When I first started my blog, it was actually a health and fitness blog. I quickly realized that those two topics often lead to people messaging you ’round the clock about how to lose weight and burn fat. That was the exact opposite of what I was going for. I wanted a place to encourage others to live a life that fit their needs and boosted their health naturally. I kind of gave up on the fitness side and just started writing about our lives. Downsizing and debt payoff and you know what? The blog took off! I started blogging in hopes of making money from home, but I had no idea how I would do that when I was encouraging people to buy less, live simpler and spend less time in front of screens!? So how did I start making money with a minimalist blog while still staying true to the minimalist in me? Keep reading and I’ll tell ya all about it.
I know this may sound like a very depressing topic, but honestly, I feel like this is what my blog has always been about. I’m only just realizing it now. If you are following along with me on Instagram, you know my stepdad recently passed away after a 3 year battle with brain cancer. Truthfully, every time I have lost someone in my life I gain a new perspective, and new life lessons from death. There is so much we can learn from death if we just take a moment to reflect. Here’s what I’ve learned so far…and why my blog writings are completely based on these lessons.
Life on the Road: How One Minimalist Family Finds Comfort in Tiny Living
Today’s guest post is from Brynn of The Mama on the Rocks. She shares her family’s personal reasons for choosing the RV life and how they make it work for them.
When Downsizing Just Doesn’t Work: One Family’s Failed Attempt at the RV Lifestyle
We’ve all seen them: those amazing articles about the families who ditched the traditional lifestyle in favor of experiences and life on the road. Whether it’s an RV or a tiny house, the message behind those articles is that downsizing can bring with it an almost ethereal bliss and, while there might be some “growing pains,” the family ends up stronger, happier, and more
fulfilled.
How Downsizing Saved My Marriage, Finances and Children
Often times when people hear that I’m a minimalist they assume I am a hippy who lives entirely off the earth in a corn fueled van and I have renounced all my possessions. I have tried to be quite clear that minimalism to me is about simply clearing the clutter to get back to what’s really important. Despite my efforts, some people will never understand; and I’m ok with that. Beyond clutter and possessions, there is something much deeper that is plaguing the entire world now more than ever: depression. Minimalism for me has never been solely about stuff or what I own. It runs deeper than that, to a place that no one can see. After our family moved from a townhouse into a large 3,400 square foot home we never could have imagined that this big upgrade in life would actually start tearing us apart. You can read the full story about our downsize here: How Downsizing Changed Our Family. I touch a bit on why we decided to downsize and what went down to make it happen. Today I want to reflect after a year and a half, get really honest and break down for you exactly what has changed in our lives for the better since the day we ditched the big house for a tiny “starter home.” Basically how downsizing helped our family overcome depression, avoid divorce and reunite us as a whole.