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"  Turns out we&amp;#039;ve learned a thing or two from the roller-coaster ride of our inside-out economy over the past two years. The most valuable lesson of all: Cutting back and living with less has helped every one of us focus more intently on the people and experiences that make life truly full (and less on the stuff that&amp;#039;s piled in our closets and garages). Here, one family shares the eye-opening discoveries of a yearlong shopping fast, plus REDBOOK readers offer up their best tips and tricks for mastering our newly thrifty \u2014 but ever richer \u2014 lives. If you had peeked into my closet or taken a gander at my credit card statements a couple of years ago, you would have quickly figured out how I spent not only my money but also my time. I was consumed with the latest trendy items and loved to shop online; plastic was my ticket to fulfillment. I liked things, got a high from finding the perfect outfit, and could smell a great sale from miles away. When someone in my family wanted something new, whether we truly needed it or not, we simply bought it. I was happy, my husband, Jon, was happy, and our two daughters, Zoe, 9, and Avi, 6, were happy. Life was good. Then one day, I woke up to the realization that shopping wasn&amp;#039;t as enjoyable for me as it had once been. It was around New Year&amp;#039;s Eve when I realized that something felt off. Maybe I was just shopped out after a December filled with consumption. We had spent a great deal of time, money, and energy shopping, and I found myself exhausted and disgusted with all the stuff. How many shoes does a girl need, anyway? In between rushing from after-school activities to the mall and then out to dinner, I began to feel that as a family, we were getting lost in superficial pursuits. I realized our spending habits were shaping our children&amp;#039;s attitudes: The girls&amp;#039; conversations constantly revolved around the newest toys, and they assumed they&amp;#039;d get whatever they wanted. We weren&amp;#039;t content just being together as a family. We were spending too much time thinking about what to buy, buying whatever it was we thought we needed, and not appreciating what we had just acquired. I found myself wondering, When is enough going to be enough?  My solution: a family shopping fast \u2014 so we could get back on track, reaffirm our goals, and make our daily habits reflect our priorities. It wouldn&amp;#039;t be easy. I would have to convince my husband (a man who likes the latest gadgets just as much as I do), as well as our kids. I knew we&amp;#039;d need a structured plan to make such a drastic change, so I spent time coming up with specific rules. One night over dinner, I sprang the plan on my family: Avi cried, Zoe said it was a great idea, and Jon didn&amp;#039;t really take me seriously. Nevertheless, I held on to my commitment to the operation and went over the rules: RULE 1: Jon and I wouldn&amp;#039;t purchase anything for one year. No clothing, shoes, adorable pocketbooks, or gadgets. Nada. RULE 2: The girls would be allowed to get clothing only at the beginning of the school year or if they outgrew something they needed. New toys and games were off-limits. RULE 3: All gifts would be in the form of books, gift cards, or homemade items.  RULE 4: Broken items would not be replaced.  RULE 5: Purchasing makeup was allowed. (A girl can only sacrifice so much!) RULE 6: Any form of family entertainment was allowed \u2014 and encouraged. Instead of growing our possessions, I wanted to grow my relationships. Instead of collecting things, I wanted to collect memories. And although we would be spending less, I wasn&amp;#039;t focused on saving money \u2014 I wanted to save my family. Only a couple of weeks into the project, Jon and I started noticing an increase in the amount of time we were spending together as a family as well as changes in the girls&amp;#039; behavior. They weren&amp;#039;t asking for the stuff they saw on TV commercials anymore or coveting friends&amp;#039; new toys. Weekends weren&amp;#039;t about going to the mall and scoring the latest &amp;quot;must-have&amp;quot; items. Instead, we enjoyed taking walks and cooking together. And my pick-up-sticks and Go Fish skills were put to the test.  When I found out about a sale going on at my favorite store, instead of dragging the kids there to watch me buy another pair of designer jeans, I stayed home and painted with my daughters. When Zoe outgrew her shoes and we bought her new ones, she thanked us with an appreciation that made me want to cry. Of course the girls still wanted to buy little things for themselves, but they asked for chores so they could earn their own money. Items broke: the DVD player in my bedroom, the TV in the girls&amp;#039; playroom, the electronic picture frame in the kitchen that distracted me from the drudgery of doing dishes. Jon&amp;#039;s suits had holes in the seams, and my running shoes were worn out. Our family motto became, &amp;quot;Use what you have and make it work,&amp;quot; and we realized we almost always had everything we needed in some form. Jon even used an old shovel, rake, and flagpole as tomato stakes in our garden so that he didn&amp;#039;t have to buy any. In the past we had just gone and bought new items instead of using substitutions, and we realized how wasteful we had been. Perfect timing, since the economy started tanking right in the middle of our shopping fast.  Abstaining from shopping changed more than just our monthly credit card statements. Not being consumed with the latest hip items allowed me time to think about what I really valued in my life, and I started making bigger changes. I realized there were many external distractions besides materialism that took time away from my family life. I reduced the clutter in our house, planned errands in batches to save time and gas, and said no to social engagements I didn&amp;#039;t truly want to attend. And a family trip spent camping in the mountains of North Carolina, about two hours from our home, was about making memories, not buying mementoes. There were trying moments during the year. I often longed to go to the store and buy new clothes. Jon and I argued when he broke the rules a couple of times. Occasionally, one of the kids would have a temper tantrum over something they &amp;quot;had&amp;quot; to have. It was in these moments, when my resolve weakened, that I hung on to my desired outcome. The thought that kept me going was, What would we be teaching our children if we didn&amp;#039;t finish what we&amp;#039;ve started? I&amp;#039;m proud to say we successfully completed our shopping fast. The one-year mark came and went, and we aren&amp;#039;t bound by the rules anymore. But we&amp;#039;ve internalized the lessons and the benefits: Zoe will question the necessity of a potential purchase, both kids are more appreciative when they receive something, and we all prioritize and value our family time together above all else. I have a clear understanding that the way we lived our life before the shopping fast was excessive \u2014 and that the way we lived our life during the shopping fast was extreme. So we&amp;#039;ve found a healthy balance that works for our family. I still appreciate the joy of finding the perfect outfit, but it&amp;#039;s nothing compared with the joy of playing basketball with Zoe, watching Avi learn to swim, and nurturing a true and meaningful connection with my family. And I&amp;#039;m confident we&amp;#039;ll remain where we are \u2014 content with what we&amp;#039;ve got. The shopping fast made our family closer and happier. We have more padding in our bank accounts, and we&amp;#039;ve learned we&amp;#039;re just as happy sleeping in a tent as we are in a fancy hotel. Life feels simpler and sweeter, and most important, my life is about the people I love, not the things I have. I hope one day my kids look back on this year and remember it with pride: the year we learned that the best things in life don&amp;#039;t come with a price tag. Make meaning, not money There&amp;#039;s science behind the saying, &amp;quot;Money doesn&amp;#039;t buy happiness.&amp;quot; A study from the University of Rochester tracked recent graduates and found that those who achieved goals related to personal growth, relationships, and community were happier than their peers who achieved goals related to fame, money, or image. &amp;quot;The American dream may focus on goals such as wealth and fame,&amp;quot; says Edward Deci, Ph.D., one of the authors of the study. &amp;quot;But the study has shown that the pursuit of meaningful relationships or community involvement can lead to less anxiety and greater happiness.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/life/money-career/advice/a5196/year-without-spending/>