Decluttering and Moving Towards Minimalism | Dawn of The Minimal Mom | Episode 114
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2024
- At the beginning of a new year, many of us are thinking about decluttering our homes. That’s why I am so excited to bring you this conversation with Dawn of The Minimal Mom. Dawn has shared over 500 videos on her UA-cam channel on minimalism, decluttering, and organization, but you don’t have to want to be a minimalist to benefit from her message. Listen in as Dawn and I both share how our journeys toward living with less stuff became our normal way of life.
In this episode, we cover:
- What to do with sentimental items
- A new way to view items in your home
- Decluttering as a frugal person
- What to do with items you aren’t quite ready to part with
- How to change your mindset while shopping
- Shaping your kids’ view of material possessions
- Dawn’s top three tips for getting started with decluttering
Dawn is married to Tom, and they have four kids ages seven through 12. They’ve called themselves minimalists for about seven years and couldn't imagine living any other way. Because it's had such a positive impact on their lives, they enjoy sharing tips and tricks to help you simplify your home quickly too.
RESOURCES
Declutter Your Home in 15 Minutes a Day Course: www.theminimalmom.com/academy
Decluttering Workbook: www.theminimalmom.com/workbook
CONNECT
Dawn Madsen of The Minimal Mom
Website: www.theminimalmom.com
UA-cam: / theminimalmom
Instagram: / the.minimal.mom
Facebook: / minimalmom
Podcast: www.theminimalmom.com/podcast
Lisa Bass of Farmhouse on Boone
Blog: www.farmhouseonboone.com/
UA-cam: / farmhouseonboone
Instagram: / farmhouseonboone
MORE RESOURCES
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Get your Berkey Filter with the Simple Farmhouse Life podcast discount: www.berkeyfilters.com/collect...
Watch my Berkey review video: • Do we like our Berkey ...
Download my updated ebook with ALL of my sourdough recipes: withered-breeze-7467.ck.page/...
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I vote you both as 2 of the most valuable people on UA-cam in the homemaking arena. Thank you so much 🥰
I absolutely love when channels that I subscribe to find each other. It’s an almost weird affirmation for me. This was a wonderful podcast Lisa. Thank you for sharing.
I've felt guilty for YEARS that I've not been able to use coupons effectively. My husband has been disappointed that I'm not taking advantage of the opportunity to save that money. But I've recently begun saying that it's not my thing. It's not something I'm going to feel bad about anymore. With all the stress that i feel about many things in life, I'm not letting this be one of them. Thank you, ladies, for helping me see that it's okay!
Thanks, ladies. I've been listening to you both (and Diana) for a few years now. I'll be 70 soon but hey, old dogs can learn new tricks too!
Do true ... I'm 76
I love it!
Lisa - "Time will tell bin. Hide it from the children."
Dawn - " And your spouse."
I had an ah-ha moment recently while walking thru a tourist attraction gift shop trying to decide which souvenir to take home with me. It occurred to me quite suddenly as I looked around that if I were walking thru a thrift shop back home, looking at these same items, I wouldn’t buy ANYTHING! It was such a pleasant revelation that I chose right then and there to walk away with nothing but happy memories and immediately felt at peace with that decision! It felt so GREAT to walk away with only good memories & no additional clutter! Thank you both for your inspiration!
Yeah, thankfully I learned that rather young. Probably because I really never had much money. Anyway, I have very much appreciated buying postcards from racks that they have in those kind of places. A couple of postcards bring back wonderful memories of where I’ve been. Even 40 years later, I still enjoy my postcards. 😊😉
… And they’re super easy to keep in a memory box.
❤❤ When you talked about deciding whether you should save time or money I thought of my 3 choices. I realized years ago I make decisions based on (1) time, (2) money, or (3) stress. I ask myself what is the thing that I need to protect the most. For example, if I don't have time, I give myself permission to spend more money even if it may cause a some stress. Sometimes I need to protect myself from stress so I spend more time or money. Choose 1 of the 3 and give yourself permission to take the best care of yourself in the moment.
My husband had a ton of t shirts he wanted to keep but never wore, so we sent off all of our sentimental shirts to be made into a blanket that we use in place of a comforter on our bed! It’s not Instagram or Pinterest looking, but it’s practical!
I want to do this with my kids baby clothes😊
I say my basement is where things go to die. It’s a bit dramatic but what I mean is if I put it down there I will forget about it and it will be obsolete. And clutter begets clutter so I will just pile more things down there.
As time goes by I am discovering: I am a collector. So I give myself a limited space to contain the whatever (books, records, art supplies, kitchen gear, clothing, sports gear, household linens). This has kept us from becoming overwhelmed with excess.
Also, I make decisions around what I want to do. So I keep only white towels which meant donating perfectly good things we really weren't using and wouldn't use since it wasn't white and so couldn't get bleached (we only keep liquid bleach). I like to be able to bleach towels, sheets, napkins, table cloths, so that means all the colored things went out. I had a supply of white items and still haven't needed to replace them so I must have bought pretty good quality items to begin with, another recommendation buy best quality you can afford at the time.
We also started having systems to deal with things that have to go but aren't straight forward ---
(What becomes of the medical supplies after a broken leg?
Who will take the old unusable irreparable tech tools?)
Plus I made a simple decision around what to keep:
Durable tools are kept but we don't accumulate supplies just to have on hand, for the sake of being prepared (so keep the hammer and screw drivers but buy the nails, screws and glue as needed). We aren't remodeling or wood workers here. Or, keep the tennis racket and buy the tennis balls with the new season.
Likewise, I don't stock up on shampoo, deodorants, soaps, conditioner, lotion, bathwash, make up, nail polishes, first aid, or sun screen. I figured out how frequently we consume these products, have a list of favorite brands (because we have allergies) and that gives us a schedule for those purchases. When we run low, at that time I might shop around a BIT, but usually I just rebuy what we just used up. There is no thinking in the store, no staring at those bottles of whatever aging on the shelf at home. It's usually a seasonal or an annual purchase so if funds are an issue, I have up to a whole year to save up.
As for shopping, I no longer wander around WalMart or Target or Kohls for fun. If I need something, I will shop around at that time, but usually I stick to my list since I prefer to Nit have so much sitting around waiting to get used plus I have limited storage space.
Also, remember inspiration: I loved my grandma's empty basement. She had a clothes line, her washer and dryer, her off season outdoor things and maybe canning jars on a shelf with her detergent. Otherwise, it was a well-lit, empty, clean, painted space. Easily swept. No fear of damaged valuable items due to flooding or hiding places for spiders or mice. A clear open peaceful space, something I aspire for myself.
Of all the people I follow on UA-cam, you two are just the best. Full of useful information and great encouragement! Thanks for much for this video. I loved every minute of it 💕
Agree!
100% agree
You two have had such an impact on my family. So grateful to have found your channels. I’ve learned so much from you two about motherhood, finding balance and focusing on what’s truly important. ♥️
Same for me! Thank you both so much!💜
Hands down they inspire me on the reg to be my best!
Same! My favorite mommy UA-camrs! 😍 you ladies are such a blessing.
You two together!!!!???? YES! ❤️
I remember being shocked when Dawn said that all her kid's birthday cakes were Bundt cakes (in another video). Where was the arty shapes cut together to make a cool something or other cake? And then I realized that was the point. It's not important to her. And Bundt cakes with bright icing is quite lively and celebratory. I got rid of my cupcake tin. Cupcakes were a fantasy item, mostly, and I could always make something similar in little glass storage containers (for leftovers) if I needed to.
My husband was number 3 from 11 kids. The family was very poor. His parents were hard working while also taking care of their elderly aunt who also lived with them on their little farm on the Dutch countryside.
The children never had any toys . My husband remembers he got a box containing rusty crooked nails on his birthday. Boy was he happy that day, now he could build a treehouse with his brothers and friends. Our son had way to many toys.
I wish that I ‘d seen this conversation 20 years ago. You girls give the best tips. Thanks a lot.
I know thats a great present but I can't imagine children having no toys.
The Collaboration I never knew I needed 😍🙌🏻
I know! ❣
Anyone else out there kinda wish they were born back in like, the Ingall's day? I so wish I didn't have to battle clutter all of the time and that I could Spring clean my entire house in one day. 😭😅
Me me me!!!!!
You can still live that way! Just buy less and bring in less. Christmas and birthdays are tough for me but I spent the week after each to find a permanent place for new toys. That way the kids can play with them again and again and they are out of the way in their own set container.
ALL the time! My husband and I just talked about this yesterday.
It’s so true: the hardest part is starting. Since we moved to our new house in June I’ve known that I needed to start decluttering the countless boxes in the basement storage area. But I kept putting it off until one late night in March, I just decided to start with some childhood memento boxes….and I was hooked!! It feels amazing to let things go!!
My two favorite you tube channels. I made sour dough English muffins today and Dawn has made my life so easy as I have embraced a minimum life. My house is style very stylish but my inventory is about a third of what I had after 48 years of marriage. Now everything has its place which makes the house easy to keep neat. I have also embraced a homemade home. Thanks so much to each of you.
Monthly inventory checks on all areas works for me. Less inventory takes less time to monitor.
Two of my all time FAVORITE UA-camrs! ♥️♥️
I have recently found your page and have fallen in love with your videos…but then I found THIS video and literally my two favorite people in one video 😯 it can’t get better than this one 🤗
My daughter just married and that is something I told her and her husband, that she did not have to keep everything! I had kept bath towels for twenty years because my mom did!
Pictures are the only thing that I find difficult to let go. My feelings about photos is that they are a moment in time that can never be recaptured and if I let them go, then that moment is lost forever. I do not collect things, I am not sentimental about most things. I constantly go through my things and either get rid of them, put them in a box to be revisited at a future date or find a better place for them. So, photos are my only difficult part of organizing.
Growing up we always saved the special stuff for visitors. Now that I'm older I use them for myself. Why shouldn't I use special things? If it's too nice for me to use, it's not staying!
I thought we were moving two years ago. I boxed up 90% of my house and only kept out what we'd need for 90 days. Guess what! 80% of things I packed away...I just donated!!! My house functions SO much better 💕 ( Try it)
I really appreciate hearing women speak from a Christian homemaker perspective
Great information! I did this room by room a couple of weeks ago. I get things from others that they don’t want to manage but by giving those things to me to deal with I think they justify their own guilt. For example, my Mother gives me items that belonged to her various relatives. She doesn’t really want them yet she’ll give them to me because it belonged to aunt so and so. So I purged! Truckload after truckload. How freeing it is! I wish everyone good luck with this challenge. It’s hard but worth it in the end. Also having a friend to help that isn’t emotionally attached to your stuff makes it easier as well! Thank you for this episode!
I’ve only been listening to Lisa for a month or so, but I’m four years deep with Dawn - she nailed this one - clear and useful as always. Loved Lisa’s take on her inventory preferences! So wonderful.
Those people in Wal-Mart and Target are called "relocation engineers". LOL!
If I could go back in time regarding toy's, I would have simplified it by stick with the basics. Blocks, car's, play kitchen, doll!
You two ladies have helped me tremendously in decluttering over 75% of my stuff! We went from 4,000sqft to a 30 ft RV as a family of 6. We’re praying God provides us a house soon, and that we can continue to live as minimally as possible in our next home! Lisa I used to listen to your old video on this when you didn’t have a podcast! Think I’ve watched that over 10 times!
Two of my favorite podcasters I have found while trying to learn to be a better homemaker and live a more simple life.
I watch this type of videos all the time when I am folding laundry or cleaning the kitchen. It is very inspiring and I feel like you guys are keeping me company.
I’ve followed Dawn for over a year and have learned so much about approaching decluttering and purging!
What a great idea! To put an item “on clearance” in our home! We could grab “clearance bags” and then dispose of them in the way we deem best. Love this topic. Love these ideas!
With multiple kids i loved having a designated toy play room. Bedrooms were for dressing and sleeping or alone quiet time.
most couldn't believe my eyes! My two favorites! Both who have truly made me a better cook and better keeper of my home
Lisa, this was the first time I’ve listened to your podcast and I realized that I’d never heard your laugh. It’s awesome to hear you enjoy yourself. Content is spot-on helpful as always, and as always Minimal Mom Dawn is brilliant. Thanks kindly.
I am so glad they touched on the Grandparents and too much toys thing. It is the only thing that stresses me. I dislike having to deal with the mountain of stuff that appears every gift giving occasion.
Right, and we feel bad that they paid $ for it too
This is why our family committed to only gifting experiences. We go to the zoo, or theme park or art experiences etc. All my sister, cousins etc. All the grand kids come together for the experience that the dults contributed to. It's worked for the last 4 years and has been amazing. Our kids don't need more material items from relatives like aunties and uncles. They get gifted from us, mum and dad. It's worked well and we all get to enjoy in the fun
Great interview... two like-minded women. 'Sensible' is an adjective we rarely espouse in this modern world of extremes, but you both embody it. I'm already one of Dawn's followers, and as of now, I've subscribed here.
You both have such an important message, not just for your own peace of mind but for our planet. The pollution and environmental cost of overconsumption is enormous.
When you said "Now I have to manage 500 nerf bullets" I lost it! Immediately shaking my head "yes" afterwards. My kids are in their 20's now but oh how I wish I had access to this in the 90's. The PTSD I have from all that inventory is mind boggling! The good news is in our new stage of life we are very mindful of what we have and decide to keep and I have passed this information to my kids now which they have truly accepted as a quality of life. Love this video so much! Thank you for sharing your wisdom. :)
This was such a good dialogue. It covered so many aspects of taking back one’s home. I have been watching both your channel and Dawn’s for over a year and this episode seemed to capsulize the essence of why, what and how to approach decluttering. Thanks, Lisa and Dawn.
I just took 3 new unopened toys to our local food bank, I like that they distribute toys to those in need of birthday/Christmas gifts.
The two women I listen to most- together!!
While I was listening to you both I sat in a chair and completely cleared out a double deep drawer just jammed packed with misc. no home items. Tossed, donated and kept just a few things. Thank you for the encouragement and helpful tips as I was decluttering.
I LOVE that thought…. If this item were at the thrift store, knowing what I know now, would I buy it again? A LOT of things would be no. That’s a great way to know it needs to go.
Something I do with things in the pantry . I only buy when its being use and need to buy another. If anything is double I leave it visible to use , plan a meal that contains that food. first in first out. or products near expiration day I put in a visible place to use it or it will go in the garbage.
When it comes to children’s belongings. It’s not so hard to manage no matter how many children you have as long as you make it a point to check their rooms daily to make sure they’re clean. It should be their responsibility to pick up after themselves. My mom used to tell us, make sure you put that away as soon as you’re done playing with it. Then when she noticed we were no longer playing with it she would check to make sure we put it away. Doing this keeps you from having to go from one room to the other to get this toy in that toy together. I just know that we were always obedient in that area.
2 of my favorite people❤ so glad this popped up on my feed
Two of my favorites in one episode!! Love Dawn so much and of course I love your channel too!
I so enjoyed this lovely ‘meeting’ between you two amazing young women 👋🇦🇺
My two favorite you tubers!!! Love you guys! 😊
Thank you for the perspective about if this item was at the thrift shop for $10, would I buy it? That let me get expensive uncomfortable shoes out of my house!
Two of my faves! Love this.
I was so happlily suprized to see this podcast. I just bought her workbook and it has been a great help. I have been following Dawn for about 6 months now and her ideas and suggestions have really changed my perspective on 'stuff'. Thanks Lisa this was Great!
Keeping a memory box is a great idea. It's like looking through a photo album and enjoying the old memories. My prob would be, how big a box? At least a xerox paper box. 😂
I’ve been waiting for this video!! 🙌🏼
Everytime I watch videos about decluttering I can't help but get up and declutter all my house immediately 😅.
Please bring Jessica from three Rivers homestead❤.
This was a surprise.. Love you both. I have followed Dawn for 4 years, I always look forward to both your videos.
❤️❤️
Since I minimized I now am so careful what I bring into my home, space and organization is too important to me
My two favorite UA-camrs together!! -Ashley ☺️
Two of the best out there! 🙂
Ok, regarding the sunk cost, I totally do that with kids clothes… The kids are growing and I feel like I can’t remember all the beautiful moments so I keep ALL the kids clothes…. I really neeed to just LET GO..
Ladies 1 box done during this video and I'm returning the Instapot I got for Christmas that's still sitting here unopened
Love Dawn the Min Mom! Such great advice from a practical mom’s perspective.
Yay two of my favorite UA-cam channels collabing! 🥰❤
Love this colab. Thank you, ladies.
SO fun! SO funny that most comments are from people who subscribe to both Lisa's and Dawn's UA-cam channels. Like, "Hey, you guys know each other??" Great collaboration. :)
I will listen to this on the car ride tomorrow but you look beautiful in the photo!
Two of my favs!!!!
Thank You for this wonderful information !!
Watching my two favorite you tubers talk to each other is so cool! I have always wondered if you followed each other. I enjoy your both so much. 💞
Two of my favorites!
My two faves!!! Haven't watched yet but very excited❤️
Love both of you and have recommended many friends to your channels!! Thank you for all your hard work and for sharing all you’ve learned!
Wow this is so cool! Great job ladies🥰❤
Great interview. Thank you!
Truly my two favorite moms! Lol. Yay!
Love this, and both of you! ❤️❤️
So appreciate you both!
My husband tends to hoard clothes and shoes. He buys stuff but doesn’t throw any item away and is attached to everything even if those clothes don’t fit anymore or are worn. He gets insulted if I suggest he has 10 black outdoor jacket coats and could he thin them out? Some of them are from his previous workplaces with logos on them and he kind of collects them! Any advice?
Good interview! You brought out the best of Dawn!
Omgosh my two favorites on the same UA-cam! Thank you ladies!
Two of my favorite people!!! Thank you ladies! I was actually decluttering while you chatted!!! See you both soon!!! ❤️
That was very helpful and you and Dawn are my most favorite you tube channels to watch. Thank you for all you share.
Yay! I just found your channel this week (LOVE!💗) and I love The minimal mom on you tube! Excited to watch!
Excellent!!!! Thank you so much. I just subscribed. I have been following Dawn. ❤
Two of my faves in one place 🙌🙌
Great interview! I love Dawn - and her tips have helped me so much on my decluttering journey.
I love these interviews, Lisa! And this time, two of my favorite UA-cam creators in one place! Thank you, ladies. :)
Thank you both!! You have both made such an amazing impact on my home, my family and my life. ❤️
Super fantastic job with this video! Very helpful and motivating.
So good. Thank you. Great practical habits.
You two are my favorite you tubers. ❤️ Thank you for all you do. Blessings 🙏
Yes, I love that, "A curator's eye."
Great video, I love the minimal mom and watch all of her videos, she is fantastic.
So glad you interviewed Dawn, I follow her and now I am following you 😊
I love both you. You have both help me declutter and Lisa helps with homemade cooking. You both are wonderful ladies.
Great to hear the two of you together! I enjoy both of you, so the conversation was really good!