Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Building Your Resistance Muscles
Last week, we talked about how to make a habit of buying “less but better.” With that in mind, I suggested that you keep track of everything that you bought all week. How did it go? Were you surprised by how much you bought? Do you think it was all justified? Are there purchases you already regret?
Don’t beat yourself up. We live in a consumer culture. If you feel like there are forces at work trying to sabotage all your good intentions, you’re not paranoid. Billions and billions of dollars are invested in trying to get you to buy stuff you don’t need.
My husband says that I’m oppositional: I really, really don’t like people telling me what I should do or like or buy. I take great satisfaction in resisting those billion-dollar marketing ploys (except of course, when I fall for them—I’m not perfect!) But if you aren’t naturally contrarian, it can be hard and it takes a lot of willpower at first. One thing you can do is take yourself out of “dangerous” situations, whether that means not using shopping as a social activity or not going to the grocery store without a list.
To help you identify the kinds of purchases you make, look back over your purchases and think about how you could have made different choices if you had kept “less but better” in mind. Ask yourself why you bought each thing. Did you really need it, or was it an impulse buy driven by cute packaging, peer pressure in a social situation or just last-minute rushing.
Try this: List each thing you purchased last week under one of three columns: “Want,” “Need” and “Implulse.” Under “need” should be anything you actually needed—milk, new running shoes, a ream of printer paper. For “want,” list the purchases that weren’t strictly necessary but were important to you—fashionable clothes, a stack of books. Under “impulse,” list anything that you didn’t want until you saw it. See any patterns?
For the next month, before you make any purchase, ask yourself under which column it would fall. Buy what you need, but ponder your wants and resist your impulses—don’t act on them immediately. By waiting 24 hours, you may find that desire fades.
Just adding this tiny layer of accountability can help you slow down your rate of consumption and develop the habit I call “less but better.” Really, it’s the habit of being a conscious consumer. This isn’t Little House on the Prairie, and I know you can’t live off the land… but I also know that we can all live with less. And everything can always be better.