Miss Minimalist: Inspiration to Downsize, Declutter, and Simplify - A Review

Miss Minimalist: Inspiration to Downsize, Decluttter, and Simplify (Kindle e-book)
By: Francine Jay

Amazon price: $0.99 (or free using the Prime Lending Library)

This e-book is a compilation of 50 blog articles written by Francine Jay, blog author of Miss Minimalist. 

While I’m not a minimalist to the extent of the author of these articles, I am interested in simplifying and decluttering my life and home.  When I saw that this e-book had good reviews, and I was able to download it for free using the Prime Lending Library on Amazon, I figured I had nothing to lose by reading it.  I was right!

The articles are clearly written, and while some have over lapping information, they all read well as stand alone articles.  The articles cover a wide range of topics, from why and how the author chose to be a minimalist, to downsizing your wardrobe, to minimalist gift giving.  The e-book itself was an entertaining, and easy read, and the information was presented in a clear and concise manner.

I personally have no desire to establish a minimalist life-style equitable to that of Ms. Jay, however there were a number of insights that I did glean from this e-book.  The most insightful of which was Ms. Jay’s mention of removing one item of clutter a day from your home for a year.  This was the inspiration behind my 365 Day Declutter Challenge.  Other rays of inspiration revolved more around mindset; keeping things in your life that have purpose, or multiple purposes, and not hanging on to things merely because they have some sort of intrinsic sentimental value to you.  This is something that I personally struggle with, I have a hard time letting go of things that have sentimental value to me, but do I really need to keep all the cards that we were given for our wedding, or baby showers?  Do they really have any value to me if I keep them wrapped up in a drawer?  Is there any real reason to keep them, other than the fact that I can’t bring myself to part with them?

There are many ideas in this e-book that can be implemented in anyone’s life to some extent.  While you don’t have to purge your home of everything, and live in an empty shell, there are likely many things in your life that you have, or do, that you don’t need to.  This e-book is a great start to spark your desires to simplify, and I highly recommend it.