Minimalism at times seems more myth than fact; mention the word to someone on the street and while saying they have no desire to be a minimalist they will generally refer to one of the prevalent myths about the lifestyle.
Here are five of the biggest minimalism myths:
Myth #1: You have to be single to be a minimalist. There are many minimalists who are married: Francine Jay of Miss Minimalist , Leo Babauta of Zen Habits and Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens are a few excellent examples. While some of the extreme adherents to minimalism do tend to be single this is definitely NOT a requirement.
Myth #2: You can’t have kids and be a minimalist. Many well-known minimalists have kids. Francine Jay has one, Dave Bruno has three children, I have one child at home and Leo Babauta has six! With minimalism you scale your possessions up or down with your current needs so those with several children will need more items (toys, clothing, space, etc.) than the person who has only one child (or none).
Myth #3: You can’t have a car and be a minimalist. Let’s be blunt: in some areas of the world you need a vehicle to get around. Public transportation is not available everywhere and it makes no sense to deprive yourself of something that you actually need. While I would like to eliminate the expense of my vehicle I happen to live in a small town with an almost nonexistent public transportation system and very cold winters. As a result I am unable to eliminate this item from my life. However, if I were to live in an area with ample public transportation (and could eliminate the need to travel) I could easily eliminate this item. People who live in the country have a similar problem. They have to keep a vehicle just to go to town for supplies.
Myth #4: You are only a minimalist of you own 100 things or less. While some minimalists like to number their possessions many refuse to even bother; as long as you have enough for your needs there is no point in numbering your possessions. Minimalism is not a competition; there are no awards for the person with the least amount of stuff! The object of minimalism is to have as much as you need and no more.
Myth #5: Minimalists judge people who spend money and have a lot of stuff. Absolutely not! While we have made a personal choice to live with less we know that this is not a lifestyle for everyone; as we respect you for your decision to live with more, we also hope that you can respect our decision to live with less.
It is my hope that you will ignore the myths surrounding minimalism and explore this lifestyle for yourself. Are you a minimalist or do you know one personally? Please share your stories in the comments below.
Thank you for your support!
5 Comments
I don’t personally know any one practicing minimalism, but I know lots of people online who are doing it
I remember reading about these 2 guys who use to make lots of money working for a large corporation, but traded it all in for the idea of less is more and have even wrote a book about it. I think as stuff becomes more expensive due to inflation and higher raw material prices, minimalism will gain more popularity in the future 
Hello Liquid!
Josh and Ryan are pretty big right now. I think one reason is because they left the corporate world (and big money) behind.
They were among the winners of the Top 5 Simplicity Blogs of this year. Their blog is at http://www.theminimalists.com.
I was proud of myself when I went out to my shed to begin cleaning it out so that the work could be done on the well and didn’t try to salvage a single destroyed item that wasn’t suppossed to be out there in the first place. I just let them go even though I’ve been wondering where they were for years. (I’m not the one that put them in the shed) I thought they were lost somehow in the move.
When we moved from an RV back into an apartment we owned no furniture except one bar stool and one TV tray. We spent one day at IKEA buying all the furniture we needed. About $2000 worth of brand new furniture was enough to furnish an entire apartment for two people and visitors. It looks wonderful and it’s amazing what we discovered we didn’t need.
As someone who lives in a rural area (mile and a half on dirt from the nearest paved two lane road) and has dogs, I can second that point that a car is a necessity! No way I could shop without a car and no way I could take dogs to vet without it for sure since they don’t allow critters on public transport.