How Dave Ramsey and Going Plastic-free led me to Minimalism

Last updated October 30, 2024.

Long before I ever heard of Minimalism, I read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. I also listened to his radio show for a long time.¹ My husband and I were able to pay off debt, increase our retirement, buy a house, and go on a family vacation once a year. While we’ve had to set some of those financial goals aside while I worked less outside of the home for the last few years to take care of our son, it really helped us start questioning all of the things we “needed” to buy.

Before we were married, my husband and I both spent years “chasing the carrot,” meaning trying to get an education, get a job, advance to a career, and then gain a higher income. All to improve our quality of life. But deep down we have always questioned this American way of living. We don’t want to wait until we retire to do the things we enjoy. At retirement age, we will both be 70, and we may not be able to travel, hike, kayak, or take long walks on the beach. I mean, I hope we can, but there’s no guarantee.

Budget Cuts

In the last few years, we have been living on less than we make in order to avoid accruing additional debt. That meant removing some things from our budget, such as brand-new clothing and household items. We eat in restaurants less. We make lists for the grocery store and stick to them.

None of us suffer.

We also decided we wanted to raise our son differently. To be content with life, love, and experiences. Not a bunch of stuff.

A life-changing Preschool lesson

Recently I wrote about one of my homeschool preschool lessons with my son on the environment and pollution. Those lessons are one of the things that prompted me to start going plastic-free after learning about plastic pollution in the ocean and discovering that only about 9% of our plastics get recycled. That means 91% is not recycled!

Sometimes we learn more just by teaching others.

So in 2016, we started eliminating many items that were only available in plastic packaging. Striving to go plastic-free led me to learn about toxicity in our everyday products and the cumulative effects they can have on our bodies and health. By 2017, we started phasing out most household and personal items that contained toxic and harmful ingredients, such as shampoos, make-up, perfumes, deodorants, household cleaners, etc. I bought less and less commercially produced products. I embraced the idea of making my own necessary items (household cleaner, shampoo, conditioner, and laundry detergent) and eliminating the rest from my life (scented lotions, body sprays, household cleaners, fabric dryer sheets, etc.).

Eliminating shopping stress

This enabled me to eliminate bi-monthly trips to Target, which saved me time, energy, and money. Eliminating shopping at department stores had the added benefit of reducing stress since I find most shopping stressful! Especially when there’s too much shopping and too many errands in my life. It’s fun to buy a new blouse or cute shirt for my son now and then, but stores are visually overstimulating and cause sensory overload for many of us.

Then I discovered minimalism

If you’re not familiar with minimalism, Joshua Becker from Becoming Minimalist defined it like this: “It is a lifestyle where people intentionally seek to live with only the things they really need” in order to spend time on the things that really matter.

My family and I have been exploring this lifestyle in recent months. My most recent influences include Joshua Becker; The Minimalists, Joshua Fields Millburn, and Ryan Nicodemus; and Courtney Carver of Be More with Less and Project 333. I’m also inspired by Marie Kondo. If you’re interested in reading any of their books please check out the Minimalism section of my Books page.

The common thread I’ve learned from these amazing people is that you can improve your quality of life and live your best life by owning less stuff. But what does owning less stuff have to do with my quality of life?

Because the stuff is a representation

The Minimalists explain that minimalism begins with getting the stuff out of the way so that you can get to the things that really matter in your life. While that includes belongings, it’s also about eliminating the tasks, commitments, and other things you don’t want to do to make time for what you do want to be doing. The things that matter most to you might include relationships, health, giving, experiences, following passions, working on hobbies, and improving yourself. The question all of the authors above pose is: What could your life be like if you didn’t have such a cluttered, busy life? Could you:

• Work less, and develop passions more?
• Save money by living in a smaller home (because you have fewer belongings), which would cost less for the mortgage/rent, energy, water, and general maintenance?
• Save money by buying less?
• Enjoy more time with family and friends instead of spending that time on cleaning, maintaining, and repairing a larger home and thousands of belongings?
• Focus on taking better care of your mind and body with that extra time?
• Volunteer some of that saved time and energy? Give some of that saved money to your favorite charity or cause?

You can also read my article about the book Everything That Remains by The Minimalists, where I shared how profoundly inspired I was by the minimalist mindset.

Algorithm?

Fewer toxins + less plastic + less shopping+ less stuff

= less stress + extra money + more time + better health

= higher quality of life.

I hope some or all of this can help you and your family too! Let me know what steps you’re taking to make your life better and to be the change too! And don’t forget to share and subscribe!

Footnote:

1. I have since stopped following Dave Ramsey. I like his general principles, especially about living within your means, but he has become too out of touch with modern finances. Childcare, housing, and healthcare have inflated beyond many people’s reach. I heard one clip when a person on his show advised a parent to find a free summer camp. These do not exist. There may be one or two for very low-income families, but otherwise, free childcare doesn’t exist. Home prices have increased 47% since 2020, and rents have increased almost 30%. And don’t get me started on healthcare costs. ↩︎