Rules of the Game

There are several questions that come up when I say I'm not buying anything for a year, such as...

• What about food?
• What about gas for your car?
• If you get sick, are you not going to go to the doctor?
• That sounds like a terrible idea (not so much a question but does come up every now and again)

Obviously, there have to be some rules around this thing, as I can probably justify just about any action.  Also, I'm not highly known for having tremendous amounts of will power to affect change in my life, so, some written rules would be useful.

After excluding the necessities (healthcare, food, gas/car maintenance, home maintenance), I decided to classify things into 2 categories:  Those that directly affect me, and those that indirectly affect me.  The direct things are things that I, and only I, would receive any benefit from.  The indirect things are those things that I would receive some benefit from, but were not solely spent on me.  Examples...

Things that I spend money on that affect me directly:

• Clothes
• Shoes
• Books
• Gadgets
• Eating out by myself

Things that I spend money on that affect me indirectly:

• Projects around the house
• Eating out with family / friends
• Events / vacations with the family

The rule is:  I will buy nothing that directly affects me, and will only spend money on those things that indirectly affect me if someone else initiates it.  For instance, if my family wants to go out to eat, it will have to be my wife's suggestion, not mine.

That's the plan.  I'm already feeling a bit nervous about it and I haven't even started yet...

The Start of Something Small

How much do I really need?

That is a question I have been having over the past few months, and one that I do not have an answer to.

My family and I have been on a journey of 'minimalism' over the past 18 months.  The journey was prompted by me being stressed out, overwhelmed, and feeling like I didn't have enough time for anything.  I started diving into books about efficiency, time management, and simplification.  There were a few that were extremely helpful:

• The Power of Less, by Leo Babauta   (www.zenhabits.net)
• Simplify, by Joshua Becker  (www.becomingminimalist.com)
• Getting Things Done, by David Allen 
• Inside Out Simplicity, by Joshua Becker
• Be More With Less, by Courtney Carver  (www.bemorewithless.com)
• The Minimalists (www.themins.com)

While we have been getting rid of a lot of stuff over the past year (and reaping tremendous benefits from having less stuff), part of the challenge is having less stuff come in.

Thus this blog, for a challenge for the year.  I am testing the idea that, right now, I have all that I need to live for one year.  Therefore...

I am not buying stuff for one entire year.

At first, the idea seemed a bit extreme.  But over the past 18 months, I have been getting rid of stuff like it was all covered in Ebola.  The more that I have thought about it, the more embarrassed I get that I don't know how much I need to survive, much less thrive.  For example:

• How much do I need to eat each day?
• How many clothes do I need to have?
• How much exercise do I need?
• How much time should I be spending on work?

There are a myriad of other questions that could be inserted here, but I think you get the idea.

So, over the next year, an experiment in not buying things and trying to figure out how much I really need...