Shop less. Live more.

October is Buy Nothing New Month, and that's their slogan: Shop Less. Live More.

This quote about consumption is doubly true.

There's the hours we spend to earn the money to spend. Then there's the hours bustling around shopping centres and malls searching out the thing we want (or that advertising has told us we want).

Of course there's also the issue of where we put all this stuff we buy.

Do we just buy a bigger house (with a bigger mortgage) or do we put it in storage?

"The Japanese may have tidiness but in America we have storage lockers - our only growth industry." - Marge Simpson.

I found these stats about the US storage industry.

I find it such a waste that after spending so much to buy all this stuff we then spend another $22 billion to store it. Shocking.

Clearly we need to be less addicted to purchasing. Buy Nothing New Month is a great way to start. Are you with me?

Comments

Man Down

How is it possible for a book to be depressing, supportive and hopeful all at once? Man Down looks at the problems men have today and how it managed to get this way. What price 'success'? It seems so many of the problems come from the external pressure to be a 'success' - whatever that means. Over time this pressure becomes internal and drives us to make decisions to satisfy that pressure, but which are detrimental in so many other ways. It can be the pressure to take a 'successful' career, though it's one we don't want or aren't suited for. Or to take a promotion, because salary is apparently success - or at least it buys all the things that signal success to others. The promotion only means more pressure, less sleep, and poorer health. At the same time the extra responsibility takes away from our ability to exercise, take care of our health and form social connections. The lack of social connections means that retiring is one of the most dangerou...

Colour me happy

One of the great things about reducing possessions is thing called 'helper's high' . It's that fuzzy feeling you get from helping someone else out. I got one recently by helping an old man lift heavy groceries into his car boot when he was struggling. But this is not about that. I was about to put some watercolour paints online for anyone who wanted them. Then I remembered a local community group where people do art therapy. I gave the paints to a contact who passed them on to the group. The next day my contact called me to say how much they were appreciated. One of the participants wanted to do some watercolour painting, but couldn't afford the paints. When my contact walked in with free paints the participant was overjoyed to be able to do her art. As far as 'helper's highs' go, this was a slightly removed one - I never met the actual person I helped. But still it was a buzz.

Great small gifts

Often Christmas is about more, more, more. More spending, more gifts, more stuff. It's tricky for the person who is happy with less stuff. Three cheers for my family My loved ones have done exceedingly well this year. All the gifts I received on Christmas day could fit in one envelope - not including those that fitted in my stomach ;) . My free e-book 10 Great Gifts for People who Don't Want Stuff has a great range of gift ideas. Here are specific examples that are giving me joy rather than clutter. Hand-made gifts It's an unexpected treat to get something someone has put their time into making. A friend (and her 8 and 6 year old daughters) made us this collection of soaps. We'll appreciate them as we use them up. Held up to the light, they're amazingly colourful and bright. Even the bag they came in (courtesy of the kids) was fantastically cute. Vouchers Vouchers can be hit and miss. The tip is to go broad if you don't know the person well. Only ...

But wait... there's less!

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