Best Minimalist Living Blogs of 2020

The minimalist lifestyle isn’t just about a simple design aesthetic. It’s a much broader concept, a philosophy that embraces living with less — fewer physical possessions, less debt and unnecessary expense, and a more intentional promotion of the intangible things you value most.

There can be a lot of benefits to minimalist living. In selecting this year’s best minimalist living blogs, we looked for people who are sharing their journey and experiences. We hope you find them as educating, inspiring, and empowering as we did.

Some have begun addressing the emotional and practical impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a minimalist lifestyle. Many say minimalist living frees up time and energy to meet the challenges of living under lockdown, but the emotional longing for family, friends, and the return of normalcy still seeps through.

Caroline launched her blog in an effort to find her own style and curb her self-described “mindless shopping habit.” She committed to a 1-year experiment with a capsule wardrobe — a small, structured collection of 37 pieces. At the end of it, she found she was more content, more confident, and more in tune with her personal style than ever before. Now, she’s sharing outfit ideas, closet-curating tips, packing guides, and her own brand of the “less is more” philosophy.

Financial simplicity is the idea on this blog, which is maintained by a practical minimalist who only spends on and keeps what she loves. Sherry shows her visitors exactly how to spend money without feeling guilty, live with less without feeling deprived, and save for their future while still splurging on what they love.

Learn how to be more with less by simplifying your life so you can create time and space to discover what really matters. Courtney Carver is the inspiring voice behind this blog, and she’s teaching people how to do exactly that. She traded in an overwhelming, uninspired life in which she worked too much, spent too much, and slept too little, and now she’s sharing the big and small changes that lead to a life lived with purpose.

After decluttering her own home and life, and rediscovering her health, passion, and energy along the way, Brooke is on a mission to help others who want to do the same thing. On her blog and podcast, she’s sharing the concept of slow living and the beautiful benefits of living with less.

Clearing out the “stuff” in our lives, our homes, our minds, and on our calendars is the first step in crafting the life you really want. No Sidebar can help you understand what’s getting in your way. Browse their articles for specific advice, or move toward a simpler life with their 30-day email course designed to inspire and encourage you along the way.

Kathy Gottberg is a six-time author who uses her blog as a platform to explore ideas and experiences that help create a meaningful, sustainable, compassionate, and rewarding life. Her posts are varied and sharp, offering inspiration and a unique perspective.

A lifestyle blog written by Erin Boyle, Reading My Tea Leaves celebrates a practical, purposeful approach to a simple and sustainable life. That means DIY tutorials for making your own night-lights or kraft paper roll holders, posts about living life in a tiny apartment, waste-not recipes, eco-friendly family travel advice, and tips for living simply but beautifully.

Colin Wright’s blog is an interesting portrayal of one man’s decision to scale down his entire life. In 2009, Colin had enjoyed professional success but realized his lifestyle didn’t align with what he actually wanted in life. So he got rid of everything he couldn’t fit into a carry-on bag and started traveling the globe. Today, the author and speaker continues to publish introspective posts about his experiences and perspective on life, travel, and what it means to live simply.

Mr. Money Mustache is a witty, useful resource for finding financial freedom by spending less than you earn. In 2011, out of pure exasperation, the retired-at-30 Mr. Money Mustache launched his blog to share some of the secrets to creating a life better than your current one — at half the price. His posts are comprehensive and detailed, with enough information to get you started on the road to early retirement.

Kathryn is on a mission to save the planet, and she’s doing it through a zero-waste lifestyle. Her blog is helping others do the same, with tried-and-true recipes that break down the zero-waste concept into an easy step-by-step process. This is also a great place to find a like-minded community and support in such a challenging goal.

If clearing the clutter in your home is a goal that always feels out of reach, Nourishing Minimalism can help. Rachel Jones was embarrassed by the messy state of her home, and minimalism proved to be a tool that helped her focus on what’s important. Now, she’s sharing the methods of simplifying that make it easy to maintain a joyful, peaceful home.

If you find yourself checking your phone far too often or buying something unnecessary whenever you feel down, this blog is for you. Anthony Ongaro says we do these things just to distract ourselves from discomfort. His blog is full of tools to break unproductive habits. He calls this “breaking the twitch.” On the blog, he offers videos, podcasts, tips, and a monthly newsletter to help you stop automatic behaviors and free up time for what matters most in your life.

This is a step-by-step guide that takes you from clutter to intentional living. Blogger Jennifer Burger is a self-described shopaholic turned minimalist. After she minimized and decluttered her environment, her life fell into place, too. Now she offers her methods in blog posts, podcasts, and how-to courses like “The One-Day Closet Cleanse” and “Clear Your Clutter.” She invites you to join her on a journey to simple and intentional living.

Karen Liszewski is a life coach who offers information, tips, and inspiration for living a minimalist life. Her blog helps you get started with meditation, slowing down, and decluttering. Karen began her own journey by scaling down her apartment and her mind to relieve her skyrocketing anxiety. She now uses her blog and one-on-one virtual life coaching to guide others from the overwhelm, fear, and mental paralysis that often characterize the start of a minimalist lifestyle to the freedom and slower pace you find once you’ve taken the first few steps.

This blog shows you how to exchange a complicated modern life for a simpler way of living. You’ll read stories of a little-known group of post-suburban nomads who traded their mortgages and houses full of things for a portable lifestyle on a boat, RV, or van. Blog writers Matt and Tabitha Best felt stifled in the suburbs, so they and their seven children took to the road in an RV. They offer information, personal experience, podcasts, and a weekly newsletter to teach others how to live a simpler life with more time for family activities, children’s education, and adventure.

If you’re looking for ways to economize the expenses of family life, this is the blog for you. Since Cass started the blog 6 years ago, it has accumulated lots of tips and resources, like a downloadable budget planner, meal ideas and recipes, instructions for homemade cleaning supplies, and 50 ways to save money. Cass also focuses on family activities like making a family poster together or a bird feeder in a mug. If you’re ready to save money and have family fun at the same time, this is the blog for you.

Yolanda Acree launched this blog in 2015 after finding few Black minimalist platforms. She found that Blacks experience minimalism differently from the mainstream and wanted to give voice to those differences. Black lifestyle is bound to Black culture, she writes, and both are interconnected with Black liberation. She wants to give support to a community who understands this connection and experiences the benefits of minimalism in their daily lives. You’ll find many posts about the Black minimalist movement here, but also informative writing about everyday living, such as eating well, summer beauty tips, and travel.

Deborah Shepherd identifies as a plus-sized fashion model who describes herself as “The Broke Minimalist.” She focuses on minimalist fashion, mental health, and money tips. You’ll find broad-based posts on her blog like, “How To Improve Your Finances, Relationships, and Mindset With Minimalism,” as well as practical focused advice like “4 Ways to Earn Extra Money When You’re Broke.” She offers her help in showing how to remove the clutter that sits between you and your life goals. This includes not just tangible clutter, but mental and financial obstacles as well.

Leo Babauta writes a blog about clearing clutter from your life to make room for the important things. His content focuses on changing habits in your life, one at a time. This regular guy has welcomed a lot of changes into his own life in the last 15 years, such as quitting smoking, becoming a runner, waking earlier, becoming a vegan, and tripling his income. He offers informative posts about how you can accomplish the same level of change in your own life. He also gives the Zen perspective on current cultural issues, such as, “The Not Knowing of This Moment of Confronting Racism.”

If you have a favorite blog you’d like to nominate, please email us at [email protected].