Tag Archives: minimalism

Day 3082 – Shopping Ideas For The Minimalist, Traveler, Or Road Tripper On Your List – repost

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As we’re quickly approaching Christmas, I wanted to reshare some gift ideas!

As a note, this list includes affiliate links, which just means that we get a small percentage of your purchase. We’d really appreciate it if you used our link to do your shopping on Amazon today! Even if you don’t buy what I suggest, if you purchase anything after clicking the link, we’ll get a percentage of that. (It’s such a small percentage, it just helps feed our Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme addictions. To every one of you that has used our link, thank you, thank you, thank you!)


First is my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget. This will help your road tripping friend plan their trip, and keep within budget.

Next is a scratch off map for your traveler. Luckies of London The United States of America Scratch Map (USLUKUS) is such a fun way for us to keep track of where we’ve traveled in the country together! One of the first things I do after we get home from a road trip is update our map!

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less totally changed my life. Even though we were already pretty simplified and minimalists, this book helped me to dig even deeper into simplicity. It helps me to say no to things that need to be said no to.

Keep Moving: And Other Tips and Truths about Aging by Dick Van Dyke was a really fun book. It is read by the author, and in my opinion, the only way to experience this book. I laughed, I cried, and I appreciated my life so much more. He shares great stories about life, marriage, family, and his show business career. He sets a great example of how to live – no matter how old you are. This is a great listen for a road trip!


We absolutely love these XL Outdoor Club Chairs and use them every day. They’re easy to pack up and take to the beach or camping. They’ve held up extremely well over the almost 2 years we’ve used them. The only wear is because of some embers from the campfire.

And let’s get real here, cash and gift cards are the minimalists best friend. It isn’t an impersonal gift at all. It says “we know you don’t need/want more stuff, but there are things you want/need, and we’re going to trust you to choose them!”

What are you getting your traveler, roadtripper, or minimalist?

Here’s us using our chairs on the beach earlier this year!

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 3065 – We Don’t Give Christmas Gifts – repost

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Originally posted 12/1/16

I read a fantastic article yesterday – The Case Against Buying Christmas Presents. It really struck a chord and I wanted to share it and my thoughts on gift giving at Christmas.

I stopped buying Christmas presents about 9 years ago. Like most things in my life, I started/stopped doing it for a superficial reason but the deeper reasons that resulted from the change became very important to me. I stopped Christmas gifts because of my own debt and the example of a close family from church who didn’t do gifts. I thought, huh, that’s interesting. So, I stopped. I’ll admit, that first Christmas was a little awkward, but my friends and family know I don’t do gifts. I still get a few gifts here and there (which I totally appreciate!) but now it’s expected that I won’t give one back.

As time went on, I still didn’t give Christmas gifts. Bret felt the same about giving gifts, so we didn’t. Looking back, I can see how those deeper reasons were a lot of the points the author of the above article made. Since we’re minimalists, we’re all about less stuff. And in turn, we don’t want to add to someone else’s “stuff.” It also frees us to give generously at other times of the year. The unexpected gifts are the best, in my opinion. 🙂

But I have to say, the biggest benefit has been a nearly stress-free holiday season, every year. There’s no “what am I going to get XXX for Christmas?” or “I have SO much to do!” Honestly, the biggest stress of our holidays is getting to and from the airport and flight delays. Since we’re not stressed about all the “stuff you have to do” at the holidays, we can truly sit back and reflect about the real reason for Christmas.

So, what do you think? Are we completely crazy?
(Just be glad I didn’t talk about some of the other topics that we’re REALLY in the minority about!)

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 3058 – Shopping Ideas For The Minimalist, Traveler, Or Road Tripper On Your List

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Wooo Black Friday! I love shopping on Black Friday…..and Thanksgiving (heh heh, hides face)….to help you shop, I wanted to give you some suggestions for gifts for those you love that are a minimalist, a traveler, a road tripper, or all of the above.

As a note, this list includes affiliate links, which just means that we get a small percentage of your purchase. We’d really appreciate it if you used our link to do your shopping on Amazon today! Even if you don’t buy what I suggest, if you purchase anything after clicking the link, we’ll get a percentage of that. (It’s such a small percentage, it just helps feed our Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme addictions. To every one of you that has used our link, thank you, thank you, thank you!)


First is my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget. This will help your road tripping friend plan their trip, and keep within budget.

Next is a scratch off map for your traveler. Luckies of London The United States of America Scratch Map (USLUKUS) is such a fun way for us to keep track of where we’ve traveled in the country together! One of the first things I do after we get home from a road trip is update our map!

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less totally changed my life. Even though we were already pretty simplified and minimalists, this book helped me to dig even deeper into simplicity. It helps me to say no to things that need to be said no to.

Keep Moving: And Other Tips and Truths about Aging by Dick Van Dyke was a really fun book. It is read by the author, and in my opinion, the only way to experience this book. I laughed, I cried, and I appreciated my life so much more. He shares great stories about life, marriage, family, and his show business career. He sets a great example of how to live – no matter how old you are. This is a great listen for a road trip!


We absolutely love these XL Outdoor Club Chairs and use them every day. They’re easy to pack up and take to the beach or camping. They’ve held up extremely well over the almost 2 years we’ve used them. The only wear is because of some embers from the campfire.

And let’s get real here, cash and gift cards are the minimalists best friend. It isn’t an impersonal gift at all. It says “we know you don’t need/want more stuff, but there are things you want/need, and we’re going to trust you to choose them!”

What are you getting your traveler, roadtripper, or minimalist?

Here’s us using our chairs on the beach earlier this year!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 3048 – Lessons Learned From Minimalist Travel – repost

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I came across this post a day or two ago while rereading my blog posts and I thought it had some great lessons for today!

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originally posted 12/27/2014
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In normal Jen and Bret fashion, we waited until the day before we left to pack our bags for our trip. While we were packing, we had a crazy thought – only take two carryon bags. So we took everything out of our bags and looked at what we had…and we realized we could do it. We’re here for about ten days and brought enough for that time. Here’s what I learned about myself and life in the process.

– When you’re forced to pick only what you absolutely need, the unimportant becomes obviously apparent.
– If you think something is impossible, if you HAVE to attempt it, you might find that it is possible.
– When everything is in your possession, you don’t have to wait for others.
– When you do something you’ve never done before, it’s a really satisfying feeling to actually do it.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about going through security with shampoo and all that jazz (because I would always check it in the past), but it was a great feeling knowing that I could. We were through security in about 15 minutes….on Christmas Eve no less! It was also great when we got to California, we didn’t have to wait for our bags, we could walk right out the door and meet Bret’s parents.

So, lesson learned? It is possible to travel across the country for ten days with only the clothes and backpack on your back. 🙂

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Day 2876 – Repost – Living Light Tips – Organizing Your Home

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Originally posted 5/26/16. With a little update at the end.

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We started living light or living a very minimalistic way when we moved into this apartment. We still sleep on the floor and we still only have camping chairs for our furniture. We have gotten rid of more than we’ve purchased in the last year and we have made even more changes that have made our lives simpler.

I’m a big fan of The Modern Mrs. Darcy. She blogs about reading, life and everything in between. She recommended a great book and one I wouldn’t have thought to pick up on my own – Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD: Tips and Tools to Help You Take Charge of Your Life and Get Organized. My biggest take aways were:
– Store things where you’ll use them (extra towels on a shelf in the bathroom instead of the hall closet)
– Only have 1-2 types of socks and don’t match them
– Only have 1 type of reusable containers

How we’ve changed things:
– Not matching socks….ok, just Bret’s socks. I have a soft spot for fun socks – superhero socks, Star Wars socks, silly ducks, etc. I have to match mine. BUT they’re super easy to match. Bret’s are the same white sock. This has saved me maybe a few minutes for each load of laundry, but that adds up.

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This was something I already had going on, but it’s a good minimalist tip. Bret has 4 work shirts and 2 work pants. I’ve labeled 4 hangers so I can keep track of what he’s worn already (I also set a calendar reminder).

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We got rid of all of our random reusable containers and only have 2 types. Red Rubbermaid and some green ones I got from the dollar store. We also got rid of all of the dishes that weren’t in the black and white set. image

A brand new thing we’re trying is washing, drying and putting away the dishes immediately after using them. I read a great article on Becoming Minimalist about how why he does this (mostly taking the stress out of having something hanging over your head). It makes a lot of sense and I want to take a look at other areas in my life where I can apply this (I’m looking at you four different to do lists!)

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What about you, what are some things you do to have a more organized and minimalist home?

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5/26/17 update – Not too much has changed from above, except for the dishes. We don’t have a dishwasher in our new place, so we have to handwash our dishes. We are trying to wash them all at night. We did get rid of about a half a car load of stuff, including some dishes, on our last move. We still haven’t bought more than we get rid of, and we still sleep on the floor (doubt we’ll ever go back at this point).

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel