I first became aware of blogger Nancy Ray’s Contentment Challenge a few years ago, and it quickly became one of my annual goals: three months of not buying anything that I didn’t expressly need. Like many, I’m guilty of adding something to my Amazon cart or purchasing an item in Target simply because it’s pretty, on sale, or because I might need it. Becoming a parent has only exacerbated this impulse because it’s even easier to justify a purchase if it’s for one of my children.
But using retail therapy as a means of making myself feel better about a bad week or out of a need to keep up with all the pretty squares on Instagram is both unhealthy and unsustainable. Nor do I want to teach my kids that buying more and more is the answer to every problem.
Instead, I use the Contentment Challenge to curb that impulse. It’s an annual opportunity for me to recenter my heart and mind on what really matters. In past years, participating in the Contentment Challenge has helped me get back on budget, practice gratitude, and find contentment in what I already have.
It’s an annual opportunity for me to recenter my heart and mind on what really matters.
By nature, I’m a spender, not a saver, so I welcome the opportunity to cut back on shopping and the need to “treat myself” with expensive lattes and random knickknacks. While you can decide your own parameters, I like to start my Contentment Challenge on January 1st of each year, after all the excess and overspending of the holidays. I also like to do three months because this gives me the time to change my spending habits and really see the positive effects. But you can start your own Contentment Challenge whenever suits you and do it for however long you like—a month, a year, you decide!
After doing the Contentment Challenge a few times, I have a few tips for success:
- Decide whether it applies to just you or your entire family. I typically relegate the Challenge to myself, but this year I hope to include my six-year-old in the process by discussing healthy spending habits, especially in terms of need vs. desire—“I really want this, but I don’t need it, so I’m not going to buy it.”
- Make a plan. Get out your calendar and consider what will be happening during your Contentment Challenge. Buy what you’ll need now. If you plan ahead for any upcoming expenses (seasonal clothing, gifts, and other discretionary spending), you’ll be more likely to stick to your no-shopping goal.
- Know your weaknesses. If you’re like me and have a penchant for dropping a lot of money on unneeded things in Homegoods or the Dollar Spot at Target, avoid those places. Similarly, Instagram tends to make me think I should buy something that I never even knew existed until someone else posted it, so limiting my time on social media directly impacts my Contentment Challenge. You know your own areas of weakness, so do your best to avoid those places and spaces.
- Decide on how you will fill the time with other, healthy activities. Instead of letting shopping be your go-to, have a list of other things to do, activities that will have a positive impact on your life, and reflect your values and interests.
- It’s okay to buy what you need for yourself or your family during the Contentment Challenge! I just ask myself “Do I really need this?” Nine times out of ten, the answer is no.
- Gifts are okay. If someone gives you something during your Challenge, thank them graciously and enjoy it! If you need to buy a gift for someone else, do it.
- Get creative. Use what you already have on hand. In the past, I’ve applied this principle to craft supplies, books, home décor, and a myriad of other things that I often buy more of when I could simply make do with what I already have.
- Read some books on minimalism to challenge your perceptions regarding excess and materialism.
The Contentment Challenge is a great way to cut back on excess spending, but it also allows us the opportunity to practice finding contentment in— and being appreciative of— what we already have. In turn, this creates space in our lives so we can find true joy and fulfillment in the things that truly matter.
