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How many times a day do you swipe your debit card, credit card or get cash out of your wallet to buy something? Do you buy a coffee or newspaper in the morning? Do you go out for lunch or pick up a few things at Target on the way home from work? How about dinner? Do you pick that up, too?
We live in a society where money comes in and goes out even faster. Debt is at an all time high and so is our “need” to buy! Somewhere along the way we have forgotten the old clichés that “you can’t buy happiness” and “money doesn’t grow on trees”! We all know this to be true, but are we living like it is?
When you do “run to Target” do you buy what you set out for on your shopping list or do you end up with a cart full of things? (If you are like me, you are shaking your head up and down,! I’m guilty of this, too!)
What happens when you buy all that extra stuff? Do you have room for it in your home? Do you even use it at all? Where do you put the things that you just had to have when you were shopping? Do you stuff it in a closet? Do you have a lot of storage rooms or closets to put it into? Or do you have to rent a storage unit just to hold all of your stuff? (Once again, not judging, I’ve done it before as well!)
We are being boxed in financially and literally by the things we have bought (and in many cases still need to pay for!)
As we bring home more stuff we are becoming more stressed out. We spend more which leads to financial issues. When we buy we accumulate more which leads to storage issues. As the house fills up and the bank account disappears relationship issues begin.
Each time we overspend we have to figure out how to pay for this stuff. Are you working overtime or extra hours at a second job to pay for it? If you are, are you missing out on time with your friends and family. Was whatever you bought worth that?
Spending can become a vicious cycle. The more we have, the more we want, the more we spend. Pretty soon we are unhappy, broke, and have a lot of stuff that isn’t worth anything.
When is enough, enough? Everyone’s answers will be different and that’s ok! But if you are struggling with being unhappy, broke, tied to a job that you don’t love, or stuck with all that extra stuff, it might be time to just say no to consumerism. Jump off the bandwagon and let me know how it goes!
Have you enjoyed what you read here today? Do you have friends or other women you know that could benefit from this resource? If so, please do me a favor! I have included the links below to share with other intentional women! They’ll be glad you did!
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This is perfect and came with such good timing! I decided just this month that I’m fed up with stuff, and I embarking on a (slightly less than) 21 Day Journey to Minimalism based on the one at theminimalists.com/21days/ I’ve already done quite a bit of “purging” in my room, and this Wednesday I’m really jumping in with both feet! I plan on boxing up all of my stuff (that means everything from my clothes to my toothbrush!) and then unpacking only as I need things. By the end of the week, I will evaluate what I actually use (and therefor need), and get rid of the rest. It’s drastic, it’s crazy, but I’m going for it! My hope is get to get out of the consumerism cycle before I ever get in. I’m a teenager, and my goal is to never get into the debt that traps so many adults… Thank you for sharing this, today!
Anastasia Rose
#write31days
walk-in-the-rain-with-me.blogspot.com
Good for you Anastasia! 🙂
Such an important topic- and you write about it with such grace. I was raised by parents who talked about money wisely…and overall my husband and I are intentional with our money. And yet as I read this two things popped in my head- Target and Starbucks. I always end up with more than I intend at Target…and the nearest Starbucks is 26 minutes away. You would think that would be a natural deterrent. …but I still find ‘reasons’ to head that way. Thanks for your words!
I don’t have the Starbucks problem because I’m not a coffee drinker but definitely have the Target problem! We all have our little things we make excuses for! Thanks for stopping in! 🙂
I do have to admit that I have gone over the topic this month. Not only do both girls have their birthday in this season but also decorating for fall. On top of that we are attempting to become a real food family. All of those things together has caused some over spending. I have found that using Amazon Prime helps. I don’t have littles with me asking for things and I am able to just purchase what I need even some of my groceries.
I do almost all of my holiday shopping online simply because when I take my kids shopping with me, we ALWAYS end up buying extras that I wasn’t planning on and that we didn’t need. I completely understand! (And I love Prime!)
What a great post and so true. We have just recently decided to minimize our belongings, because there is just so much stuff we don’t really need. Just like you wrote, we keep adding to the things we have which we actually don’t need but they could easily make one face financial issues.
We have decided to only purchase what we really need for a while – let’s see how that will work out for us. Thank you for the encouragement!
Chrissy, I love that idea (especially with the holidays coming up!) If you write a blog post about it, please come back and tell me about it!
This was a great post to read right after paying the bills!
I’m on a mission to downsize my stuff, if only to make it easier to keep the house clean. What a great reminder that we don’t need to be owned by our stuff! We have way more than our grandparents ever did!
I agree! I always think about laundry that way. If we didn’t have so many clothes, I wouldn’t have to spend so much time doing laundry! 🙂
I can so relate to the going to Target for one thing idea and leaving with 50!!! A great reminder that we should always consider our actions. Thank you for sharing!
I’m glad I’m not the only one 😉
I was just thinking about this today. We have a horse farm that is, to be honest, mostly recreational. But we don’t get there enough (which is why we are building a house out there). About six months ago we had an opportunity to buy a huge (for this area) piece of hunting land only a half hour from our house. Not purchasing it was a huge decision, but it came down to, “Why are we buying one more ‘fun’ thing when we don’t even have time to enjoy all the other awesome things in our life?” It still makes me a little sad, just because it would have been AWESOME. But it wouldn’t have been awesome, feeling guilty for having such a great place that was just one more thing we owned. Yuck. So I’m grateful to my husband for saving both of us a lot of time and worry.
It seems we have a fleshly nature that says there is no such thing as enough! But we do have opportunity for making choices. I’m not always good at making the right choices, and have to revisit this question from time to time. It is so easy to spend however much you make, whether it is a little or a lot. We seem to easily fill our homes to overflowing, whether they are small homes or large. Thanks for the encouraging words today, and the reminder to step back and put things in proper perspective!
We are trying the “pay with cash” method. It has really helped a lot. We allocate so much money each month for bills, food, etc. and once my money is gone for the month… it’s gone. It helps me to budget and think twice before spending $3 for a coffee.
Great post and so, so true! I have a lot of work to do in this area, thanks for reminding me!!
I think we all have work to do in this area! 🙂
Such a timely post for the upcoming Holiday Season!! Have you ever read Jen Hatmaker’s “7”? If not… GET IT. Her book is PROFOUND. This post made me think of it.
Yes, it’s a wonderful book…it’s life changing! 🙂 Lovely to “meet” you as well!
Btw- lovely to meet you Jenny!!! (Stopping by from Equipping Godly Women)
We’ve had to rethink what we actually need now that I’m not working. Although it was involuntary, I am really considering not going back to work outside the home.
Tami, I appreciate your honesty! It seems that many times it takes some form of hardship to really examine needs vs. wants but sometimes those situations end up making such a difference to a family! (It has in my own!) I wish you the best in deciding what is best for you regarding working!
It’s so important that I stick to the list – so other stuff doesn’t creep in the cart! Discipline and organization make a difference – and help keep me out of that box you talk about!
That is a really good question! Although for me, it’s more about the opposite. When will we have paid down enough debt/saved enough that I don’t worry about it anymore? But the truth is–when I choose not to.
Your post helped me reflect on what spending I could cut down on. For my husband and I it’s eating out! I’ve known it for a while and somehow I’ve been noticing simple dinner is getting way more expensive than just a year ago. I think it’s time to cut back! Thank you for this reflection 🙂
You are so right about the costs going up! I am always thankful to not have to cook when we eat out but yet afterwards many times (especially when it’s fast food) wish we would’ve eaten at home because the food tastes better! I appreciate your reflection!
Jenny, this is so true. Why do we “buy” into it all? It becomes so consuming that it is literally driving us, instead of vice versa. I am working on being more intentional in my purchases – especially for Christmas this year. We don’t need stuff for the sake of stuff. Our “needs” can sometimes be more “wants”. Thanks.
I’m guilty of making many things a “need” when they aren’t! Great awareness! 🙂