more, the “good life” isn’t one we can buy.

Happiness simply isn’t found in bigger, updated, or trendier things, but in less.

Reflecting on six years of minimalism, I wouldn’t change a thing. If you’re considering living with less, go for it. 

I’m grateful for the lessons a life of less have taught me—my life is unquestionably richer for it.

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Julia Ubbenga is a freelance journalist. Her teachings on minimalism, simplicity, and intentional living have reached over 1M people worldwide through her blog. Julia also practices what she preaches in her Kansas City home. She resides with her husband and their four extremely lively young children. You can also find her on Facebook.

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