Shopping
Break Your Shopping Habit
I’ve been down on shopping for a while now. You can see my disillusionment in my post from six months ago, The Burden of Ownership. I guess that’s what attracted me to the book “No New Things” by Ashlee Piper. The subtitle of the book is “A Radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, the Planet, and Your Sanity”.
Piper’s method is chock full of sensible suggestions. Her “no new things” challenge asks you to commit to only 30 days in which you buy only what is absolutely necessary. Each week has a theme and a series of actions that increase your awareness of the effect your shopping habits are having on you, your space, and the planet. She also includes some fascinating history on the evolution of shopping and how we arrived at this level of over-consumption.
Part of what makes shopping so compelling these days is that it is so easy. Because you can store your credit card information on shopping websites, the act of shopping becomes what she calls “frictionless”. One way to ensure that you purchase more mindfully is to delete that information from the sites, requiring you to get up out of your chair and take the card out of your wallet in order to buy something. Slowing the process down just a little will give you time to think, “Do I really want to buy that?” Another way is to put something in your cart but not buy it right away. If you still want it 24 hours later, go back and buy it.
I loved this quote, as it dovetails nicely with my thoughts about the burden of ownership: “For every item we bring into our lives, we become its inventory manager. That’s right: from the moment of purchase, you are responsible for the upkeep, repair, and end life of your things—and that, my friend, is more of a full-time job than we often realize.”
Even before reading this book, I had started canceling the few mail order catalogs that I was still getting. I found that browsing a catalog often led me to visit the site and buy something, even if I wasn’t in the market for anything. By eliminating the temptation of the catalog, I plan to go to those sites only when I am truly in need of something. So often, we go to shopping sites out of boredom.
If you feel that you have gotten into a shopping habit — either on-line or in person — give Piper’s “No New Things” method a try. It’s laid out clearly and only requires a 30-day commitment. I’ll close with another quote from the book that is one of my favorites, for obvious reasons:
“Science supports that organizing our spaces boasts unexpected benefits like healthier bodies, better sleep, enhanced cognitive function, and even fewer accidents.”
The Burden of Ownership
Lately I’ve felt overwhelmed by the burden of new things. Getting new stuff seems fun and exciting until you face the reality of it. As Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Things are in the saddle, and ride mankind.”
Buying stuff online is so simple and seductive. You decide that you want to own something, you do some browsing, and a few days later it arrives at your home. That’s when you actually have to deal with this new item.
You’ve got to unpackage the item but hold on to the packaging until you figure out if you want to keep it. If it’s clothing, you need to try it on. If it’s an appliance or an electronic gadget, you’ve got to figure out if it works. If you decide to keep the item, you have to find a place to store it. If it is replacing something, you need to figure out what to do with the old one. And if you decide not to keep the item, you’ve got to package it up again and figure out the best way to send it back.
Buying things in person is even more exhausting. I rarely shop for things in stores anymore. Sometimes I’ll make a trip to a store only to be told that they have a larger selection on the store’s website and I should go home and shop for it online. This literally happened to me in the luggage department at Bloomingdale’s just last week, and also a few years ago when I went to Macy’s to look at petite coats, only to find out that they only sell petites online.
But sometimes I want to shop in person because I want to try things on — such as a recent excursion to find some boots because the Uggs I wore for the last 9 winters had sprung a leak. I tried on a lot of boots and did bring home a comfy pair, which I then spent weeks breaking in at home and then wearing around the neighborhood until I felt confident enough to wear them on longer excursions. I hope these boots last another 9 years because it’s not a process I want to repeat anytime soon.
I find it frustrating that when I need to replace basics like socks and underwear, I reorder my usual items only to find that the styling is different or the fabric has changed. Then I’ve got to search the internet looking for a suitable replacement, which may or may not solve the problem.
Occasionally there is a bright spot, such as when I recently replaced my Apple TV box and discovered that it is superior to the older version, including ease of use. But that is a rarity. Usually new devices are more complex and have a steep learning curve.
I’m not surprised when I go to a client’s home and find clothing with the tags still on, or new devices still in their boxes. It’s exhausting making decisions about the items that have taken up residence in your home. Sometimes it’s easier to just ignore them.
I don’t have a good solution for this dilemma, other than to buy things only when you absolutely need them. And be sure to get the items that are no longer usable out of your home as quickly as possible to avoid clutter, which only adds to the stress of ownership.
It’s Not Just Shopping
I have a regular weekly appointment with a client in Downtown Manhattan. I tend to leave a little extra time to get there in case the subway is being wonky. If I get downtown too early, I’ll stop at the bank or pick up something I need in the drugstore, or I’ll sit on a bench and read my book or listen to music.
On the way there and back, I pass a discount store called Lot-Less Closeouts. It’s fun to glance in the window when I pass by. They have a lot of housewares and it always looks like useful stuff, even though I know I don’t need any of it.
Recently I got downtown too early and on a whim I decided to go into the discount store to see what else they had. As I wandered the aisles, I was amazed to see the variety of merchandise. And the store was a lot bigger than I expected. Beyond the housewares in the window and at the entrance, there were toiletries, cosmetics, clothes, more housewares, and a whole lot of attractive stuff.
Luckily I had to be somewhere in a little while so I didn’t stop and look at anything too closely. I considered myself lucky to escape there without buying anything. It was a little unsettling how much I was attracted to the merchandise.
Last week I passed the store from the other side of the street and I noticed what was written over the three picture windows:
It’s Not Just Shopping.
It’s An Addiction . . .
Become Addicted.
I found this slogan a bit terrifying.
I wrote a blog post 15 years ago called Drop Before You Shop. In it, I state that these are NOT good reasons to buy something:
- “Because it’s on sale.” (You can save even more money by NOT buying it).
- “Because I can always use another one of these.” (Not unless you’ve worn out the old one).
- “Because I’m bored, and getting something new is exciting.” (That kind of excitement wears off quickly. You’ll get longer-lasting excitement by spending your money on experiences, not things).
Stores like Lot-Less Closeouts play into this kind of mindset. Because you are (allegedly) buying these things at a discounted price, they become irresistible.
If you already have too much stuff at home (and face it, most of us do), then avoid these types of stores like the plague.
Space as a Finite Resource
I think we are all used to the idea of money as a finite resource. But space is a finite resource as well — not just for those of us who live in small homes, but for everyone. Even if you have an attic, basement, or garage to stash the stuff you aren’t using, eventually it will be so full that you will have to deal with it.
One way to avoid coming up against space limitations is to use them as an ally and not an enemy. Use space to help determine how much you own.
Here’s an example of this. I love cardigan sweaters. (For those of you not up on your fashion terms, a cardigan sweater is a sweater that opens in the front, as opposed to a pullover.) I wear them over turtlenecks in the winter, and I carry one with me in the summer to combat over-cooled restaurants and subway trains. But I can’t have an unlimited number of cardigan sweaters because space is finite resource.
So I have allocated one — and only one — drawer in my dresser for my beloved cardigans. That drawer is always full. If I decide to buy another sweater, I need to figure out which sweater to get rid of. Embracing my space limitations forces me to make choices, which is the key to avoiding clutter. And I can always find the sweater I’m looking for, because they are limited to just one place.
You can apply this method to anywhere in your home. When your bookcases are full and you want to buy another book, figure out which book(s) to give away. Don’t start putting books somewhere else (where you will never find them again) or lay them horizontally across the standing books or start another row of books in front of the existing books. That, my friend, is clutter.
Once you’ve allocated the space for a particular type of item, stick with it. If it’s something that gets used up — like toilet paper or breakfast cereal — you will easily be able to see when you are running low and need to buy more. If it’s something that doesn’t get used up — like handbags or neckties — having a limited number will enable you to find what you are looking for faster and more easily.
Buying in Bulk
Everybody loves a bargain. And it’s well-known that the larger package will generally cost you less per item than the small one.
But what if space is at a premium? Purchasing decisions should not only be made in terms of dollars and cents. Clutter and storage space should also factor into the mix.
As I discussed in my recent post The Dangers of Buy One Get One Free, when you buy more than you need, you are in danger of losing track of the extra items. The shrink-wrapped package of two bottles of Tylenol might cost less per tablet, but if you forget that you have a second bottle, you haven’t really gained anything.
Buying big bulky things in bulk can be problematic if you are short on storage space. Paper towels, toilet paper, and tissue boxes take up a lot of room. Unless you have a large family and go through these really quickly, you’ll make better use of your limited space if you always have one or two extra on hand, but not eight or ten.
You might think that if you buy a lot of something, you’ll never run out. But if you are someone who doesn’t have a good system for keeping track of when you are on the last one, you are still going to run out. It’s better to buy fewer of them, and to put a sticky note on the last one saying “Order more!” so that you’ll remember to do so when you are opening that one.
If you do your purchasing on Amazon, you can instead save money with their “Subscribe and Save” feature. You’ll need to figure out how quickly you go through an item so that you can set the appropriate subscription frequency, but once you’ve got that worked out, you’ll be able to rest assured that you won’t run out of this item and you’ll still be saving money.
When it comes to purchases of frequently-used items, it’s true that less is more.