How to Curate a Life With Less Stuff And More Intention with Christine Platt

even heard unless you were at that summit. Yes, back in so as I Jen prepared to give birth at any minute, we are going to play a few of the Well, we think they're all the best. We had twenty interviews during that summit, but are most watched, are most anticipated, the ones we got the most feedback on and really really excited to share this interview with Christine Platt,

also known as the Afro Minimalist. Yes, it was such a good one, and it is a bummer that this wasn't then available on the podcast, but now it is now forever and always before archived just on Jen's computer now for all the world to see. Yes, but before we bring you this goodness, the episode is brought to

you by the Buffalo Bills. At the time of recording this, we do not know who will be playing the Super Bowl, but we do know the Bills are doing exceptionally well, especially after losing Damar Hamlet you're going for You're the one who's like doing sports references. I can't not help you this after my failed golf references. Um, who he is still? I just want to stay he's still with us.

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savings account. That is crazy. There are no hoops to jump through, no lines of scrimmages to jump through. And that was the that's the that's the extent of my football knowledge. I don't even think it's accurate. Okay, well I didn't think through scratch you could. Oh, it's just an imaginary line and you can do anything you want to it. Anyways, no hoops to jump through, just a hundred dollar minimum deposit. And if you do not have your emergency fund in a higheld savings account, it's time

to do it. So head to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash c I T. Or maybe you just need a sinking fund for next football season. Maybe you think the Bucks are going to come back with Tom Brady. That's what everybody else in this area thinks. Me. I'm putting all my money on the bills Frugal Friends podcast dot com Slash the I T. That's mainly the takeaway here. I'm gonna also that we know little into nothing about sports,

but we try anyway. All the money I make from the interest that I gain in my savings connect account, I will be gambling with on the bills. We go. We gotta get to Christie, never got you gotta give birth. We gotta listen to Christine. Okay, So, if you are as interested in minimalism, decluttering simplicity as we are, but not in the minimalism for minimalism sake conversation and you're gonna love this episode, but we have a few other

episodes that you might like. UM episode two sixty six we talk about sustainable minimalism with Stephanie's Ferrian, she runs the Sustainable Minimalist podcast UM. And then we also have episode nine talking about contentment, gratitude, and flexible minimalism within frugality. Those are a couple of my favorite favorite episodes, so they tie in beautifully with this conversation we have with Christine. She is the author and advocate known as the Afrominimalist.

She is a children's book author, so if you have kids, she is fantastic author of children's books. And after struggling in her personal life with the austerity and whiteness of mainstream minimalism, she realized that minimalism often seems unattainable for so many because of this barren aesthetics, you know, minimalism

for minimalism's sake sort of view. So she decided to do things her own way by creating a life of less, influenced by the African diaspora, and what she discovered is that living with less isn't just liberating less is liberation and that's a tagline of hers that I absolutely love. So you will hear so much more of that in this conversation. So let's get into it. Let's do it. Welcome Christine to the Future of Frugal Sounna. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. I am so

happy to be here. Thank you. We are thrilled to have you on this summit and on our podcast and to be talking about minimalism. It's something that's very near and dear to both Jenn and my hearts and lives, so we're super excited to get your take on it. Thanks for joining. Thank you. So Christine, Can you tell us and for those who might not be familiar with you, although I hope tons are because you've got an amazing platform and some awesome books, But tell us a little

bit about yourself and your journey to minimalism. Sure, sure, So I am Christine Platt. I like to calm myself. I guess a bit of a renaissance woman because I do so many different things that I am passionate about, and one of those is an author. I write diverse children's literature. I also um work in the spaces of

social justice and advocacy. And then yes, I am also a minimalist, and I guess more known as the Afro minimalist, which is just a little moniker that I made up for myself because my minimalist lifestyle is one that is more influenced by the African diaspora, um, which is really the breadth of my life's work, and so um, you know it's a bit more. Yes, it's not as traditional as mainstream minimalism. So a lot of bright colors, a lot of mudcloth, a lot of paper, playful like patterns

and prints. But yeah, that's pretty much like how my minimalist lifestyle is influenced. Um. And I've been living with less almost Uh, I'm going into my fifth year now, so it's been it's been a journey. I'm so inspired by the way that you're describing already that you've made it your own and and this combination, even just in your introduction, like these are the things that are purposeful and that make me me and also I'm a minimalist, and the blending of that and the meaning behind it

not just I don't like stuff. I'm not sentimental. Therefore, okay, call me a minimalist. But I've given my life to this topic and different subjects and have found what works for me. Can you speak more to this aspect of how you came to make it your own? Yes? Yes, I'm so glad you said that, because this is what I tell folks all the time who are trying to live with lists or be minimalist or whatever name they want to frull go whatever they want to call themselves.

You know, you really have to do it your own way. And I learned that the hard way. I tried to really marraw a lot of the images that I saw on Pinterest and on Instagram, and like my house was just like everything was white, everything was barren, and I was like, this is so miserable. I hate it here, right, And so I ended up like really just having to make it my make it my own. And I tell people all the time that is the only way that I was able to make living with less work for me.

And sort of the tagline that I came up with surrounding that is, I tell people all the time, remember authenticity over aesthetics, right, because so caught up in the aesthetics of minimalism, how many things we should have, how our place should look what colors, right, and it's like, ah, authenticity is where the real you is when it comes to living with less. And once you focus on authenticity over aesthetics, like it becomes one of them. It's just

a beautiful practice. I love that. That's so beautiful authenticity. Yeah. I mean we feel it like with frugality and minimalism, because they don't always align. Like I describe myself as like a minimalist with a packet drawer, so like we have like stuff from the thrift store and stuff and it doesn't all match, but it's like all affordable and then there's not much of it. So it's like this, it's great like feeling. It's so it feels unique and like that feels good, yeah, And I mean that's your

own authentic style, right, and it and it works. And so you know, I really try and get people to understand that, you know, minimalism, living with less, all of these things, they it's really a journey of self discovery, right, and you're going to discover so many things about yourself. For me, it was yes, of of course I knew that. You know, I love the history and beauty of the

African diaspora. Right, like this, These were my majors in college, but like, I didn't realize how important it was to me and how much it influenced my home and my space until I went on this journey of self discovery of like getting rid of all of the things that don't work for me, right and so um so yeah, I mean, I feel like it's a lifestyle that is available to everyone. Again, if they focus on authenticity over aesthetics.

You focus on aesthetics, you're gonna lose out every time because all of our lives are different, right, and so, like to expect that everyone's home is going to fit this sort of Pinterest board is just not realistic, you know, seriously, I've got to write this down. It's such a beautiful quote. I think we talk about freedom a lot, how there's there's freedom in frugality and minimalism and simple living. Make it work for you, and that is still true. But

I think what you're saying blends well with that. It's two coinciding ideas of how we get at that freedom that exists for us in all of these spaces. It doesn't have to look just one way. We have to make it personal. We've got to make it work for us, And what a beautiful kind of banner over our homes and the freedom that we can have it in our homes and in our lives and wherever we kind of

interact engage this this concept of authenticity. Thanks for sharing that with us, And I feel like it's applicable, like you said, to every area of your life, right like, leading with authenticity, leading with intention right like, those are the things that are going to bring you joy. And it just becomes I feel like, once you go through that journey of self discovery and you start to feel those failings, like you want to keep feeling it, so it's not it doesn't become like people are like, does

it get harder? I'm like, no, I guess so much easier, Like it gets so so much easier because now you know, right, and you want to hold onto those to those feelings, and you know again, I mean I also think that it it really helps me remain um intentional with my minimalist practice and what I allow into my life because if I'm you know, if I'm leading with authenticity, I'm gonna you know, like I really don't like that. Thank

you for that. Thank you for offering me that gift, but that doesn't you know, it doesn't so of me. I'm not going to use it right, like you just it just becomes just sort of like this essence of who you are and and the decisions that you make. So absolutely yeah, And I love that the journey taught you about yourself. It's not like just making minimalism about who you are, but actually finding who you are and like finding the real you. I tell people that all

the time. I'm like, so, I know you think you're going into this that like you're either trying to you know, declutter your closet, your garage, or you know, get your home in order. But I'm like, it literally transforms every area of your life. There's no way that you can be intentional with your wardrobe or intentional with what you have in your living room and be like, Okay, that's it. You know, It's like you end up being intentional with

every area of your life. And I feel like that's where that process of self discovery is, right, Like, you know, maybe it does start in your closet and you you know, you're like, what do I really where what silhouettes do I really gravitate towards? Why do. I have so many of these? Right, Like, you start this process of self discovery and then like it just it literally like takes over your life. There's no way, I promise you, there's

no way you can just be intentional with your wardrobe. Absolutely. So I know that you're all about like letting go and finding what serves you. So how do you recommend like people find what serves them and let go of what doesn't. Yeah, I mean, I feel like there's so

many different ways. And but the first thing that I really want people to start with, that will, that will I feel help them get to this point is first understanding why they have more than they need and then understanding why it's so hard to let go, right because if you don't, if you don't understand why you have more than you need, you're going to end up in the same space. Right. And so there are you know,

several different reasons for that. Um, you know, maybe it's unfulfilled childhood expectations, right, Like, maybe maybe it's something that started in childhood. Maybe you grew up with scarcity, you know, maybe you grew up with abundance and it was just too much and now you don't like, like you can't have a lot of stuff around you, right, You know, for some people it's it's a cultural and societal expectations. It could be mindless consumption, it could be conspicuous concert,

it could be all these different things. But you have to know why you have more than you need and then understanding why it's so hard to let go, right, which is really rooted in the psychology of ownership, which I had to learn all about working on my book. It was like I it was, it was mind boggling, Like I just couldn't believe it and believe it or not,

Like I didn't get this information from psychology journals. It was all marketing materials, like millions of dollars are spent on you know, understanding the psychology of how consumers buy and spend. And it was just mind boggling to me. So that's the other thing, is like why is it so hard to let go? And the psychology of ownership are attachments to things? Why have we formed attachments to things? Right? So then once you have that information, then you can

go into Okay, I know where my pitfalls are. Right for me, I was a bargain shopper and that's how about this all the time. I love finding a deal and you know that whole why do I have more than I need? Peace for me was going through my closet and realizing that, like so many things had red stickers on them, and I was like, what is this? Have I attracted to all these red stickers? And everything has a red sticker? It is unworn as a red sticker. And I had to like really dig down and say,

like where is this coming from? And it went back to my childhood. Me and my mom used to go shopping together on the weekends, and um, you know, shopping for me became synonymous with relaxation, with fun, with joy, right, And so that is something that I took with me into adulthood. And my mom was a bargain shopper still is and so for me, though it was I discovered, it was the thrill of the hunt for me. So once I hunted and I found what I needed and I got at home, it went in the closet. Right.

But that led me to understand, here's why you have so much more than you need in your closet, right, And then I had to go, Okay, well, why is it so hard for me to let some of this stuff go. For me, it was this feeling of guilt, right, like, oh my god, but even though I mean I spent my heart earned money on it, even though it was

a deal, I still spent my money on it. Or you know, oh this is so beautiful look at this designer label, right, Like I had to understand what my attachments to things were and it was rooted in there either actual value or per eaved value, which other issue where so many of us struggle, you know, And then I think, like, so to answer your question, I feel like once you go through that process of self discovery, it really helps you with the process of letting go

and more importantly, not bringing more back in. So now when I go to stores, because whatever your feelings are, like, it's not that they magically go away. I still feel a little tingle when I see like a little clearance rack, I'm like, I'm like, oh my god, something's on sale, right, And so like I had to come up with something

to help me through that. And and so what I say when I go into stores, especially like my favorite store, like I love anthropology and you know, candles, all those things, right, and I just tell myself, I'll see your clearance talk. I'm like Christine, it's not a deal if you don't need it, Like I have to like, this is the mantra that I tell my You're not saving money if

you're spending it. You know, like you're not saving twenty dollars, you're losing, right and so like, but I had to tell like, there's like I create mantras and different things, but you can't do that really until you know what your reasons are behind your over consumption. Right, So my background is in social work and the mental health field and also my day job. Let's be real, So it doesn't really surprise me, Well, it doesn't surprise me at all. But how we can't get away from all of these

things being connected. We are whole people, and as much as we might want to kind of separate or fracture one part from the other of this is just my finances. I'm just gonna work on my finances. Or this is just me decorating my home. It has nothing to do

with my childhood. No, we're whole people. And the more that we can pay attention to that be curious with ourselves, just practice curiosity and then discover what works for you, what doesn't work for you, But I appreciate the permission and encouragement that you're providing of ask these questions first before we just say, well just stop shopping or just doing those Those things are great, but what is it

teaching us about ourselves? Yeah? And I mean, you know, there are so many practitioners in this field that I respect and admire, you know, I mean I've con maried my closet. I don't even know how many times I do, like every season, um for project three three three to create my capsule. Right. But like I tell people all the time, it's so much more than just walking into your closet and saying like, okay, does this spark joy? Right?

Like something is always gonna like you got it because it's spark joy or because you thought it was beautiful or something like that, Right, Like you have to really dig down deep and and say like, why am I buying more of what I don't need? Why am I buying more of what I don't need? Speaking of purchasing, so much of this is connected. As we talk about simple living and paring down and identifying what's our authentic selves, what have you found are the financial realities of this

of aiming at minimalism or or more living authentically. What have you seen there? I mean the amount that I've been able to save is like I mean, I think that's the other thing, right, Like you realize which is so hard when I mean, that's it's why so many people struggle through that letting go process. It's really not

that they want to keep the things. It's that it's their money, right, and they're looking at the piles and they're literally seeing dollar signs, right, and you know, there's a whole process of like you just gotta pay it forward. You're never gonna be able to recoup everything that you spent,

like you just gotta let it go. But um, for me, like realizing how much money I was spending on the weekends going out and bargain shopping things that I did, like once I stopped, Like you just you're like, wait, where did I did I get like a raise or something? And You're like, where did all this money? It adds

up so fast. I think that's the other thing that I tell people, like one of the first changes that you'll see is in your finances, right, And um, for me, it was, it was, it was, it was a huge motivator, right, because um, I was always paycheck to paycheck and I remember like how quickly I stopped being paycheck to paycheck and just was like, wow, it is really that was a really spending just recklessly right and again thinking I was getting a deal, as you said, right, especially if

you think you're saving money. Can I ask what you found to replace that with, like the thrill of the hunt or something to relax yourself for enjoying shopping? What did you find? You know? I actually love being in my home now. That sounds so crazy, but especially but like you know, like once I once I found um, you know, my my authentic style and you know, curated my space. But just like love and intention, like I just love being in that space. If I'm not at home,

I love going for walks. I love visiting friends. Right, but I just yeah, like I mean I would so many weekends are spent at home instead of in them all, like even during the pandemic, right because home is now it's a sanctuary for me. It's a place where I rest, where I recharge, where I I mean, it's it's magical for me, right, Yeah, I love that and it's so funny like we buy in order to complete, like either to complete our wardrobe or to complete the esthetics of

our home. We buy to complete. But when you stop buying and you say, I am this is complete, Like I am complete without this stuff, like, then it becomes a sanctuary. It does. It does, and I mean like just the the lightness and that comes with that, right, and the lightness that comes with you know, not feeling like you have to hang something on every wall or have something in every corner. Right, I mean this is um.

I have an office space here in d C at um Eating d C. They have a wonderful space for creators. And I mean, I promise you before my minimalist journey, like every wall would have been covered everything like it just sort of right, So even like learning use of space, right, learning how to to to utilize that in a way that is more functional for you rather than in something that it has to be filled, right, Like, there's all

these lessons that that you learn. And so I mean, I I just I enjoy my life so much and it's something that I want so many more people to experience because it's it's not that hard of a heavy lift. It's just making that initial jump and decision to say, you know what, I'm going to live more, more frugal, I'm going to live with less. I'm going to be intentional.

I'm going to you know, lead with authenticity. Which these are all things that we should be doing anyway, even if not for ourselves, for the good of our planet, for our communities. Right, Like, there's so many benefits to it. And so I love showing a different approach to minimalism. Um. And I'll get questions and comments all the time, you know, people say, oh, my gosh, I can be a minimalist.

Now you have color in your house, right, like, oh, you know that's pillow is red, right, and it's so funny. But because people again are so caught up in the aesthetics, because has only showed one thing. It's a green fiddle ly fig against a white wall and woosh chair, Yeah, that one chair that everyone has. So like I love showing people that and just you know, again, as you said, just like giving them the liberty and permission to just like let me just try it, but let me try

it my way, you know. Yeah, I feel that the office decorating thing on a deep level, Like behind me, I have my bookshelf and it's the bottom. You can't see it really, but like the bottom shop doesn't really have any books on it. And I'm like, I feel like a bookshell should have books all the way down. But like, I'm not going to get more books this is to fill it. I'm just gonna like kind of

shift my body. Yeah, but you to Jen, this is what we do, like with our with our furniture, with our living spaces, right like, and I think so many people saw this during the pandemic, right like they until you were forced to be at home, you didn't realize either how much home you weren't utilizing or how underutilized your space was. And so you know, I also tell people, you know, frugality and minimalism is also about reimagining the space and things that you already have. Right, So you

need a homeschool space for your kids. Uh, that dining room set in there that no one uses, right, dining rooms are so overrated. Yeah they don't get used, but people feel so compelled to use it as a dining room because the builder says, this is your dining room, this is your living room, this is your bedroom. Right, And like getting people to understand reimagine and make the space work for you, right, like your dining room maybe better served as an office, right, Yes, freedom don't. Yeah,

you don't have to fill every space. And I love that you use that bookshelf as an example. That would never be the case for me. All my bookshelves are like over but that at one point. But yeah, but just like that pressure that we feel, I feel like that's a really good example. Like I have to it's a bookshelf. It should be filled with books. It's okay, the books will come. Yeah, thankfully I had a baby and I had to like move the bookshelf out of my office so that I could put my son in there.

So that was like what forced me to pare down my books. So, have a child, it will force you to pare down your stuff so you can fill your house. So Christine, tell us a little bit about the cultural expectations people might encounter when trying to adopt minimalism, because I know that's something like you worked through. Yeah, I mean I think you know, every culture and group has their own thing, and you know a lot of it are I would even say not even cultural expectations, it's

more societal expectations. Right, which is like, what do you mean you're you don't like shopping? You're a woman. Don't all women like shopping? Or you know what I mean? Or like you're a man, why don't you have ten pairs of Jordan's Like what you know what I mean? Like, so you you what you will face is sort of like questions and challenges and critiques and commentary from friends

and family. That's what I feel like that expect That expectation is also some people may realize that they are in certain situations that they're in because of societal or

cultural expectations. Right. So one of the examples that I like to use is um, I was doing a workshop on minimalism and this is about two years ago, so like I was still in the midst of my journey and still like trying to help and bring anyone along who would listen, and um, this young dentist came up to me and she waited until like the room was cleared, and she said, you know, everything that you said today

just like really resonated with me. And she said, you know, I have this huge town house so much more it's just me, right, And she said, I would love there's an apartment that's right near my job that I could just walk to. And she was like, but my family would be like they would just frown upon it, because like, you're a dentist, you know, or you're a doctor, you're a lawyer, aren't you supposed to have? Aren't you supposed to own? Aren't you you know? And like getting her

to understand that, like this is her life. And anytime you feed into those expectations, you find yourself in spaces and places and with things that aren't really again authentic representations of who you are, right. And so I feel like so many people will as they go through that journey of self discovery, realize like, oh, this is why I have this house, or this is why I have

this car, or this is why you know. For me, I had like even though they were in clearance, it was like all these designers shoes and you know, suits and all these different things because I wanted to look the part of being an attorney, right, and I felt like I had to look the part guess what my clients didn't care, right, Like, yeah, I rarely saw them, you know, but but these are the kind of things that you know, So when I talk about pressures and expectations.

You know, some of them do come from family members and friends and cultures in our community, but so much of it is also societal right and like breaking for me, like breaking those change was so important, like getting my daughter to understand, like we don't have to go to the mall every weekend. I just don't have to go

some weekend. As I hear you talk, Christine, it's so apparent how much this is linked to our confidence in our own self, who we are, the decisions that we're making, the autonomy that we have, the personal ownership that we can take on, the freedom that exists there. But yeah, there's a journey to that, not not that we don't care or you don't matter, but to not place that much weight on what other people think or say, or the societal pressures of here's your job, this is what

you should do. And I see it going both directions of you're wealthy, you should or you say you're a minimalist, but how do you have so many tools in your garage or how do you have so many kitchen appliances or yeah, whatever that thought is, it can go either way where people will just beat you up at that's exactly why you have to focus on being your authentic self.

And I love that you mentioned that minimalist East because minimalism has become this whole conspicuous saying, which is like so annoying to me because again it feeds into this aesthetic thing, right. And so another reason why I love showing my aspects of minimalism is it's like a real house and it's a real authentic reflection of my life. And I remember someone I had, Oh my, it was

like a feature that I had done. I think it was apartment therapy, and um, it was like my first big feature and I was so excited, and I mean people were like, there was I shouldn't say people. There was one comment or who said, you know, I just don't see how you can call yourself a minimalist. And you have all those pillows on your bed now I use like euro pillows, and then I have like bed pillows and also have like a body pillow. But what that is for me? I am in my bed writing

all the time. I am an author. I write in bed. What do I look like having one pillow? Not being able to support my back and do what I need to do because I'm worried about someone looking at an image on Instagram and questioning whether or not I'm a minimalist because I have four pillows instead of two pillows, right, Like, it becomes like this thing and this is why again you just have to lead with authenticity And I posted

about that. Um I posted about that whole commentary a while ago, and it was the comments were so funny because I was like, what do I look like walking around here with a hurt back? Someone is worried about how many pillows I have? Right? And like someone who I'm probably never going to meet in real life probably didn't even use their real name. I don't even remember who they are. Like, why would you structure and build

your life around someone else's expectations of you? It is just beyond me then someone else's narrow definition of what minimalism means? And how can you keep up? How can you keep us? Someone? Yeah? Someone else to say yeah, like, if it's only two pillows, it's going to be the color of the pillows. If it's not the color of the pillows, and it's going to be the size of

the bed. Who yeah, No, I need my pillows, need like three pillows behind the back sometimes two pillows on top of me, right, the I am and I need tons of tools in my garage so my husband can build me stuff and fix me stuff. So I like my packet drawer, and we all got it, you know.

And so again, just like living your authentic life, being your authentic self, and like structuring it in a way that works for you, right, Like, yes, I may have four pillows right where someone else may have fifty T shirts. I may have to because I don't wear a lot of T shirts. But if you need, use and love your fifty T shirts, have had it. It's your life, right. I think you're already getting at it, Christine, But if you could put more thoughts to this, what would you

hope the future of minimalism includes. Yeah, I mean I definitely want minimalism to include more diverse voices and perspectives. And I don't just mean racially, right, I mean I think there are so many different ways that minimalists live

and just showing people the many. I mean, I have friends that live on converted school buses, right, There are van life folks, there are you know people They come over my house and it feels like a mansion because they live in three hundred square feet, right and I live in six hundred. They're like, there's so much room over here, right. Um. You know one of my dear friends,

um Radia Rhode, she lives in Baltimore. They have a beautiful home, and you know, upon first blush, someone would walk up and say, like, there's no way a minimalists lives here, right, but they only have in there with their family, need, uses and loves. Right. So showing people also like no one is saying that you have to downsize your house, like people think like it's this huge life transformation that has to happen. Right. It's like, if your house works for you, keep your house and work

on the things that are in your house. Right. If your house doesn't work for you, right, finding a space that does work better for your family, right. Um. And So when I talk about like showing just diversity and minimalism, it's showing the many different ways that people live with less because I feel like it's such a source of inspiration for other people who are still trying to figure out their journey rather than showing the same figly fiddle

against go. It's so beautiful, Christine, It's reminding me you might have your own opinions on this book. I'm going out on a limb is a children's book. I don't know if you're familiar with it, and I'm going to forget who the author is. But the whole premise is like come over. There's this common refrain come over to

my house, come over and play. And it's going throughout like different nations describing how people live, clearly not stating one being better than another, just the children in that home setting. Come over to my house, come over and play. Here's where I sleep, Here's where I eat. It's just like so beautiful, and I feel like you're capturing that in your hopes for the future of Come over my house. Here's what minimalism looks like for me. Come over to

my house. This is what it looks like for like that. I love that I might use that for like the name of a TV show, just like come over to my house. It doesn't pigeon hole us. And it's interesting. I think when we choose one thing, people think, Okay, well, now you're gonna stick with it. I used to live in one hundred seventy square foot tiny home. Now I don't. Now I live in four hundred square feet because this is what works for me now and and I felt

that freedom, and I think it's it's a message. I'm with you. I want to help to tell people, you know, this is what worked for us. Then we loved it, and it didn't mean that it didn't work out. It was perfect for that time. And now here's what we're doing, and you don't have to ever feel stuck. Yeah, And I mean, you know, I like to say that we're always growing and evolving, right, and so our lifestyle is going to grow and evolve and change, right, So like

right now, six hundred square feet works for me. You know, I don't know, like I have dreams of a tiny house. You know, we'll see how that works, you know. I also love the idea of van life, Like there's so many different ways again to live with less, and I think, you know, I really love that idea. As you said, like come over to my house and just like let's show that many different ways that frugality looks and minimalism

looks like all of these like buzz words. Let's show like these are lifestyles like less, show how people live in these spaces. So beautiful. I hope that's my hope. Well, Christine, if you ever do van life, we've got r V parking in our in our backyard, So come over to my house, come over for dinner. I will. I love it. This has been such a beautiful conversation. It's I hope, inspiring to everybody who's listening and watching. I've loved it.

To lighten it up a little bit, let's end with asking you, Christine, what is your bill of the week. My bill of the week. Hmmm, I think my bill of the week this week. So um, there's so many Actually I know what my bill of the week is. It's my daughter's tuition depends state. So super excited she she um, she got accepted depends state, and um finally declared. You know, such a wild and weird year, and so yeah she she will be starting, um shortly after this

conference ends. And so that's my bill of the week. Well done. How amazing to have zeroed in on a college and kind of what she wants to do next. I'm sure better sweet for you, very bitter sweet, and so much so that I've already planned but I'm doing with her room. So yeah, so so well, you've done your job. You raised a child who got into's actually gone. I'm like, yeah, I'm like, indoor botanical garden, here we come.

That's stunning. I feel like that's the real bill. It's like I've paid a bill in order to have my indoor botanical That's it. It's nothing to do with education. It's fine, it's fine. Well, thank you so much Christine for coming and chatting with us. This is great. Yeah, where can people find more from you and get your book? Sure? Sure, so you can find me on Instagram under afro Minimalist. Um. You can find me online at afro minimalist dot com.

Everything is Afro Minimalists is super minimalist and simple. Um. And then also you can check out my new book, which I probably should have had closer, made that mistake for the Afro minimalist guy to living with less um and in there, you know, I talked about a lot of the themes that we talked about today, just more in depth. And um. Yeah, hopefully you guys will have me back on and we can meet up again here as well that I can see that book cover standing

out so vividly with all of the other minimalists. Yes, yes, yours will stand out so if you go and get one a physical copy, you will not be able to miss it. Yeah, and we will have links below this video to all of that too. So thank you so much, Christine. Congrats on the book, Christine, and thank you know this is great. Thank you both so much for having me. Oh, what a great conversation with Christine. I feel like so

much wisdom. Two years ago and today I remember really enjoying that and and enjoy it again and hope you all also enjoyed it, and we're able to take away just a few nuggets or maybe the whole thing. Maybe it's the whole meal. It's not just a little chicken snack. It's everything, and it's totally gonna revamp some of your behaviors and decisions, what whatever, whatever you choose to do. We just hope that this was a fruitful dialogue for you. Yeah.

I really still to this day appreciate the authenticity over aesthetic piece because so much of minimalism has been distilled down into an aesthetic, a very like particular aesthetic. And I just love the freedom to just live simple and not with no stuff. Because if you follow Christine, She's I am Christine Platt On Instagram. You can see her

apartment is not empty. Her apartment has stuff she got throw pillows, you know, and I love it and it's but it's only stuff that she loves and that really speaks to her and her background and her identity, and that's authenticity and I love, love love that. We're here for that. Oh yeah, we're also here for you. Thank you again for list inning to this podcast this episode. Many of you know, last month we did a spending makeover and it was a hit, really so fun. Loved it.

It was so fun, and we want to congratulate and share some of our participants in that spending makeover some of the big mindset shifts and changes they made. Lindsay shared, Honestly, it's realizing that I stick with patterns and impulse purchases whenever I'm feeling down to lift my spirits. Now, I'm going to work on creating healthier habits and solutions for when I start to feel that way. Well done, Lindsay. Than Michelle shared, you can buy anything, but you can't

buy everything. Life changing mindset shift for impulse buyers. Ya Michelle so true, and Jennifer said, knowing that each person is a set is at a different point in their journey and that I can find those people with a similar situation in the online group. Amazing. These are just like a smattering of what some of the feedback was some of the takeaways were from that Spending makeover. So great. Yeah,

congrats to everyone who participated in the Spending makeover. And uh, we loved it so much that we decided to make it available to everyone. Yeah if even if you missed it last month nb D, no big deal. We've just made the makeover videos and workbook available for anyone at any time. If you want to check it out and make some of your own revelations, head to Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash makeover. You can check it out. You can engage with it for free. Yes, so we will.

We'll see you there, shea. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. So, Jill, will you be having a Super Bowl part again this year? It depends on who's playing. Oh my goodness, what if the Bills play? That would be amazing. We know the Bucks are out, so it's free range to be a Bills fan now, yeah, I mean probably, I guess I am here for like the buffalo chicken dip, so it really doesn't actually matter who plays. If people want to come over and eat chicken wings,

that's great, but no children. No children this year. Made that mistake the last year's party. My house is still in renovation mode. No casting. I just have to make sure that there's like a few exposed wires and sharp tools in my house, like for the unboreseen future, very unforeseen amount of time. And then I've just got a great excuse adults, only my house won't get ruined. I'm sad I won't be able to participate in a drinking game this year because I really believe drinking games are

my spiritual gift. I don't know which any graham is best at making drinking games, but that's my any hold on. Just for like any listeners who continue to tune into this part of the show. You say drinking game, and it is that, but we never engage in it as a true drinking game. Like it's not a like quick get drunk kind of a thing. It's like we're usually sipping water by the end of it. It's just like

speak for your c amount of times. The announcers says, I don't know it's like when Tom Brady is mentioned, because even when he's not there, they're going to talk about him. So like you just take a sip whenever somebody mentions Tom Brady or gz L bunch In or like you take two SIPs when the our works go off or plays. You're drinking more than you're like one

to two drinks and then you move to water. That's just how we k It's just fun to like when somebody sees one and they're like they just said, wait, they just said Tom writing day. And that's the fun part. It's a fun way to engage in something that you wouldn't maybe otherwise. Yeah, I would say, if you haven't tried doing it, try it. We love to gamify things we do. We do and that's um my, that's my

gifting is drinking games. So you will just have like some ice to your lemonade for you, thank you, Okay, I guess Busy Beerball