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 a 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 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.
— FEATURED PRESS —
Featured Publications
- Cait Flanders Stopped Shopping for 2 Years and Quit Her Job – Business Insider
- Cait Flanders Spent a Year Not Shopping and It Changed Her Life – CBC Books
- The One-Year Shopping Ban – How This Woman Lived on 51% of Her Income – Forbes
- Breaking Up with Retail Therapy – Lenny Letter (Excerpt)
- Want to Understand Your Finances Better? Try This – MarketWatch
- Secrets From People Who Have Overcome Enormous Debt – Oprah.com
- Your Online Shopping Habit is Costing You More Than Your Money – Quartz
- I Lived on 51% of My Income and Saved $17,000 – Refinery29 (Excerpt)
- How to Build a Life Based on Intentional, Mindful Consumption – REI Blog
- How to Practice Mindfulness Meditation – The Cut
- How to Be a More Conscious Consumer (Even If You’re on a Budget) – The New York Times
- Save Money and Reset Your Financial Life with a Shopping Ban – The New York Times
- How I Stopped Compulsively Shopping – Thrive Global (Excerpt)
- How Minimalist Millennials Are Going to Extremes to Save Money – TODAY.com
- The Allure of the Yearlong Shopping Ban – TreeHugger
Podcast Interviews
- Spend Less Money and Make More Time – Being Boss
- The Year of Less – ChooseFI
- A Conversation with Cait Flanders – Company of One
- How To Do the Ultimate Shopping Ban – HerMoney with Jean Chatzky
- Confessions of a Shopaholic – I Don’t Get It
- The Year of Less with Cait Flanders – In the Moment Magazine
- Being Enough and Escaping Feelings – One Part Podcast
- What I Learned by Living with Less Part 1 | Part 2 – Popcorn Finance
- On Being a Mindful Consumer and Creator – Real Talk Radio
- On Decluttering, a Shopping Ban and Paying Off Debt – Real Talk Radio
- Demonic Possessions – The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
- Money Healing and Being a Mindful Consumer – The Simple Self Care Podcast
- Cait Flanders on Her Year of Less – The Slow Home Podcast
- Mindful Consumerism and Her Year of Less – There Are Other Ways
- Our Complicated Relationship with Stuff – Young House Love Has a Podcast
Radio/TV/Video Interviews
- Letting Go Intentionally – Break the Twitch
- Minimalist Money Management – Break the Twitch
- Stopping the Cycle of Consumerism – Breakfast Television Vancouver
- Not Shopping on Cyber Monday (at 9 mins) – CBC Vancouver News
- Why One Woman Stopped Shopping for a Year – Cheddar TV
- How to Manage Your Finances with Author of The Year of Less – Global News
- Cait Flanders, The Year of Less – Informed Choice Radio
- Feature Profile – North by Northwest, CBC Radio
- Two Years Without Shopping – Janice and Cory, Roundhouse Radio
- The Year of Less – Talk Radio Europe
- Minimalism: Upper-Class Luxury or Liberating Lifestyle? – The Current, CBC Radio
- What Happens If You Don’t Shop for an Entire Year? – The Morning Show, Global
- Cait Flanders on Her Quest to Consume Less – The Social
- The Incredible Lightness of Being Without Almost Everything – The Sunday Edition, CBC Radio
- The Year of Less: Why One Woman Stopped Buying Stuff – Your Morning, CTV
Reading Lists
- 35 Highly-Anticipated Nonfiction Books Coming in 2018 – BookBub
- The Most Exciting Memoirs Coming Out in 2018 – BookBub
- 11 Self-Help Books That Will Inspire You to Accomplish Your Goals – Bustle
- 15 Books Like ‘Tidying Up with Marie Kondo’ to Get Household Back on Track – Bustle
- Canadian Nonfiction to Watch for in 2018 – CBC Books
- Metro Vancouver’s Most Borrowed Library Books of 2018 – CBC News
- Mental Health Books on Unplugging – Indigo
- 10 Inspiring Books About Money – Metro UK
- Staff Top Five Favorite Books of 2018 – Powell’s Books
- What to Read in 2018 – 23 Books for Entrepreneurs, Written by Women – Shopify
- What People are Borrowing from Libraries During COVID-19 – Sooke News Mirror
- Off the Shelf: Best of 2019 Recommendations from Librarians – The Hawk Eye
- 8 Best Money Management Books – The Independent
- 7 Nonfiction Books to Change Your Life in 2018 – Vogue Magazine
- Most Borrowed Books from the Chicago Public Library – WBBM Radio