How to buy less
If you're on your decluttering journey, one of the biggest challenges you may be facing is how to stop bringing in more “stuff” to fill up those lovely spaces you spent so long working on.
The act of decluttering its self often leads us to buy less naturally, we are confronted by all those things we bought and no longer want, and perhaps never even used. We might feel guilty about the waste, or baffled by our past impulse purchases.
These emotions can be very uncomfortable, but we can also use them to our benefit in maintaining our newly decluttered home.
As you declutter, I really recommend taking note of anything you recognise you are drawn to over-buying, or buying and not using. Keeping this in mind when you are shopping will help you to make changes to your behaviour.
However, even with the best intentions in the world, it's ever so tempting to keep buying things which will eventually become clutter.
The main mindset shift I would recommend aiming for here is this:
The techniques used to sell you things are expertly crafted to make you want things!
Adverts, styling, packaging, and discounts are all carefully thought out to make these products irresistible to us. It's not a failure on your part to be drawn in, but gaining awareness of this can help us to resist temptation.
What's being sold to me vs what am I actually buying?
Many products are marketed to us using “lifestyle” as a selling point. That coffee brand isn’t directly telling us that buying their coffee will make us into an effortlessly suave silver haired actor, but at the same time we kind of hope it will.
Aside from celebrity endorsements, we might also fall prey to the idea that certain purchases will directly lead to the lifestyle being advertised. “If I buy a juicer I'll have a green smoothie every morning and have perfect skin and run a 5k before breakfast.” We know that the truth is that to get that lifestyle we will have to work very hard, but the juicer seems to be promising us a shortcut.
Some products even directly promise things they are not delivering, check out this quote from Dave Gorman's Modern Life is Goodish: “Rimmel once advertised a foundation that, they claimed, would last for “up to 12 hours” with a “perfect finish”. But as they made the claims, a small caption appeared at the top of the screen, saying “20 out of 99 women agreed”. Only 20! Out of 99! That’s a disappointing result! They’re advertising using claims that nearly four out of five women seem to disagree with!” The full episode is here (includes adult themes and language – not suitable for children!)
Think about what you're actually buying. Is it the product its self or the lifestyle promise? What else would you need to do to achieve that lifestyle? Is it realistic?
Does it deserve a space in my home?
If a product passes the above here are a few other points to consider:
Do I need it?
Do I love it?
Do I have other things like it? Would I choose to use this over the others?
Where will I store it?
Could I rent or borrow it instead?
How long will it last? What will I do with it once it's reached the end of its life? Can it be recycled?
Would I still want it if it was full price?
If, at the end of this, you still want it, then buy it! Use it, and enjoy it!
