Less Is More

What are the Rules?

A friend at the office said, "Can I ask you a question?"  Of course I said "yes."  Then he said, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I mean it might be none of my business."  So of course I said, "Please ask!"  I was intrigued.  So he said, "Are there rules to your no-buying-anything-for-yourself-for-an-entire-year project?"  So I answered the question in the office that day, but I thought I should answer again here.  

YES, there are rules.

Oh....you want to know what they are?

1. I can buy food.  Any food no matter what the cost.  I can go out to eat.  
2. I can go to the movies or to an event or to a museum or I can buy a plane ticket.  Experiences don't count as "things." 
3. I can buy make up.  However, it has to the the cheapest make up I can find at wal-mart etc.  It can't be the expensive make up that I have been buying for the past 10 years.  
4. I can buy deoderant, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste etc.  However, I have not had to buy any of that stuff because of the generosity of my friend Kayde.  

I am 8 months into this thing.  And it is getting easier in some ways, harder in others.

Easier- I just never go to the store....it is completely out of my habit of life now.  I don't look at online advertisements, I don't surf the web for stuff to buy.  I just don't.  

Harder - I am really tired of my clothes.  Really tired.  I am bored with what I am wearing.  Looking forward to new stuff come January.   I miss getting my haircut and my eyebrows waxed.  

Learning - so much!  I am capable of more then I imagined.  I can fix things, like broken jewlery, missing buttons, without throwing things away.  I have a reserve of stuff in my closests.  I can borrow stuff from others and they don't seem to mind...I think they kind of like it.  

I am breaking the bonds of consumer culture and I am becoming free.

 

Halfway There

Today marks 6 months of not spending money on myself in order to increase my generosity. I am celebrating my halfway mark to one year with this fun video

 

ONE MILLION THINGS

Argggghhhhh!!!!  Picture me stomping my feet and throwing a toddler style temper tantrum.  

I had to go to Target.

I wanted to buy my friend a baby gift.  

I made a mistake.  

I walked through the clothes and the shoes.  I found ONE MILLION things I loved and wanted to buy. ONE MILLION.  And the thing about Target is everything is reasonably priced.  What's $22?  That's like nothing right?

Check out this cute reasonably priced stuff:

These are THE shoes I have been looking for my whole life!  They are a medium heel, which means I could wear them without being freakishly taller than I already am.  And red patent leather...I have no words for how perfect these shoes are.

This is a great sweater for summer when it is cold INSIDE...because as soon as it FINALLY gets warm OUTSIDE we insist on using air conditioning to make it cold INSIDE.  AND it's orange.  And if you look closely you will see the sweater to the left with the cute pink sea horses.  Uhhh wow.

In order to be true to the challenge (no unnecissary spending for an entire year) I passed these items up.  I already have 32 pairs of shoes and 13 open up the front cardigan style sweaters. 

But I'm still throwing a toddler tantrum on the inside.  Just keepin it real.

Joshua Becker - Champion of Minimalism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was two years ago sitting at my mom's house on the lake on a rainy day that I discovered my dream to become a minimalist.  To own less and give more.  My dream was catalyzed by Joshua Becker.  Check out a recent blog post by Joshua here. 

I am a loooooong way away from where I aspire to be, but the journey is amazing.

 

 

How Does Generosity Make You Feel?

“Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt. During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.  The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. 55 When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.”  When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. 57 And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.”   - Genesis 41: 46-57

How do you think it felt for Joseph to have the one thing everyone needs (food) and then be able to distribute this food to hungry people? 

In his dark moments it may have felt super prideful and powerful… “I’m the KING of the world…”  In his best moments it must have felt awesome to be able to save lives and bless everyone with food.  As fellow humans with Joseph, we too can feel both ways when we have an opportunity to be generous with someone in need.  We can feel full of pride and think we are “greater” and “better” than others, or we can feel fulfilled that we are accomplishing the mission of God by blessing others and making His name famous…giving him the credit for providing for others through His gifts to us.

 

Guest Post: Mark Batterson

Okay...I didn't really get Mark Batterson to guest post on my blog.  But I did take an excerpt from his book Draw the Circle for your generosity enjoyment reading of the day.

Excerpt from Draw The Circle by Mark Batterson, Day 36 pg. 199-200.

"I have a ninety-five-year-old friend named Stanley Tam.  Actually he's more than a friend; Stanley is one of my heroes.  more than a half centuray ago, he made a decision to make God his Senior Partner.  in one of the most unique corporate takeovers ever, Stanley legally transferred 51 percent of his business to God.

Stanley started the United States Plactic Corporation with $37 in capital.  When he gave his business over to God, annual revenues were less than $200,000, but Stanley believed God would bless his business, and he wanted to honor God from the get-go.

On Janurary 15, 1955, every share of the stock was transferred to his Senior Partner, and Stanley became a salaried employee of the company he had started.  Since the day Stanley made that defining decision, he has given away more than $120 million.

Stanley discovered the key that unlocks the joy of generosity: "what we keep we ultimately lose; and what we give away we ultimately get back."

Pots and Pans

So ya know how those non-stick pans get flaky over time? The non-stick surface starts to flake off and things start to stick to the bottom and  the non stick pan becomes the most sticky pan in your cupboard?  Well that was happening to me.  I got angry at my pans.  

I would normally go to the store and buy new pans?  Right...no big deal.  But I CAN'T.  

So my friend Donna gave me a giftcard for my birthday.  A generous gift card.  So I used the giftcard to buy new pans.  NORMALLY, I would buy the pans out of my own pocket, and use the giftcard for something more luxurious than pans.  But pans it was.  

I am reminded that non stick pans are likely a HUGE luxury to most of world...even though they feel like a "right" or a "necessity" to me.

Thanks Donna for giving me the luxury of non stick pans.

 

Washing My Own Car

I used to pay money to wash my car at a car wash.  In order to increase my generosity this year, I am washing my own.  What can you give up in order to give more?

 

 

A Swap Party

A number of month ago my friend, Charissa hosted an swap party.  We all brought stuff we no longer wanted and displayed it around in Charissa's living and dining room.  We drew numbers.  And then we "shopped" in order of our number, taking one item each turn until we were done.  The leftovers were donated by the hostess and we took home our "new" things for free.

Fun and Free.

 

 

 

 

Generosity and Community

Last month I went to Exponential in Florida with the awesome staff of Restore.  Since every conference is some work and some play, we took a break and went to IKEA, one of my all time favorite stores which we DON'T have yet in Kansas City.  So while we were crusing around the store I pointed out the things I would buy if I could buy something (which I can't becuase of the year-long don't buy anything for myself project).  I even stopped and took pictures of them, a strategy I use so that I can "take" things home with me even if I don't buy them.   Here are two things I took pictures of:

Drawer and shelf liner.  Love this stuff!

Chip clip thingys.  I used to shop IKEA all the time when I lived in Chicago land, and I have been using these chip clip thingys for years.  But they have a way of disappearing over time, so I needed wanted more.

Here is what I found on my desk after returning from Florida:

The sweet, thoughtful and lovely Jenny Caraballo bought these for me and brought them back.  Oh my what a surprise!

Since beginning this year long journey of not spending money on myself, I am experiencing the generosity of others like I have never experienced it before.  My friends give me stuff.  And it's great and it's so so so so humbling at the same time.  I want to say "NOOOOO...you can't give that to me. Please get something for yourself."   And I want to make them take it back.  That is what I feel on the inside.  On the outside, I say "thanks, that is so generous of you."  

Here is what I am learning.  It is humbling to receive from others.  But it is a necissary discipline of being in true community.  I am learning a bit of what it must feel like be to in a position of being on the receiving end of someone else's generosity, and I feel one of two ways.  On my best days I feel grateful and thankful, on my worse days, I feel embarrassed and "less than."

So here is what I am coming to beleive.  Generosity, either mine to others or others to me is not about me.  I don't get to be superior nor do I get to be inferior.  The only healthy opiton in true community is a natural give and take that honors God  who gets all the glory for being an amazing provider.