Becoming Minimalist

Own less. Live more. Finding minimalism in a world of consumerism.

17 Staggering Statistics About Our Shopping Habits

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Here are 17 staggering statistics that further explain our passion and obsession for shopping.

There is little disagreement that shopping comprises a significant portion of our lives. And to some extent, this is entirely expected—to live is to consume. However, in most developed nations, shopping has long since passed the role of necessity and has entered the realm of sport.

Our fascination with shopping and consumption has produced many harmful effects on our lives (debt, stress, and busyness). And yet, it continues. Unfortunately, to a degree that few us even realize.

Based on a variety of studies and research methods, here are 17 staggering statistics that articulate our current passion and obsession for shopping:

1. The average woman makes 301 trips to the store annually, spending close to 400 hours a year shopping. This amounts to 8.5 years spent shopping during a typical lifespan. (NY Daily News)

2. Americans spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches ($100 billion) than on higher education. (Psychology Today)

3. Shopping malls outnumber high schools in America. (Affluenza)

4. 33% of Americans shop online at least once per week. 69% shop online at least monthly. (Mintel)

5. While 50% of online shoppers will increase the size of their orders just to hit the free shipping minimum. (Mintel)

6. An estimated two-thirds of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) comes from retail consumption. (The Balance).

7. On average, an American between the ages of 18 and 65 has $4,717 of credit card debt. (TIME)

8. 63% of Americans do not have enough savings to cover a $500 emergency. (Forbes)

9. When asked about hobbies, girls (age 13-18) identified shopping as their favorite pastime. (Adweek)

10. And 96% of adults and 95% of teens admit they participate in some form of retail therapy. (Yahoo)

11. More than a third of adults and teens said shopping made them feel better than working out. (Yahoo)

12. The average American throws away 65 pounds of clothing per year. (Huffington Post)

13. The $8 billion home organization industry has more than doubled in size since the early 2000’s—growing at a staggering rate of 10% each year. (Uppercase)

14. Americans now spend more money on dining out than groceries. (Fox News)

15. The average American woman spends 190 hours each year shopping for clothes, shoes, or window shopping. That same survey found that these same women spend 95 hours shopping for food—this task occupies only half the time of shoe, clothes and window shopping. (Forbes)

16. 50% of Americans will go shopping on Black Friday. (Syracuse)

17. Worldwide, total retail sales were more than $22 trillion in 2014, according to a report from eMarketer.com. And total annual U.S. retail sales have increased an average of 4.5% between 1993 and 2015, according to the U.S. (The Balance)

The numbers paint a jarring picture of excessive shopping and unnecessary consumption. This fascination with shopping might be okay if it was improving the happiness of our lives. But as most of us know, the happiness derived from accumulating material possessions doesn’t last. We ought to be looking elsewhere.

Joshua Becker

About Joshua Becker

Writer. Inspiring others to live more by owning less.
WSJ Bestselling author of The More of Less.

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Comments

  1. These are some crazy stats.

    It is confronting looking at how much time we spend in shopping. I wonder if we would find equally confronting if we looked how much time we spend watching television (Netflix, YouTube, Movies), or just surfing the internet, drinking etc. I think shopping fits into a category of such things that we spend our time doing as it gives us a break from the sense of disillusionment we feel regarding where to spend our time more effectively.

    What I mean is that many of us feel lost and confused about what we’re supposed to be doing, so we do things like shopping to ease the sense of confusion we feel.

    I wonder if these stats would change at all if there was a way for people to discover their true gifts and talents and commit their time to doing that. I’m sure the sense of purpose found in doing things we love would increase the amount of time we spent doing that, and decrease these numbers?

    Great post man.

    Thanks again

    • I find these statistics astounding. And I have to look at my own shopping habits and see how I can reduce the amount of time I spend shopping–even for food.

      One question: what on earth is retail therapy?

      • Retail therapy is “buying a hat” to make one feel better. When sad, as talking about it was just not done in our family, I would go buy cards or stationery and write letters.

    • I completely agree with your perspective of shopping falling into the same category as tv, netflix etc. But in my experience, it is possible to do all those activities in a way which is less insidious.

      I quit shopping six months ago and it has been transformative. I buy what I actually need and ignore sales or whatever.

      http://www.rosieleizrowice.com

    • I couldn’t agree more. I was given the wonderful gift of art lessons for Christmas. I can’t wait to start my course and put my phone away for a change.

  2. Wow, these are staggering statistics! #2 and 3 particularly, pretty eye opening stuff that makes you wonder about our culture.

    I’ve been known to do #5, so long as the extra item I add to my cart is lower than the amount of shipping I would have otherwise paid.

    Thanks for the interesting read!

  3. All of these statistics are, well, sad. Sad, but true. The one that irks me more and more every year is Black Friday. In that, it’s not just Black Friday anymore, it’s also Thursday (Thanksgiving). Many retailers now open on Thanksgiving, which takes retail workers away from their families during a day we are supposed to, gulp, pause and give thanks.

    Someone asked my wife to go shopping on Thanksgiving last year, and while my wife wasn’t going for the shopping (she was going to spend time with her family), I asked her to think about what that meant. By stepping foot in a store on Thanksgiving, whether your intention is to buy anything or not, it sends a signal to a company that this is okay. It’s not okay.

    We should not be creating a society and a culture of consumerism where this is ever okay. It’s not.

    Don’t take part. Help others understand it’s not okay to take part.

    • I agree! “Black Friday” doesn’t exist in our home. For me, the Friday after Thanksgiving is “Green and Red Friday” because it’s the first day I’m “allowed” to start decorating for Christmas. :)

      • Ha! Us too! We order most stuff from Amazon anyway so it’s delivered to our house. Who wants to deal with the crowds?

        I got permission this year to put up the tree in OCTOBER if I want!!! Too early?

    • Opening stores on Thanksgiving Day. That nearly pushed me into a frothing at the mouth, foot stomping, fist shaking rage!

      I’ve avoided Black Friday’s for years and years. Even when we were young and broke, I avoided them. One year, I was coerced by my husband into going Black Friday shopping with my sister in-law. He said ” Go! It’ll be fun! Y’all will have a good time! It’ll be a great bonding experience!”. Hrmmp! After dragging myself out of bed at 2 a.m. on a cold winter morning, getting in a vehicle with an obscenely chipper morning person, being dragged to every Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Penney’s, Kohl’s, etc in town, being pushed and shoved, stepped on and jostled by hordes of rude people, having an item snatched right out of my hands, standing in line after never ending line, half or more of the stuff advertised not being available or there were only 22 and they’d sold out, looking at the faces of the poor frazzled, harried and harassed cashiers, navigating the umpteenth overflowing parking lot, trying to keep up with the sister in-law who was zooming thru stores like she was on a mission to find the ticking time bomb that had 30 seconds left before detonation occurred……we were finally done. She was delighted with what she’d “scored” and how much money she’d saved. I was exhausted and had bought exactly one thing after 11 hours…..11 hours of my life that I’ll never get back. She dropped me off at my house and as I walked through the door, my husband said “Well! Did y’all have fun? Do some good bonding?”. And yes, thank you for asking, he is still in the land of the living……but it was a close call. Only one or two of the sale items were even worth getting out of bed for and the majority of sale items were inferior merchandise AND could be found on sale for the same price leading up to and after Christmas. I simply don’t understand the frenzy.

      After Christmas, over half of the things the sister in-law bought were returned for various reasons. I did not go on that expedition. Bonding be damned.

      When stores started opening Thanksgiving Day, the sister in-law spent most of the midday meal planning her shopping strategy for that afternoon. I rashly expressed my disbelief (never a good idea if you’re not the favorite daughter in-law) that she would actually go shopping on Thanksgiving Day and make all of those people who worked retail leave their families and their get togethers so we could go shopping 12 hours sooner…..and no one but myself, the hubs and my children thought that it was a terrible thing. Everyone else’s attitude was the sophomoric “well, everybody else is doing it! If we don’t we’ll miss out!” whine. Nobody bought into the idea that if none of us go on Thanksgiving Day for a couple of years, retailers will STOP doing it! If we don’t, what’s next? Christmas day?

      When I was a kid, the small town that I lived in basically rolled up the sidewalks at noon on Wednesday. Retail stores weren’t open on Sunday. We survived just fine. What the hell has happened to make us think that we need to be able to go buy stuff 24 hours a day, 7 days a week all year long? We’re becoming a nation of people who live to shop instead of shopping for those things we need to live!

      Sorry, rant over.

      • Kim, thanks for sharing your story. I totally agree that Black Friday is not worth any cent that one may save. My husband loves to go shopping that day, but I would much rather enjoy my sleep that Friday morning, off from work.

        I get the need for shop/retail therapy now and then. And I usually regret my impulse buys that sit and collect dust, and I wonder why did I need them? I’ve found other forms of therapy, like art or spending time with my kids, are better than some thing gathering dust.

        • Thankfully, my husband dislikes shopping. One or two regular shopping days during the year is about his limit. I couldn’t drag him into town on a Black Friday if my life depended on it, lol! I do remember telling him, after the Black Friday bonding experience with the sister in-law, that if any more bonding was required, HE could go with her the next time. The horrified look on his face was priceless!

          As for “retail therapy”, I enjoyed it at one time too. But having spent months decluttering and getting rid of 35 years accumulation of stuff……well, it just doesn’t seem very enticing any more. The loads of stuff that I’ve brought to Goodwill is embarrassing. Why did we think we needed all that STUFF?

      • Kim, I loved your story and rant. I totally agree that no one should be out shopping on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day for that matter. I would like to think firstly, that I am not suicidal and have no desire to risk life and limb in crowds like that but also nothing is more important than spending time with my family including 75% off a pair of jeans that I didn’t need in the first place!

      • Ha. Rant away. I grew up in a place where stores are still closed on Sunday. Granted, there’s only one store in town (a gas station), and truth be told, it’s only open until noon on Saturday, and even during the week it closes at 6 PM. We always say if you run out of gas passing through, you’ve got a long walk to fill your gas can.

      • I loved that rant. I never go shopping on Black Friday and have no desire to do so. There really is too much s..t to buy for me to get up at 2 in the morning to stand in line somewhere!!!
        I grew up in Germany where stores were closed from Saturday 2:00 pm till Monday morning. Our families got together on Sunday afternoon for coffee and (usually home baked) cake. Loved that way of life!!!

      • Kim you have a talent girl!! You can write in such a way that it is both smart and funny and super entertaining!!

    • I don’t shop on Black Friday or on Thanksgiving Day either.

      I work at a pharmacy though, and I’ll often volunteer to work the shift, as most of my coworkers have kids, I don’t, and we have to be open 24/7. I won’t gripe about that, it’s a healthcare thing, but I want them to be able to be home.

      • That is so kind of you. In some fields it’s a given that people in that field will have to work some holidays simply because of the nature of their work. Doesn’t mean they wouldn’t like to be spending that day with their families or loved ones. It’s a generous spirit that offers to take those shifts so others can have that day off with children, aging parents or family that they get to see very seldom.

  4. Your post about asking, “What if I don’t?” a while back really resonated with me. I am now on day 16 of a shopping for me six-month hiatus (including, gasp!, Starbucks). My clothes have started wearing out faster than expected and I have so wanted to buy something just for me during some stressful moments, but this post has helped to encourage me and remind me why I am doing this and what I hope my children learn from it as well. Thank you!

    P.S. I’ve been following you for a long time but just read “The More of Less.” Thanks for the encouragement to keep on.

    • Carrie,
      I have been trying to go on a shopping hiatus for several months now…and failed. My wardrobe is not very big, but I also know that I don’t need another thing.
      …will you be my accountability partner? I am struggling to make a behavioral change. I could use the encouragement!

    • Carrie, don’t give up. It’s hard in the beginning but after a while you will find other things to fill your days and not have the urge to shop. I’ve been cutting down and this year we are having a “homemade christmas” at our house. I also follow a page on Facebook called Be More with Less. It’s a great resource.

  5. I greatly dislike shopping. I hate how crowded the shopping centres are and if I do go there it’s for an express purpose and I just want to get in and get out again. I recently went through my wardrobe and made sure that everything in there was wearable. I have purchased a couple of new key pieces but feel that I now have a very workable wardrobe of clothes for our coming summer so I won’t be buying anything more.

    • And here I thought I was the only person who didn’t like to shop!

      I’m with you, Melissa C., I just don’t see the “fun” in fighting crowds and walking miles (but not in fresh air and nature). The in-and-out technique of shopping works well for me, too, but I find that because I shop so seldom, when I DO need something, it’s hard to know where to go.

  6. Years ago I worked for a major retailer in a big city. I remember the first Labor Day we opened. The employees were told it was just a test to see how the sales paned out. We had customers shopping that day that actually said they were shocked that we would open, all while paying for their purchases. Some commented how we should be with our families instead of working. The rest is history, we never closed for Labor Day again. I agree with Jeffrey about Thanksgiving but I see Christmas Day turning into yet another shopping opportunity.

  7. It’s detrimental to our peace of mind and an absolute catastrophe for the environment. Thank you for being among those stemming the tide!

    #1 gave me a bit of a chuckle because any time I venture into a store, it feels like 8.5 years… :)

  8. There are lots of ways in life that I love to spend my time and money. Trips with my family, ice cream and walk with a friend, hiking, in the garden, or playing with my kids. There is no pleasure in spending time or money in a store. If I could have Costco deliver our groceries, half the battle would be won.

    • Me too! I hate shopping. I shop online for most everything because I feel like stepping into a store is such a waste of time. I wonder if they will ever look beyond the stats of online shopping and see what the reason for it is. I can get a better price and not spend countless hours in the store.

      I’m with you on outdoor activities with my family including blowing bubbles in the backyard, playing with the water hose, the park even when it’s 90 out which is pretty much year round here in Houston, TX. I like sitting in my front yard in a chair. Seriously anything is better than shopping.

  10. I will admit, when I was working in an office I did my share of shopping for clothes and shoes. I had saved and luckily I did. When my husband had a stroke, our life took a nosedive. I don’t wish this on anyone but when I look at the way people waste money I want to shake them. One day, if both partners work, half of your income could be gone in the blink of an eye. If you’re single and it happens to you, I hope you have savings and a caregiver. That day I started just buying groceries and gas. That’s all I needed. Thankfully our savings was enough to sustain us for over 18 months until SS could kick in.
    Now, I don’t buy anymore and am in the process of getting rid of our “things”. I know I’ll be much happier once they are gone and I can feel lighter. I always keep in mind….if I were to die today, where would this stuff go? And why would I care? We have to keep things in perspective.

    • Interesting comment, “if I were to die today, where would this stuff go? AND WHY WOULD I CARE?”

      • Wow, that is definitely something to think about. Now I’m going to get rid of all of my stuff gifted to me that I don’t really like, because of this statement alone.

    • That says it all. After you have gone through enough homes and belongings of loved ones who have died, you start looking at your own accumulation of “stuff” from a radically different viewpoint.
      He/ she who dies with the most stuff doesn’t win a damned thing. I’ve started going through my stuff and paring down my belongings Things of mine that people have admired over the years are being gifted to them now so I can have the pleasure of watching them enjoy those things while I’m still able to see it.

      • “After you have gone through enough homes and belongings of loved ones who have died, you start looking at your own accumulation of “stuff” from a radically different viewpoint.”

        THIS!!! My dad and my sister died 6 days apart… My brother-in-law had to care for two young boys alone after my sister died. He was so grateful to have someone help him clean out their home and eliminate the “stuff” and keep what was essential. My mother so appreciated help cleaning out my dads’ stuff. Then my FIL dies 14 months later… Heart wrenching and a ton of work… Less really is more!

  11. Thanks for sharing these stats. I’m posting this on my work FB page-Simple Spaces NWA. As a minimalist myself & being a coach/speaker/organizer my mission is to let people see that they can enjoy their life w/o all the stuff!

  12. A very eye opening and shocking list of stats! This tells me we are really moving away (at an alarming rate!) from self-sufficiency (clothing repair, hand made goods, crafting) toward an ever increasing, and I dare say exponentially increasing, throw away/disposable society. Lost skills, lost art, lost education and knowledge.

    I personally put myself on a one year no clothing, footwear, accessory moratorium a couple of years ago. It was a fascinating experience. I found myself reading more, re-engaging in my creative pursuits, walking, back to the gym …. all much healthier than retail therapy! During that year, I got rid of many of my clothes as I realized I wasn’t wearing very many things at all. When I got rid of items that still had tags I was horrified to realize I had bought for the pleasure of buying (very short lived!) and not because I needed the item or that it even looked particularly good on me.

    I am still getting rid of clothes (yes, I had A LOT!) and do minimal shopping. In fact, I only shop once an item has truly worn out i.e. can no longer be repaired or re-made into something else.

    Life is way less stressful and I am reconnecting with me.

    • I just had this conversation with my plumber today. We bought our my brother in-law’s share of my husband’s childhood home. Our children are living in it currently. Well, the 35 year old dishwasher at that house finally died. I have a dishwasher in my house that I never use and told my daughter we’d just move mine over there and get the plumber to come hook it up. Normally we do that sort of thing ourselves but old house/old pipes/old wiring/ new 2 year old disher….. I’m not stupid, lol! I called an expert.

      As he was working on it, we chatted. I asked him if they had some young guys that they were training to take over ( he and I are both in our mid 50s). He said that despite what repairmen earn, that they can’t get younger people to come learn the trade. He said that he feels like we’re seeing the last of the a dying breed…… people don’t want to fix things any more, just buy a new one and the upcoming generations don’t want to learn a trade that requires them to get dirty and use their hands.

      Sad.

      Want to freak someone out? Pull out a darning egg and start darning the hole in a favorite pair of socks while you’re talking with them. The look on people’s faces is absolutely priceless!

  13. As I read this post I wondered how we spent our time 150 years ago. We were busy creating food (growing and canning and drying it) and it took a lot more than the 10 minutes I took the other day to vacuum and dust to clean a house. We sewed our own clothing and washed by hand all that we wore. My family went to a bootmaker for shoes though hubby’s family made their own shoes. Even less than 100 years ago my hubby’s family farmed with horses. We were busy. Much too busy to waste time.

    When my teenage daughter lived at home we spent time shopping because she would talk to me while we browsed. When she grew up and moved away I became a non-retail browser and was astonished at what I didn’t need to buy. Just being in a store makes a person want what is there.

    In conclusion we don’t shop at stores that are open on thanksgiving period. And we never ever shop on the day after thanksgiving.

  14. Bravo! Some solid statistics about the insanity of the popular past time of shopping. Thank you.

  15. Wow! Suddenly I feel really great about my shopping habits. Shoes? Every couple of years, one pair. Clothes shopping? Half prices and thrift stores and online bargain places, and only if the old ones are worn out. Increasing orders to get the free shipping? Sure, but I plan in the things I wanted to buy anyway. Groceries? Once a week… with the bulk every two weeks.

    I could improve but I feel like I have a good start.

    • Shopping 301 days a year……average. 400 hours shopping…..
      average. Wow. I go into town one day a week to do my grocery shopping and run any errands that need to be taken care of and to tank up the car every so often. On average 4 to 5 hours times 52 weeks equals 208 to260 hours a year so let’s go with 260 hours to account for trips to the lumberyard, hardware store, etc. And my 260 hours is including errands that are NOT shopping. So even if two thirds of those hours are spent in a store shopping that’s only 172 hours a year. Hmmmm. I guess I’m okay with that. My day in town is also getting me out of the house….. I’d be a hermit if it weren’t for having to buy groceries, lol!

  16. I have always wondered what Americans do on the weekend besides go to the Mall and go out to eat. In Europe you see people visiting together in parks, playing bocce, hiking, visiting museums, walking around towns…. Americans (and yes – I am one, though not a Mall type) mainly go to the Mall.

  17. I know too well about shopping therapy. Shop when you are depressed or your marriage is lacking something. For a little while you had something to do together. I have learned not to go to the stores except groceries or essentials. I am debt free and this course is the next step for me. I have been itching to clear out my bathroom and then it struck me I was telling myself I had to wait until I was told that was the room we were working. I had to do it the right way. This week’s work has given me permission to get rid of all the toiletries and things that have accumulated since who knows when?
    One last comment about free give aways, I was always taking whatever was offered and then feeling guilty because I had no use for it. I couldn’t throw it out so it is somewhere in the clutter. I see for me it is going to be refraining my thinking and the clearing will not be as big a struggle.

  18. Hi,
    I’m writing from Germany. We are going in the same direction as the US when it comes to consumption and buying stuff we don’t really need.
    But still some things are quite different: On Sundays shops are still closed and our holidays are taken very seriously. And even as I live in a big city (Cologne) Sundays are still very different from the rest of the week – somewhat quiet, shifted down.
    Thank you so much for your thoughts, I really enjoy reading this blog.
    All the best, Ute

  19. Wow, Joshua, great compilation of information that is stunning and scaring at the same time. Isn’t it amazing that we spend more then 1 entire week shopping each years. Even worse, whatever we buy is not made to last anymore which is putting us into a vicious circle of need to buy the same stuff continuously and over and over again. In addition we are made to think that whenever a new version of a product is out, the old one is not worth a dime anymore. Being able to take a step back becomes an ever more important skill in todays world. We have been covering the topic of focussing in a blog post some weeks ago, we would appreciate your feedback!

  20. I’m in Scotland and this is familiar to me too. We don’t have Thanksgiving, but some enterprising retailers have introduced Black Friday here. The day after Christmas, some shops now open at 6am, which means staff have to go in on Christmas to set up the sales merchandise. Shops always used to close on 26 December and 1 January (New Year is a big deal here) but not any more. The online sales start on Christmas Eve and run throughout Christmas day, so someone is at work keeping the server up and running. I sympathise with those retail employees who are also parents, who work so hard to create a lovely Christmas for their kids but don’t get a chance to relax themselves.

    It’s completely unnecessary. It seems like nothing except money matters to some people.

  21. whenever i engaged in “retail therapy” before having kids, i always came home exhausted with little to show. often, we would just go to look and end up buying things (mostly cheap clothes) that we didn’t necessarily need. the stores were so overwhelming…too much advertising, so much clutter, way too many options…that i’d leave with a headache and feel fatigued. it physically exhausts me to shop in our typical u.s. retail shops.

    thinking of consuming in terms of minimalism makes shopping even more unpleasant knowing of the wasted time, money, effort, etc. i so appreciate the new perspective shopping takes on as i move forward in this life!

  22. Seems like you could have presented these stats without calling out women twice. Or at least acknowledging that many of them are spending that time shopping for their partners and children. Most time spent shopping isn’t fun: most of it is finding the right color poster board for your kid’s science project, buying your husband socks when he suddenly tells he ran out, or buying groceries for the 3rd time that week because your house is plagued with teenagers.

    • get a grip – teen’s are wonderful and it’s the last age you will hear the complete truth – parental involvement in science projects inhibits the very ingenuity we hope to unlock. Carry their athletic gear from car to field or rink? Mars and Venus are different.

    • I had to reread these to find where he “called out women twice.” These are the statistics. Look around next time you’re out.
      By the way – your husband can buy his own socks, he’s a big boy ;-) and you can send your teens to the store if they eat too much. They’ll acclimate to whatever you do for them – if they eat all the frozen pizzas and burritos in the freezer, then they can eat PB&J until you go to the grocery store next week. If you go running to the store every time they whine, they’ll continue to whine because you do whatever they want.
      It’s not helping them to buy them whatever they want whenever they want it.

  23. I shared this article on Facebook and got the following reply from someone: “Why do you think you can criticize how others spend their money? Some spend on cable tv, some on wine, some on clothes, some on movies or plays. What makes you the judge?”

    How should I respond?

  24. I shared this article on Facebook with the comment “Wow… according to these statistics, shopping is more than just a sport… it’s a religion!” and got the following reply from someone: “Why do you think you can criticize how others spend their money? Some spend on cable tv, some on wine, some on clothes, some on movies or plays. What makes you the judge?”

    How should I respond?

    • You didn’t criticize anyone. You’re just sharing an article, not giving commentary on a particular person.

      (My goodness, methinks they doth protest too much!)

  25. When my father passed away many years ago, I spent a great deal of time sorting and selling all his stuff. A garage full. I notice many stuffed garages where I live. I ended up selling/donating my own clutter and changing habits. Less truly is more for me. Minimalism is not pauperism and I buy quality products when I need them, but I have found freedom overall in simplifying!

  26. Thanks much for the eye-opening post! While I do not consider myself a shopper for retail therapy, I realize I spend a lot of time finding the best deal both online and in stores, and in the process end up looking at many other things to consider buying, and also waste time time and resources buying and returning. Will think through more next time I need to purchase something.

  27. Interesting. A few of these are pitiful – not $500 in savings but $4000 in debt?

    But, to be fair, people of every other age would be amazed that we can acquire everything we physically need for life in about 1 hour per day. Getting food, clothing, bedding for a family etc has historically taken much more, from hunter-gatherer to walking to the market and visiting several vendors. I’d be interested in how much time those in less prosperous countries spend on the same goals.

  28. I completely agree that our shopping habit is out of control. But are there stats available for men’s shopping habits? I see that many of these stats place the onus on women; I know men overshop and overspend as well, and I’d like to see that impact, too.

    I used to be a hooooorrible impulse shopper in college. I wasted thousands of dollars on products that I never even used–it was ridiculous! I eventually had to lock up all of my cards and switch to a cash-only envelope system (a la Dave Ramsey).

    That finally did the trick, but ultimately real change came from shifting my attitude towards consumption. “Do I need this item to survive? How will I feel about this item in five years? Could the money spent on this item be better spent elsewhere?”

  31. I have a question: is it ok to like interior design and design your home while still being a minimalist? Or does these two don’t work together? I want to live a minimalistic life but I also love interior design.

  33. I am writing from England UK.
    This new year the retail shops appear to be displaying and promoting the need to have free standing storage units to sit on your drive or outside garage as extra storage. Never noticed this in previous years.
    UK shops are open 24/7, and it’s just as bad here as well.
    My weak spot is groceries pop into a supermarket every day. We have many in our small town in Kent, South-east England. A supermarket in UK sell everything not just groceries.
    It is so hard minimising items in a shared family home when your spouse doesn’t seem to recognise the clutter especially old electronic technology doubling on the product when upgrading.
    Love following becoming minimalist.

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