<ul><li>Awareness and insight</li><li>Motivation to change</li><li>Coming up with a plan</li><li>Keeping to the plan</li><li>Involving a community and accountability</li><li>Celebrating success and learning from failure</li><li>Revise plan as you go along</li><li>Pace self and "slow and steady wins the race"</li></ul> From the book:<ol><li>Declutter your home</li><li>Take inventory</li><li>3 lists - essentials, non-essentials, approved shopping list</li><li>Unsuscribe from all store newsletters</li><li>Set up a shopping ban savings account</li><li>Tell everyone you know</li><li>Replace costly habits with cheap/free alternatives</li><li>Pay attention to your triggers (and change your reactions)</li><li>Learn to live without/become more resourceful</li><li> Appreciate what you have</li></ol>

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Documents Cait's life from July 2014 to June 2015, during which time she challenged herself not to shop and bought only consumables: groceries, toiletries, gas for her car. Along the way, she found the less she consumed, the more fulfilled she felt.

Documents Cait's life from July 2014 to June 2015, during which time she challenged herself not to shop and bought only consumables: groceries, toiletries, gas for her car. Along the way, she found the less she consumed, the more fulfilled she felt.

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Books

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.

Cait Flanders

The Year of Less

Documents Cait's life from July 2014 to June 2015, during which time she challenged herself not to shop and bought only consumables: groceries, toiletries, gas for her car. Along the way, she found the less she consumed, the more fulfilled she felt.

The Year of Less

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