My Family Sold Everything, Lived out of Our Car, and Discovered the Joy of Minimalism

Last year, in October, my husband James and I, along with my daughter Nyah sold everything except our Ford Station wagon and necessities that would fit in our car (without using a trailer or roofs racks, etc.). We did not put anything in storage. I sold everything via a facebook page and anything that didn’t sell in 1 week I donated to charity.

Most things sold for a decent value (as I sold very cheaply just to get rid of it) even our unit in Adelaide. We paid off ALL our debt and owned everything in full! All we had left was our freedom which was the happiest and best thing EVER.

My husband is a computer engineer and I am an accountant/business manager, we started our own company making mobile phone apps so we could work from wherever – so long as we had mobile reception for internet. We have been travelling Australia for over a year now. We  house sit and camp.

Because everything must fit into our car, Nyah is only allowed one 40cm by 40cm box for ALL her things (a purple Ikea collapsable box). She never complains for more toys (she never had many compared to other children but certainly at least 6 more of those boxes worth.) She plays with her things all the time and loves it. She mostly enjoys catching insects and butterflies, filling cups with water, singing and drawing.

In her box we have quality items which are not childish and they seem to last better and she enjoys them more:

One of Nyah’s drawings that was recently sent to a dear aunt.

Once a month, we look through Nyah’s artwork folder and remember the pictures she has drawn and artwork she has created and a note of who we sent it to etc. It’s important for us to reflect on this and helps keep our focus on giving to others.

Also, for Christmas she gets to choose what present to give to her “sponsor sisters” and their communities. Nyah was able to choose a sponsor child through World Vision, whose birth date was identical to hers – such a novelty and such a blessing to Nyah and the child, her “twin sister” is Matilda from Bolivia and her other sister is Blessed from Uganda. I would highly recommend giving your child a sponsor child of their own (everything is in Nyah’s name) and one with identical birthday or birth date if possible makes it all the more special for them.

It has and is teaching Nyah so much about compassion, love, money, and how blessed we are and to be content. Now everytime she says “I want….” she changes it to “Oh I mean I want to get it for my sponsor sister instead”.

We are totally paperless our company records are all PDFs or photos of tax receipts – a lot of work to start but so good now a system is in place.

I also did this with my Dad’s memorial service card and will do so for all other things which may have importance/interest for Nyah when she grows up

I keep in mind that Nyah will not be a clone of me in regards to what is special and significant to her so I always take a photo of things even if I think “oh who needs to remember that”.

Would you like to share your journey on Nourishing Minimalism? Email me with “Reader Story” in the subject line. rachel@nourishingminimalism.com

About the author, Rachel

Hi there! I’m Rachel Jones, and I founded Nourishing Minimalism in 2012 at the beginning of my minimalist journey. If you're looking for encouragement in your journey, I go live in my FREE Facebook Groups every weekday- feel free to join me there: Nourishing Minimalism Facebook Group