Minimalism has certainly become a trendy topic over the years, yet it seems to contradict the homesteading life many of us live. Can you really be a minimalist and still homestead?
There are so many aspects of minimalism that I enjoy, such as focusing on experiences instead of things. But, on the homestead, we need a lot of things! There are just so many jobs to get done and at various points of the year. Plus, saving items usually saves time and money in the future when a need arises.
Living out in the country means we can’t just run to town and buy an item when we need it. We need to be efficient and effective in our problem-solving approach on the homestead. You simply can’t get by with too little or you’ll always be running into problems.
But, in some ways, minimalism seems to come naturally too. We don’t buy the next greatest invention or gadget when it releases because we value the simple life we live – gardening, caring for livestock, and sweat equity.
Here are some ways our family has found ways to be minimalist and still homestead…
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Tiny House Living
First things first, and something that definitely can’t be ignored is that we live in a tiny house, which naturally forces us to be minimalists. There is simply nowhere to store a lot of things!
When we sold our 2,100 square foot house in the suburbs and moved to our 80-acre homestead in the country we decided to build a tiny house on the land. The land only came equipped with a barn (such a blessing) and a few shacks that became chicken coops.
Related Post: Can You Live In A Tiny House With A Baby? Yes, Here’s How We Do It!
Our family values staying out of debt as much as possible and we also don’t mind living in smaller spaces, so building a tiny house seemed like the best option for us.
I spent every weekend leading up to our move going through every single item we owned and decluttering over half our things. It was so refreshing to move into our tiny house with only the items we use on a regular basis. The seasonal items we don’t use every day store nicely in our barn.
One easy way you can be a minimalist on the homestead is to start in your home. Declutter everything you haven’t used in the last year! It doesn’t have to take all day. Spend 15 minutes here and there, but be sure you touch every single item and fairly evaluate it.
Donate and throw away items you no longer use or enjoy. Challenge yourself to eliminate half of your clothing, your kitchen dishes, your books, and craft supplies. I promise you will feel refreshed!
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Set Up Boundaries
Now that you’ve worked on decluttering your house, it’s time to tackle the barn, shed or garage where you keep all those homesteading essentials like tools, mechanics, and workbenches.
This is where it can get tricky. You don’t want to be as aggressive at decluttering here as you were in the house. This is where you may accidentally donate or throw away something that is useful on the farm, now or in the future.
To be a minimalist and still homestead you do have to declutter those areas first, but you need to also set up boundaries simultaneously.
Here’s an example. We have a shelving unit in one of the rooms of our barn to house our outdoor tools. First, we decluttered what is broken beyond repair, we no longer use, or that no longer functions well for our needs. Then, we found an area that can house all those tools easily (basically we organized them and kept them in view for easy access!) Lastly, we set up the boundary. We gave ourselves room to add a few more tools in the future but any more than that would not fit on the shelf. Now we know that once the shelf is full, we can’t add any more until we declutter again.
The shelf is the boundary. We found a shelf that was the right size to limit what we could store there.
To be a minimalist and still homestead you need boundaries for every single one of the items you store. If you fail to implement boundaries, then before you know it, your items will control you!
Have you seen the homesteaders with junk-ridden yards? They seem to keep every free thing they can get their hands on as a “just in case I need it in the future” mentality. However, what they fail to realize is that their stuff owns them. They have no freedom, and they also have no ability to keep an inventory of each of those items.
That’s where the minimalism and homesteading balance comes in. Yes, we want to keep items for future situations, but we don’t want to keep everything.
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After you declutter, your items categorize them. Once you have your categories put them in their organized boundaries. This could be bins, baskets, shelves, wall hooks, pegboards, hanging racks, etc.
This is what has worked extremely well for our family as we embrace being minimalist and still homestead!
Yearly Review
To be a minimalist and still homestead you must review your inventory yearly. It’s not a fun task necessarily because it can be a lot of work. But, without a yearly review, things will clutter up and before you know it, you’ll no longer be in control of your items.
Do you do a fall clean-up day to prepare for winter each year? We sure do! Right around the same time I put on the calendar to also go through every single item in the barn and put it in its place or declutter it!
Put on the calendar a day each year that you can get your homesteading items back in order!
With these steps, I am sure you can be a minimalist and still homestead. We do it and love the life we live! Leave a comment below with your tips and tricks, I’d love to hear from you!
Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma
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