The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store

by Cait Flanders

All I knew was that I seemingly had everything I wanted in my home, in my career, and in my life, and it never felt like enough.

It was about the spending, the money.

It’s only with this information that you can see the full picture and understand why the year of less was so important. It challenged me. It turned my life upside down. And then it saved me.

One thing debt and clutter have in common is that as soon as you start letting it pile up, it can be harder and harder to see your way around it.

And even though mine was neatly organized, there was still too much of it, and too much that did nothing but collect dust.

But one day, I knew enough was enough.

I have always loved books and loved to read.

But I have also always had a bad habit of buying more books than I’ll ever read in a month or even in a year.

Was I really going to read this book one day?

Changing a habit and routine you’ve spent a decade perfecting is never easy.

Each time I craved it, I had to stand in the moment, pay attention to what had triggered the craving, and change my reaction.

The toughest part of not being allowed to buy anything new wasn’t that I couldn’t buy anything new—it was having to physically confront my triggers and change my reaction to them.

This was going to be about more than just not spending money—I’d be changing the habits and routines I’d spent years perfecting.

It’s easy to look at a picture of a stereotype, point your finger at it, and say, “I don’t look like that, so I’m not that way.”

But when a mirror is held up in front of you, you are forced to see the truth:

And I numbed my loneliness by hosting lots of parties at my new apartment

Yes, you only live once. And you should enjoy it. But not if it means breaking your budget or going into debt for it.

Why do we encourage each other to spend money, when we should all be saving more?

One lesson I’ve learned countless times over the years is that whenever you let go of something negative in your life, you make room for something positive.

“Babe, you’re fine! You didn’t need it yesterday, so you don’t need it today.”

people will always make comments when you decide to live a countercultural lifestyle.

change had to start within.

Willows Beach.

I valued convenience over the experience of doing anything for myself.

There were books I thought smart Cait should read, clothes I thought professional Cait would wear, projects I thought creative Cait could tackle.

stuff I purchased with every intention of using, but only because I told myself it would somehow help.

I started with the books and asked myself a question I’d never considered the answer to before: Who are you buying this for: the person you are, or the person you want to be?

The answer, in many cases, was that I had bought it for the person I was, but there were at least a dozen books I had bought because I thought they were the types of books a smarter version of myself would read.

There is something to be said about being totally self-aware and still choosing to do what you know is bad for you.

The silence would hurt, but the noise had to go.

I still don’t understand why we are always so quick to push off the things we actually enjoy doing for the things that take just a little less effort.

I bought what I needed and what I could afford.

It never occurred to me to wait until I actually needed something.

The truth, I was learning, was that we couldn’t actually discover what we needed until we lived without it.

Of course, things don’t always go to plan, which I have learned can sometimes be a good thing.

If you’re wondering why you can’t save money, stop buying stuff you don’t need!

When you want less, you consume less—and you also need less money.

One of the best things about budgeting and keeping a record of where your money goes is that it gives you the tools to map out a plan for the big stuff—like quitting your job.

If you want more stuff, you need to earn more money. If you want less, you need less—and are then able to calculate how much money you actually need to earn.

What was done was done. There was no going back.

For the next week, Sarah and I found ourselves in places I had never expected to go.

We also learned that the National Mall in Washington, D.C., wasn’t actually a mall but an enormous park, with the Lincoln Memorial on one end and the United States Capitol on the other, surrounded by other memorials, museums, and Smithsonians.

And I was okay. The pictures we took of that moment were beautiful, and have hung framed in my heart ever since.

I could recall details from every one of the trips I had been on. I didn’t need to bring souvenirs back with me.

“Living one day at a time / Enjoying one moment at a time.”

The ban uncovered the truth, which was that when you decide to want less, you can buy less and, ultimately, need less money.

I realized I had spent the first 29 years of my life doing and buying whatever I could to be someone I thought I should be. I kept so many things, and consumed the wrong things, all because I never felt like I was good enough. I wasn’t smart enough or professional enough or talented enough or creative enough. I didn’t trust that who I was or what I brought to the table in any situation was already unique, so I bought things that could make me better.

it forced me to stop living on autopilot and start questioning my decisions. Who was I? What was I already good at? What did I care about? What did I really want in this life?

every small change you make pays compound interest. It helps you make another change, another mind-set shift, another decision to live a new way.

It’s far too easy to take your surroundings for granted,