Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - 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

This book was a great read to start my low/no buy year. I listened to Cait speak on a podcast about her experience, joined a server of other people wanting to do a shopping ban, and picked up the book. While I found certain parts unnecessary (like comparing alcoholism and being fat to being in debt or overspending), the overall book was a great memoir detailing her experience of only buying necessities for a whole year. It was very inspiring, and made me realize that this is something that’s possible for most people probably, including me who lives on low income disability. If reading just remember it IS a memoir and not a how-to, but you can gain some really valuable information from her experience.

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madisongturner's review against another edition

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4.5

In a world where most minimalist evangelists are men, I really appreciated the difference in perspective. Cait does a really good job of discussing her personal motivations in a way that simply pushes you to live more aligned with your own values. I found the specificity and personal stories to really make this a lovely read.

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strongchonk's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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carijacqueline's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

2.0

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nutfreenerd's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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amjone12's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective slow-paced

2.75

I felt like this could have been made into a long blog post instead of a whole book. It wasn’t entirely about the shopping ban but also somehow didn’t feel as personal as other memoirs despite talking about very personal experiences. The first and last chapters are the most true to the title.

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sarahmae531's review against another edition

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hopeful informative medium-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed this book, and it inspired me to do something similar in the future.
I did enjoy that at the end, she gave specific dollar amounts of what she saved, spent, and lived on over the year of her ban, because it did help me to realize that with my current income and type of job, it may not be the best time to take this challenge on 😅

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