🛍️ Binge Buying
Hey there 👋
Sorry this issue is a few days late - I just wanted to spend a bit more time to polish the last few touches on this email.
TL;DR - Consider only buying things you need or things that significantly improves your life.
With less than a month left of the year, I thought now would be the perfect time to write about minimalism and its polar opposite, excessive consumption. There's quite a lot of confusion about what minimalism is as well as how excessive consumption can take over your life without you realising it. In this issue, I wanted to explore these two dynamics and how you can navigate between them.
I've put a 'too long, didn't read' (TL;DR) line above for those that might not have time to read this whole newsletter issue (and that's ok!). I might consider having one of these in each issue of this newsletter going forward 😃
How I see minimalism (through consumption)
For a lot of people, minimalism is about 'things' you own and owning a few things as possible. To some degree, this is right, however, from a financial perspective I see it more as trying to control and limit how much I buy (consume) and only buying things that are of high quality for a fair price and that are things that I need and use.
An important thing to point out is that you don't have to throw out everything or most of your things to adopt a more minimalist lifestyle. You can make changes to your life over time instead of all at once.
*Minimalism to me is buying only the things I need or things that will significantly improve my life. *
Favouring quality over quantity
Before going further, I should mention that this doesn't apply to absolutely everything. This can be a bit subjective and you'll need to evaluate what items in your life are worth paying a bit more for. I ended up discovering this when buying a pair of jeans...
I used to buy a pair of jeans for £30, but after six months of use, they constantly needed to be replaced or repaired due to wear and tear. This cycle and frustration with the lack of quality led me to do a bit more research and I ended up buying a pricer £90 pair of jeans instead about two years ago. While I paid three times more for these jeans, they lasted well and I still wear them frequently to this day. Paying a bit more upfront here ended up being more cost-effective in the long run.
A word of warning - A higher price does not always mean an item is of a higher quality. You might have to experiment a bit more with what you buy or do some further research so please bear that in mind when making such purchases.
Do you need it?
This one is a bit of a trick question because often we'll be able to self justify to ourselves why we need the newest phone, tablet, pair of shoes or some other trinket.
This doesn't mean you are not allowed to treat yourself or enjoy nice things, but rather what I'm trying to say is that you can do this but in moderation instead of excessively spending without really thinking about if these things bring value to your life. Whether you need to buy something, is going to come down to your own personal circumstances.
What can help you is understanding why you are buying something. Here are some questions I've asked myself when considering buying something:
- Is this something I can live without?
- Are there any cheaper alternatives?
- Do I already own something like this?
- Is this replacing something I already have?
- Will it last a long time?
- Am I buying this on an impulse?
Overall - The only person that can answer all of these questions honestly...is yourself.
Binge buying (things we don't need)
Binge buying. We've all been guilty of it at one point or another. Another term for it is 'Retail therapy'. It's the act of buying yourself things to improve your mood. When we buy things, we usually get a burst of dopamine which makes us 'feel happy'. This alone isn't a bad thing but it usually fades after a period of time, which can create a loop of buying more things to maintain this feeling of happiness. Experian has a great article describing this in more detail as well as things you can do to try and curb the need to spend.
I've done it myself before (more than once) and it's totally normal. I have however learnt to limit buying things that leave both me and my bank balance happy - It's all about finding that perfect balance. This all ties back to what I discussed above about minimalism. While I'm not committing to a fully minimalist lifestyle, by thinking more about what I spend my money on I've managed to cut down overspending and learnt to value quality over quantity when it comes to possessions.
The video that inspired this issue
I won't lie, this issue is heavily inspired by a recent video I came across on YouTube. I found it to be really engaging, easy to understand and well put together. It made my stop and think about my relationship with things and money. Parts two and three feel the most relevant to this newsletter issue, but I think the whole thing is worth watching (and also subscribing James' channel) 👇
That's enough from me today! Thanks for sticking through this issue. I'm going to be taking a break from the newsletter over the holiday season to rest and recharge, so I'll be back with a new issue of the newsletter around the start of the new year.
In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year ✨
Got a suggestion on something I should add/improve or cover in the future? Send me a tweet or email me back - info@akashandmoney.com