nut free nerd

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

In this insightful memoir, Cait Flanders shares the story of her year of less — twelve months during which she challenged herself to buy only the essentials (groceries, gas, etc.), declutter her home, and break free from the detrimental shopping habits she’d developed. She takes the reader step by step through her progress, recounting the ups and downs month by month. Through gradually getting rid of over two thirds of her belongings and learning what she could borrow, rent, repair, or do without instead of purchase, Flanders found that it’s less about money and more about reconnecting with herself and those around her.

In recent months I’ve been on a little quest to read more books about personal finance. At this point I’ve read enough books in this genre to see some trends: a quick backstory of the author, some financial context, and then a step by step process to crush debt or plan for retirement. These books can undoubtedly be helpful and valuable and important, and I’ve gotten a lot out of them. Yet, this memoir is the book my mind keeps returning to, even months after I read it. There’s something about Flanders’ candor, her willingness to share the difficulties she’s struggled with both financially and personally — because really, how can you disconnect the two? For me, that is a major takeaway from this book: that it’s called personal finance for a reason, that not only is it unique to each individual but it’s also inextricably tied up in the other areas of your life. You can’t truly know one without knowing the other.

Flanders offers the reader her own experiences with a holistic approach to personal finance: reconsidering not only what she bought on a regular basis, but also what objects she needed in her space, what content and media she consumed, how she worked, who she surrounded herself with, what she valued. Ultimately, she realized that she could live with far less than she once thought she could, both in terms of money and physical belongings.

I really enjoyed The Year of Less and can see myself coming back to it again. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version as well — Flanders narrates it, adding even more personal depth to the narrative.

Any recommendations for books about personal finance? I’d love to know.

Take care xx