My Year of Less- 1st entry

This started when I checked out the book Year of Less by Cait Flanders. As usual, I'm late to the party. But I found this memoir fascinating. And it got me thinking- can I do this? 

My life is a tad different than hers- then and now. But tweaking things is my specialty. So I did. 

I am a mom of 3 teenagers. I am happily married and we own a home. So I'm going to challenge myself and make this work for me. 

I am the main shopper for the family. I buy the groceries and household items. Therefore the Household list is my goals for what is needed for that. 

Then there's my personal list. This one is a tad harder. But I think I can make the most impact here.  

Today is December 13, 2024. My goal is to "go-live" with this challenge on January 1, 2025. That means I have a few weeks to get ready. Get rid of items, clean out areas, etc. I won't be able to get it all done- butI can make headway.

 

My 2025 Rules

Household

• Groceries- buy when we run out. Concentrating on whole foods. Eat down freezer and canned items, or get rid of them. *figure out a feasible grocery budget and stick to it.

• Eating out: Once a month for family. Husband and myself date night 3 x’s a month (probably trivia)

• Toiletries: Keep 6-12 month supply of what we use. Start a running list of how much we actually use and don't overbuy. Keep list in toiletry cabinet. 

Me

• Lunches: limit to only once a month, $25 limit  *take out cash at start of month 

• Makeup/Cosmetics- only when I run out (I use both, but not a ton, this should be easy)

• Gifts: make/ regift/ use something we already have whenever possible. Exceptions: birthdays and Christmas. For those, find out exactly what the person wants and stick to it. No extras ‘just because’

• Clothing- only buy new if something tears, is unfixable or I lose a tremendous amount of weight. (dreaming!) Clean out clothing to bare minimums.
  
  Exception: need skirts/dresses for Sunday's.
  
  *Work towards getting wardrobe more capsule type- where everything blends together and you don’t need a lot. Pair down shoes.

• Books: use library or digital (mostly do anyway) *Create a reading goal in goodreads
  

• Household/décor- goal is to get rid of stuff, not bring more in. Exception is organization items that are really needed (ie bins or shelving) But all efforts to do without should happen first.

• Unsubscribe from stores/emails/ texts. Create a new account for Instagram, or at least a running list, of accounts I like, but feel too influenced by. Unfollow them, or move them to the new place. Try to stay off social media for the month of January.

 

Items to sell
Keep an account of the items and build it up throughout the year 

Those are my goals! We'll see how it goes.