Minimalist Christmas Traditions

I would say I come from a tradition-loving family. Every year, a big hoopla was made over watching our extensive list of favorite Christmas movies, putting up a lot of Christmas decorations, eating lots of sweet, and the list goes on. As I've begun building my own family traditions, I have found that our lifestyle doesn't mesh too well with the traditions I grew up with.

At first, I found this a little disheartening. What traditions makes sense for a family that tries to be frugal, not create a lot of waste or take up space, and keep things simple? Here are the traditions we have chosen as fitting with our family lifestyle:

Zero Waste - How and Why

I find myself becoming more hippie every day. It was never a goal of mine, partially because there are aspects of the hippie lifestyle that I don't condone, but the granola, tree-hugging, natural-living life appeals to me greatly. This is true for several reasons. First, I am a steward of the earth, and I feel that responsibility strongly. Secondly, I love the art of keeping home, and that involves living more slowly, simply, and naturally - at least it does for me. Lastly, I believe it to be healthier and more beneficial for my family. First I adopted the practice of using natural cleaners and hygiene products, then minimalism, then my family went paper free. It seemed natural that a zero waste lifestyle would follow.

What is a zero waste lifestyle? Put simply, it is the practice of eliminating single-use products from your life and trying to limit your waste to infinitely recyclable or compostable items. For us, this meant getting a compost bin for our home, buying local products we can put in our own containers, and limiting the other things we buy to things in glass, metal, or paper packaging. I find it to be a fun process, and we're getting to know our area better as a result.

Because we're doing a no-spend, right now, we've decided to only purchase on a replacement basis, which is what most zero-wasters do anyway. We did make an exception for the composting bin. We've found a local place to get meat and dairy, another to get grains, and we're still looking for options for produce. I'm working through my list of things to replace items like shampoo and tinfoil. I'm deciding what we'll give up instead of finding an alternative or trying to make ourselves.

To me it's an exciting process. I think my husband finds it stressful, right now, though that will hopefully become less as we become used to the new routines. We've been doing it for a couple weeks, and in the past week have only take out one bag of trash. That's pretty good, considering we don't have our compost bin, yet, and are still getting through single-use products we had before this new venture started. I look forward to seeing how it simplifies and betters our home.

If you're interested in more information, you can check out this website. It includes links to videos, if you would prefer that kind of information.

My Wardrobe Discovery

Several weeks ago, I bought a dress to be my go-to formal-wear for church, weddings, funerals, and other similar events. I cringed as I bought it, because it cost $85 - a lot for our budget. 

When I received it, I tried it on and immediately loved it. It was comfortable - like cashmere - light and soft. It was my preferred length (to my ankles), with a top that made nursing easy but was still modest. I felt beautiful in it, my husband liked it, and it is "infinity sizing", which means I can wear it while pregnant and between/after babies. It's made of bamboo, which has a lot of benefits you don't get from cotton, and it's gentle on my ultra-sensitive skin. 

Pregnant with my first baby, I only wore dresses. Post-baby, none of the dresses I had worked for nursing, so I switched to skirts and shirts. I was frustrated by how quickly everything wore out, how all cotton seemed to be transparent to the point of immodesty, and I missed dresses. With my second pregnancy, the items I had made work no longer suited my growing belly, and I still needed to be able to nurse. 

Having found this dress, I'm excited to replace my skirts and shirts with more dresses of varying colours. It suits all my needs, is durable, and is wonderfully versatile. It's a perfect option for anyone wanting something modest, flattering, which will work for nursing, pregnancy, and just your everyday body. I encourage you to try one.

*I have not been requested to review this product, nor am I compensated in any way for raving about it. 

My Minimalist Wardrobe

I know I've talked, some, about my wardrobe. It was really the beginning of my pursuit of minimalism as I looked through my clothes and realized that, although I liked most of what I had, not all of it fit well, was in good condition, and there were too many choices. I had half a closet, a couple shelves, and a large dresser full of clothes. My husband had exactly the same amount of space for his clothes. And we had clothes in storage for the off seasons.

I wasn't super happy with my wardrobe. The year we married, I had lost 40 pounds due to poor health, and a lot of my clothes were essentially pinned on. We couldn't really afford to replace them, but then I thought why do I need to replace these things? Is there enough that fits me to make work?

My decision was simple: I told my husband I was going to get rid of everything except for a certain number of each item. I don't remember the numbers exactly, but it went something like:

• seven shirts
• seven skirts
• three jeans
• five pairs of shoes

Etcetera. I had to love these items, they must fit perfectly, and they had to be in good condition. I was essentially building a capsule wardrobe, but I didn't know that, as I'd never heard of such a thing. My husband decided to join me, and by the end, we shared one dresser and the closet was half empty. The shelves were used for shoes and other storage as we no longer needed them for clothes. It was great! I loved everything I owned, and it all fit. 

Then I got pregnant. Suddenly, my wardrobe wasn't exactly splendid. I had several maxi dresses and a few maxi skirts, and those got me through it with few purchases. Then I had my baby, and dresses really don't work for nursing. The shirts I had worn before the pregnancy were mostly fitted, so I ordered some tank tops to even things out. 

Not too much later, we moved. As can sometimes happen, I quickly realized that because of the wardrobe changes I'd had to make, I had accumulated a lot of things that were no longer functional. I decided to downsize again. This time, I picked an outfit for every day of the week, with a few outfits have a second top to choose from. My husband joined me again, though his way of choosing what to keep was different, as his style had been changing over those couple years, and at the end, we sold the dresser and shared a closet. 

Again, I loved everything I owned. It all fit. It all looked nice. I had around 30-40 items, as well as a few seasonal items. I was pleased with how much having fewer clothes made my mornings easier. There was little enough choice, I didn't stand for several minutes trying to decide what to wear. I think my wardrobe stayed this way for about a month before I felt dissatisfied again. I had grown used to fewer choices and thought what if there was even less choice? 

I decided to go "extreme". Four skirts, one pair of jeans, five tops, a black dress, and three layering options. This includes one outfit for Sunday, which I don't wear at any other time. Eventually, I want to have three of the same skirt, three of the same shirt, a Sunday outfit, and a few layering options (I live in the north. Layers are important), thus making my choice even more simple. As I get closer to this ideal, I become more excited. Having little choice makes me feel like I have more room for other choices, and I find that I care way less about what people think about my clothing. I know that everything I wear is functional, beautiful, and something I chose with careful consideration. How many people can say that about their clothes? 

Our Minimalist Home

I've been wanting, for awhile, to share some pictures of our home. We love being here, and we enjoy showing it off. Here are pictures and brief explanations of our space and how we use it.

Living Room

We do most of our hosting on the main floor, which contains our living room and kitchen, as well as a half-bath off the kitchen. Because our living room doesn't have a light built in, we have to use several lamps so it isn't so dim we get sleepy at night (especially on long winter days, when it starts getting dark around 4 PM). We have a clock on the wall and some pictures near the entryway.

One shelf has reference and literature books. The other only holds items our daughter plays with. There are six or seven toys, a few items which "nest", her Simba, and a box of blocks.

Two couches and a love seat might seem like too much, but we frequently need all of them, and the rug is mostly to protect the cream carpet from my daughter :). The mirror and the clock were gifts from my mother.

Minimalism: the Second Purge

In September, I wrote about how my family has been embracing minimalism. Between all of us, we removed about a third of our belongings from our apartment. It was a wonderful feeling, and we've continued the process, removing furniture, smaller items, and things we had even considered necessities at one time or another. I think I can safely say we own less than half of what we did when we moved in. Here are some of the things we've continued to narrow down:

Our Minimalist Christmas

As my husband and I have been embracing the minimalistic lifestyle, we wondered how it would translate into certain areas of our lives – particularly times like birthdays and Christmas. Birthdays have always been a simpler affair, with maybe one gift and a special meal. This is our first Christmas after purging nearly half of our belongings, and we hadn't gone through Christmas things. We had more than I realized, and after unpacking what we had, this past week, I said: “let's start with the tree and see how we feel after that.”

Our tree is simple, with white lights, red and gold ornaments, a box of candy canes, and a stream of gold ribbon. We've never found a tree topper that worked well, and we've didn't feel like the tree needed one. We also hung a stocking for each of us on the wall where our engagement picture and a picture of our little girl usually hangs. Once those were finished, we were so happy with the way things looked and felt, we left it at that and put away or donated the rest. One box of Christmas things feels much better than five.

We have a stocking tradition for Christmas Eve. They are filled with peanuts, oranges, candy (we NEVER eat candy, so it's super special at Christmastime), and a few, small gifts which are useful – like pens, socks, or soap.

For gifts, we have a strict budget, and my husband and me give one another a list of items we would love to have but wouldn't get on our own (mostly because of what it would cost). For our daughter, we get four gifts maximum, though this year we only got her three things: something she can use for play, something she needs, and something to listen to or read. We also include “something to wear” in the list, but she doesn't need any clothes, right now, so we passed on that.

I'm making a beet cake for Christmas day, and we'll buy orange juice to have in the morning. To us, those are really special things we don't have often, so they will be a special gift in their own way.

It has been simple, and we are enjoying the ways that minimalism has changed our mindsets in so many areas. It's actually a relief that I don't feel the need to be extravagant for the holidays. May it continue.

Buying Groceries for $30 (or Less) a Week

Grocery shopping with my husband, I sped past the aisles of delicious food for the back of the store where I knew the butter would be. Shocker of shocks, my Aldi's butter prices had doubled, and I couldn't afford it that week. I knew that Walmart – less than a block from Aldi – would have cheaper butter. The trick there is getting past the bakery, the spice rack that calls my name, the coffee... everything. I was hungry, and I knew whatever I saw had the potential to tempt me.

Then it happened. I saw the clearance section. I didn't know this existed until that very moment, and I stopped in my tracks. Most of it was overpriced teas that had dropped to reasonable prices, but there were cans of tuna half off, various grains at rock bottom prices, and a precious bag of high end, organic, blonde, coconut sugar for ¼ the usual price. I never ever buy specialty sugar, despite how wonderful it is, and I hemmed and hawed over it for a full two minutes before my husband plopped it into our cart and said it was worth it.

When my husband came to me with concern about our food budget (which was only $60 a week to begin with), I told him I would try to only spend around $30 a week for groceries. This includes whatever staples we need. Frugal grocery shopping is one of the most exciting aspects of my life. I don't say that in exaggeration or to be over-dramatic. It truly thrills me. I love pinching every penny and seeing how delicious I can make each meal. This month, I managed to feed us with around $20 a week. How do we do it? 

Family Cloth: Why You Shouldn't Be Squeamish

By now you probably know how much I enjoy frugality. It shows in my home, my eating style, my wardrobe, and now it's showing in my bathroom.

Family cloth. Do you know what it is? In case you don't: family cloth is what you use instead of toilet paper. It it reusable, washable cloth. I made ours out of the flannel receiving blankets we had used for our little one's home birth. I cut them into squares and sewed them - 192, in all. They look pretty and feel absolutely luxurious.