A Year of Less

This is inspired by Cait Flanders' A Year of Less.

Please read this book. It gave me the courage and confidence that I, too, can push myself outside of my comfort zone and change my whole life.

Instead of summarizing her work again, I am going to share how it resonated with me and how I plan to take on my own year of less.

First, it's important I paint the picture of my current life situation.

I have two kids, ages 2.5 years and 9 months. I’d say my house hasn’t been in order- really ever… but definitely not since my daughter was born in July 2020, and especially not since my son joined us in March 2022.

Our spending habits are not great. We go through insane stints of constantly eating out, mostly takeaway, because restaurants with two kids can be a ripe version of hell. Habitual takeaway leads to ungodly amounts of trash. Combine that with the toddler who never stops eating snacks with normal day-to-day life, and the trash bin is never not overflowing.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the constant amazon boxes that keep hitting our front porch, because one of us is always thinking of something to need or want.

So much stuff. So much trash. ALL THE TIME.

Matt and I seemed to be playing hot potato with the ball of “let’s get our shit together”, meaning only one of us at any given time was ready to give it an effort. Those attempts would result in rage cleans, false senses of togetherness in the form of paper with pretty colored writing on it with list after list, and so many “meal plans”.

Life (the excuse we tell ourselves) would happen. We would get too “busy”, “things would come up”, and the grocery pick-up order would rot and the meals- uncooked, but the sweet takeaway was always there for me.

If I took the time to add up all the money we have spent at restaurants in 2022, the total would make me puke.

For me, this is the biggest area to remedy and focus on in the year of less.

Secondly, my kids have every toy under the sun (this is hardly an exaggeration). We are blessed with the love and support of our family… and our inability to walk through target without leaving with something new for the kids every time.

That leads easily to problem number 3- target. Target is a whole issue category of its own. IYKYK. I walk in for diapers and walk out $500 later. I am convinced their math doesn’t math correctly but I haven’t found the flaw in the system(don’t look in the mirror, don’t look in the mirror).

Now that I have examined my own problematic spending, cutting it doesn’t seem so daunting and the opportunities I could open for myself by abstaining seem infinite.

I am ready to take on the year of less.

A year of less means a year without shopping or spending money.

To start my year of less, I first need to uproot everything in my home. Everything must be pulled out, touched, and considered- then reorganized, donated, or trashed. I need to know every single thing that is in my house and decide if it is serving a purpose. I am getting rid of everything that is not serving me now.

From there, I ask myself if is there anything I need or will need in this upcoming year that is missing now. That creates the approved shopping list-

Approved Shopping List-

gifts for the family throughout the year
birthday parties for the kids
merchandise at the Bluey Live tour
home improvement projects
home organization needs
shoes as needed for the kids
new bed for Thea

Rules-

I can buy groceries and toiletries as needed but only as needed

We will not shop like the world is ending or buy 10 of something because there is a coupon. We will shop for what we need on a weekly basis. This is to hold me more accountable for our spending and so I never forget what is available in our kitchen.

2. No buying things just because they are on sale.

3. If something breaks, I am allowed to replace it (only if it is truly needed).

For example, Thea’s iPad snuck its way into the laundry (lots we could unpack here…) and it obviously did not survive. Does this suck? Yes. After going days without it, is it really a need? Obviously not. It's not getting replaced. However, say the coffee pot breaks- immediately replace it. Crockpot? We will have to survive without.

4. No restaurants or takeaways.

Only special occasions and hangouts with friends/family break this exception.

5. Anything that goes on the approved shopping list has to be discussed and agreed upon by both Matt and me. This helps keep us both honest and keeps the goal at the forefront.

Why bother?

Our spending and lifestyle are not serving us. We feel overwhelmed constantly. When you keep doing the same stupid things, you get the same stupid outcomes. We need a major shake-up. I am all for small steps are great steps- all in the right direction. But sometimes, like this time- fuck that. We have to go big.

In doing this, we are going to save so much money, pay off incredible debt, realize what we have is all we need, and come up with lots of creative solutions to problems.

I am sharing this whole experience here, I won’t lie if we stumble. 3 days in and we’re holding strong. 362 days to go, confidence level 100%.