Soulful Simplicity Book Review

I recently finished reading Courtney Carver’s book, “Soulful Simplicity.” Subtitled, “how living with less can lead to so much more,” it’s essentially a book about minimalism gleaned from the author’s own experience. I learned a lot that applies to clearing debt, so I thought I’d share a review of the book with you this week.

Who Is Courtney Carver?

You might know Courtney Carver from her popular blog, Be More With Less, which she launched in 2010. Alternatively, or additionally, you might know her because she created Project 333. That’s a minimalist wardrobe challenge (to wear 33 items or fewer for 3 months) that took the world by storm a few years book.

Soulful Simplicity

Soulful Simplicity is Carver’s book, part autobiography/memoir, mostly “self-help” or advice giving, about how to reduce the unnecessary things in your life in order to make more time, space, energy, and money for the things that you genuinely care about. She had been living a busy, fairly consumer-heavy lifestyle, when she was diagnosed with MS. She realized that she had to immediately prioritize health and wellness.

In this book, she shares her journey about the process of simplifying her life. She didn’t set out to work for herself, wear fewer clothes, or get rid of all of her debt. But at each step of the journey, she realized that she wanted less in a way that led to those changes. So, she tells us about those steps as they applied to her own life. Then she gives tips and advice and thoughts about applying them to your own life in a way that works for you.

The Four Sections of Soulful Simplicity

The book is organized into four sections:

Making Me is all about her journey, how she came to understand herself better, want to change her priorities, started doing yoga, and began a practice of listening to her heart.
Making Space is all about simplifying your life by reducing debt as well as clutter
Making Time is about learning to say no to the things you don’t want to do in order to say yes to the things that you do want to do. She talks about morning routines, finding soul-centered work, taking a Sabbath day, and more.
Making Love is all about how what she ultimately realized in the end is that you simplify all of those other things so that you can focus on love in your life. She talks about creating memories and enjoying experiences together, rather than collecting sentimental things. This chapter is also about remembering that it’s okay to hang on to some sentimental things and things that truly give you joy, because it’s not about getting rid of every single thing. Instead, it’s about keeping what matters in your life.

Tips and Advice About Clearing Debt and Clutter

Every part of this book has great tips and advice and insights and inspiration. However, I especially wanted to share with you what I learned about reducing debt and clutter from this book. Some of these things I already knew, of course, but it’s always good to refocus on them. For example, it’s obvious that the best way to not have debt or clutter is to not excessively buy things in the first place. But that’s always a good reminder. Here are some of the other lessons:

Myths of Ownership

Carver identifies three common “myths of ownership” that we fall victim to that cause us to buy things unnecessarily and keep the clutter long past its value:

Aspirational Ownership. We buy things because of belief in the myth that “if I own x, I will be, look, or feel y.” Carver gives the example, “If I own the best face cream, I will look young.”
Pain-Avoidance Ownership. This is when we buy things because we want distraction or procrastination including from feelings of boredom and guilt.
Just-in-Case Ownership. This is when you buy something or keep something “just in case” you might need/use/want it later.

Let Go of the Guilt of Letting Go

Sometimes people feel guilty about the thought of letting go of something, so they keep it. This can apply as much to clutter as to emotional baggage. Carver mentions feeling guilt over letting go of gifts given to her that she doesn’t want, guilt about saying no to people’s requests, guilt about shopping to feel better, guilt about clothes never worn, and more.

The guilt is an added additional strain that’s making the process of letting go so much worse. So, she says, you have to own the guilt, reject the guilt, and “let it flow.” The latter means to think of allowing things to flow into your home (or mind) then out again. If someone gives you a gift that you don’t want, receive it graciously, preserve the friendship, then let it flow right back out of your house.

Simplicity Summits

One of the most unique ideas in the book is to host a Simplicity Summit. She held hers with her husband so that they could talk in a calm, neutral, organized way about how they wanted to deal with getting rid of their debt. She says you can have it with others or even just with yourself. Her strategy:

Put it on the calendar for a time when you don’t have other distractions.
Prepare an agenda in advance. Hers was to talk about money and health. Plus they asked a lot of questions such as “what stuff can we sell now” and “what kind of home do we want to live in?” They also specifically discussed where they wanted to be in the future.
Have a healthy conversation based on this agenda. Remember to listen. You’re working together towards a common goal.
Daydream. She suggests frequently asking “Wouldn’t it be crazy if …” and coming up with ideas for the kind of life you might want to have.
She also suggests asking “why now?” as well as “why not now?” and discussing the pros and cons of both. For example, why sell your house now or why wait and not do it now. This helps clarify those big options.
Write all of it down and identify “action steps” for each person. For example, their action steps after their first meeting including “research car sale” and “compare insurance rates.”
Schedule a next meeting to review progress.

This could be a great habit to get into with yourself and/or your partner/roommate/family.

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Kathryn Vercillo

Kathryn Vercillo is a professional writer who loves to live a balanced life. She appreciates a good work-life balance. She enjoys balance in her relationships and has worked hard to learn how to balance her finances to allow for a balanced life overall. Although she’s only blonde some of the time, she’s always striving for total balance. She’s excited to share what she’s learned with you and to discover more together along the way.

Who Is Courtney Carver?

Soulful Simplicity

The Four Sections of Soulful Simplicity