ARE BEING CONSUMERISM IS A LIFESTYLE? WHY DO WE BUY SO MANY THINGS?
The habit of going shopping is ingrained in the community because people need to buy things for their daily needs or because they just want to whatever the needs—primary, secondary, or tertiary. Shopping activities can, nevertheless, be a part of a lifestyle. You could term this way of living consumerism. Consumerism is a lifestyle that develops when someone uses things and services excessively, impulsively, and continuously. If a person has adopted this lifestyle, it will have an impact on how he thinks, manages his time, money, and resources, perceives the world, and conceptualizes himself. Globalization and technical advancements are factors contributing to the rise of consumerism because they encourage people to adopt the trend.
Even while we can’t completely oppose consumerism, we do have the ability to escape the never-ending spiral of excess and regain some control over our lives. In this article, we’ll look at a few methods for reducing your consumption. Some of them will be things you already know (but need a kindly reminder of). Before we get to the suggestion, we need to see whether you are exhibiting the signs of excessive consumption. Indicators of excessive consumption are:
- You buy more than you planned
- You run out of storage space for your stuff
- You buy things on credit
- You constantly go over your budget
- You’re hiding purchases
Therefore, below are some tips to help you avoid falling into the consumerism trap if you exhibit one or more of these symptoms:
- Replace fast purchasing with slow purchasing. You can give your thinking the upper hand over your emotions by taking your time making purchases. You change your consumption behavior from being reactive to being focused and proactive. This change lowers your chance of buying something you don’t need or won’t use.
- Make the buying process inconvenient. Your shopping process immediately slows down when you realize it will be difficult to discover a sustainable version of what you desire. This adds a little more unpleasant to the shopping experience.
- Extend the lifespan of your things. It increases your respect for everything you own by extending the lifespan of your possessions. You naturally start to be more deliberate about the things you bring into your life.
- Treat your things like inventory. Treating your stuff like items on store shelves is the focus right now. In real terms, this implies preserving the “shelf space” for your belongings. Acting on new purchases will be more difficult because of the need to make room for additional products. It’s not necessary to keep adding items to your storage that you can’t handle. You now need to be deliberate about how many things you can carry at once.
- Borrow or rent instead of buy. Renting or borrowing products instead of purchasing them is an easy way to rein in your materialism. Borrowing items has the extra effect of increasing the time pressure to use them. You can actually beat procrastination by borrowing.
After reading this article, we wish you have a ton of ideas on how to avoid consumerism, make more time, save more money, and change your lifestyle.
References:
Consumerism Explained: Definition, Economic Impact, Pros & Cons. (2022, September 28). Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/consumerism.asp
Higgs, K. (n.d.). How the world embraced consumerism. BBC Future. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210120-how-the-world-became-consumerist
Ofei, M. (2022, September 14). How To Avoid The Trap of Consumerism (13 Strategies). The Minimalist Vegan. https://theminimalistvegan.com/consumerism/
Stewart, E. (2021, July 7). Why do we buy so much stuff? Vox. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22547185/consumerism-competition-history-interview
The effects of living in a consumer society. (n.d.). https://group.met.com/en/mind-the-fyouture/mindthefyouture/consumer-society