EP (63) Cait Flanders: Teaching Others How To Slow Down, Live With Less And Find More Purpose In Their Lives
Like a lot of my guests, Cait had no idea she'd be in the field of publishing and self development.
She definitely didn't see herself as a small finance expert of minimalist enthusiast.
It was her own personal life and choices that set her on this path. For years, she would buy things and spend all her hard earned money on stuff she didn't need. She was a bit like a modern 'keeping up with the Joneses' millennial.
It seemed normal to party all the time, buy new clothes and shop online. I mean, aren't we all just in the consumerism cycle of buy more, want more, rinse, repeat?
Unless you do what Cait did, and analyze your own choices, it is easy to stay stuck in this vicious cycle or even get out, and fall back into it.
This is what happened to Cait. She had already started her financial blog by this point in her life, written about how she got herself out of $30,000 of consumer debt before and yet, her old habits had crept back in. So the real question remained - how can one truly curb the spending habit?
Well, as she says in our interview, when she realized that nothing she was buying was truly making her happy (more candles, more books and trendy note pads) she set a new challenge for herself: she would not shop for an entire year!
I'm sure you're thinking - whoa, that's nuts. How can a person do that in our society?
Just to be clear, she didn't cut out everything completely. She still had to live. But for twelve months, all Cait bought was groceries, toiletries and gas for her car. She also took it one step further, and decided that her consumerism habits had cluttered her brain and life. So she got rid of 70% of her things, put in a television ban and implemented some of the zero waste movement habits.
Life wasn't just good; it was liberating. Needless to say, there were challenges along the way and hardships; but her new way of life brought new purpose and fulfillment. And it taught her - along with many other things - that you don't need stuff to make you happy.
SOME QUESTIONS I ASKED:
What was your life like before you started on this journey?
How did you manage to get yourself into $30k debt, and subsequently get out of it so fast?
Did anyone around you know what you were going through?
What brought on your decision to also curb your drinking habits and go sober?
What is the biggest fault you see young people making when it comes to their finances?
When you made the decision to stop shopping, where did you start to see the biggest changes?
Why have you chosen to live a minimalist lifestyle - and what does that mean for you?
Why did you feel the need to be so limiting with your shopping habits?
And so much more...
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
How you can gain more happiness by living with less
The easiest way to take figure out what matters and what to let go of
How to recognize your unhealthy habits and then make changes that last
What Cait actually means by living slow and how you can too
The best take-away she has from this entire experience
The morning routine she's tried to stick with and embrace
And lots more...
OTHER LINKS:
CONNECT WITH cait flanders
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Edited by: James Nicholson