In January of this year, I restarted a book I had stalled on called More Than Enough: How One Family Cultivated A More Abundant Life Through A Year of Practical Minimalism. After rereading the introduction and prologue, I learned this wasn’t your typical Minimalism book.
Miranda Anderson and her family decided they had more than enough things and wanted to challenge themselves to acquire less while experiencing more adventure.
I believe many of us feel this way.
We have an array of kitchen gadgets, an abundance of shoes, and a closet full of pairs of jeans we don’t wear. In addition, we have books that we hope to read, projects we aspire to complete, and many other aspirational purchases stuffed into our homes.
Yet, even with all the things, we find ourselves wanting more, shopping out of habit, and replacing items that work perfectly fine.
I’m no better than anyone else in this department. Society has trained us to believe we need more, more, more. We are not successful until we have a nice car and a large home to house our stuff.
For a while, I bought into the idea that more is more, that bigger is better, and that hustle should be praised. However, I no longer want more. At least not more stuff, and I no longer value the bigger is better mentality.
I see myself weaning from the teat of consumerism and finding contentment in less while cultivating gratitude for all the things I have.
Why do the Challenge?
The challenge seemed like a perfect collab of consuming less while ridding of excess. I can use this opportunity to curb my consuming habits while decluttering our excess.
I’m in a season of decluttering and de-owning as many things as possible. I’m letting go of the 18 years of clutter that my husband, children, and I have accumulated while keeping incoming clutter at bay. It is less about the clutter and more about curbing the effects of marketing and consumerism habits.
Anderson and her family committed to a 1-year no-spend challenge where they would only buy consumable goods. While many no spend challenges focus on not spending money on anything, this focuses solely on limiting material goods. I like this idea, as it is not rigid and keeps in mind the consumption of things.
Anderson decided that in her challenge, she would use what she had on hand to create gifts, or she would gift experiences and consumables.
So on Valentine’s Day, she made her daughter a cute little pink dress. I had an Aha moment. I sew, shoot photography, and can bake reasonably well, so I am capable of giving a gift beyond what comes from a store. With this challenge, I knew I would think outside of the box.
So why do the challenge? Because I am a girl that loves a good challenge. I can see us saving a pretty penny.
Modifying the Challenge
Now that I have decided to do this, one year seems like a long time, so I am deciding on 100 days, starting on January 24th and ending on May 4th, with two Holidays in between.
I’ve permitted myself to buy useful items to fill their Easter baskets.
I decided to commit to this no-spend challenge last minute, so I took a weekend a made a few last-minute splurges. I did not include my family in this challenge. With a crazy Naval underway schedule, my husband would endure his version of a no-spend challenge.
My oldest will be allowed to spend her money as she pleases. She is just learning about consumerism and the quality of the goods she purchases. While she is in her self-management phase, I will kindly guide her, but she is not under the same standards I gave myself in this no-spend challenge.
100 No Spend Days
It’s true what they say. Books find you in the season that they need to. This one did just that. While I started this book almost a year ago, it wasn’t until the second time that I became invested.
I intend to complete 100 No Spend Days but would love to extend it when it comes. The ultimate goal is to become content with what I own, cultivate gratitude for experiences over things, and declutter and de-own over 4,000 items this year.
I can’t wait to share what I’ve learned with you at the end of this process.
Would you join a 100-day No Spend Challenge? It would be a great way to save money and create intentional money habits. Let me know in the comments.
