Minimalism is pretty popular, but I’m always struck by how complicated the process can seem. I remember the first time I decided to minimalize our home, I was overwhelmed by all the “how to” videos and different methods. Simplifying my life felt way too complicated and difficult – kind of ironic!

Today I’m sharing an approach that has worked for us, albeit unintentionally. I like to call it the “Nomad Method,” since it’s been inspired mostly by travel.

This approach to minimalism originated about a year and a half ago, when we were preparing to move to Florida. We weren’t sure if we were going to move here permanently or not, so we only brought what would fit in our Suburban and rented a furnished Airbnb for four months to see if we wanted to stay.

We had to do some major downsizing in the months leading up to our move, and one of the biggest areas we cut down was on clothing. We had SO MANY CLOTHES, and as I was trying to decide what to keep and what to give away, I realized I only saw about 10 percent of them being worn on a regular basis. We had been so focused on decreasing our waste in the food department, but it became pretty clear that I had a lot of work to do on the clothing front.

Moving provided a great opportunity to pare things down, and we’ve managed to keep our clothing situation pretty minimal since we settled down here in Florida. But I still find myself having to sort through things regularly and make giveaway piles.

And then there have been a few big purges we’ve done, every six months or so, since our move. I’ve started to mimic the process we went through during our move to do these quickly and effectively. Rather than spending days or weeks on minimizing, the process takes me a few hours, max.

The Nomad Method

Here are the basic steps to this process:

1. Pretend you’re going away on a two-week vacation. On this trip, you’ll be able to do laundry every three days (no more than that).
2. Pick out six daytime wear outfits for your trip. This should include all the clothing, shoes, and accessories you’ll need. Don’t agonize about this step, just pick the outfits you like and wear most often.
3. Pick two seasonal necessities (like a jacket or swimsuits).
4. Pick two special-occasion outfits (for example, a dress with heels or suit and dress shoes for church or other nice occasions).
5. Pack these clothes in a suitcase you would take on a two-week trip.

And now, step 6, which is the most important step:

6. Take ALL your other clothes and put them in a storage tub. Or multiple tubs, if you need more space than that.

Step 6 is the most important step because it will allow you to filter out what clothes you really need (or want) to keep. You’re going to keep those clothes packed away for two weeks, which is your trial period.

Rules for the Two-Week Trial Period

For the next two weeks, follow these rules:

1. Do not buy any new clothes.
2. Do not retrieve any items from the storage unless it is absolutely necessary.
3. Do laundry every three days.
4. Keep a list on hand where you can take note of any items you find yourself wishing you had kept. But be pretty picky about this. I’m not talking about vague wishes like, “Oh I wish I had more sweaters,” but specific things like, “I really miss that cute blue sweater I wear all the time and I have no idea why I packed it away and can’t wait to get it back.”

At the end of two weeks, do an honest appraisal of which items you missed and which ones you didn’t. If you didn’t miss it, give it away. If you have a lot of clothes, you should have a lot to give away at this point.

You might have items you didn’t specifically think of because they’re not in season. Pack those items away until you can actually wear them. You can repeat this process when the weather changes so you can do a quick declutter of your closet.

You can do this process for yourself and also for your kids. I’ve repeated it three times over the last year for our whole family. I did it before actual two-week trips, and for the most part I didn’t even think about what we hadn’t brought with us.

Here’s a picture of what our suitcase contained on our long road trip this past summer – and this is all the clothing I packed for myself as well as five of our kids!

When I got home, I sorted through the things we left behind and kept anything I’d remembered or missed on our trip, then gave away the extra. I’m always amazed at how quickly the “extra” can accumulate!

Repeat this process every few months, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can pare down your clothing and keep it that way. Let us know how it goes!