Do you think that if you lived with less that you would be happier? This was the questions Cait Flanders posed to herself a few years back. Not one to shy away from setting personal challenges, she decided to do a self-imposed shopping ban for a year.

All she could buy were necessities, like groceries, toiletries and gas for her car. Everything else - including coffee- were off limits. And she will be the first to tell you that it changed her life for the better.

It definitely wasn't easy. And the self-development/reflection that came up throughout the year was extremely difficult at times; but she finally felt a renewed sense of purpose and fulfillment.

She no longer turned to things to feel happy. In her book, The Year of Less, Cait documents how she managed to get out of the vicious cycle of want, buy, rinse, repeat - that we all so often fall victim to - and the steps she took to stay accountable. She not only got rid of belongings, but she liberated herself from the constraints of consumerism, and all the guilt that follows.