my "shopping" note keeps me from buying dumb shit all the time
one thing i did not get to do until i was in my mid-thirties was buy dumb shit all the time. dumb shit used to be more expensive and better quality than the dumb shit you can buy today, but it's so much more easy and everyone and everything is or has an ad, so i feel like i have to work super hard to combat the urge to buy cheap, low quality dumb shit. i don't shop from amazon or target, but a lot of small businesses are just reselling dumb shit they bought on amazon or target - which makes me the sucker! i just wanted a usb-chargeable portable fan!
for the past year and a half i have been keeping a plain note (it started as an apple note but now i use obsidian) titled "shopping" that i've built a habit of opening any time i want something i see online. for each month i have a "didn't buy" and "did buy" list. i don't include groceries or things that should be free like my prescriptions and copays. here's what my note in july 2024, the month i started this, looked like:
shopping
july
didn't buy:
- kneaded eraser
- harder & steenbeck infinity airbrush
did buy:
- "karaoke professional" hats for jamie and i
it's important to note that i started that note the month i gave my notice to quit my job, so i knew that i was about to go into an era of not having disposable income for awhile until i got bugs rock off the ground. regardless of your financial situation, i think this is a good practice as it has served me in a number of ways. it slows me down and lets me come up for air for a bit while i'm surfing the web. also, it gives me permission to let a feeling of wanting something pass because i have a log of those moments and can always come back to it. for instance, i had "new yoga pants" under "didn't buy" for 6 months in a row until i realized that this means i should just buy myself new yoga pants - i clearly, deeply wanted them because my pants at that time were too big and negatively impacting my practice.
keeping a log like this has certainly helped me curb my overconsumption. for some reason in september of 2024 i wanted a pair of jeffrey campbell heels? clearly i was high lmao because i have no desire in full consciousness - or business, even - to be wearing jeffrey campbell heels. this isn't ageism, it's simply physics.
anyway, no one asked, but in case you were hoping to try to curb your spending, especially on dumb shit, maybe give this fairly low effort exercise a shot. i think the hardest part is building the habit of actually opening the note. you can do this by setting an alarm/reminder on your phone for when you think your edible is going to hit. don't ask me why i know that has worked for a non-zero number of people.
xoxo jenn
p.s. of course what makes something "dumb shit" is relative. harder & steenbeck airbrushes are by no means dumb or shitty, but for me to get a second airbrush at this point in my practice would be a dumb shit move.
p.p.s. you do not have to keep a shopping note! you don't have to do or read anything i say! this should go without saying but i understand everything actually does need to be said these days.