As I strive to live a more minimalist lifestyle, I listened to 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.  It is honest, straight forward and I give kudos to Cait Flanders who not only shared her shopping habits but bravely wrote about her struggles with alcoholism, a brief but destructive meeting with her birth father and the painful divorce of her parents.

After successfully paying off $30000 in debt, this Canadian author found herself slipping back into her impulsive shopping habits.  She decided to stop shopping for anything but necessities and began her challenge by decluttering her apartment.  She got rid of a whopping 70% of her stuff – even her books (ahhh…. I clearly will not be doing that)!  Throughout the year she consumed less, discovered who she could depend on for support and learned who might encourage slipping back into bad habits.

The audiobook was a quick listen (especially when I had it set to 1.25 speed) and has inspired me to consider my closet!  I appreciated the authors openness and strategies for staying away from the mall including fixing items and unsubscribing to emails from your favourite stores.  Listening in the car, I did notice a few repetitive areas.  These sections could have been streamlined with more stringent editing (or perhaps “decluttering”) but overall this book makes readers consider their own shopping habits and concentrate on what makes them happy!