I am doing a No Buy Year, a personal challenge aiming at reducing my consumption and re-evaluating my relationship with material possessions. This process has led me to confront and understand the causes of my past behaviours. In particular, I have been giving thought to why I used to buy things and I’ve been reflecting on the root causes of my past purchases.
This is the hardest blog post that I have written so far because I had to dig deep to find the root causes of some of my unhelpful habits. It exposed some ugly causes and reasons for why I wanted to buy stuff.
1. Why I would buy things that I didn’t need:
In the past, I have purchased items that I didn’t really need or love, or even like. For example, I bought a new kitchen appliance on a whim. It wasn’t that I loved the kitchen appliance; it was that I was tired and busy, and I wanted it to make my life easier. I would subconsciously think, ‘Maybe if I buy this item, it will make my life easier…’ However, when the item came into my house, it created more clutter, and I had to maintain it, which just added more work for me.
What I should have done was look inward and figure out what was causing me to be so tired and busy and deal with that, instead of bringing more stuff into my life.
2. Why I used buying things to distract myself:
Sometimes life can be challenging. I think everyone at some point in life has thought ‘this situation is challenging for me.’ Instead of dealing with those challenges, I would distract myself with shopping or thinking about acquiring things. In hindsight, this is clearly not the best choice. The temporary thrill of acquiring something new provided momentary relief, but it only served to complicate my life further. I just cluttered up my life, making it feel overwhelming instead of dealing with the challenges.
I find it much healthier for me to process emotions through journaling and self-care/self-compassion, than to distract myself with more and more possessions.
3. Why I used to buy things to make myself feel good:
With clothes, I certainly used shopping to try to make myself feel good. After having children, I don’t think I really processed the changes that come with that. I would subconsciously think, ‘If I buy this new dress, I will feel better about my post-baby body…’ But after wearing the dress a few times, I still felt self-conscious about my post-baby body and looked to buying something else, when I should have been addressing the root cause.
What I should have done was to deal with the root issue! It’s just so much easier to buy a new dress than deal with my wobbly tummy.
My Reflections
By doing this No Buy Year it has been helpful to stop – reflect – acknowledge – learn. I am glad that I have worked out those root causes so that I can deal with them and if they come up again I will be able to identify and ensure that I don’t buy things that I don’t need or love. By understanding these root causes, I can now make more mindful choices (once I start shopping again in 2025) and ensure that my future purchases align with my values, loves and needs.
I want to be less consumeristic! In order to be less consumeristic, I am glad I am finding the root causes of why I used to buy too many things. But my goodness it is hard being vulnerable!
If you’d like to catch up on my blog posts (or share) about my No Buy Year, you can find all the posts here.
Stay up to date with my blog by following Finding My Simple Life on Facebook or Threads or Instagram.
