One of my
goals every year is to avoid consumerism as much as possible. Consumerism, to me, is shopping for entertainment, going out and buying things that we don't need, or buying things we cannot
afford on our budget.
Consumption
should be based on satisfying basic human needs such as shelter, food,
clothing, and healthcare. Of course, consumerism encompasses different things
to different people. Your version of consumerism may be different than mine and that is alright.
Many
people believe they work to make ends meet, but upon closer examination of
their households reveal they spend part of their income on unnecessary items or even name brand items when they cannot afford them.
My goal
is limiting consumerism as much as possible. For example, shoes with name
brand labels are not needed in order to take a hike. Board game pieces made from
marble don't make the game any more enjoyable than a game played with
plastic pieces.
Around
here the Yeti tumblers have been the go to item in recent years, and the price of those is quite high. We don't have Yeti tumblers here, but we each have a tumbler
equivalent to the Yeti. And we bought them in the second-hand market for $1.00
each.
In our household we use things up and use things until they no longer useful. Such as a favorite bowl that develops a
crack in the side. I will use it until it is no longer useful.
I used to
have a non-smart phone that I had for years. There was no reason for me to replace
it because it worked great. Some students at school would actually talk to me
about how obsolete it was, but in reality, the phone was in perfect working
condition and would stay charged for days.
When my
daughter finally talked me into using her old smartphone you would have thought
I won the lottery by the student’s reactions at school. Even today I will get a
comment about getting a "new" phone even though it's not a new phone.
We
shopped the second-hand market when my daughter bought it and she used it for a
couple of years before she passed it on to me.
We shop
the second-hand market for things we need and in doing so are not purchasing
items made with new materials for the things we need. This practice not only helps us to save money, but is also good for the environment because we are not using new virgin materials to have something made for us.
The second hand market is wonderful for trying to live this type of lifestyle. We love to shop at flea markets, garage sales, and thrift shops for the things we need first. And we even like to dicker with the sellers.
The second hand market is wonderful for trying to live this type of lifestyle. We love to shop at flea markets, garage sales, and thrift shops for the things we need first. And we even like to dicker with the sellers.
These
days I strive to be less of a consumer. If, as the experts say, we have to spend money to keep the economy flowing they can count our household out of that equation. It may not be for everyone and that is OK, but I am content with my life.
