My Attempt at a Low, or No, Spend Year
Seems like everywhere I turn I am being sold something. I ventured back online to social media this past month and it’s suffocating. The noise of the deeply fulfilled life we all crave. You know the one that can be ours if we just
like and subscribe and then buy this one project management system thing that SAVED my to do list and helped me be more productive.
Make this recipe, oh BTW you need to subscribe for a low monthly fee of $5 a month to see it but that’s less than your Starbucks order and this will actually save your mental overload mama.
Take this delicious vegan, organic, non-gmo, protein rich, seed oil free, taste free but pure, clean vitamin supplement that will keep you young and healthy forever.
Buy these 25 amazon products from my storefront , all household hack time saving objects that will start your morning routine off right and cure your depression because ew sad feelings no good.
Copy my GRWM (get ready with me) morning ritual and you will be whole, you will be better, you will have value.
BLAH BLAH BLAH
It is endless and it has only kept increasing. Feels like everyone-everywhere is an influencer pushing products and commodifying their lifestyle and encouraging us to treat our emotional pain through the time honoured tradition of retail therapy.
Look I get it. It’s not that they are (for the most part) trying to use and abuse us and perpetuate a highly corporatised consumerist culture that commodifies our existence. I try to hope that most people who share suggestions of items and products that have improved their lives are genuinely telling the truth and wanting to help/also bring in some extra hustle moneys to handle the rising cost of living. I respect the drive, do what you got to do to survive my dudes.
However, with the insane in the membrane economy we are living in, and the obnoxious proliferation of targeted ads being pinged into our little handheld super-computers that are also taking up from reality to sleepwalking zombie, dopamine addicted life, I have personally had enough. So in an effort to manage my, and here is the vulnerable confession, own out of control spending and disordered shopping behaviours, am attempting to commit to a year of less spending overall. This means I am hoping to eradicate unnecessary personal shopping for at least however long I can manage it.
Practically what does that look like? It means not buying anything beyond what is a direct need for myself. That’s going to take some time to figure out the boundaries on that. Do I need socks for running? Yes because I have only one pair and they are nasty. So I will get that. Do I need a cute new running top maybe from a bougie brand like LuLuLemon, with cute shorts that make my legs go faster (lol or look leaner :D ) and a matching oversized cute sweater to throw on after my marathon ? Yeaahhhh no but doesn’t mean I don’t want it. What I already have works fine for what I need so I will work with that, at the end of the day as long as I have shoes to throw on some kind of shirt, shorts and sports bra combo that will do me. I can rewear outfits it’s ok.
That’s kinda how my frame of mind is going to go with this thing. When I crave an item to purchase, or a clothing piece, or a meal out in a restaurant I am going to stop and think about what I already have and why I think this new purchase will add any more value to my life and in what way. Will the cost to my stretched thin wallet justify the gain? What is the negative environmental impact of all this constant spending on new things being made? Then I will give it some time to percolate, and maybe not add to cart and have it sitting open on a tab on my browser tempting me with ‘free shipping over $49’ so long as I add maybe one or two more items I wasn’t going to buy in the first place.
CHOKING SOB
Where this will be especially challenging for me will be with books. I love to buy books, I love supporting authors and pre-ordering their hard work. I love looking at the beautiful spines all lined up in my bookcase singing to me of the magic inside. I love feeling a sense of ownership of the story that awaits and proud of the reading choices I have made. Books however, are just so very expensive and unless I want to buy cheap off Amazon and continue to support that fast fashion style giant retailer troll I think I need to reel it in. It is not necessary to buy every book all of the time when there is a perfectly excellent source of free books in our communities. I am referring to the absolute haven of a free space for families with tots and anyone who has a need to sit in a safe third space-the local library. So I am trying to only read books I already own and havn’t read and also ones I can source from the library. . On a whole we are prioritising spending our money on essential family life things. Mostly that’s groceries and of course what we seem to be necessary for our little one to thrive and grow healthily and happily. I will say I fully believe in hand-me-down practices and cannot stress enough how essential it is to share what you no longer need to those who have need.
If you can spare it share it.
We just got a used mini potty for our toddler saving me $35 I did not have. I am beyond grateful for that.
In full transparency I did buy one book last week because it was on deep deep sale and I was having a rough week, and I do have a preordered book coming from last year that my husband doesn’t believe is a pre order but other than those two blips I solemnly swear I am up to no…spending. Hold me to it my dudes. I am committing to reading these thirteen random books off my shelf and plan on including a conversation about them in my first ever video book nook post coming soon.
