After combating alcoholism and massive debt, Cait Flanders noticed that she still had a serious problem: Her shopping habit was out of control. So, Flanders decided to drastically change her lifestyle once again by stopping her shopping habit in its tracks and decluttering her life. Her journey was filled with both discoveries and disappointments, but it revealed to her that true happiness doesn’t come from your belongings. Rather, it comes from how you interact with the world and those in it.
True happiness can’t be bought.
READ THIS BOOK SUMMARY IF YOU:
- Have an addiction that you want to overcome
- Are trying to simplify your life by changing your habits
- Want to make a drastic change in your life, whether personally or professionally
Introduction
Two days before Cait Flanders’ 29th birthday, she and her friends were hiking the trails of Garibaldi Provincial Park. As they spoke of where their lives were taking them, Flanders had a revelation. While all her friends were moving into the next stages of life, she seemed stagnant and still in need of working on herself. When her friends asked what her next step would be, she blurted out an idea she’d been dwelling on for a while: She would stop all unnecessary shopping for an entire year.
Flanders had made drastic life changes before, including combating alcoholism, obesity, and a large amount of debt. She’d spent her youth hiding dark secrets of being in debt and drinking from her family. While her struggle to relieve $30,000 of debt and distance herself from alcohol had been public triumphs, she feared her shopping experiment would crash and burn. But after a serious and revealing conversation with her younger sister, Flanders knew this drastic change was the only way to go.
These were the rules Flanders set up for herself on this journey:
- She was not allowed to buy new clothes, electronics, shoes, accessories, books, or home goods.
- She could buy food, gas, and other consumables.
- She could only shop from an approved shopping list.
- She could replace things that were broken only if she threw away the original item.
- She could not buy take-out coffee.
While she assumed she would likely fail, Flanders still hit “publish” on her blog entry outlining the rules. Throughout the following year, she would face some of the lowest lows of her life. Yet by holding herself accountable for a full year, she succeeded in making huge, positive changes to her life.
In her book The Year of Less, Flanders outlines each month of her year-long journey, and this summary provides insight into Flanders’ trials and triumphs during several of those months. Through her journey, you can learn to live your own life of less.
July: Taking Inventory
Flanders was always a neat freak, which made her shopping problem less apparent to herself and others. It wasn’t until 2014 that she began losing objects she owned. It was while she looked for missing objects that she first noticed all the things she owned but didn’t really need: five black tank tops, multiple bottles of the same lotion, many never-worn clothing items with the price tags still on. Much like her original struggles with debt and alcoholism, Flanders tried to ignore the ensuing clutter until she absolutely couldn’t avoid it any longer.
But rather than a sudden “a-ha moment,” it was her inability to find a can opener that triggered her journey. After the 100th time of thinking that she should get rid of some things, she finally did so one July afternoon, shortly after starting the shopping ban. She started with her closet and quickly determined that she only wore roughly 15% of the clothes she owned. Then, she realized that she owned more books than she could ever read. And in her bathroom, she discovered she needed to get rid of roughly half the toiletries she’d collected over the years.
By the time Flanders finished clearing out her apartment, she’d gotten rid of almost half of her belongings. Suddenly, she felt lighter, as if her home belonged more to her than it had before. She knew, however, that the work ahead of her would only get harder. This was just the first step in her year-long quest to consume less.
August: Changing Daily Habits
The first time Flanders got drunk was with her biological father. He showed up in her life when she was 12, asking to take her out for ice cream. But ice cream soon turned into alcohol, leading her down a path that would haunt her for years. As a child, she viewed her drunken experience as a rite of passage — a tool to make her popular among her peers. She never found a niche doing anything else, so partying and getting drunk became her way of bonding with her friends. But as she grew, her troubles with alcohol grew as well.
She tried to quit drinking multiple times. Her first attempt came after a blackout, which led to her being picked up on the street by her friend’s parents. The thought of potential strangers kidnapping her off the street scared her enough to stop drinking for several weeks. But it didn’t last. After job losses, relationship breakups, and other big life changes, Flanders found herself returning to the bottle again and again. It wasn’t until the age of 27 when an epiphany finally stopped Flanders’ drinking.
Then, Flanders’ vice turned to take-out coffee. While certainly less problematic than drinking, it was very expensive. Two months into her shopping ban, Flanders discovered just how much she was spending on her coffee habit. Much like her journey to alcohol recovery, she realigned her thinking and focused on the triggers that caused her craving rather than immediately giving into it. By confronting these triggers, both with coffee and shopping in general, she forced herself to think about and soothe the negative thoughts fueling her desire to buy. As it turns out, her spending was based in emotions far more than she’d originally thought.
September: Breaking Up with Retail Therapy
While Flanders could acknowledge her compulsions with alcohol and food, it took much longer to realize the serious problem she had with shopping.
Her major trigger was breakups. After a seemingly positive relationship ended suddenly, she found herself in a shopping spiral, adding up clothes, home goods, and office supplies to her online shopping carts as if these things could comfort her. But then, unexpectedly, Flanders stopped herself before she hit “buy.”
She knew that before the shopping ban, she would’ve bought it all because she had done that very thing before. But this time, instead of drinking, bingeing, and shopping, she turned to decluttering, went out with friends, and kept on living, even in the face of sadness.
November: Blacking Out and Coming to
Flanders soon found that it was difficult to block herself from all advertisements. By switching from cable television to streaming shows, clearing out her email, and avoiding print ads, she was able to avoid a good deal of temptation — but not all of it.
On Black Friday, one specific advertisement slipped through the cracks. At first, it seemed like a blessing. Flanders was running a giveaway of an e-reader on her blog, and the advertisement was for e-readers at a reduced price. But soon, the voice in her head began whispering to her about her own old e-reader. She could get rid of it and replace it with a new one without technically breaking her rules. It wasn’t until she received the confirmation email that her choice hit home: She’d bought two e-readers instead of one. Much like her drinking days, Flanders had “blacked out” and then did something she regretted. She felt herself slipping back into bingeing habits as she fought the urge to continue breaking the ban with more purchases.
But instead of going into a binge or a shame spiral, Flanders used love and logic to confront the feelings she was having. She quickly emailed the store and canceled her purchase of the second e-reader. She was honest with herself about the fact that she couldn’t simply avoid all temptation, and now, she knew that the change she was seeking had to come from within.
January: Rewriting the Rules
January was shaping up to be a quiet month. As Flanders helped friends declutter their own lives, she learned more about who they were, and in the process, she learned more about herself.
She discovered that she wanted to explore her own creativity. Her parents were both creative — they had to be with a limited budget and three children. Her mother sewed, her father built, and both parents gardened food for the family.
As Flanders thought about what her family’s legacy meant, her sister called her to tell her the news: She thought their parents were getting a divorce. At first, Flanders couldn’t believe it, and she immediately rushed over to pay a surprise visit to her parents, who seemed fine. But as the possibility of divorce crashed over her, Flanders regretted all the time she had wasted not learning from her parents.
So, she made a decision: Instead of dwelling on the possibility of a divorce, Flanders took time to talk to her parents and relatives and learn from them. She learned about sewing, gardening, repairs, and a ton of other things, and she even amended her approved shopping list to encourage her new self-improvement endeavors.
February: Letting Go of the Future
After returning from a trip to New York City, Flanders visited her parents and found proof: Her parents were splitting up.
Depression hit her hard. And she credited her ability to save so much money during this month to her refusal to leave the house. Bedtimes got earlier each day, and work and creative endeavors were pushed aside. The divorce became allconsuming. It wasn’t until she was trying to work from her bed that she realized how depressed she’d become, and she immediately got angry with herself. In a fit, she began the decluttering once more.
Though this spree far from cured her of her depression, it was an important first step on her journey to accepting the situation.
March: Lightening Up
Flanders still slept too late and went to bed too early. She still avoided friends’ texts. She thought about drinking again as she battled the overwhelming depression. She even slipped back into eating as a comfort mechanism.
Eventually, a friend called her out on her behavior, and Flanders began to turn herself around. Instead of ignoring the problem or quitting cold turkey, she started tracking her eating and television use. Soon, she vowed to stop watching anything not educational and limited herself to podcasts and audiobooks. With her newly found time, she focused on things that took her mind off the divorce: reading, writing, researching, etc. She discovered mindfulness, which made the things she did do more meaningful.
By living without things, Flanders finally discovered what she truly needed.
May: Finding Myself in Unusual Places
At the 10-month mark, Flanders found her shopping triggers to be completely numbed. Now, she could control herself and her spending, and with her new creativity, she also had the option to make or repair her belongings.
The month of May was filled with travel, but every trip had a purpose. While her first trip was business related, her second trip was to talk with her brother about the divorce. His maturity in the situation soothed her, and many of her worries dissipated.
Her final trip was the first vacation she’d taken in the three years at her job. It was a 10-day road-trip in the US, starting with New York City. As she saw musicals, visited museums, and walked through the city, Flanders realized this could be a step on the journey toward her dream career as a freelance writer.
It was time for Flanders to quit her job, which she’d been considering for a while, and strike out on a new path. She called her boss and gave her the news that she would be leaving her job. When the shopping ban ended, Flanders would be free to follow her new path.
June: Packing Up and Moving On
While the final month of the shopping ban came with uncertainty, it was the uncertainty of a new path in life. Flanders had proven to herself that she could beat her shopping triggers. Not only had she defeated alcoholism, tackled debt, and dealt with binge eating, she had finally conquered those socially acceptable addictions that affect so many people. Now, she was giving up the comforts of boredom and stability to strike out on her own on a path that made her happy.
She realized she didn’t need objects to be content with her life. She was enough, just the way she was.
Conclusion
Throughout the year of less, Flanders spent 51% of her income on things she needed, spent 18% on travel, and saved the remaining 31%. She proved to herself that she could live a fulfilling life while still saving and being mindful of her income. She also discovered that much of her shopping was influenced by the same triggers that fueled her prior addictions.
One of the greatest things Flanders took away from this experiment was that most people (herself included) use shopping to avoid other negative feelings. By confronting and dealing with the feelings that trigger those actions and addictions, you, too, can begin living your own life of less.
About the author
Cait Flanders is a personal finance writer, blogger, and author. Her story has been featured on Oprah.com, Forbes, Yahoo!, The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, CBC News, and more. Through her story and her writing, she inspires countless people to live more mindfully. Flanders lives in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada.
Cait Flanders is a former binge consumer turned mindful consumer of everything. Through personal stories, she writes about what happens when money, minimalism, and mindfulness cross paths. Cait’s story has been shared in The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, Vogue, Oprah.com, and more. Her first book, The Year of Less, is a self-help memoir and a Wall Street Journal bestseller.
Genres
Personal Memoirs, Self Help, Personal Development, Biography, Finance, Biography Memoir, Adult
Personal Finance, Motivational, Characteristics and Qualities, Self-Improvement, Women’s Biography
Table of Contents
Introduction xi
1 July: Taking Inventory 1
2 August Changing Daily Habits 19
3 September: Breaking Up with Retail Therapy 35
4 October: Growing Up and Apart 51
5 November: Blacking Out and Coming To 67
6 December: Crafting New Traditions 79
7 January: Rewriting the Rules 91
8 February: Letting Go of the Future 107
9 March: Lightening Up 121
10 April: Planning My Exit 135
11 May: Finding Myself in Unusual Places 147
12 June: Packing Up and Moving On 157
Epilogue 167
Your Guide to Less 171
Resources 181
Community 183
Reading Group Guide 184
Acknowledgments 186
About the Author 189
Overview
WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER
In her late twenties, Cait Flanders found herself stuck in the consumerism cycle that grips so many of us: earn more, buy more, want more, rinse, repeat. Even after she worked her way out of nearly $30,000 of consumer debt, her old habits took hold again. When she realized that nothing she was doing or buying was making her happy–only keeping her from meeting her goals–she decided to set herself a challenge: she would not shop for an entire year.
The Year of Less documents Cait’s life for twelve months during which she bought only consumables: groceries, toiletries, gas for her car. Along the way, she challenged herself to consume less of many other things besides shopping. She decluttered her apartment and got rid of 70 percent of her belongings; learned how to fix things rather than throw them away; researched the zero waste movement; and completed a television ban. At every stage, she learned that the less she consumed, the more fulfilled she felt.
The challenge became a lifeline when, in the course of the year, Cait found herself in situations that turned her life upside down. In the face of hardship, she realized why she had always turned to shopping, alcohol, and food–and what it had cost her. Unable to reach for any of her usual vices, she changed habits she’d spent years perfecting and discovered what truly mattered to her.
Blending Cait’s compelling story with inspiring insight and practical guidance, The Year of Less will leave you questioning what you’re holding on to in your own life–and, quite possibly, lead you to find your own path of less.
The Year of Less In her late twenties, Cait Flanders found herself stuck in the consumerism cycle that grips so many of us: earn more, buy more, want more, rinse, repeat. Even after she worked her way out of nearly $30,000 of consumer debt, her old habits took hold again. When she realized that nothing she was doing or buying was making her happy—only keeping her from meeting her goals—she decided to set herself a challenge: she would not shop for an entire year. The Year of Less documents Cait’s life for twelve months during which she bought only consumables: groceries, toiletries, gas for her car. Along the way, she challenged herself to consume less of many other things besides shopping. She decluttered her apartment and got rid of 70 percent of her belongings; learned how to fix things rather than throw them away; researched the zero waste movement; and completed a television ban. At every stage, she learned that the less she consumed, the more fulfilled she felt. The challenge became a lifeline when, in the course of the year, Cait found herself in situations that turned her life upside down. In the face of hardship, she realized why she had always turned to shopping, alcohol, and food—and what it had cost her. Unable to reach for any of her usual vices, she changed habits she’d spent years perfecting and discovered what truly mattered to her. Blending Cait’s compelling story with inspiring insight and practical guidance, The Year of Less will leave you questioning what you’re holding on to in your own life—and, quite possibly, lead you to find your own path of less.
Review/Endorsements/Praise/Award
“If you’ve ever felt there must be more to life than consumerism and its vicious cycle, you’ll find inspiration to break free in The Year of Less. Cait’s highly readable and personal story is encouraging, challenging, and unbelievably helpful.” — Joshua Becker, author of The More of Less
“Cait Flanders is a brave woman. As I read, I cried. But my heart also brimmed with joy. For anyone who doesn’t think they can, Cait’s story shows that it doesn’t matter where you start, only where you go from there.” — Gail Vaz-Oxlade, host of Til Debt Do Us Part and author of Debt-Free Forever
“Cait’s audacious goal—a yearlong shopping ban—has sparked a deeply personal book full of lessons for all of us on finding more fulfillment and meaning in our lives (without all the stuff!). A game-changing read for anyone searching for simplicity in our consumer-focused world.” — Rachel Jonat, author of The Joy of Doing Nothing
“The Year of Less is beautiful, vulnerable, and real. Cait’s words inspired me to be braver in my writing and life, and I’m sure it will inspire you too.” — Tammy Strobel, author of Everyday Adventures Journal and You Can Buy Happiness (and It’s Cheap)
“Minimizing belongings in my life cleared space for so much goodness to fill the space stuff once did. Cait’s The Year of Less is inspiring . . . a powerful example of how transformative downsizing possessions can be, and how you can take it to the next level.” — Katie Dalebout, author of Let It Out
“Cait comforted herself with alcohol, binge eating, and compulsive shopping, then finally said, ‘Enough is enough.’ This isn’t another book about how to live with less, but instead a heartbreaking and then a heartwarming story that shows us if we are willing to let go of the things we think we need, we can have a life we really want.” — Courtney Carver, author of Soulful Simplicity
“Creating meaningful change in your life takes significant time and effort, and in this book Cait shares a deeply intimate view into just how substantial that change can be. If you’re looking for inspiration and practical examples of how to take steps toward a better future for yourself and the people you love, The Year of Less will give you that and so much more.” — Anthony Ongaro, founder of breakthetwitch.com
“This book is such a gift. A gift for anyone who’s ever wanted to change but has been afraid—afraid to fail, afraid of what we might discover about ourselves as we strip back the layers, and afraid of what will happen if we don’t. Cait writes beautifully and honestly about the work of creating a life with less, and gives you permission to step off the ever-revolving carousel of compulsive and mindless consumption and into the goodness that lies on the other side.” — Brooke McAlary, host of The Slow Home Podcast author of Destination Simple
“An inspiring story of how one woman overcame the obstacles of addiction—to shopping, alcohol, and food—to create a purpose-driven life. You will walk away ready to change your life and with an understanding of why embracing less will set you free.” — Elizabeth Willard Thames, author of Meet the Frugalwoods
