Minimalism for Military Families

There is a very clear and obvious advantage to embracing a minimalist lifestyle if you are a military family.  Every time you PCS, you’re packing up your entire life and toting it across the country (sometimes the world) with you.  The less you have, the less you have to worry about.

Bedding and towels.  Keep only what you need and will use.  These items quickly pile up.  During our last move, I donated 6 beach towels (I don’t even know where they all came from…?) and a few bits of random bedding (one pillowcase here, unmatched flat sheet there…).

Clothing.  If you haven’t worn it in a year (more like 6 months for me due to a pretty steady climate where I live), get rid of it.  If you don’t love it or always choose another clothing item instead when you’re considering wearing it, it definitely goes in the donate pile.  Don’t feel bad about getting rid of items you’ve barely worn.  If you don’t love it, you’ll probably never use it, and it will just continue to take up space.

Books.  If you’ve already read it, get rid of it.  Seriously.  The only books that I’ve read and continue to keep are ones of significant sentimental value.

Paperwork and documentation.  There is no need to keep health insurance documentation from your old job or receipts from eye appointments in 2013.  Regularly clean out your filing systems and keep only what is most up-to-date and only what you cannot find online.  If you’re still getting bank statements in the mail, STOP IT, for Pete’s sake.  Digitize what you can.  We keep a planner with our monthly bills and other financial planning written down.

Furniture.  This one is tricky because it is by far the most difficult thing to move.  Make sure your furniture is worth moving.  If it better suits you to sell it and purchase new items when you arrive so you don’t have to deal with the hassle of transporting it, consider that option.  Also, consider the new space in which you will be living.  Our three piece sectional that perfectly suited our open floor plan in Arizona will certainly not fit in our 900 square foot house in Pensacola.  Choose wisely!

Decorations and personal touches.  Keep only what brings you joy.  As military families, we live in lots of diverse places throughout our lives and the culture and climate of these places will vary.  My advice is to keep your decorations general (but still reflective of your personal style) so that you don’t feel the need to get rid of everything and start over in every new place you live.  For example, when we left Arizona, we brought lots of colorful Mexican blankets, cacti-patterned pillows, and margarita glassware with us to Florida.  It turns out that these items did not suit the culture and climate of our new home (surprise).  So, we kept what we truly loved and ditched the rest.  Navy life suits us well because beach-themed decor is awesome and travels with us to every new home!

Plants.  A few hearty things may survive several moves (cacti, succulents, etc.) but should be transported with you in your vehicle.  Please also consider the climate that you are relocating to in order to ensure that it is a healthy environment for your plants.  Keep in mind that it’s probably better to just leave these behind.  Plants make lovely and thoughtful parting gifts to the wonderful friends that you’re leaving behind, as well.

Sentimental items.  There are several things I just will never part with, even though I rarely use them and they take up space.  My mother’s journals, my grandmother’s bible (even though we are not religious), my wedding dress, etc. Be honest with yourself about what qualifies as a sentimental item.  Toys that your child has outgrown and forgotten are not sentimental items that you must save for your future grandchildren.  Binders of college coursework that you’ve never needed in your professional career are not sentimental, even if you spent hundreds of hours creating them (this one was very tough for me, personally).

Kitchen utensils and appliances.  There is no need for one family to own 7 spatulas.  Keep one or two and get rid of the rest.  We all have those random utensils that we have never actually used and a juicer that we thought was a good idea at the time…  Let them go.

 

Additional tips:

• Use every move as an opportunity to eliminate unused and unloved items.
• Instead of purchasing lots of boxes and other packing supplies like bubble wrap or paper, use repurposed/reusable packing supplies.  Wood crates are great for moving and can also be repurposed into useful rustic-looking storage in laundry areas, offices, and closets.  They can also be stacked to create end tables and bookcases (nail gun required for assembly… see photo!).  When packing fragile items in boxes or crates, use clothing, pillowcases, papers you were planning to discard, etc. to protect your items instead of purchasing wasteful and costly bubble wrap.

The moral of the story is this:  if you aren’t sure if you’ll ever use it again, get rid of it.  Stop mindlessly saving things and lugging them around with you, constantly packing and unpacking them, if you’re never going to use them.  “Things” crowd our emotional space; the less we have, the easier it is to focus on what’s important and the more we love and appreciate the things we CHOOSE to keep in our lives.  Choose items and keep them with intention.  As military families, there is so much to distract us from what is important (deployments, separation, moving, being away from family, disappointment, job loss, etc.), so the last thing we need is more stuff in the way.

See The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy for more motivating details and information on living a life of minimalism!