Monday, April 16, 2012

7:An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

Could you eat only 7 foods a month or wear 7 pieces of clothing for 30 days? This is part of what Jen Hatmaker did as an experiment to realize many others live with a lot less than we do. 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess is the story of her and her family doing without certain things for a month at a time which lasted a total of 7 months.

She picked 7 areas of her life and limited herself and in some months her husband and two children to 7 items in that area for the month. The seven areas include food, clothes, possessions, media, waste, spending and stress.

During month 3, each day she selected 7 things to donate, give away or throw away. After 30 days, you would have 210 items to get rid of. At the beginning of this, she counted over 300 items in just her closet, she ended up getting rid of over 200 items from her closet.

During month 4, they gave up all media, except email and texting that she and her husband needed for their jobs and correspondence with teachers and other groups.

During the Spending month, she selected 7 spending categories, that meant no eating out. Her 7 choices were The Farmers Market, HEB gas station, Online bill pay, Kids’ school, limited travel fund, emergency medical and Target.

Getting rid of seven things a day is one step in 4 weeks to a more organized home which is being hosted by Crystal from Money Saving Mom.

I was interested in reading the book after reading Crystal’s review of it.

The book is written like a diary with entries from certain days. She confesses to a few goofs during the experiment. It was a quick and easy read and makes you realize how much stuff we have and question if it is all necessary.

No comments:

Post a Comment