Sometimes all it takes is paying more attention. Maybe all I need to do is be more present in the moment where I am making choices? More mindful. At times I wander in and out of stores picking things up and admiring them, convinced in that moment that this item will make me happy if I own it. I get a buzz as I take it to the counter and watch them pop it in a pretty bag for me. I don’t really stop and think “will this item actually make me happier? Will it improve my life beyond this very moment?”
I am honestly ashamed and embarrassed by how much I buy things when I don’t actually need them. I feel like in many ways I have been blind to how brainwashed I have been into believing that buying unnecessary items will make me happier, smarter, more attractive, more liked by others and more fulfilled. It truly hit me last week when I decluttered several spaces in my home, I looked at the piles forming and I honestly felt sick.
I recently shared a couple of posts about living with less and finding happiness in letting go of stuff! If you missed them, here are the links.
Today though I want to touch on our obsession to shop. I love shopping, I love the thrill of buying something new. It is so much fun. I also love the social aspect of it, shopping with friends, or family, and then grabbing a long lunch, or coffee and cake. It makes me happy, but then I ask myself this, “if it makes me happy, then why do I want to stop shopping so much?“
I am not sure if you ever see my Instagram stories, but recently I did a huge clean out of my wardrobe and showed the pile of things I was throwing out or donating. To be honest it was embarrassing. To see that pile made me feel ashamed of how much I buy, and not just because it is money spent and gone! It made me feel ashamed that I am contributing such waste in this world. I am shopping for things because it is fun, or it gives me pleasure, and not because I really need something!
After starting on decluttering my own closest I got stuck into my linen cupboard, and then the kids got involved. The pile grew and grew! I was able to donate a lot of wonderful toys that the children just no longer played with, but were still in fabulous condition. It felt good to donate these things even though I could have made money selling them. I like knowing I can help others rather than just make money. I also gave some gorgeous dresses the girls no longer wear to a friend who can’t afford a lot for her daughter, and that felt good too.
But still there was a lot of things that just had to go in the bin, into landfill, and I just don’t feel good about that.
“Your Home is Living Space,
Not storage Space”
-Francine Jay
My home is not a storage space, it is a space to live, to be happy, to laugh, to hug my children, and play with my pets. Yet I continue to buy too many things, that then get stored away, and one day thrown away. I don’t want to live that way, living that way just doesn’t make me feel free.
I am not saying we can’t buy things, or never shop again. There are things we do need after all. And sometimes there are things we see that we know will bring us a lot of joy and that is OK! I love candles for example and the peace and happiness they bring me is worth it. Living more simply and consuming less is not about not never shopping again. It is about shopping with a present mind. Be conscious and mindful about what you are buying. Ask yourself,
- “will this make me happy just for a few days, or for a long time?”
- “does this really bring me deep joy?”
- “do I need this item? Will having it improve my quality of life?”
Like I said it is not about not shopping, it is about being more conscious when you do shop. Question yourself before you buy anything, be mindful and ask yourself if this item will bring you more peace and happiness. In our consumerism culture we have been made to think we need everything everyone else has, we buy without thinking. When we really think about what we are purchasing we not only buy less, but we also buy better quality, and things that truly bring us more personal fulfilment.
So that is my new mission, to be more mindful of where I spend my money. It may not always be so easy, and I am sure at times I will stumble, but I no longer want to see piles of things going to waste. I am going to be more conscious of what I buy and its affect not only on my bank account, but also on our environment.
Do you shop mindfully? Do you have any tips to help me and others on our way? Please leave me a comment below.
live beautiful, live simple, live fearlessly authentic
Thanks for joining me, love Mackenzie xx
7 comments
I am on it. I too feel bad when I found non-useful stuff on my shelves. I am on a decluttering phase and always will. My Home is there to collect memories not things. Thanks for sharing this MG.
There’s a lot to be said for living with less. Clutter drives me crazy, and yet my flat is full of it. Some of it is inevitable when you had a toddler, but there are still a lot of things that I could throw away to make my flat a cleaner, more relaxed space. #stayclassymama
my wife is a junk shopper. She hits yard sales and such and buys the most ridiculous things. Two days ago she came home with a crossbow. I’m not even joking. #stayclassy
I really need to declutter because I feel almost stressed at how much clutter we have! As for the shopping thing, I don’t know, I don’t shop as much as I used to for myself. I do get pleasure from buying my daughter cute outfits but I don’t think I over do it – in fact she’s not even got enough t-shirts, I could do with getting her a few more! Good luck! #StayClassyMama x
We’re on the same journey. Its hard because the world tells you need all the stuff and I know we don’t really because we have all we need. It’s just a question of keeping at it I think and accepting it takes time to change that mindset. I’m better than I was, but not where I want to be
I find the things I buy do bring me joy. I buy lots of little bits here and there as and when I can afford it and I always donate things that I no longer need or use. I think it’s because I went through a phase where money was incredibly tight and I’d be pushed to but a paper or that night’s tea.
I always donate clothes, I always use make up and toiletries fully up. I do buy a lot of crap but I love it so much. I get it home, take it out and look at it. Before I was a blogger I used to lay it out and take photos to send to my friends over BBM (remember that?!) but I do see where you are coming from. I do know plenty of people who buy things they don’t need that soon go to waste.
Thank you for liking up with #StayClassyMama, I hope you can join again next time!
In our family my mother ensures we buy things more because we need them and less because we want them. So we have grown up living in that minimalist attitude towards hoarding materialistic things… And time and again we engage consciously in decluttering and giving away things that we no longer need. This has helped us a lot. Me – it has relieved me of unwanted stress at times.
Saved money. Saved space and kept me away from hoarding.
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