The personal finance blogger behind Frugalwoods.com relates how she and her husband left their successful careers in the city and embraced frugality to create a more meaningful, purpose-driving life on a homestead in the Vermont woods.

"Originally founded in the art world in the decades after World War II, minimalism has evolved into an Earth-friendly lifestyle focusing on the three Rs (reducing, recycling, and reusing) and on simplifying individual needs to reduce one's carbon imprint, manage anxiety and depression, and prioritize human interaction over the impulse to acquire for the sake of acquisition. Hands-on activities, how-to tips, and profiles of practicing minimalists offer...

In Sweden there is a kind of decluttering called "dostadning, do" meaning death cleaning. The author instructs readers to embrace minimalism, and suggests which possessions you can easily get rid of (unworn clothes, unwanted presents, more plates than you'd ever use) and which you might want to keep (photographs, love letters, a few of your children's art projects). Digging into her late husband's tool shed, and her own secret drawer of vices, the...