To Buy or Not to Buy
by Alix, the eco-czar
Buy. Less. Stuff. It’s that simple. Buy less stuff. When you buy less stuff you spend less money, so the economic angle is a given. When you buy less stuff you are also making a dent in the giant heaving mountain of garbage that almost all of our stuff eventually becomes. Buy less stuff and stem the tidal wave of consumption that for years has been the American birthright. It has also been giant contributor to the swirling gyre of plastic trash polluting the Pacific Ocean. This garbage dump is visible from satellite footage.
Buy less stuff is a simple rule, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Lest I get a bad reputation as a sanctimonious scold, let me be clear: I love nothing more than strolling through a swanky mall, shopping for wardrobe, access-ories, and cosmetics that I do not need. I love retail therapy.
Like a growing number of Americans, however, I want to save more money. The exuberant spending that marked the last ten years or so has been replaced by attitudes reminiscent of our childhoods when saving for a rainy day was the norm.
I still love to shop, but now I do it with a new attitude. I’ve had a paradigm shift, as they say. Now, whenever I am about to buy something, I take a moment and ponder, “Do I want this or do I need this?” When every item must pass the want-or-need test, far fewer items make it to the checkout aisle at Target. Perhaps initially shopping was not as much fun, but it’s like exercising an atrophied muscle. It might hurt at first, but when you get home and there is still that chunk of cash in your bank account, the pain will have subsided greatly. Like workouts, the more you do this, the easier it gets.
If I find that the item I left on the store shelf is still haunting me days later, I’ll go back and buy it. But more often than not, I walk away from items in stores and never return to buy them. I have cultivated a strange sense of satisfaction when I walk out of a store empty-handed. I’ve discovered a strange power in my immunity to the relentless shills of our materialistic world.
As everyone with young children knows, there is a never-ending stream of stuff the world wants you to buy for your kids–from the patently unnecessary warmers for diaper wipes to expensive video games, to the way they rudely outgrow the shoes and clothing we buy. I think teaching them the lesson of want versus need is a vital part of my role as a parent. They almost always leave toy stores, Target, and supermarkets without the token piece of trash or candy they whine and plead for.
Another key to maintaining control with my kids is hand-me-downs and resale/consignment shops. Other kids are outgrowing their clothing and gear as fast as yours are, and somewhere in your town is probably a store like Milk Money where you can get great “gently used” kid stuff, cheap. If no stores near you are good, try handmedowns.com or e-Bay. (For the latter, just search on your child’s shoe size or clothing size.)
Changing my attitude has led me to discover a host of other ways to get what I need and want while still saving money or not spending any money at all.
The Library has been a huge “a-ha!” for me. I spent my childhood going to the library but somehow forgot about it as a childless adult. Now I don’t know how the parents of young children do without a library—you cycle through so many picture books with kids. As an adult, you can ignore both sides of the Kindle debate, still read whatever you want, and keep all your money in your pocket. Get yourself a library card and it’s all free: Books, DVDs, books on tape, CDs. I check out tens of books, for my kids and me, and if we don’t like a book there is not an ounce of buyer’s remorse. In fact, purchasing a book has become something reserved for gifts and very special book (i.e., a guide to gardening I’ll use all the time, or a picture book my boys adore)—a money saver for certain.
A few years ago we had a sofa bed that we couldn’t pay someone to take. We couldn’t even get goodwill to pick it up. Then we posted it on Freecycle and within 24 hours it was gone. We quickly discovered it’s a two-way street. Our big living room TV was free, and I found a piano for my neighbor as well. Register locally and you can receive updates of what’s available, post your own ‘wanteds’, or just visit the Web site whenever you want.
Craigslist is like visiting every garage sale in your area without leaving the house. Like eBay, Craigslist is addictive. Once you score a great deal—like $75 for the ideal table and chairs for my back deck—you check it for everything.
Like so many elements of going green, a big change came from a small shift in my thinking. My contribution to the planet’s garbage problem is smaller, and my bank account stays… well, small too, but not smaller!
For more on the less-is-more movement, see this link. Have you cut back on buying stuff? Comment here or email your thoughts to laura at laurarowley.com.
Related Posts
July 13th, 2009 at 11:01 am
I love these ideas! When my kids were small, they rarely had brand new clothes unless they were gifts from others, and it made absolutely no difference to them. After they had outgrown their clothes, often I could consign them at the local used kids clothing shop. We also frequented the libray (though books for my kids were a weakness of mine), used book stores, and yard sales (great for toys!). Each birthday and Christmas, when the flood of new stuff would enter our home, they picked out older toys and books to give to the poor. It’s hard to keep the balance of coming in and going out! Now that they are grown, my kids are both basically non-materialistic and practical.