Category: Simple Organization

Simple Organization, Simple Self Care

My favorite books about minimalism (and other resources)

Lauren Yost

I love to learn about things that I’m passionate about, and of course, that includes simple living and minimalism. Podcasts and audiobooks are always my goto minimalist resources because I can listen while I’m doing dishes or driving. But I also love youtube channels to watch while I’m folding laundry and books to read in whatever quiet moments I can find. So I’ve made a list of some of my favorites books, podcasts, and youtube channels about minimalism.

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Simple Organization, Simple Recipes

Simple Meal Plan Method | Save 25% on your grocery budget

Lauren Yost

Meal planning always seemed so complicated to me. It took too much time and required too much decision making. So I minimized the process and came up with my own minimalist meal plan system. For a long time, I felt guilty for not meticulously planning my family’s meals. I’d heard every reason that I should have a meal plan. It saves you money. You waste less food. You’re more likely to eat healthfully. You’re less likely to eat out. And on and on. I get it. It’s probably a good idea. Continue reading “Simple Meal Plan Method | Save 25% on your grocery budget” →

Simple Organization

The Easiest Areas to Declutter | Decluttering tips for family minimalism

Lauren Yost

Decluttering can be incredibly overwhelming. There are so many decisions to make and many of theme are extremely difficult. We all know we should start, and that we need to start somewhere, but how? Where should we start? My answer: wherever seems easiest. This post holds some tips to make your decluttering easier.

Decluttering isn’t a complicated, step by step system that needs to be done just so. It just needs to be done. Period. And the great thing about decluttering is that it’s addicting. Once you get started, it’s easy to keep going. Starting with an easy to declutter area where you can get a big win for little time and effort is key.

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Simple Organization

Simplify your laundry routine | How to stop hating laundry

Lauren Yost

There are many schools of thought on what the best laundry routine looks like. I’ve listened to podcast episodes, watched youtube videos, and read blog posts with titles that imply that their way is the only way, or that somehow I’m doing laundry wrong.

This is not that kind of blog post.

This blog post is here to help you figure out what the best laundry routine is for your family. Particularly, what the simplest laundry routine is. Because if it’s overly complicated, you won’t stick to it. Keep it simple and it can change your life! (Can laundry change your life? Maybe. It’s debatable.)

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Simple Organization

Minimalist Travel and Packing Guide for Road Trips

Lauren Yost

Traveling is a great way to get a taste of a minimalist lifestyle. You can only take what you can fit in your car or suitcase. However, most of us tend to overpack and end up spending more time searching our luggage for things than we would like. That’s where it helps to have a minimalist travel mindset.

It was a road trip about a year ago that kicked off my minimalist journey. We were gone for 3 weeks and knew we’d have access to washing machines during our trip, so I packed for 1 week. Each week when I did our laundry, I was amazed that everything fit in one batch. It was laundry for all four of us, but it was only one batch a week instead of 3 or 4.

Of course, I knew this would be different at home. At home, I’d have to wash towels, sheets, and other non-trip things. But If I could get all of our clothing done in one load, that would be wonderful. (Laundry is NOT my favorite chore. More on that to come in a future blog post.)

And so when I got home I started researching family minimalism, found The Minimal Mom, and the rest is history. This year as I packed for our annual road trip, I tried to apply minimalist principles. 

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Simple Organization, Simple Self Care

Ten Benefits of a Minimalist Home | How Minimalism Blessed My Family

Lauren Yost

Having a minimalist home has had lasting benefits in our family. It is easily the best thing we’ve done for our family. The only thing I wish I had done differently with minimalism would be to start sooner.

I’ve identified ten ways that having a minimalist home has improved our every-day lives. Some of these benefits are more external in nature – ways that our days run smoother. The rest are more internal – ways that we feel better from the inside out.

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Simple Organization, Simple Parenting

Toy minimalism: How to simplify and organize toys for your family

Lauren Yost

Toy minimalism has made our lives simpler and more fun than I could ever have imagined.

About a year ago, I got totally fed up with the state of our playroom. We had so much random junk. So many things that didn’t have a real home in our toy organizing bins. I hated cleaning up the toys, so I usually just didn’t. They sat on the floor and piled up in front of the shelves that held the toys until you couldn’t get to the rest of the toys anymore. It probably goes without saying that we didn’t spend a lot of time there.

So when I found The Minimal Mom and learned how beneficial minimalism could be for my family, I knew I had to try toy minimalism. She talked about how much more creative her kids had become since getting rid of their toys. They love to create things with cardboard and tape, and they fight over their toys a lot less. That sounded glorious to me.

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Simple Organization

Family minimalism: What it is and how to make it work for your family

Lauren Yost

Family minimalism has been a big part of our simplifying process, and I know it can help your family too!

The first two years of our marriage we lived in a small 500 square foot, two bedroom apartment. When we first moved in we designated the extra bedroom as our office room. It quickly became filled with stuff. We’d inherited a lot of furniture and other things from my parents house, and since we were newly married and didn’t have much, our siblings and others gave us lots of stuff they were getting rid of. We love a good deal and couldn’t say no to free stuff, so we kept saying yes.

But over time, the stuff piled up and we ran out of storage room. Our small kitchen held so many cooking appliances that you could barely see the counter. It seemed like every nook and cranny had a pile or box shoved in it. We were careful to live within our financial means, but we were definitely living outside our storage means.

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