Many Americans vow to lose weight and live healthier during the New Year. I am among them- but I don’t want to limit the definition of “living healthier” just to the five food groups and some exercise. I want to take care of my mental, emotional, and spiritual health as well. A friend of mine has put herself on 2 “diets” this year. One is for her weight- the other has to do with her consumption habits. I have to say it is an interesting way at looking at cutting back on needless shopping, and I’m proud of her for doing it.
I usually think of myself as being a conscientious consumer. I live within my financial means and try not to buy things I don’t really need. My clothes come from both mainstream and alternative sources (like consignment shops, vintage boutiques, and good will) and I have nothing against buying used goods. Something happens to me every year around the holidays however; the deals just seem too good to ignore, and the bargain hunter in me takes over. It starts with finding deals on gifts for friends and family and slowly turns into snatching up “great finds” for myself. While the tightwad in me won’t let me go overboard in terms of dollars spent, the time and energy that goes into getting things that in all reality I could probably do without- or with much less of- is off the charts.
And so, just like my resolution to stick to healthy portions at meal time, I’m going to re-commit myself to observing healthy portions when it comes to consuming everything.
I found this ‘movie’ (http://storyofstuff.com/) last week… they’re having trouble with the website so you can’t view it at present, but it’s great. I just keep checking back to see if it’s working again or not.
Anyway, it’s about stuff, consumption, what happens after we throw things away and I feel the whole world should watch it! Or the whole western world at least.
That’s a great resolution. I do the deal thing too. I am so good about not buying things most of the time, but the allure of a good deal is hard to resist.
I have never thought about my consumeristic tendancies in that way. Everyone should put themselves on that same type of diet. And I completely undestand how all of a sudden you just find yourself buying things that have no purpose and that you have no need for. I have a really bad habit of buying gag gifts with people birthday presents. They are always just stupid little plastic things but I some how always end up buying some. This should be something that more people have resolutions about. Great idea!
I am on the same path for consumption.. i can’t believe how much stuff my family accumulates in such a short period of time !
But I would love to see your blog posted at Herblogdirectory.com …
I was looking for your email and couldn’t locate it
Karrine
Fortunately I live in a town where there isn’t much shopping, so don’t usually have too many temptations. However, when I’m in Denver or another big city and walk into a mall, I go overboard. I realize all the things I think I need and spend more than I can afford.
I like the idea of a consumption diet. I will begin mine today.
Dagny McKinley
http://www.onnotextiles.com
organic apparel
I spent most of last year traveling with no income. Nothing like that situation to make you very conscious of every penny you spend. This frugality has carried over now that I’m back and I’m really happy that the habit of scrutinizing every purchase has stuck. As far as deals, I’ve always had this philosophy: would I buy the thing at whole price? If not, then I can tell I really do not want or need it and I pass it up. This came after years of giving away bagloads of clothes that I barely wore to Goodwill, and I noticed that nearly all of them came from those “deals.”