The Year of Less cover art

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

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The Year of Less

By: Cait Flanders
Narrated by: Cait Flanders
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About this listen

In her late 20s, 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 12 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. 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.

©2018 Cait Flanders (P)2018 Tantor Personal Development Personal Finance Personal Success Heartfelt Inspiring

Critic Reviews

"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)
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What Cait accomplished is great and she shares some great life lessons.
Tone of voice is very monotone and can be a downer at times. The story is not all dark and it could do with more peps.
This is not the story about how to do it but about how she did it. This is good to know if you dont know what to expect.

Cait's year of less

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Let me start by saying anyone encouraging people to consume more mindfully is doing a good thing in my book, so Cait hits that one on the head. However, maybe because I’m already well along the path to a life lived less on autopilot, her revelations weren’t exactly new to me, which I knew heading in and was mostly interested in her story. The personal story definitely is what brought this book up to 3 stars in my mind, without it I’m not sure I’d have been able to give more than 2 for the financial advice aspect alone. This could be a great book for those just starting their journey towards a more intentional life, but if you’re well on your way it might be a bit “heard it before” for you.

Reasonably interesting, not exactly unique

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I liked Cait's honesty, and it gives me motivation to try something similar. I also enjoyed how she didn't delve into the story of her parent's separation, as it's unrelated to what her book is really about. I appreciate her Marie Kondo references, and am glad to hear at the end everything sounds like it has worked out very well for her. Well done Cait! An easy listen.

Glad I listened

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Really enjoyed listening to this , was a nice change of pace , definitely want to implement the things she talked about into my life

Honest and real

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The author has made a good story and through it she shares her ideas on consuming less, that is practical, easy to follow and put into practice.
I enjoyed it.

Practical and interesting story

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Not what I expected. Felt like 90% story and 10% useful information. Some of the diversions into her life story were unnecessary and dragged on. If you've downloaded it already and are struggling to finish skip to chapter 15 and get the short version of the useful information.

90% story 10% information

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Having listened to the author’s podcast Honest Money Conversations (fka Budgets and Cents, I think) and reading the occasional blog post, I was surprised at how Flanders really went all in with sharing her story that I hadn’t known that much of before. I listened to this twice over Summer and appreciated hearing about how she figured out some tricky life lessons. She takes the listener (reader) on a journey through figuring out what really mattered in many aspects of her life, and how she journeyed to better financial freedom and clarity by stripping back her spending and challenging herself not to buy any non-essentials. I’d recommend this to anyone interested in simple living, careful spending, navigating adult-hood, minimalism, travel, or just hearing someone’s wonderful story.

Relatable and applicable.

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Cait has the ability to take you through her year long journey, but make you feel like it could be yours too. Not the same journey exactly… but given the keystones to think through the whys and wherefores of such a year for ourselves. An inspiring insight into addiction and succinctly worded observations make her story apart of ours too.

Encouragements to Think

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I loved this audiobook! Such a great message about living with less and on less, and in turn gaining more. Especially loved that it was narrated by the author herself!

Wonderful book

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Loved this book, really got on board with her very healthy and powerful perspective. This is a personal story about her journey, in particular about her commitment to a year without wasting money and building a new philosophy around money but her story is very helpful and really builds and illustrates the idea. Great book

Fresh and empowering perspective

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