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“I think we clutter our lives with too many things, and too many things bring on too many thoughts that keep us from achieving our goals,” said Bitsie, a local teacher and mother of two sons. “I’m really trying to tighten things up and get back to the basics.”

Movement growing

The simple living lifestyle goes by many names, whether it’s frugal living, minimalism or the mindfulness movement, among others. It’s a movement that’s catching on as the Great Recession led households to rethink their debts and possessions, items that were often charged on credit cards.

Bitsie went through items in her household and either sold or donated things she didn’t need. She also rethought her household budgets, taking meal planning tips and other suggestions from online bloggers who write about simple living.

Not everyone in Bitsie’s social circle was as enthusiastic about her lifestyle change. So in order to find others who embraced frugality, she created the group FRUGALbuquerque Living on Meetup.com.

Bitsie said she wanted to establish a local community where members could build relationships, provide support and share resources around frugal living.

Join the minimalist tribe

FRUGALbuquerque Living: “The Great Pare-Down” FRUGALbuquerque Living: “The Great Pare-Down” Next meet-up takes place 6 p.m. Thursday at Congregation Albert, 3800 Louisiana NE. This meet-up will cover strategies for paring down possessions and tackling clutter. Join the meet-up group and RSVP before attending. For information visit Meetup.com/FRUGALbuquerque-Living. For information on the local chapter of The Minimalists, visit facebook.com/abqminimalists.

Bitsie started the group at the end of January and held its first meeting Feb. 7. Nine people attended and shared their beliefs and goals, which ranged from those who wanted to live more sustainably, to those who wanted to curtail spending for financial reasons.

“The basic common denominator between all of us is that we want to live more simply to reduce the stress in our lives, and reduce our possessions so we can enjoy with less,” Bitsie said.

The group received positive responses. In less than a month, the group has grown to 50 members and has several more meet-ups in the works, including meetings that cover spring cleaning, household budgeting and a community garage sale.

Voluntary simplicity

Another simple living movement is minimalism, made popular by bloggers and authors Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, known as “The Minimalists.”

Millburn and Nicodemus went on a speaking engagement tour last year and stopped in Albuquerque in March. The duo creates free local meet-up groups in each place it visits for people who are or want to lead minimalist lifestyles.

Miriam Ortiz y Pino is a professional organizer who runs Albuquerque’s minimalist meet-up group. She said she has lived a minimalist lifestyle, or what she calls voluntary simplicity, for 20 years.

Ortiz y Pino said most people join the minimalism group looking to save money, but then realize minimalism is more than taking control of one’s finances.

“To me, it’s about a mindful way of living in that I think through everything I buy and agree to participate in and think of it in terms of ‘is this going to complicate my life or add value to it?'” she said. “It’s not about getting rid of everything, but keeping the stuff that serves you well.”

Ortiz y Pino is a founding member of Professional Organizers of New Mexico, a group of organizers that belong to the National Association of Professional Organizers.

She said she ask clients to evaluate possessions based on what they need or what brings them joy. She said the beauty of this type of evaluation is that there’s no right or wrong answer.

“It’s about considering what’s right for yourself,” Ortiz y Pino said. “No one is going to judge you for buying or keeping something extra.”

Ortiz y Pino said those who have successfully completed the process have less stuff and find themselves less stressed. Yet it’s an ongoing editing system, something she too struggles with.

“It’s hard not to default to the American consumer attitude, but living simply allows you to really consider what you have in your life,” Ortiz y Pino said.

Those who follow the simple living and minimalism movements say living with fewer possessions allows individuals and families to lead more meaningful lives with less stuff.