I Am On A Yearlong Shopping Ban And Here's Why

As you probably know at this point, I am on a yearlong shopping ban. At the end of September, I announced what I would be doing on YouTube and on this blog.

To my surprise, the most frequently asked question about my shopping ban is this one:

“Why would you, someone who is already super frugal, want to do a shopping ban?”

Brilliant question!

Let’s get straight to why I am on a yearlong shopping ban.

As previously mentioned, my shopping ban is heavily inspired by the book the year of less and Jenny, from The Simplicity Diaries.

I’ve touched on some of the reasons already in my post about why I think it makes sense for people who are frugal to do a shopping ban. In this post, I want to dive a little deeper.

My 5 reasons for doing a shopping ban

1. Sharing is everything

I started my YouTube channel in the hopes of inspiring others and I would’ve never thought to be reaching so many people. Today, I make YouTube videos about minimalism, frugal living, vegan travel and everything in between.

When I first heard about the ban from Jenny, from The Simplicity Diaries, I was intrigued. It sounded like something I’d love to do! After doing more research about it and reading the year of less I figured that it’d be a great challenge that I could share with you.

2. Frugal living rocks

Frugal living and all it entails rocks my world. For me frugal living means enhancing my experience of life while saving money. It’s all about focusing on what’s important and knowing what isn’t. It means living in alignment with my values and being kind to the planet.

Unfortunately, frugal living is oftentimes confused with being cheap and those two lifestyles couldn’t be more different. By documenting my shopping ban I want to show that frugal living is fun and exciting. It has nothing to do with spending as little as possible and everything with living in alignment with your values.

Frugal living rocks my world and I want to spread the word about it!

3. Spreadsheets make me melt

I love using spreadsheets. Whenever I realize that I can make my life easier by tracking something with a spreadsheet I get all excited. My love affair with spreadsheets started in 2014. It was then that I decided to keep track of every single cent that I was spending.

While the task did seem a little overwhelming at first, I am not gonna lie, I learned to absolutely love it! Keeping track of your expenses, is in my opinion, the best way to get a handle on your money. It’s a habit that I highly recommend getting into as early on in your life as you can.

When I read Cait’s book, the year of less, I thought of all the possible ways that I could track my yearlong shopping ban. This made me want to do it even more.

4. More intentionality

My fourth reason why I am on a yearlong shopping ban is fairly simple. I want to live even more intentional. I am already extremely intentional with everything that I do, and most importantly, with everything that I don’t do.

I keep track of every cent I am spending and I plan all my purchases a year in advance. I stick to a list of items that I intend to purchase and I always make sure that I don’t own more than I can physically carry. I no longer drink and took up vipassana meditation.

Despite all of these things, there’s of course still room for improvement. There are always ways to be a little more intentional and it’s my hope that my yearlong shopping ban will help with that.

5. I love challenges

I love experiments, trying out new things and weird challenges. More than that though, I love doing things that lots of others deem impossible or silly even.

When I went vegan back in June of 2014 I did so for ethical reasons. I know longer wanted to contribute to all the suffering that’s going on. I love animals and felt like the biggest hypocrite. Why love one but eat the other? My thoughts exactly. It didn’t quite add up.

Don’t get the wrong idea here though. Going vegan wasn’t a “personal” challenge, because how personal can it be if my very actions affect billions of beings? However, I was willing to challenge other peoples and of course my own perception of what is moral and what isn’t. I went vegan within two weeks and haven’t looked back.

I love frugal living and to this day, on occasion, I get comments about it. It’s a beautiful lifestyle and I wouldn’t want to have it any other way and yet there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding it.

Frugal living is as much about me as it is about you

Frugal living goes beyond the individual. Living a happier life, in alignment with your values and with less stuff does a whole bunch of good. It’s better for the environment will inevitably make you a better person and might spark new interests in you. The possibilities are literally endless.

I decided to do a shopping ban because it makes sense to me. Of course, I am already pretty frugal and I don’t expect for too much too change, however, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth doing. While it may not change much for me, it might inspire you to do a shopping ban and for all I know, it might change a lot for you.

It’s my hope that documenting every single bit of my yearlong shopping ban will inspire you.

Those were all the reasons why I am on a yearlong shopping ban.

Are you interested in starting your own shopping ban? Get started by reading these 10 tips on how to create a successful shopping ban and don’t forget to ask yourself these 5 questions before starting your ban!

More shopping ban content:

I Am On A Yearlong Shopping Ban And Here’s Why