Too Short for a Blog Post, Too Long for a Tweet 305

 

Here are a couple of excerpts from a book I recently read, "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.

Every study I’ve read about how long it takes to change a habit gives a different answer. Some say it can be done in 21 days, others 66 days or even 12 weeks. For me, nearly two months into the ban, I was still constantly identifying my spending triggers and pushing past them, while at the same time trying to understand why they existed in the first place. This didn’t—and still doesn’t—surprise me. Ask any addict how long it took them to stop feeling like their drug of choice (whether it be alcohol, drugs, food, or anything else) was the one thing that would help them through any situation, and I can guarantee no one will say 21 days. 

By the end of August, I was 56 days into the shopping ban and still felt my bad spending habits lurking beneath my good intentions. I had learned what most of my daily habits were, but I was about to find out my spending decisions were a lot more emotional than I thought.

I wish I could say this didn’t feel as revelatory as it did. With these new numbers in hand, I literally fantasized about screaming my discovery from the rooftops of stores and shopping malls. If you’re wondering why you can’t save money, stop buying stuff you don’t need! And trust me, you probably don’t need anything in here! This should have been obvious. I had been writing about money for almost four years at this point, and paid down nearly $30,000 of debt and started saving for retirement in that time. I should have known I didn’t need a lot of money to achieve my financial goals. However, I had also always been stuck in the consumerism cycle. I thought I needed to earn more money each year, so I could have more of what I wanted. That cycle meant I was constantly spending the extra money I was earning, rather than saving it, and I still wanted more on top of that. But the ban proved another theory: When you want less, you consume less—and you also need less money.

One of the greatest lessons I learned during these years is that whenever you’re thinking of binging, it’s usually because some part of you or your life feels like it’s lacking—and nothing you drink, eat, or buy can fix it. I know, because I’ve tried it all and none of it worked. Instead, you have to simplify, strip things away, and figure out what’s really going on. Falling into the cycle of wanting more, consuming more, and needing even more won’t help. 

More was never the answer. The answer, it turned out, was always less.