teenage minimalist a blog about sarah's journey as a teen minimalist

I learned about ultralight packing two months ago, and it has completely changed the way I travel. I used to be a huge “just in case" packer. Half of what I brought never even came out of my backpack! Carrying everything was frustrating and trying to find stuff during the trip was time consuming.

Since then, I've started taking only what I need. Although needs vary from person to person, the basics are similar. Here's what ultralight packing looks like for me.

1 t-shirt
1 skirt
2 pairs of underwear
1 pair of socks
toothbrush
deodorant
toothpaste
contact solution
glasses
mp3 player
money
1 pair of pajama pants
razor
wearing: clothes + silver earrings

Note: you can take less clothing if you choose pieces that go with everything. Instead of having seven separate outfits, put together three that can be swapped around and worn multiple times. It's okay to wear the same thing twice. You'd be surprised at how many people even notice. Same thing goes for shoes and jewelry.

Some people can get by with a lot less, while others have to take much more. Just focus on your needs. Make a list of everything you couldn’t do without, then try narrowing it down even further. More tips here.

While some of you may be fortunate enough to live in a minimalist environment, most of us aren't. I come from a big family, and share a room with 3 siblings. I have to navigate through an obstacle course just to get to my bed. Some days I want to grab a trash bag and throw it all away, and other days I feel like locking myself in an empty closet. But lately, I just smile and walk around the mess.

I’m not saying it doesn't frustrate me anymore. But I’m working on accepting things for how they are, and learning how to influence my family for the better. I’ve also realized that it’s okay to be different. They don’t have to be just like me and I don’t have to be just like them. Yes, it may make it harder to live together, but that’s alright. It’s part of life.

Three rules I’ve been trying to follow:

1. be an example. I can’t stress this enough. If you keep your space uncluttered and live simply, others will notice and want what you have.

2. be helpful. Offer to help someone clean out their closet or organize a drawer. Pick things up off the floor occasionally, even if they don’t belong to you. Do the dishes if they are sitting in the sink. Fold the laundry if it’s piled up. Help out by keeping things neat.

3. be positive. Don’t worry about what you can’t change. Be thankful for what you can. Rejoice at improvement, whether it seems significant to you or not. Encouragement helps tremendously, trust me.

You know what? It's working. Granted, I'm still living with a bunch of sweet little packrats - but I see a teeny bit of potential trying to squeeze its way through their piles of endless junk. Things aren’t going to change overnight, but small steps go a long way.

Minimalizing your wardrobe basically means wearing what you love and tossing what you don’t. Having a simple wardrobe means less laundry, more space, and fewer decisions. How to start:

1. pull all your clothes out, make a big pile.
2. sort everything into three heaps - keep, maybe, toss.
3. keepers go back in your drawer, decide on the maybes or put them into a box for later, donate or give away the toss pile.

It can be a bit overwhelming if you have a lot of clothes, but the important thing is getting started. It will go faster than you think. Don’t spend minutes agonizing over which pile to put a t-shirt in. If you have to think about it, put it in the maybe pile. If it doesn’t fit or look great on you, toss it.

My spring/summer wardrobe(winter clothes are packed away)
2 long sleeves
8 short sleeves
1 dress
2 jackets
7 skirts
2 pajamas

Can’t leave out the accessories! Now I’m not a huge accessory type-of-gal, but I do like having a few simple pieces that go with everything.

earrings - 2 hoops, 1 dangle, all silver
necklaces - 1 silver necklace with my initials on it
bracelet/rings - 1 of each. You guessed it, both silver!
shoes - 5 pairs. White heels, Black flats, Cowboy boots (no southern girl’s closet is complete without a pair of boots!), Brown Flip-flops, and Tennis shoes
purses - 1 shoulder bag. Got rid of my big purse last year, got tired of carrying it around. Half the time I don't carry a purse at all..

Having a minimalist wardrobe doesn’t mean I don’t ever buy new things. I go shopping occasionally. If I do see something I really like, I just keep in mind that it means getting rid of something I already have.

Most of my readers know about Google Reader, but I know there are probably a few of you who don't. It’s one of my absolute favorite sites, so I thought I would tell you about it in case you aren’t familiar with it.

What is it?
Google Reader is basically an inbox for new blog posts. It lets you subscribe to any site (not just blogs) and puts all your subscriptions in an orderly list. You can also have multiple folders for different types of blogs.




Why should I use it?
First of all, because you can read new posts without even leaving the page. No more opening 20+ blog tabs to read new content! It’s also much more compact than Blogger. You can view dozens of new posts at once instead of just a couple. Google Reader is simpler, cleaner, and faster.





You can try it out at google.com/reader if you’re interested! It will start you out with the blogs you already follow, but you can easily edit your list or add something new.