HOW I GOT RID OF MOST OF MY STUFF! (Best Tips for Downsizing to Move Into Your Tiny Home)
HOW I GOT RID OF MOST OF MY STUFF! (Best Tips for Downsizing to Move Into Your Tiny Home)
*UPDATE* I may not have described the Minimalism Challenge properly. On day 1 you get rid of 1thing, day 2 get rid of 2 things (over and above the 1 thing from day 1), day 3 get rid of 3 things (over and above the 1 item from day one AND the 2 items from day 2), and so on. You’ll get rid of 496 items in a 31 day month.
Probably the hardest thing I had to do to make my tiny house dream a reality was downsize my lifestyle and possessions. Its definitely daunting and it can be hard to know where to start the process of getting rid of (lets be honest) most of your possessions 🤷🏻♀️.
In this video I share the things I did that worked for me. I love to set myself a challenge so I started with multiple rounds of the 30 day minimalism game https://youtu.be/s64GiwN3hCs.
I hope you find the video helpful. Remember that what worked for me may not work for you. Try a few things to find what works.
If you have any tips or tricks that you’ve used to downsize your belongings please share with the friends here.
The Minimalists Blog: https://www.theminimalists.com
Minimalism documentary: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/minimalismfilm. I watched it on Netflix.
Also, please give the video a thumbs up if you liked it and, most importantly, subscribe 😍!
I hope you enjoy the video and thanks for watching 🙏🏽!
Here are some of my favourite things I use practically every day in my tiny house on wheels that I think are worth the money:
This little ceiling fan has been amazing at cooling us off at night during the hot summers. Mengnessly USB powered Small Ceiling Fan: https://amzn.to/4dL4VOJ
Sun lamp for those grey winter days on the island Verilux HappyLight Lumi Plus – UV-Free LED Bright White Light Therapy Lamp: https://amzn.to/3SNj0mt
I don’t use this every day but have several in the house and in the van. Fiberglass Fire Blanket for Emergency Survival, Flame Retardant Protection and Heat Insulation 2-pack (: https://amzn.to/3WMOqLa
If you have pets that shed, this is a life saver! ACE2ACE Pet Hair Remover Roller: https://amzn.to/3hgxJXM
Best can opener you will ever use! ZYLISS Lock N’ Lift Can Opener with Lid Lifter Magnet:https://amzn.to/4dGgbvM
This water filter is amazing! ZeroWater 7 Cup Water Filter Jug: https://amzn.to/3Azy0y0
I use my IP every single week! Instant Pot Duo Plus 6 Quart 9-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker:https://amzn.to/3YQ00Yi
Steamer Basket for the Instant Pot: https://amzn.to/3M9n2So
I use these to listen to guided meditations as I drift off to sleep. Sleep Headphones Wireless, Perytong Bluetooth Sports Headband: https://amzn.to/3SMZTJx
Some of my favourite cookbooks:
Fuss-Free Vegan: 101 Everyday Comfort Food Favourites: https://amzn.to/4cnNeDF
Vegan 100: Over 100 Incredible Recipes from Avant-Garde Vegan: https://amzn.to/471znlD
Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health: https://amzn.to/4dm1TAE
By watching my videos you are already supporting me. Want another way to support the channel? Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=9432513
Follow me on Instagram: @myBIGtinyhouselife
My tiny house builder: https://teacuptinyhomes.com
Craftsman Carpenter: http://crawfordcustomwoodwork.ca/
My tiny house mover: Chris Lapointe at Chinook RV Transport: 403-828-3289
In 1994 my dad came to live with me, bringing his and my mom’s stuff. I was attached to my mom’s things, but also overwhelmed by the enormous amount of items, with which dad and I moved into our new place. So I decided: no new things, unless really needed. The surplus that had no use nor emotional value: gave it away.
What I mean to say: mark a point in your life, and prevent stuff from creeping in.
Can’t stand The Minimalists. They’re so phony and are all about making money.
Yes please for the recipe For your creamer.
Thank you, I’m moving into a smaller flat with no storage so am decluttering just now and getting ready to move.
Even people that don’t think they have much have a lot. It’s incredible how much stuff we accumulate.
Well, that’s pretty cool The 30 day challenge. I think a lot of people will be able to utilize it.
Am a guitar, instrument collector. Any suggestions? So overwhelmed with stuff. ❤ this video!!!!!
A Solution for WHAT to DO with All the Thing’s the Kid’s Did when they were Younger and ALL the Picture’s of them as well, Knowing there is No R-o-o-m for them in Our Space. You Can Give A-l-l those "Thing’s" to Them. Let "Them" Choose WHAT to DO with them. They Are Not Being "Displayed" Properly anyway, if They are Stored Away.
Thanks for this video. I hate how hard it is to get rid of stuff lol
It’s Pamela from San Antonio, TX…boy, would I love to have your soups and you special alternative milk concoction…Yum…anyplace for me to find it on one of your posts.
Cheers and Hugs..PJ
agree with Jocelyn. This is a great video with practical advice. I enjoyed listening to you and will subscribe
I think the term minimalism is scary to some of us, but simple living I think is much more comfortable. I think of minimalism I think of a stark home bare and boring
But I do know people say when they started simple living It became so attractive to them that minimalism was the next step for them
Thank you for your tips! So jealous that you have a tiny house. Always have wanted one. I don’t believe it’s meant to be my grandchildren live with me which are a blessing
Love your ideas for getting rid of things you don’t need or want! You have inspired me to get started!! Thank you so much. 😃
My husband and I retired and downsized from a 4,000 sq ft house to a 1,600 sq ft house. It was very difficult and even after the move I realized I hadn’t gotten rid of enough stuff. My advice is if possible give yourself time.
Definitely a Canadian
Really great practical information, inspiring because the process sounded doable, not horrifically overwhelming! Thank you!
"Sentimental Item’s". . . Take a PIC and Let Go !! (Still in your 💜 and Mind)
"Photo’s". . . If they are in a Box or Packed Away, Give them to the One’s that are In the Them.
Aw, cute sleepy kitty! 😍
Day 1: 1 item
Day 2: 2 items
Day 3: 4 items
…
Day 31: 1,073,741,824 items
Efficient!
I wonder if these people regret they let go of their special items from the past
I would. No way would I do this.
You say stuff
It is collections of memories and memrabilia. Glad you are happy
NV viewer!
I go zigzag! Bursts of energy and then steps backwards! So this was a bit of inspiration to get me going again!
I would love the recipe for the creamer
I would love the recipe for the coffee creamer! I am also going through my house currently and getting rid of things!!! My family is happy about that.
really like your attitude and approach. Just sold my house and renting a tiny ADU. Needless to say, I need to unload lots of stuff. Always admired the minimalist, or less is more, approach so I have seriously started parting with the things I do not use anymore and contributing to organizations who can get these to those who need it. Exciting project for the rest of summer. Thank you for your wisdom and encouragement. Subscribed.
@19:39 ‘Decide what’s MOST IMPORTANT…" ❤ When our WHY/WHAT is clear we figure out the HOW. Amen. I’m listening as I am moving into a studio/refitted room with my belongings piled up, while deciding where things go, how to organize the space AND WHY it is worth it 🙌🏻
With that challenge, you wouldn’t get rid of 31 things in a month, you’d get rid of around 465 things, depending on the month.
Would love the recipe for your ginger bread cashew milk!
Great video….thanks fornthe end…made me laugh…i needed to laugh. Thank you 😂 x
Question — I have been in the process of downsizing as we have moved into a home that is 1/2 the size of our previous home. I feel that I have done really good for the most part — but, I still have some things that have value that haven’t sold. Do you have any suggestions about punch bowls/cups, cut glass serving platters, metal wall art, etc. I have quite a bit of money invested in these items (or the glassware was handed down to me from my mother, grandmother, aunt, and sister). Ugh…
I wanted to say how much I appreciate you making this video. A lot of downsizing/decluttering videos are meant to be trendy with obvious/unhelpful tips from people who didn’t actually have a lot of things to begin with. Your video was exactly what I was looking for as a person who’s had a long-term place transitioning toward wanting to move to a smaller space. Some of the tips you mentioned were new to me and reasonable. Thank you again!
I am a 60 year old man and I am a minimalist too… but an EXTREME minimalist! I currently live in only 14 square meters, including the bathroom. I have barely more stuff than can fit in 3 backpacks, a 100 liter, a 52 liter and a 22 liter. Yes, I have more stuff than that, but not MUCH more, and what doesn’t fit in my backpacks I consider to be temporary possessions, because the only stuff that is REALLY mine is what I can take with me everywhere at any time! I am able to carry these 3 backpacks all at once, albeit with difficulty.
Of course, there is no furniture in my room, no bed, no chair, no table, no TV, no jewelry, no pictures on the wall, neither any other kind of furnitures. I have been sleeping on a hard surface (practically a plank) for about 28 years. My hobby is bushcrafting, even “survival in extreme conditions”. My self-image is that I am a “modern caveman”. I know how to make stone tools, set traps, etc. I am not an uneducated person by the way, I worked as a computer programmer for a long time, and I am also a novelist. I follow the raw carnivore diet, which means I almost always eat meat and offal raw. I also eat certain insects raw, and I even swallow live earthworms without batting an eye if there is nothing better, which is really the least a professional survivalist can do. I try to live like cavemen. This diet has given me back my health, I have lost weight, etc. I enjoy living this way, I don’t find it strenuous at all, on the contrary, it is especially fun! By the way, I follow the Stoic philosophy, of course I also wrote a book about it. My ideal is the greatest possible independence, even if it means giving up a lot of so-called “comfort.” I am even quite self-sufficient in music, because I can whistle melodies very well, and I have even learned Mongolian throat singing.
I even mastered the so-called Tummo meditation, which is a very high-level meditation technique, and I am able to awaken my "inner heat", which means that I can easily sit out in the minus ten Celsius degree frost (it is approximately 14 Fahrenheit) in a thin T-shirt, and if I sit there for even an hour, I won’t freeze, I won’t even start shivering (except for the first one or two minutes), I won’t have any problems, and in fact I feel great at that time! I have been practiced this of my ability on numerous occasions. So I don’t freeze easily in the extreme cold, that’s for sure… I am not really collecting money, but skills, which are much more useful.
Love the pace of being able to relax while decluttering so as to actually enjoy the process and YES I do want the recipe for the gingerbread coffee creamer, cashew based.. Please!
How to be saved https://youtu.be/aTYy5hXOC68
THANK YOU Adelina!!! So incredibly helpful as a “minimalist in training” about to move out of my parents and into my very own tiny home. I’m lucky because I can leave some stuff at home for now, and go back to donate what I don’t need/ miss. But it’s still hard! I’m very emotionally attached to a lot of items, and always like to be prepared so the fear you mentioned is super real still. Thank you for addressing that and being so thorough about the nitty gritty tips and tricks!
Great tips & food for thought. I am not minimalist and I am currently decluttering. I’m a minimalist wanna be. But! One thing I have found which has worked for me, is to have a maybe/not sure box and I close it once it’s full. I give myself a set time frame, 1 to 3 months – depends on my mood that day. If there’s something in it I want or need during that time, I take it out. At the end of my set time frame, whatever is in that box goes to charity without looking inside. No second chances.
Every single day toss out one thing and if I can’t find something to toss then I look in the fridge or cupboard.
I’ll try again: creamer recipe, please! Thanks
Yes please would love that creamer recipe , thank you !
Awesome video thank you I am moving into a old age home and also have to down size because I am going to stay in a room so this is going to be challenging from South Africa
I’ve subscribed to your channel after watching this video! It seems like sitting with a friend and chatting, thank you! I’m not moving into a smaller house. I’m trying to reduce the stuff I have, but I’m definitely not doing it in a systematic way at all, just as I think of it. I honestly do think it’s just easier to live with less stuff. Thank you! PS – I’m so glad you chose to keep the fiesta ware! When I heard you say "I had fiesta ware" my heart immediately sunk, so glad you kept it!
Exactly what I needed to have on in the background as I ruthlessly sorted stuff! Thanks!
496 things if done as you suggest 😮😊… day 1, 1 item. Day 2, 2 items and so on …. is that what you mean?
I’m trying to move out of my condo into my fiancé’s house. I have a two bedroom condo worth of stuff ! Where do I start? It’s so overwhelming
I love the turning the hanger idea for the clothes. I have been doing the one in , one out idea as I only have a small closet space.
Beautiful name 😊. My daughter is named Adelina! She is one year old (2024). I had never heard that name at all before! Because I like the name Adeline, but I wanted to add a Latin flare to it, and violá 💋🤌😆
(My ethnicity is Mexican, Spanish/Portuguese). What’s your story? Or ethnicity … parents? Just curious ☺️
I’m downsizing from a three bedroom house to move to a boat right now and what I am doing is going through an area and getting rid of as much as I dare(my brain will let me), then moving on to another area etc eventually making my way back to the first area where I will be able to be much more ruthless and I will keep doing this until I’ve gotten rid of enough stuff. I know I’m late to the party I’m leaving this comment in case someone reads it and it helps them.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, I found this helpful and encouraging!
This video is GREAT! I’m downsizing too, trying to fit a whole life into a van. Thanks!