E-book alert!

Longtime Fishbowl readers will be familiar with a family challenge I issued and undertook a handful of times starting back in 2006. We called it the Shopping Embargo. The Embargo is essentially about curbing impulse shopping and being mindful about the things we buy. We’d pick a period of time (usually one or two months right after Christmas) and refrain from making unnecessary purchases for the duration. Well, on the tenth anniversary of the Embargo, Mark and I decided to challenge ourselves to a Shopping Embargo for an entire year.

YES. All of 2016!

While we were busy avoiding the siren song of the mall, I wrote about our experience and what we were going through at the time to form the basis of an e-book: what worked, what didn’t, what my triggers are, where we slipped up and what helped me climb back on the wagon. I learned so much about myself during this process. I know I’m not the only one who is overwhelmed by the STUFF we have accumulated over the years. I know I’m not the only one who hates storing and organizing and dusting all of this stuff. I know I’m not the only one who heads to the mall when I’m feeling crappy, or feels pressure to look a certain way at the office (with matching accessories, of course). I also know how much money we can save by being a little bit more mindful about how we spend our hard-earned money.

I wrote every day (more or less) for the entire year. My hope is that the book will serve as a guide for people who want to shave down their personal debt and live a little lighter on the planet. I believe it will help people reevaluate their relationship with their belongings and shift a few of the dollars from items that will eventually just end up in a landfill to more meaningful pursuits.

This is still a work in progress but I’m getting closer to a release date. I’ve set up an email list in case you’d like me to let you know when the book is ready to download. If so, you can sign up right here: http://eepurl.com/cv3S95!

Thanks for your support,

andrea