“Don’t buy what you don’t need.”
Consumerism is not a pathway to joy and meaning in life. This is not a new revelation. In fact, we all know it to be true.
If specifically asked the question, nobody would ever say the secret to a joyful, meaningful life is to buy a lot of stuff. Deep down in our hearts, we know we were made for something bigger—something more significant than mere consumption.
Nobody really believes happiness is directly tied to the number of things we own. Yet almost all of us live like it.
We work more hours than ever before, earn more income, but save less. Personal debt has increased dramatically over the previous three decades. And consumer spending has been exalted to a virtue in our society—even patriotic.
As a result, the average credit card holder now carries 4 different credit cards in his or her pocket. Shopping malls outnumber high schools 2 to 1. 70% of Americans visit a shopping mall each week. Televisions outnumber persons in American homes. Home sizes have doubled in the past 50 years. And consumer debt has risen to 35% of household income.
Will Rogers said it like this, “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”
We never intentionally set out to buy more than we need or spend more than we make. But here’s the problem:
Mindless consumption always turns into excessive consumption. (tweet that)
And excess consumption results in more stress, more burden, more pressure to impress, more envy, less financial freedom, less generosity, less contentment—and I haven’t even begun to mention the environmental impact.
It is time to rethink our spending habits, rediscover thoughtfulness and intentionality in our purchases, and remind ourselves that happiness is not on sale at the department store. Buying more is not the solution. We were made for greater pursuits than material possessions. And our lives should reflect that truth.
How then, might we begin to rethink and challenge mindless consumerism in our lives? Consider this intentional approach:
1. Stop and reevaluate. Look at the life you have created. Are you finding the time, money, and energy for the things that matter most? Have your possessions become a burden on your life in any way? Slow down long enough to honestly evaluate the whole picture: your income, your mortgage, your car payment, your spending habits, your day-to-day pursuits. Are you happy? Or is there, perhaps, a better way?
2. Stop copying other people. Just because your neighbors, classmates, and friends are chasing a certain style of life does not mean you need to as well. Your life is too unique to live like everyone else. And if you think you’ll be happier by following all the latest trends in society, you are wrong. Just ask anybody who has stopped.
3. Understand your weaknesses. Recognize your trigger points. Are there certain stores that prompt unnecessary purchases in your life? Are there products, addictions, or pricing patterns (clearance sales) that prompt an automatic response from you? Maybe there are specific emotions (sadness, loneliness, grief) that give rise to mindless consumption. Identify, recognize, and understand these weaknesses. 51% of the solution can be found by simply recognizing the problem.
4. Look deep into your motivations. Advertisers play on our motivations by appealing to our desires in subtle ways. Advertisements are no longer based on communicating facts about a product. Instead, they promise adventure, reputation, esteem, joy, fulfillment, and sex. What inner-motivations are subconsciously guiding your purchases? What motivations (greed, envy) need to be rooted out? And what motivations (meaning, significance) need to find their fulfillment elsewhere?
5. Seek contribution with your life and usefulness in your purchases. To live is to consume. As contributing members of society, we are going to work and earn and purchase and consume. But we are more than consumers, we are contributors. Our presence on this earth ought to bring value to the people around us. Purchase only what you need to more effectively accomplish your unique role in this world—everything else is only a distraction. Just because you can buy something doesn’t mean you should.
6. Count the hidden cost of each purchase. Too often, when we purchase an item, we only look at the sticker price. But this is rarely the full cost. Our purchases always cost more. They require our time, energy, and focus (cleaning, organizing, maintaining, fixing, replacing, removing). They prompt worry, stress, and attachment. Henry David Thoreau said it best, “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
7. Test your limits. Experiment with a no-shopping challenge. You set the terms—even the world’s biggest shopper can find one experiment to test their boundaries. Go 30 days with no consumer purchases, 60 days without visiting the mall, or 120 days without buying clothes. You set the specific challenge based on your needs. You will break the cycle of shopping in the short-term and lay the groundwork for greater victory in the long-term.
8. Give more things away. Your life will feel lighter. Your heart will feel warmer. The world will be better. And you will be reminded shopping is not the answer.
9. Do more of what makes you happy. Your possessions are not making you happy. Once our basic needs have been met, the happiness found in consumerism is fleeting at best. Instead, find what it is that truly makes you happy and do more of it. I find my happiness in faith, family, friends, and contribution. Your list may differ slightly. But either way, owning a whole bunch of stuff is almost certainly not on it.
Make intentionality your highest pursuit. Not consumerism.
I’m working on getting rid of the things I have stored away in a bin in a spare closet and also, of clothes I’ve haven’t worn in the last ten yrs. I know I will never wear them and they are taking up space. As for decorative items, if I know I will no longer display them again, I’m finally learning to get rid of them and plan to buy no more. Also, staying out of the stores helps a lot.
I totally agree with no consumerism it an epiphany I used to do car boot sales now i will give more to charity ok
I love this. It seems like the main point is to just stop and think and reflect. It’s amazing how much of our spending is just habitual and mindless. And the world makes it so easy with one-click ordering, saving credit card information, etc.
It is not so straight forward to go ahead and do things that make you happy when you are married. Your spouse has to be happy doing things that make you happy – but not necessarily make her/ him happy. If you have a child, there is another consideration.
Thanks for the comment. I would hope that making your spouse happy is something that makes you happy.
Nice article. Very well written. The tips mentioned in the article are really useful. Thanks for sharing it.
I needed to find this article today, right in the middle of the largest shopping times in history. I was beginning to lose myself in mindless possessions. I had forgotten those things that really matter to me and was distracted by the endless message that more stuff makes you happy! And, I know for sure, that more stuff does not make you happy. This article has changed my life. I’m stopping right now to re-evaluate.
This is my favorite website. I come here to read an article each day.
Lol. Right above your article was an advertisement for a potty fishing game. A man is pictured sitting on the toilet with plastic fishing pole with a “hook” hanging in a little fish “pond” on the floor. Something we should all buy.
Oh the irony!
Lol
Right above my article where? There certainly aren’t any advertisements on this site.
This article is bang on.
I am not a person that always bought loads of unnecessary stuff , but being persuaded by family and friends I always bought something for myself and bits and pieces whenever I was sad or grumpy.
Nevertheless few years later with kids and family by debt grew to 3.2K and worst thing was to ignore it and think you know what, everyone else is in the same boat.
But now I changed the way I spend. . I have set budget for groceries , allocated each week of £80 and £20 for emergencies or a little treat . And it feels great . I don’t spend ages in shops buying things I can’t even afford, and I enjoy explaining value of money to my kids when they ask for things I can’t afford.
I haven’t cleared all my debt but I had made some fantastic start and I know I will be debt free by the end of year.
Best wishes to everyone xx
My car is at 100K miles right now. This article gave me motivation to hold it for 50k miles more. Loan ends next year and no car payment sounds fun.
Save money now, keep your car until it dies, buy a good used classic car for cash after that and never have a car payment again. My husband and I haven’t had a car payment for 20+ years and we have had 3-4 cars at all times, incuding our children’s cars.
I bought a nearly new yukon in 2012 with the intent to buy a new one when I retired in 2017. But now, 2 1/2 years later I’m still driving the 2012 with 190,000 miles on it. Runs, drives and rides just like it did 8 years ago. I have no desire to trade.
This is a shout out for a friend of mine who had paid up front for a brown truck and used it is durighis college years. Then got married and had old car and a newly bought one. He wants to sell the new one and now his new old car, as his favorite and care for it preciously to make it last ten more years. Still have his old buddy with him.
I am new to this way of living, but am looking forward to the freedom it brings. I have already begun the journey and the feeling of purging the closets and rooms of unnecessary items has been liberating. I haven’t parted with enough “stuff” yet but I am staying with it and ridding my home of unneeded, useless items that I have managed to acquire and which is weighing me down. My only hesitation comes when it’s time to make a decision to rid myself of something of sentimental value. I realize it’s one of the harder things to conquer so I am gradually working my way toward that. Thanks for your post. I enjoyed it so much and it has inspired me to continue on the path.
Keep only your one favorite souvenir per trip, or per person, etc. Even better, let your photos be your souvenirs/mementos.
My grandmother left me dozens of knickknacks. I loved them all, but only kept the one I adored most. It’s enough for me and I’m delighted that the local thrift store sold the others for much-needed funds. Grandmollie would have liked that, too.
What if you have a hard time deciding which things to keep or discard because of past instances of traumatic loss of possessions?
what a great question! I too have this going on in my life! How to deal? Please someone respond.
I’m no expert but I’ve experienced similar dilemmas. I tend to hoard things I don’t need because I think I might need them later. When this happens I think of all the thingd I have lost and how it felt. I sit with those feelings and hold their hand and understand them. Then I think of all the things I am grateful for having, all the small thingd I appreciate. I remind myself that things come and go into our lives, it is natural and I say my deliberate goodbyes to what I want to part with. I am making the choice, I am not losing anything or havjng it taken away. I am making a choice to say goodbye and I do it thankfully. Marie Kondo has a good philosophy for these kinds of thingd too. Check out her stuff. One of my favorite things she’s said as that we should be grateful of the things we bought but never used because they taught us that we didn’t really need them or like them or how time for them, and now we know this information to make choices in the future.