What happens when you stop shopping for fun? A reflection on moderation, mindful spending, and rediscovering the joy of having less.
Moderation In Good Things
Depriving yourself of all kinds of good things keeps your appreciation for them fresh. Take any area of your life: food, shopping, rest, social media, or screen time.
Moderation is a rare skill nowadays. We are not used to limiting ourselves in anything; we keep consuming and rarely take a break.
Why I Broke My New Year’s Resolution
This year I have set some goals that will help me deal with my consumption habits. I decided not to go to stores just for fun or entertainment. I would like to see how much money and time I can save while also practicing moderation and contentment.
At the beginning of this year, I had the idea of doing a no-spend month, but my husband and I were not on the same page about it. He didn’t really understand how it would work. So I decided not to push it too hard and simply focus on my own purchases. I kept a record of everything we spent money on for three months. Just paying attention to those things and being mindful of what we buy led us to spend about 25% less than in January and actually 65% less than in December. (Although we had a lot happening in December due to the holidays, I can see now that we could have been more frugal and avoided buying some things.)
I also decided to take a break from going to thrift stores. It might seem like something small and insignificant, but doing it monthly really adds up to our spending and does not help my shopping habits. So instead of going every month, I decided to go once every season. I already went in the winter, and my next trip will be sometime in the spring.
The Skill Of Mindful Shopping
I remember when I was young, my mom and I used to go shopping once a year to purchase everything for the new school year. We never did anything like that at any other time of the year. We did a lot of planning. This was the only time when my mom would carefully choose fabric to make clothes and things for our home, like curtains or bedding, that would last us throughout the next year.
Now I see that because we couldn’t do it often—like every week or every day—it was such a special occasion for us. Not being able to go shopping often was actually a good thing. It helped us look forward to the things we were purchasing and to be mindful of what we brought into our home. Everything we bought was not random but the result of thoughtful and intentional choices. Most of the things we owned were used for years.
I Need To Get Back To Basics
Later, when things became more accessible and cheap, I lost the skill of mindful shopping. I became impulsive with my purchases, no longer differentiating between my needs and my wants. I bought many things that didn’t add value to my life but, on the contrary, added clutter and discomfort to my home.
Now it is time for me to get back to basics. I need to intentionally withdraw from shopping and mindlessly buying things in order to enjoy the process more when I truly need to purchase something meaningful and of good quality. And that meaningful thing will serve me for years, maybe even for generations.
Don’t be afraid to stop doing something for a while, to set limits, or to minimize things you have too much of. It will bring back the freshness of the experience and give you the opportunity to enjoy those things so much more.