Book Review: The Year Without a Purchase

Book: The Year Without a Purchase: One Family's Quest to Stop Shopping and Start Connecting by Scott Dannemiller

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Rating: 3 stars

Review:

Prior to reading this, I had just made a decision to become more frugal and to work on my impulse shopping and my nonstop book buying. I am currently on a book buying break until May 1st. This break is a way to cutback on buying so many books and as a way for me to catch up on reading the ones I already have. So far, I'm doing pretty well with the impulse shopping but I still need to work on it.

Meanwhile, about this book, The Year Without a Purchase follows the author and his family as they decide not to buy any unnecessary items during the year. They were trying to see if this would allow them to connect more as a family, appreciate what they already have, contribute more to society and connect spiritually.

Many years ago Scott and his wife Gabby spent a year doing missionary work in Guatemala and learned to live a more simplified life. Several years later and now with two young children, the author felt like shopping and materialism were becoming overwhelming and didn't want to continue in this constant purchasing rat race.

However, it wasn't until Gabby made the suggestion that they shouldn't buy anything for a year that they finally decided to actually to do something. After setting ground rules, they were ready to proceed with the plan.

I like that instead of giving the usual gifts they gave experience gifts but at times this shopping break didn't feel genuine instead it felt like a reason just to write a book. I was a little thrown and annoyed when their son needed new gym shoes which according to the book's description were falling apart. They should not have needed to second guess the issue or try to find free alternatives. I thought the whole point of this experiment was to stop buying unnecessary items, those shoes were not unnecessary. They eventually bought him a pair of gym shoes but seriously why was it even an issue. It's not like he was asking for expensive designer gym shoes, all he needed was a regular pair of gym shoes.

Something else that started to annoy me about this book was the author's humor. There were times when he was really funny but after a while it started to feel like he was trying too hard to make this book funny. His humor style is a cross between self-deprecation and sarcasm. A little humor sprinkled in throughout a book goes a long way otherwise it becomes overdone and takes away from the message.

I love the concept of this book but there were a lot of things in this that seem like nothing more than filler. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad read, it's fast-paced and it does make you wonder about how and why you spend your money. And there were a lot of feel good moments and I believe the author and his wife were truly trying to simplify their lives (for the year) and teach their children about consumerism and materialism but this project felt more like a chore that they had to endure instead of something they really wanted to do.