How Owning LESS Means Loving MORE | Clutterbug Podcast #312

Summary

Podcast Summary: Clutterbug – “How Owning LESS Means Loving MORE” (Episode #312)

Host: Cass (Clutterbug)
Guest: Joshua Becker, founder of Becoming Minimalist
Air Date: February 9, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Cass sits down with minimalist pioneer Joshua Becker to talk about the deep benefits of owning less—not just visually or practically, but in terms of love, impact, and intentional living. Joshua shares wisdom from his latest book, Uncluttered Faith, and gives actionable advice for anyone wrestling with clutter, moral dilemmas about letting go, and the desire to make a bigger difference in the world. The conversation blends Joshua’s journey, his decluttering methods, and insights on how minimalism crosses into life philosophy and even spirituality.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Minimalism as a Way of Living, Not Just an Aesthetic (00:00–03:27)

• Cass: Admits she’s drawn to minimalism but not for the “look”; she’s interested in the lifestyle and mindset.
• Joshua: Clarifies that minimalism isn't about stark interiors—“It’s always been about the value.” (03:09)
  • Quote: “The moment minimalism made sense to me was... when I realized that all the things I owned were actually taking me away from happiness.” (03:57)

2. Joshua’s Minimalism Origin Story (03:27–04:56)

• Story of the garage revelation while his 5-year-old son played outside.
• Realization: Not just that stuff doesn’t bring happiness, but that it actively detracts from it.

3. Minimalism as Freedom to Make an Impact (05:45–07:09)

• Cass: Notes how decluttering gave her more time and ability to serve others.
• Joshua: Points out, “The less we own, the greater impact we can have in the world,” highlighting how minimalism frees up money, time, energy—and makes it easier to do good.

4. Intentionality Beyond Possessions (07:09–08:50)

• Minimalism means “the intentional promotion of the things I most value in life by getting rid of anything that distracts me.”
• This philosophy applies to time, money, relationships, not just stuff.

5. Faith Meets Minimalism – Uncluttered Faith (08:50–10:46)

• Joshua: Shares how his Christian faith and minimalism overlap. “Jesus was saying the same thing thousands of years ago—sell your possessions and give to the poor.”
• Minimalism, in this context, aligns with deeper spiritual values.

6. The Becker Method Explained (11:42–13:56)

• Joshua’s signature approach to decluttering, taught to over 100,000 people.
• Start with “the easiest, most lived-in areas first” to experience tangible benefits and build motivation.
  • Quote: “Declare the living room and we can sit down at the end of the day and it feels different, it feels better, it feels calmer.” (13:20)

7. Minimalism Is a Philosophy, Not a Fixed Destination (14:28–16:33)

• “Becoming Minimalist” is an ongoing process—no set number of items defines it.
• Mattes of need and intentionality outweigh mere reduction for its own sake.

8. Owning Less Doesn’t Mean Life is Stress-Free (17:05–19:23)

• Joshua: Admits his office and wardrobe need updates too—minimalism is ongoing.
• “Owning less doesn’t solve every problem, but... it provides the margin to handle life when those trials pop up.” (18:25)

9. Hobbies and Distractions (20:29–23:22)

• Cass: After decluttering, she filled spare time with hobbies and tasks—sometimes stacking “life” relentlessly.
• Joshua: Warns against distractions (even “good” ones) becoming lifestyles—“Is this serving me or am I serving it?” (21:49)
• Decluttering also teaches about our own motivations and consumer habits.

10. The Moral Dilemma of Letting Go (23:22–27:23)

• Cass: Many clients feel “letting go” is wasteful or ungenerous.
• Joshua: Flips the narrative—“There’s someone with that real need today... if we would just release it.” (25:10)
• Holding onto things “just in case” can prevent us from actually helping others now.

11. Guilt About Trash and Landfills (27:23–28:52)

• Cass: Discusses guilt over discarding items that “can’t be donated.”
• Joshua: “Keeping it in your home for another 10 years doesn’t change where it’s going to end up. It just means that your home has become the landfill.”
  • Quote: “If something is garbage, then that’s where it’s going to go... either we do it now, or someone has to do it 12 years from now. It won’t change the end result.” (28:35)

12. Where to Start Decluttering: Universal Problem Areas (29:41–32:54)

• Joshua: “Duplicates is a great place to get started.” (29:47)
• Examples: Towels, coffee mugs, appliances (“Why do we have so many potato mashers?”)
• Clothes: Most people vastly overestimate how much of their wardrobe they wear.
  • Data: Americans typically wear just 18% of their clothing, though they estimate it at 75%.

13. Maintaining Minimalism and the Problem of “Stuff Creep” (33:18–34:09)

• Cass: Struggles with new items constantly coming in.
• Joshua: The difference between surface decluttering and true minimalism is ongoing intentionality in all areas.

14. Minimalism and Family Buy-In (35:15–36:14)

• Cass: Shares challenges with a maximalist child.
• Joshua: His family is on board, but each person’s journey is personal—ultimate buy-in is tested when kids are independent.

15. Real-World Impact Example (36:56–38:29)

• Joshua: Proceeds from his books helped start The Hope Effect, a nonprofit moving over 500 children out of orphanages and into families.
• Key takeaway: “Owning less frees up our pursuits to not chase bigger houses and bigger cars, but help more people with the one life that we have to live.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Cass: “Everything we own is work, isn't it? It's time. It's mental load.” (04:56)
• Joshua Becker: “The less we own, the greater impact we can have in the world.” (05:45)
• On minimalism definition: “Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things I most value by getting rid of anything that distracts me from it.” (07:29)
• On judging stuff to trash: “Keeping it in your home for another 10 years doesn’t change where it’s going to end up.” (28:35)
• On decluttering starting points: “Get rid of a third of your clothes, and you’ll be just fine. You’ll still have plenty to wear.” (32:16)
• On helping now vs. 'just in case': “That thing could probably be used by someone right now. You just don't know who that person is.” (24:41)
• Cass (lighthearted): “Joshua, the king of minimalism is giving you permission to, to just put things in the trash sometimes.” (28:52)
• Final reflection: “Having just what we need to live our best life is way better than carrying around a whole bunch of stuff we don't need.” (16:33)

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Actionable Tips

• Look for Duplicates (00:00, 29:41): Start your decluttering journey by targeting items where you have more than one—towels, utensils, mugs, throw pillows.
• Clothing Purge (31:28): Most people wear only a fraction of their clothes. Try clearing out a third—you won’t miss it.
• Start in Lived-In Spaces (13:20): Begin with your living room or bedroom for quick results and motivation.
• Shift Mindsets (14:28, 20:29): Question not just what you own, but why—and whether your hobbies/activities take up life unnecessarily.
• Donate NOW, Not 'Just in Case' (24:41): Release items to organizations that can get them to those in immediate need.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Joshua’s Minimalism Origin Story: 03:39–04:56
• Faith Meets Minimalism Discussion: 08:50–10:46
• The Becker Method: 11:42–13:56
• Duplicates & Clothing Declutter: 29:41–32:19
• Moral Dilemmas & Trash Guilt: 23:22–28:52
• Nonprofit Impact Example: 36:56–38:29

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Additional Notes

• Joshua’s new book Uncluttered Faith (Available wherever books are sold; details at becomingminimalist.com).
• The episode features direct, relatable encouragement (“You have permission to just put things in the trash sometimes.”) and a supportive, inclusive approach to minimalism—no rigid rules, just intentionality.
• The post-interview includes listener stories and lighthearted advice, reinforcing the main themes.

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Episode Takeaways

• Minimalism isn’t about owning the fewest things—it’s about intentionally clearing distractions to focus on what you value most.
• Letting go can be an act of generosity, not waste.
• Anyone can get started by tackling duplicates and unused clothing.
• Owning less creates space—for yourself, for relationships, and for greater impact in the world.

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Transcript

[Cass]

I think I actually want to be a minimalist. Not a minimalist in the way, like aesthetically, but I. This year I would like to focus on becoming a minimalist. Maybe not looking at it as a destination, but instead of way of living. Which is amazing because the creator of Becoming Minimalist is actually who we're talking to today, the amazing Joshua Becker. He is the founder and the editor of Becoming Minimalist. He started this like 17 years ago. He was the OG man. And he not only inspires millions of people to declutter less, but he also combines his faith, which I actually find really fascinating because in talking with a lot of you and with clients, sometimes there is this moral, I want to be a good person. That can be a roadblock to letting go and decluttering because it feels wasteful, because it feels wrong, because you want to be able to help people. And Joshua flips that narrative and he shows us how it actually is the opposite and how letting go frees up our, our time and our lives to make a real impact in the world. So we're going to be talking about his new book, Uncluttered Faith, but also just his approach to minimalism, how it's different and how it can insp you to live your very best life. Before we meet Joshua and we hear all of his incredible wisdom, he actually is going to share some incredible tips, especially when it comes to what to start decluttering first, like where to go in your home to find things. And I'm going to steal one of his ideas and encourage you while listening to look for duplicates things in your home that you have more than one of. So it's not going to change your life at all. And he gave this great example. I'm going to share it now. If you have 30 towels right now in your bathroom and you declutter 15. Having 15 towels is not going to change your day to day life. It's not. You're still going to be able to dry yourself and do all the things, but it's freeing up space and time and energy and sharing those towels with other people. I also want you to think about your appliances, your potato masher, your your can open. How many do you really need? Duplicates is such a good place to start. So run around your house right now, grab a donation box and look. If you have two or more of the same thing, that's what you're going to put in the box. Hi, welcome to the Clutterbug podcast. Thanks for being here.

[Joshua Becker]

Well, thank you for having me. This is A pleasure, a joy. Always appreciate you.

[Cass]

So nice.

[Joshua Becker]

Good work.

[Cass]

You do. I think of you as like the king. I think of you as the king of minimalism. You wear the, you wear the crown. You sort of were pioneering this whole, whole idea. But I love that it's never been about the look for you because I think that's what we kind of see on social media. Minimalism is like an aesthetic, but for you it's always been about the value.

[Joshua Becker]

I maybe started the online movement towards minimalism, but it's certainly not a lifestyle that originated with me. But yeah, glad to be a part of it. So excited about all the new voices and new avenues and streams and people talking about it. So thanks.

[Cass]

Okay, tell me how you got started in minimalism. Like what did that look like? And why. Why were you just deciding one day that this was going to be your journey?

[Joshua Becker]

My journey? My introduction into minimalism. The short version is I was cleaning out my garage on a Saturday when my son Salem was 5 years old, asking me to play with him in the backyard. And after a few hours of me tidying up my stuff and trying to organize my garage, I started talking to my neighbor and complained a little bit about how much time had gone into the project. And she introduced me to minimalism. Not that she was a minimalist, but her daughter was. And she said, you know, my daughter's a minimalist and she keeps telling me I don't need to own all this stuff. And that was the moment. I usually summarize it as. The moment minimalism made sense to me was not when I thought that my possessions weren't making me happy, because we would all say that our possessions aren't making me happy. The light bulb moment was when I realized that all the things I owned were actually taking me away from happiness. Enjoy. Meaning, purpose, significance, represented by my 5 year old son swinging alone on the swing set in the backyard while I was cleaning out the junk in my garage.

[Cass]

Yeah, I feel that this is something that I've realized lately. So much is like, everything we own is work, isn't it? Everything. Everything we own is work. It's time. It's. It's mental load. And I had no idea until I started decluttering how much more came back into my life. And your new book, which I'm very excited about, it's uncluttered Faith, your tagline really stuck out to me. It's own less, love more and make an impact in your world. And it's that last line of make an impact in your world. That resonated with me because I do feel, feel like the process of decluttering and, and living with less opened up a whole new world I didn't know about.

[Joshua Becker]

The less we own, the greater impact we can have in the world. Just because we free up money, time, energy, focus, just even what we're pursuing in life. If I'm not pursuing a bigger house and nicer car constantly, then I can pursue good for other people a little bit easier. I think that there are other things that can distract us from making an impact in the world. I think that possessions are a really common one for a lot of people because we live in a culture where it's just become so normalized that we would own a lot of stuff that we don't need. And so I think that that trips up a lot of us, a really high percentage of us. But if I never ever accumulated more than I needed, there are still other distractions in the world I think that can keep us from making impact. If I'm just trying to hoard all my money for myself, or I'm trying to just spend my whole life traveling the world, or technology can trip us up and trying to please other people can trip us up. And so I think that there are other distractions that might trip up people who have been tidy along the way. So I think that's how I would try to describe it. Does that help?

[Cass]

I love that it is because, yeah, you're. I guess in my brain I always saw minimalism as the amount of physical possessions you're having, but you're really taking it to another level and like in your, in your everyday, all day life that you're really being intentional. I love this.

[Joshua Becker]

Yeah, so that fits my very definition of minimalism. So to me, minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things I most value in life by getting rid of anything that distracts me from it. And so for me, that journey began with physical possessions. Like very clearly, that Saturday morning I'm cleaning out the garage with stuff of stuff I don't need rather than spending time with my son. If I own less stuff in the garage, I could spend more time with those things that mean the most to me. But that definition can be applied to a lot of things other than physical possessions. So we can think about how we spend our time and how we spend our money, the relationships that we have in our lives, how we, what we're doing at work, like a lot of different ways that we can apply that mindset. But I think it's, I think it Always leads to more joy. I think it always leads to more fulfillment and meaning when I remove distraction so that I can live aligned with my heart's values. That always leads to a life better lived than one that becomes unintentionally distracted by all that's around us.

[Cass]

And your new book, Uncluttered Faith, you're really combining, yeah, Your faith with this whole minimalism movement. What made you. I mean, I know you're a pastor, so I suppose this does go hand in hand, but what made you want to, you know, make that connection for other people? And let's talk about your book, too.

[Joshua Becker]

Yeah, I appreciate that. So I was a pastor for 15 years before finding minimalism. I've been writing about minimalism for 17 years now, actually. There's a fun symmetry. I'd been a pastor for 15 years. I've been writing about minimalism for 15 years when I was writing the book on cluttered faith and a little bit like what we mentioned earlier. So for me, as I began owning less and began discovering new opportunity and new joy in life by intentionally owning just what I needed to, I remember talking to my wife, Kim, and I'm like, how come no one told me about minimalism before? Like, why did it take my neighbor in my mid-30s to introduce this idea of life to me? And I stopped myself halfway because, like, Jesus was saying the same thing thousands of years ago. He was talking about, sell your possessions and give to the poor. He says, life is not found in an abundance of possessions. And so, but for some reason, I. I don't know, I knew a lot of those stories, but I never made the connection that Jesus might have been. That Jesus might have been right and that owning less was a better way to live and start until, like, you said the same thing, until I started actually doing it. And so that was kind of the birthplace of the book that came out, you know, a decade later of, let's look a little bit deeper. What the Bible has been saying about this for thousands of years that we've been missing so much.

[Cass]

Yeah, I feel like that. Oh, I just like that. I'm not personally a really spiritual person, but I feel that. I feel like there is something. Yeah, deeper and powerful and just life transforming. And it really does open when we. When we let go of all the clutter, it really does open. Open ourselves up to not just more time, but love and appreciation and just the ability to help other people, too. This is something which all my clients say, like, now I have more ability to serve others because I have Less physical stuff. It's bonkadonks. Okay. A lot of people talk about the Becker method. Oh, I hear the Becker method. This is your, this is your thing. And it is in your new book too. Can you talk a little bit about the Becker method?

[Joshua Becker]

Yeah. It's the approach that I use to encourage people to own less, to make decluttering. It's not, it's not about becoming a minimalist, although I think that's the way to go. But it's about owning less however you want to go about doing it in your home or whatever end result wants to be in your home. And so it's the approach that I have found to be the most effective for the most number of people. I've been training professional organizers, I call them professional declutterers in the, in the best steps and how to do it. But it really started with an online course that I started 10 years ago called the Uncluttered Course. Hundred thousand people have gone through it over the last 10 years and it's just proven to be effective over and over and over again. The. The simplest way, like we can go into more details if you want, which I would be happy to and love doing it. The simplest way to describe it is that the decluttering approach is I start, I move through my home area by area, starting with the easiest, most lived in areas first. So my guest room might be the easiest room to declutter in my home, but if I never spend any time in the guest room, then I never get to experience any, any of the benefits of it. Similarly, my home office might be the place I spend the most time and want to declutter the most. But if it's the hardest room to declutter, then it's also a really difficult place to get started. So usually places like the living room or the bedroom tend to be a little bit easier than some of those other spaces. But they're a space that we spend time in and so we can declare the living room and we can sit down at the end of the day and it feels different, it feels better, it feels calmer. And I think that that success provides the motivation and the momentum to go tackle the next hardest room and the next hardest room and the next hardest room until eventually you get to the basement and the attic and the home office and some of those tougher spaces.

[Cass]

So good. I am not a minimalist. Joshua. Listen, I. I feel like part of me wants to be, but I also like my stuff. How do you know if you're a minimalist? Like I, I, I love that you're not like you need six plates period. And that makes you a minimalist. It's not one size fits all. You talk about this, but how do you know? How far do you have to go? How much further do I have to go? And is it more of just a philosophy and less about the actual stuff?

[Joshua Becker]

Well, I think it's more a philosophy. So I was introduced to minimalism on that Saturday morning. By Monday afternoon I had started my blog, Becoming minimalist, which even 17 years later, I really love the title. It's not became minimalist or I am a minimalist. It's like I'm becoming like life changes, seasons change, kids grow, we grow. And so it's certainly a constant evaluation of do I have what I need? Am I over accumulating? So all that to say, I'm not sure there is any specific definition of what would make you a minimalist. The way I explain it, as the way I explain the difference is decluttering would be about removing the things I know I don't need. Minimalism would be challenging my assumptions of how much I actually need. And so it's, it's, it's not, hey, I'm just getting rid of the surface level stuff that I know I don't need anymore. But like, hey, could I do I still have too much stuff? Would life be better if I owned less in my closet? Do I need to be spending my money on those things? Or could it be spent on something better? I think it's great. I think given the alternative, owning just what we need is always better than owning a whole bunch of stuff that we don't need. And so that's why I think minimalism is for everyone, knowing that it's going to look different for everybody. Like every family is different and our jobs and passions and hobbies are different. And so it's always going to look different from one person to another. But man, I think having just what we need to live our best life is way better than carrying around a whole bunch of stuff we don't need. But maybe you disagree.

[Danny]

Just kidding.

[Cass]

I want to be you when I grow up. I have an entire closet dedicated to throw pillows. Make me feel better. Joshua, do you have something that maybe you still strug with or are you like zen all over? That's the other thing you minimalists are, you just are so Zen. I guess you have nothing to stress about because you've minimized all the distractions. Okay, that's a two part question. One is, yeah, you have too many pens. Joshua, give it to me. What you got?

[Joshua Becker]

Oh, sure. I think that there's probably some spaces that I could go through. What. What would I think of? I. I tend to. So the new book comes out in February. I'm in, like, promotion mode. I finished writing it last spring and transitioned into another project right away. And I'm thinking about my home office, and I'm like, yeah, there's probably some stuff that I. Well, I know there's some stuff that I collected when I was writing the book that's still in the area, still in the space that. When the book comes out. Okay, let's find some time and let's go back through it. Clothes. Clothes come into my life, and my wife buys me clothes. And we just finished Christmas, you know, not too long ago, and things entered my life that someone thought was going to benefit me. And I haven't had the time yet to decide that's the way I treat gifts. I feel like maybe someone knows me better than I know myself and they found joy in this product and so they want me to have it. And so I give it some time, I give it some space, and if it improves my life, then it does. And if it doesn't, then. Then I move it along. So, yeah, I can think my home office, I mean, my office needs. Needs some work. For the second part of your question, I mean, there's still stress in life. Like, life is never easy and life is never perfect, and things are always going to come up. And owning less doesn't solve every problem. But what owning less does do is it provides the margin to handle life when those trials and when those tough seasons pop up. If I'm not. If my credit cards aren't already maxed out by buying things that I don't need, then the emergency pops up. I have some finances available for it. If my life isn't stretched too thin and caring for all the possessions in my home, or even caring for a home bigger than I need, then I have the time and the space and the margin to handle when those things do pop up. So, yeah, life isn't perfect, but I think minimalism provides the space to handle them a little bit better when they do arise.

[Cass]

I'm feeling inspired. I'm going to read your book. It comes out tomorrow, which is amazing, and I'm going to immediately read it because I do feel like my home is under control and I've decluttered possessions, which opened up my time and my energy. And guess what? I did. I immediately filled it with hobbies. And I was like, I have so much more time. And I just started stacking life on top because I'm no longer managing the mess. I'm no longer having to tidy before I can clean. I no longer. I've not had to look for an item, and I can't even remember the last time. And that has been so impactful, and it's opened up so many opportunities that perhaps I've cluttered up in other areas, you know, so your approach of intentional, it really is, isn't it? It's, It's. It's being intentional and removing the distractions for what matters. Because even silly hobbies sometimes can. Can be taking away from what I really want out of my life.

[Joshua Becker]

Yeah, it's really easy. The way I describe it is when a distraction becomes a lifestyle, like, hobbies are really good for us. They provide a healthy distraction. They provide a time to rest our brains and give us something to look forward to, like a moment of rest or watching television. Like, there's nothing wrong with watching television at the end of the day to. To rest. But when that distraction begins to take over my life, when the hobbies become so much so that I'm missing out on living my best life, making the biggest impact in the world that I can, as opposed to refreshing me and recharging me, it's distracting me from meaning then I think that's when, like you say, then, okay, let me. Let me adjust here. Is this. Is this serving me, or is this becoming something that I'm serving instead? I always say, if you're even interested in spiritual things, then I think you'll find a lot of benefit in the book. There's a lot of truths to it, even if you're not specifically following one religion or another. And so, like, some of the benefits, and they're all based on stories in the Bible. Things like, when we pursue minimalism, we learn lessons about ourself that we wouldn't learn elsewhere. I started taking things to Goodwill, Salvation army. When we began decluttering, and I took a van load of stuff to Goodwill, it felt great. A second van load. By about the third or fourth van load of things that I was dropping off, I started to ask myself, like, why. Why did I have three van loads of things in my house that I didn't need? Like, why do we keep things that we don't need? Why do we buy things that we don't need? Like, legitimately, why would we intentionally go buy something that we don't need? And I think the More you wrestle with that question, the more you start to learn. You know what? I don't think those motivations were healthy. I think maybe I'm a little more greedy than I thought. Maybe I am trying to impress people with the things that I buy. Maybe I am a sucker for a sale more than. And maybe advertisements do control my life more than I thought. And so that's just one of the good things that happen as we go about owning less. Some of the others, as we, you know, begin to discover and overcome greed and we can overcome worry in our life, we start living a more intentional life. We have more room for people in our life. As the tagline says, we can make a bigger impact in the world with the one life that we have to live. And so those are some of the different chapters and some of the different benefits that. That come into our lives.

[Cass]

I like that you're looking at this from a different approach, because I've worked with a lot of clients, some of which have had hoarding tendencies and the things that they're holding onto. There is this underlying, I want to have this so I can help my neighbors. In case someone needs this in the future, I'll be the person to hold it. In case my daughter has a baby one day and will want these things. Or if there's ever an emergency, I'll have all these extra blankets. But were so distracted by the stuff, and they're so distracted by the things that they're never actually able to help. But underlying, like, the thought of I'm keeping this is so I'm not wasteful. I'm doing the right thing. I'm being a good person. I'm. I have the things if anyone does need them. But the opposite is actually happening, isn't it? It's like there's this confusion in their brain and. And they're not able to really help anyone or make an impact because of the stuff. So I love that you' coming at it from a different angle. That I think can be really helpful for people who are struggling with that. There's like a moral dilemma there. Like, wasting is bad and letting go and just getting rid of stuff is, like, seen as this. As this bad thing to do.

[Joshua Becker]

Yeah. There's also a sense of, I'm holding on to this thing so that I can potentially help someone in the future. But that thing could probably be used by someone right now. You just don't know who that person is. And so, like, I'm going to hold on to it in case my daughter needs it. When she has a baby. Well, meanwhile, there's a single mom in your town who could, who could use those baby clothes right now. There's, you know, a family in poverty right now that could wear those maternity clothes that you're saving or they have the newborn son that those clothes could fit right now and be using. And so it's a little bit of like, there are wonderful organizations in the world that know the people in your community that can be using those things. And so a little bit of releasing that responsibility and a little bit of trusting, okay, I can donate them there. They're doing good things, they'll put those things into use. I always think that like the just in case stuff is that like we hold onto something for some potential need that might arise in our life. Meanwhile, there's someone with that real need today that could be using that thing if we would just release it and take it off our shelf and put it out into the world. So that's another way to think about it as well.

[Cass]

I'm going to ask you to judge me right now because you seem like a person who really has a good handle on what is right and what is wrong. And I sometimes walk the line and I'm not quite sure. So I in helping people in, in my own home. There are things in my home that just aren't donatable. There is what I would see as trash or even things like, oh, I could recycle that, but I'd have to scrub it out first and really clean it. And I just give myself permission to say I'm going to do better in the future. I just a fresh start. I'm overwhelmed and I will put things in the garbage. And I have had feedback that this is like, how could you? And what I've seen is sometimes people will hold on to these things because they don't want to contribute to a landfill. They don't want to make the world. These are good people, Joshua. They want to save the world. But they're, they're trying to save the world by just not making a mistake. And then their house is just a complete disaster and nightmare for them on a day to day basis. So tell me the truth. Am I a terrible person for putting things in the trash sometimes?

[Joshua Becker]

That is a great question. It's an important one. And the way I try to help people with this is yes, I think we do what we can. If something can be donated, we donate it. If something can be recycled, it can be recycled. But if something has outworn its usefulness, if something is garbage. If something is trash, if something belongs in the landfill, then the reality is it is going to end up in the landfill. And you keeping it in your home for another 10 years doesn't change where it's going to end up. It just means that your home has become the landfill instead of where that item is going to go, needs to go, and is going to live. Like, things get worn out and things get used, and we can't save them from the landfill by keeping them in our home. You know, we, we save them from the landfill by not buying them in the first place. But if they're garbage, then that's where it's going to go. And there's no sense turning my home into the landfill. If there's a designated space and there's professionals taking care of it and they know what to do with those items, then that's where they need to go. So that's the way I explain it. We do our best if we can, but if something needs to go there, then either we do it now or someone has to do it 12 years from now. But it won't change the end result.

[Cass]

You heard it here, my listeners. Joshua, the king of minimalism is giving you permission to, to just put things in the trash sometimes. Thank you. I love that so much. Okay, I have just a couple more questions and then you're going to tell us where we can get your book, which again comes out tomorrow. So excited. I, I, I'm, I'm super proud of you. Um, you've helped like over a hundred thousand people. More within the greater impact, but students declutter. So my listeners today, I always encourage them to look for things and to find some things to go. Do you have a recommendation, a category, an item that you've noticed people tend to just have too much of Universally, that's something that people right now listening could just go to and put in a donation.

[Joshua Becker]

Oh, come on. Everything, everything.

[Cass]

Your whole house just back up a U haul.

[Joshua Becker]

We have too much. We have too much of everything. So there are two places that I, I send people to, to think of and well, gosh, we can talk about this stuff all day and maybe we should sometime we. So I think I always tell people that duplicates is a great place to get started. You can get rid of your duplicate items without changing the way you live your Life. If there's 30 towels in your linen closet, you can go down to 15 towels and nothing changes. You still get to dry yourself every time you get out of the shower. And so this minimizing journey doesn't have to be about, I'm living a completely different life. It just means I'm keeping fewer of the things that I use. So towels, I think, is a great one. Coffee mugs is a big one, but maybe too difficult for people who have a lot of coffee mugs. Honestly, the stat that I cite in the book, there's this fascinating study. They studied what percentage of our clothes get worn, actually get worn. And then they asked the person what percentage of their clothes they think they wear. So you can picture it. I actually wear 18% of my clothes. But if you ask someone, they would say that they wear 75% of their clothes. And so then there's this gap of. What's the math on that? 57%. Like, the gap between what you actually wear and what you think you wear.

[Stacy]

You.

[Joshua Becker]

And America, interestingly enough, ranks number three. I think Canada might be ahead of us, but like. Like ranks third in that gap between what we think we wear and what we actually do. And it's something like 50 or 60% difference. So most Americans wear 18% of their clothing. And so I would send people to. To their clothes to. To declutter. It's. It's one of those spaces that has a immediate visual impact. If I get rid of a third of the clothes in my closet every morning, every evening, every time I do laundry, I can see the benefit of it. I can see how much easier it is to get ready in the morning. So that is where I would send people to get started. Just get rid of a third of your clothes, and you'll be just fine. You'll still have plenty to wear.

[Cass]

I love it. Yes. Go to your clothes. And I. I appreciate you saying duplicates, too, because they're. Why do we have so many potato mashers? Only you can't even put. Use both why and can openers. You better not have more than one can opener. There is. There's these everywhere from your appliances. If you opened up my kids drawer right now, there's probably six toothbrushes in there. Why? It's all these little things that are adding up to. Yeah. Just a very cluttered, suffocating life. All right, Joshua, you're.

[Joshua Becker]

I was gonna say when you. You know, when you consider duplicates across all the different areas. Throw pillows. You didn't mention throw pillows, but. Oh, okay. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

[Cass]

There's one. There's many seasons. Okay. And then there's Easter, and then there's spring, and then there's summer, then there's fall, then there's Halloween, then there's Thanksgiving. So you need a throw pillow for every occasion.

[Joshua Becker]

We should do this all day. Sometimes.

[Cass]

He'S coming for my throw pillows. I might go just declutter one just for you. I do. I love this. I, I, I've seen the benefit with just a little bit of, I say a little bit of decluttering. I've decluttered a lot. I see the benefit where I'm struggling is there's always things coming back in. And, and I think that's the difference between decluttering for the sake of decluttering and how it looks and decluttering for the philosophy of minimalism, which is being intentional in all areas, really, only keeping what we need and what we use so that we have abundance everywhere else. And you're just so inspiring. So thank you. Tomorrow, the book comes out. Let my listeners know where they can get their copy.

[Joshua Becker]

Uncluttered Faith is available anywhere and everywhere that books are sold. And it's available in any and every format. I, I always think it's funny when someone emails and like, is there an audiobook version? And I'm like, you can't hardly do a book without an audiobook version anymore. So there it's available in any and every format and wherever sold. So thank you. Certainly it'll be on my becoming minimalist.com is my home base and my website, and certainly there's a big announcement there. But again, I'll just be sending you to all the, all the usual booksellers.

[Cass]

And I'm going to put a link to your website down below. If Avi, I feel like all my listeners know about you. Again, you're the king of minimalism. But if not, check out the show's notes so you can make sure that you follow him. One last question before we go. How does your family feel about minimalism? Because I do have one maximalist daughter. My other kids, they're, they're like, yes, having less is. But I have one who wants to keep everything she's ever and she wants to see it all. Is there. Are your, is your family totally on board?

[Joshua Becker]

My family is on board. I think probably our spirituality, like our Christian faith, helps a little bit in that way. I mean, the whole basis of most spiritual beliefs would be that there's more to life than the physical things around us. And so I think that that, I think that that helps. Now, I always say so my kids are 23 and 19 and I always say that we'll know how much they buy into this when they're on their own in their first career, making more money than they need to just buy lunch on their college campus. So I think they're on board. But, you know, they'll have to make their own decisions once there's money in the bank, what they're going to spend it on. And, um, I like to think the principles have seeped into their hearts and lives, but we'll. We'll find out for sure when they get to make all their own decisions.

[Cass]

I have a feeling it has. I have a feeling it has. I mean, you. You live your message and it's apparent, and you just spread it to everyone else. Okay, I know I said the last question, but I have one more question, because, again, my favorite. Just the thing that really stands out to me about your book is your tagline, own less, love more, and make an impact in your world. So I' curious, how do you, like, could you share an example of how someone has made an impact in the world or potentially could once they've made this minimalism journey? That's a big question, isn't is a big question.

[Joshua Becker]

We started. We started a nonprofit called the hope effect 10 years ago that came from the first two books that I wrote when I had nine publishers bid on a book about how buying things won't make you happy. We. We decided, okay, like, we're not. We believe what we. We believe what we say. And so we took the proceeds and started a nonprofit. And we've gotten over 500 children out of orphanages and into families. I think that the impact that someone is going to have is always going to look very different from one person to another. There are problems in the world that you are passionate about, more passionate about than other people. There are talents and skills and experiences that you have that other people don't have. There are people in your life that you love that you can love better than anybody else. What owning less does, what minimalism does, is it frees up that money and time and that mental creativity to start living. My life focused on those problems in the world that I am passionate about solving. It frees up our pursuits to not chase bigger houses and bigger cars, but help more people with the one life that we have to live. And so lots of wonderful examples, no doubt. And I look forward to everybody listening to this, having their own story to tell in the future.

[Cass]

Thank you. I love this. Yes. And please tag Joshua. If you've gone through a decluttering journey and you've been able to make an impact, please share that impact and make sure that you tag Joshua and Clutterbug on social media so we can see, we can show and inspire other people and really see what these impacts look like. So thank you Joshua, so much. I appreciate you being on so much. And again, uncluttered Faith, congratulations. I'll put a link in the show notes so everyone can buy a copy.

[Joshua Becker]

Thank you Cass. Appreciate all your hard work.

[Cass]

Have to take a second to thank today's podcast sponsor, Cozy Earth. This is actually really relevant because when we're talking about decluttering and duplicates, especially I decluttered all my extra sheets that were not Cozy Earth sheets because there's just no comparison. And, and why, why did I need ones that I wasn't loving and wasn't using? Anyways, I'm so glad that I SW to Cozy Earth bedding. It is soft, it is temperature regulating. It comes with a 10 year warranty. I have washed them so many times, they still look and feel brand new. And you can try their pajama sets too. Also. Absolutely feels like luxury, but without breaking the bank. If you want to give Cozy Earth a try, you can go to their website cozyearth.com and use my code clutterbug for up to 20% off. Again, go to cozyearth.com, use the code clutterbug 20% off. And if you get a post purchase survey, be sure to mention that you heard about Cozy Earth right here on the Clutterbug podcast. I've interviewed Joshua in the past. We've had a great talk about minimalism, but this one, I don't know, it felt a little different. And what I love is that I'm not personally a religious person, but I love that he is making that connection between faith and clutter, between, you know, this foundation of so many people's lives, their faith, and how they can use that to help them let go of the excess and live the life they're really craving. And it's a beautiful way to combine it. And if you are a person who is spiritual and has faith, I really think this will resonate with you. I honestly didn't learn about Joshua until about five years ago. And this is when minimalism was becoming this, you know, fad. And you saw everywhere, everyone, like white houses and, and one bed with like nothing beside it, empty rooms, where's your coffee tables, people? And everybody was saying, I'm a minimalist. So I started looking more into it and what was lovely, like, I love dawn from the Minimal mom. She has such a great message and she actually was sharing about Joshua Becker. That's why she got started. He was the person who motivated and inspired her to start. So obviously I started looking to him too. And again, his message about it not being about what it looks like, it's not about the aesthetic. He's never going to give you a number of things you need. You don't need six, you know, towels and two dinner plates. He's not about that at all. He's about the philosophy and the importance of. Of knowing what matters and having time for it. So, yeah, he just has a beautiful message. Now it's time for my favorite part of the podcast. Talk to Cast. And let's start with a story from Stacy.

[Stacy]

Hi, Cast, this is Stacy from Pennsylvania. I found you last year and your it's not a cat. Get it done even if it's shitty method has seriously changed my life and my house. My house and my entire life have completely transformed and I am so grateful to you. One thing that I haven't been able to tackle yet is my photos on my phone. Oh, my God. It's a freaking disaster. I have over 17,000 photos to go through and so many are pictures of my kids that I took two dozen pictures and only need to save, like, one. This has been such a block and so overwhelming to start, but guess what? I'm a butterfly. I don't need to sort all of these out to. To specifically categories and hurt my head. I need to macro, organize and sort stuff into personal household, crafts, recipes, hobbies, etc. You don't need to sort things by vacation or birthday party or whatever because your phone can already do that for you. And you don't want to sort things by, like, dogs or kids activities because then you're like, oh, this is a picture of my dog, but it also has my kids in it. So where does it go? Everything goes into a personal album. It includes your friends, your family, your dogs, all the good stuff. And it weeds out all your screenshots and your pictures of your decluttering projects. So you can easily find everything with filters within, within your macro category. I've already gone through over 3,000 pictures and I am so excited to get my pictures into a more findable state. It doesn't need to be perfect. Do it shitty and just get it done. I love you so much, Cass. Thank you so much for everything you've done for me.

[Cass]

I love this.

[Abby]

Stacy.

[Cass]

At first I was scared because I thought you were gonna ask me, like, how to go. I have no idea how to do that because I have way Too many photos and everything else on my phone, too. But now I'm feeling inspired. And you're so right. When I want to find a picture of my dad, if I literally type this dad in, like, I open up my phone, camera, roll, and type in dad, somehow it knows that's some weird smart technology over there. But every photo I've ever had, my dad pops up, which I love. It sorts it for me so I don't have to. But you are going a step further and you're, like, actually putting it in macro folders. I think I'm gonna copy you, Stacy. I also think I need to delete some things, so thank you. I'm feeling inspired, and I'm going to do that later today. Now we have a question from Danny.

[Danny]

Hi, Cass. My name is Danny, and I have two questions for you. The first one is, how do you do it crappy without practicing it wrong? I am a musician, and I've done so much practicing in my life, and I've always been told, if you practice it wrong, it's going to be wrong forever. And so I have. You know, I'm absolutely a perfectionist. I'm sure you heard that right away. But I'm just. I just am having a hard time, like, wrapping my brain around this concept of, like, do it crappy versus the one that's been ingrained in my head of don't practice wrong. So that was my first question. My other question is, I have been watching you for probably a year now, and it's been so wonderful. My house is so much cleaner and so much just better than it used to be. But I have noticed that I put so much time and effort into my house. It's like every day I do the dishes. So I put my daughter to bed at, like, 7. And then I'll kind of procrastinate going downstairs because I know that I'm gonna go do the dishes and clean the living room. And so I'll procrastinate for a little bit until I. I get the. Oh, well, I turn. I turn your podcast on, and then I get the motivation to go do it. But it's like. Anyway, so I do the dishes and clean up the toys from the living room, which usually only takes about 30 minutes. 20 minutes, 15 to 30 minutes, depending on what I made for dinner. And then it's like, somehow I just spend my whole evening cleaning and decluttering. Like, I do the 30 minutes, and then I just keep going. And, like, I'm enjoying it because I'm listening to You. But it's also like where did my two hours, my only two hours that I have to myself go? It's I, I know exactly where it goes. I, I, I'll notice spots that need to sweep or mop or the laundry will be done and I'll need to put it away or there's just always another space to work on. And it feels like it's been taking all my free time. I'm doing all these things more crappy than I used to. Like my socks, I don't even, I, I only have black socks so I just toss them all in a bin. I don't even like pair them anymore because they're just, they're all black anyway. So I've been doing all these things like more crappy than I used to and it, it looks so much better than it used to and it's easier than it used to be. But it still takes up so much of my time. And I'm just curious if you have any thoughts for me about that, that. Thanks. You're amazing. I love listening to you. You've helped me so much.

[Cass]

Bye. I have so many thoughts. And let's just start with how do you do things wrong? Like that's what you said, right? Like how do you make yourself do things crappy? And you were like, do it the wrong way. And I just want to challenge you on that because I'm not a musician first of all. But I do want to, to tell this little story. Joe and I went to a concert and we had this opening act and I'm forgetting their name, the Refools. I think I want to go with Refools, but don't quote me on that. And they were two brothers and they were amazing. They're local, they were singing, they were playing and Joe said, look at what they're doing. They're playing ups. Their guitars are upside down. So their dad was a musician and they are left handed though. And he had a right handed guitar. So they learned by just flipping it upside down. They had to make up their own chords. They had to, you got, they're so good. And Billy Rafool, I think that's his name anyways, he's like around here. He's like a rising star. He's selling out everything. So even in music, who says what's the right way and what's the wrong. And that's what I want to challenge you when it comes to your home. Who says the right way to put away laundry? Who says the right way to vacuum and mop? Like we have these rules, these arbitrary rules that no one's actually told us. We've probably learned from our parents or seen something on tv. I want you to challenge that because I'm here to say there is no wrong way. There's only your way and done is all that matters. And there is what is even perfect. Trust me, your idea, perfect and Martha Stewart's are very different. So there is no top of the mountain here. The other thing I want to say is you are not allowed to do anything cleaning related for more than 20 minutes at night. Night, period. There. I'm putting that rule on you because. No, yes. I know exactly what you're talking about. I used to do the same thing. I would just get caught up in the momentum and before you know it, I'm scrubbing baseboards and it's 11. Like, why stop it. What are you doing? And it feels good in the moment and it's giving me dopamine. But the in the long term, I'm going to feel burnt out and resentful about my home. So you are not, like, you are not allowed. You have a cut off. I think it should be 8pm and you are not allowed to do any cleaning after that period. Okay. Set a timer. Get yourself a cool little cute timer. Leave it on your kitchen counter. Doesn't even matter if it's done. You're done when your timer goes off. Now we have a story from Abby.

[Abby]

Hey, Cass, this is Abby from Manitoba, Canada. I just wanted to say hi and thank you so much much for your podcast, how you encourage us to do stuff decluttering while we're listening. I just listened to the one about doing things averagely and I finished the podcast out by, yeah, cleaning the head of my vacuum cleaner. I had done it before, like a year or so ago and it definitely needed it again. There's a big pile of hair that I cut off with a serrated knife. Something that I thought I could change in my life after listening to that podcast episode was not recording my me and my husband's spending, or maybe not as detailed. We had had that advice given to us a number of years ago and it was kind of working for us, but it also was a bit of a stressor and it is really hard to do consistently. And I think we have a decent idea of how much we are spending. So I think I'm not going to do that for maybe the first three months of 2026 and see how things go. And yeah, I really like on my bank app, the yeah, tracking it gives for where we're spending money, and that has probably helped me more, actually, than following our spreadsheet. Yeah. So thank you for that encouragement. I'm also a new mom, and so, yeah. Hearing you talk about attachments with your kids and how. Yeah. If they can just fail on their own or just learn some more independence, it can be really helpful for them. I love learning about parenting and balancing. Yeah. Spending lots of time with my kid, but also letting him do stuff on his own.

[Danny]

Yeah.

[Abby]

Thank you for your content. Bye.

[Cass]

Thank you. Abby, please throw that spreadsheet directly into the trash can. Yeah. My mom, she's. She's adorable and she's really into. She calls it, like, balancing her checkbook. So she will go through all of her banking statement and, like, cross reference it against all her things. She spends hours doing this every single month.

[Stacy]

Girl.

[Joshua Becker]

Girl.

[Cass]

I got an app on my phone that just alerts me when I'm getting too close to spending the limit I put in on, like, things. And it. I'm like, it tracks every. Get yourself some time back and let technology help you out. Don't you dare open that spreadsheet. Okay. There. I said what I said. How did the duplicate hunt go? Did you find things? Did you find those extras that you had more than one of? Did you feel brave enough to declutter? Because if your potato masher breaks. Oh, my. You can go to the thrift store and buy one for a dollar. So it's all good in the hood, guys. Hope you're feeling empowered. Hope you filled a box today, and I'll see you next time.