Minimalism is the opposite of consumerism. It’s intentional ownership. It’s more of a mindset or a goal, than a current state of being.
You’ll find that most families who lean towards minimalism are gradually downsizing their life — removing the unimportant to make room for the important.
And they’re normal families. Well, I guess “normal” isn’t the word, because it’s normal to be caught up in consumerism. It’s normal to let the Xbox babysit your kids. It’s normal to spend less than five minutes a day together as a family.
Today, it’s not normal if your family is intentional about purchases. It’s not normal if your kids have a love for the great outdoors. It’s not normal to spend quality time together as a family, for several hours a day, every day.
So I take that back. These families aren’t normal, and that’s good news. Unless you want to be normal. In that case, you can now return to your scheduled program (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, streaming services, etc.).1
I hope you don’t though. I hope you prefer to live differently. Because different can be an amazing thing. Living differently is where life really starts to become life.
When we’re on a journey to own less and appreciate more, it’s good to have motivation from other families who are doing it too. It’s good to see how things have worked out for them, and how to approach things differently. These are 24 families who are living differently.
1. Becoming Minimalist
Joshua Becker was one of the first people to bring minimalism to the blogging world. He’s viewed as the face of minimalism by many, since he’s been the introduction to minimalism for so many. He’s been blogging since 2008, and continues to publish a few articles every week.
Joshua’s Biblical worldview is woven into his writing, and since spending time with his family was a primary reason for turning to minimalism, he gives plenty of tips on becoming a minimalist family. He also runs two minimalist magazines: Simplify Magazine and Simple Money. While they’re both great magazines, I’m partial to Simple Money, and not just because I’ve been published in it. 😉 Joshua has also written a few books, including his popular, Clutterfree With Kids, which I read earlier this year and highly recommend.
My Favorite Post: 17 Staggering Statistics About Our Shopping Habits
2. The Minimalist Mom
Rachel Jonat is The Minimalist Mom, and she writes all about making minimalism work with your family. From thoughts and tips on living a simpler life to practical ideas with your home and kids, she has all kinds of articles on living a minimalist life as a family.
She’s written a few books, including Do Less, and while the book is directed towards busy moms, it has principles that apply to everyone.
My Favorite Post: How to Take a Sabbatical, Gap Year or Mini-Retirement
3. Zen Habits
Leo Babauta and his wife have six kids, yet he was one of the early and most prominent influencers in the online minimalist movement. He’s been blogging on Zen Habits since early 2007. He’s been one of the biggest influencers in the “habit movement,” where people are helping others create better habits.
Often when you hear someone talk about taking small steps to create lasting habits, you’ll hear them quote Leo when he said to start your habits so small you can’t say “no.” But he doesn’t only write about habits. He writes practical articles on living with a large family and fewer things. He also has a few books and courses you should look into, including his short productivity guide: Zen to Done.
My Favorite Post: The Zen Habits Guide to Spending Your Time Intentionally
4. Minimalist Beauty
Dawn Michelle’s blog focuses on minimalist beauty, style, hair, and skin care. She also writes a lot on living minimally, to include all kinds of articles on her journey to declutter. She has drastically reduced her wardrobe and all the items in here home.
She has an Etsy store where she sells some of the products she mentions.
My Favorite Post: 4 Amazing Lessons From Living Light
5. Melissa Camara Wilkins
Melissa Wilkins and her husband have six children, and they live in a simple home in Southern California. She writes a lot about self care, balance, and simplicity in life. Her articles are simple too, yet they’re packed with practical ideas and deep thoughts.
Other than writing on her blog, she also writes often for No Sidebar, and she has a book coming out later this year.
My Favorite Post: What I Learned From the Everyday Bravery Challenge
6. Biblical Minimalism
Cheryl Smith is fairly new to the blogging world, but she is quickly making her mark. She writes about minimalism from a Biblical perspective, if that wasn’t obvious by the title of her blog. Her insight on living an intentional, Christ-abundant life if profound. It shows quickly when reading any of her writing.
She defines Biblical minimalism as “a complete, whole-person release of anything unlike Jesus, a letting go of everything that hinders us from following Him wholeheartedly and single-mindedly, and a relinquishing of all that brings us under bondage to this earthly, very temporary, life.” She writes about her simple family life, and how we can do more to focus on Jesus as the primary part of what our life should be.
My Favorite Post: Make Your Needs Your Wants, and Your Needs Few
7. Raising Simple
Zoë Kim has four kids and a desire to help everyone live a simpler life. You’ll find plenty of articles on decluttering and making more space in your life, physically and mentally.
She’s the author of Minimalism for Families — the exact thing this article is about. Though I haven’t read the book yet, I just bought the Audible version, and I’ve only heard good things from other families trying to live a simpler life.
My Favorite Post: It’s Ok to Stop Filling All Your Space
8. The Life on Purpose Movement
Erica Layne started The Life on Purpose Movement to help families live an intentional life. They’re a family of five, focused on helping other families downsize and live simply.
You can get her book, The Minimalist Way, to learn more about the movement. Or simply read her blog. She also hosts a Talked Out, Touched Out course to help introverted moms find confidence, ease, and enjoyment in motherhood.
My Favorite Post: 8 Questions to Help You Let Go of Your Hard-to-Let-Go-of-Things
9. Simplify & Pursue
Robin Shliakhau is a wife, mother of two, and follower of Christ. She writes about life as a minimalist, working mom, and of course everything that goes along with being a family who strives to live a simple life.
She offers many services, to include decluttering help, speaking, consultations, and generally helping people simplify. Scroll through her blog’s archives to find all kinds of great tips and practical advice.
My Favorite Post: A Small, But Helpful Routine for Returning Home
10. This Wondrous Life
Danae Smith writes on her simple living style and how you can adapt and implement one for yourself. Her goal is to help all of us slow down and appreciate life. She works a 9-5 in Washington D.C., but still finds the time to write.
My Favorite Post: Daily Joys: Morning Ritual
11. Money Saving Mom
Crystal Paine is also a Christian. She’s a mother of three, and she writes about everything that goes along with intentional living as a parent. I like that her blog isn’t just about cutting stuff out, it’s about intentionally doing and having the things you want in your life, which eliminates things by default.
Money Saving Mom is full of great articles, as well as all kinds of deals. Crystal is all about frugal living, as her blog’s name suggests, and she has the deals scattered throughout.
My Favorite Post: The Entire “We Paid Cash” Series
12. Messy Minimalist
Rachel and Dan have two children, and they write about downsizing from the traditional, corporate-American life to live a simple, happier life. They share everything from decluttering tips, to ideas on simple living, to personal stories.
Rachel also has a helpful YouTube channel, and they share monthly challenges (at least, two so far, but I love the idea). As a sidenote, when they decided to leave corporate America, they bought an old motel on Lake Michigan and turned it into a home. I think that’s pretty awesome.
My Favorite Post: Minimalism is a Sickness – 3 First Steps to Take
13. Catherine Elizabeth Gordon
Catherine says minimalism isn’t all about empty, white spaces, it’s about “emphasizing the positive aspects of a life without the trappings of consumerism.” That’s a great way to put it. She lives in England with her family, and she writes all about minimizing — specifically, decluttering your home.
My Favorite Post: How Do I Look?
14. Simple Days
Faye Williams has three children, and she lives in the UK. She recognizes that modern life has become one with consumerism, and she’s on the road to helping people break that idea to live a simpler life. She writes practical pieces on decluttering and minimizing, while also sharing ideas that will make you think about how you’re living.
My Favorite Post: 10 Reasons Why We Can’t Declutter (And What To Do About Them)
15. Simple Living With Kids
Lee lives in a 120-year-old home, with her husband and four kids, in Dunedin, New Zealand. Simple Living With Kids is a politically incorrect blog about raising children with intentionality (one of my favorite topics). She writes on parenting, minimalism, and life.
You’ll immediately notice that she tackles difficult, controversial subjects, such as, how saying “no” to your kids is actually a good thing, and how to stop your child from becoming a “special snowflake.” If you’re easily offended, maybe don’t read Lee’s blog. If you want to open your mind and grow, definitely read it.
My Favorite Post: It is Not School’s Job to Educate Your Child
16. Our Beautiful Adventure
Rachel is a photographer, which is the focus of her website, but she blogs about life with three children, minimizing, decluttering, and living simply. You’ll find practical articles on her blog, featuring her wonderful photography.
My Favorite Post: Top Tips for Decluttering (With Children)
17. Happy Grey Lucky
Sina and her husband have two kids, and you can see their entire life adventure via their blog and Instagram. Sina writes on all of the typically decluttering and simplifying topics, but she also writes on marriage, fitness, and family-lifestyle in general.
Sina has a store for minimal home and clothing items. She’s all about minimal design within the home, and like many others on this list, she’s into photography. You can see some of the fun pictures on her Instagram.
My Favorite Post: 20 Cold-Weather Outdoor Activities for Kids
18. Nourishing Minimalism
Rachel Jones, the “Joyful Space Specialist,” has six children. She and her husband have four kids living at home, and two adult-age kids who’ve moved out. She provides tips on minimal living with a bunch of kids (another one of my favorite topics).
She also runs a YouTube channel on minimalism and another one on healthy cooking. Rachel is doing a 2019 challenge, similar to my Freedom 5000 challenge, where she is challenging you to get rid of 2019 things in 2019.
My Favorite Post: 10 Ways to Simplify Your Kitchen That Make a Big Difference
19. Nacho Average Fro
Jessica Malone shows you how to manage your schedule and your space, without letting it manage you. She’s passionate about decluttering, because it’s led to a lot of personal success for her, including losing 40lbs, finding her dream corporate job, and then leaving her dream job to become an entrepreneur.
My Favorite Post: Packing Like a Minimalist – A Guide
20. The Tannehill Homestead
Erin is a Christian and fellow Arkansan. She lives on the Tannehill Homestead with her husband and two fur-babies. She writes on decluttering, and sustainable, simple living. If you’re looking for practical tips and great photos of the Arkansas country life, you’ll love her blog and Instagram.
Though many of her posts are publishing originally on other websites, she shares all of them on her blog.
My Favorite Post: Living Intentionally With a Birthday Bucket List
21. Allie Casazza
Allie is a mother of four, and a Christian. She writes on motherhood, minimalism, marriage, and faith. If you’re looking for a family minimalism blog, this is it. Granted, it is directed towards moms, because she’s a mom, but anyone can benefit from her blog.
She is another fellow Arkansan, but I would’ve included her either way. 😉 Allie also has courses and resources for mothers and anyone wanting to simplify.
My Favorite Post: 10 Things I’ve Done to Simplify My Life
22. Exploring Plan Be
Angelina Lee is a wife, mother of three, and attorney-at-law, hailing from the Caribbean. She’s exploring “Plan Be” and taking you along for the journey. She writes about less doing and more being.
My Favorite Post: A New Normal
23. New Minimalism
Cary and Kyle are two minimalist friends who help families declutter and live free of any bondage to their stuff. They actually have a decluttering service. They released the book, New Minimalism.
My Favorite Post: 5 Decluttering Tips You Won’t Find in Marie Kondo’s “Tidying-Up” Method
24. This Family’s Journey
Gina writes about her family’s journey towards simplicity. She and her husband have three kids. It’s a simple, clean blog with simple living topics. You can see their story here.
My Favorite Post: How Practicing Minimalism Means We Have More
Further Book Reading
- The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker
- Minimalist Parenting by Christine K. Koh
- Minimalism for Families by Zoë Kim
- Clutterfree With Kids by Joshua Becker
Last Updated: June 27, 2020
Footnotes
- When technology is a small part of your life that you turn to occasionally, you’ll appreciate it more. When going out to watch a movie becomes so rare that it’s actually meaningful, you’ll see what I mean. We’re so engrossed in technology, in our consumeristic society, that it’s only natural for us to take it for granted.
The links for Margie Sims aren’t working. Are there new ones?
I would love to check out her info. We are an extra large homeschool minimalist family and I have yet to come across a blog written by someone in that category.
It looks like her blog is down. It’s been up for years, so I hope this is temporary. I’ll leave the link for another week or so, and then take it down, as she may have taken down her blog. You can read a little more about her here for now. We have five kids, and we loved all of Margie’s articles about life with a big family, and hers is much bigger than ours.
Thanks for looking into it. I’m bummed. We have 9 kids, 7 at home full time, 2 in college/out of the house/here sometimes. I keep looking for an extra large size family, homeschooling, minimalism blog but can’t seem to find one. Maybe I’ll consider starting one – DH and I have thrown that idea around a few times.
If you know of any other extra large family blogs, I’d love the link. Meanwhile I’ll check out some of the others you have listed here since some I’ve never run across before.
I’m sorry to hear it closed too! Hopefully some of the articles here will be helpful. I plan to write more on minimalism with our 5 kids… who knows, if you wait long enough we may be closer to your family size. Haha. The only topic I’m not currently tackling is homeschooling. I wrote an exhaustive piece on things that I think should be taught in school (a.k.a. good things for homeschooling), but that’s about it. We’ve homeschooled on and off, but with the military life, it hasn’t always been a consistent way we’ve done things.
If you do start that blog, let me know for sure! I’d love to read and promote it!
Apparently, Margie has closed her blog and may now be on https://www.christianspeaker.net/listing/margie-sims/
as this is where the a link I-don’t-even-know-from-where took me.
I copied the link I put above in this reply from that website. If you scroll around, you’ll find some info, including a link to an article by Margie about “Build Your Marriage to Last” under: https://www.todayschristianwoman.com/articles/2002/july/2.34.html
HOWEVER, in order to finish reading the article, either the Christian Speaker site or the Today’s Christian Woman site required registering on it. There is contact info for Margie on the Christian Speaker site, so you could try contacting her to see what the deal is on where all her blog articles were moved to, or if they in their entirety even still exist.
Yup! Just saw that. Thanks for the info. Her blog was awesome. It’s sad that she isn’t writing anymore.
Contacted Margie and she is redoing her blog as part of an agreement with her book release. So hopefully it will be back up in the near future.
That’s awesome! I think we’d all love to see her back online and blogging.