The Year of Less By Cait Flanders

At the end of March, I found myself in a full house, with a long list of expectations (some of them self-inflicted), hunkered down in quarantine. I desperately needed something for my mind.  I was trying to maintain balance as I tried to work from home, take care of the kids and the house, be a decent wife and stay sane.  As all of this was happening, I stumbled upon the book The Year of Less by Cait Flanders.  The book immediately appealed to me as I have been pursuing a life of less for a few years now.  I was excited to read it and I jumped right in. 

Cait Flanders shares much of what went on in her life as the book took place and she shared things about her past, her relationships, her finances and her evolving values. The book outlined an experiment that she completed as she worked, lived and traveled. During the experiment she took one whole year and didn’t shop for anything that wasn’t a predetermined and approved expense.  She was allowed to buy consumables, one sweatshirt, as she determined before the experiment that she really did need this, and she was allowed to go to restaurants sparingly. Excluded from restaurants was to-go coffee.  Cait reports throughout the book how she is doing with the experiment, her confidence that she can actually finish it and a percentage of her income saved.  

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!  I have also done “No Spend” months, never years…yet! And it felt as though I was talking with a friend when I read Cait’s book.  I’d like to read this book again someday (soon) and use it to help me outline my own rules for a longer no spending period.  Even though I haven’t outlined rules for my no spending experiment, her book has increased my thinking about consumerism, and it’s impacts on our life and the environment.

Her book can be purchased at the link below.  It’s also available for Kindle users, if you like the idea of less material for shipping and owing less! I would highly recommend this book to others that are interested in ways to save money or anyone that is slightly interested in minimalism.  

https://www.amazon.com/Year-Less-Shopping-Belongings-Discovered/dp/1401953514/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=