Buying Things
The basic things we need in order to exist we take for granted: food, electricity, shelter, clothing, and fresh water. You no longer have to fight predators for your food. Set traps and wait for hours. Risk your health by eating raw meat.
buying things
Generally speaking, humanity is bored to death. Each year we spend more and more money to keep ourselves entertained. Which is actually quite normal since there are so many cool things produced each year: new phones, new laptops, new cars, new gadgets, and new TV shows.
Many impulse purchases involve the so-called hedonic products, things that give us immediate pleasure or enjoyment.5 Examples include candy, alcohol, going to the movies, visiting a restaurant. Also, getting more jewelry and other fancy things. We, humans, are kind of attracted to shiny objects and once we see them we immediately want them.
The pursuit and purchase of physical possessions will never fully satisfy our desire for happiness. It may result in temporary joy for some, but the happiness found in buying a new item rarely lasts longer than a few days. Researchers even have a phrase for this temporary fulfillment: retail therapy.
Possessions require maintenance. The things we own require time, energy, and focus. They need to be cleaned, organized, managed, and maintained. And as a result, they often distract us from the things that truly do bring us lasting happiness.
Someone else always has more. The search for happiness in possessions is always short-lived because it is based on faulty reasoning that buckles under its own weight. If happiness is found in buying material things and more stuff, those with more will always be happier. The game can never be won.
The Diderot Effect states that obtaining a new possession often creates a spiral of consumption which leads you to acquire more new things. As a result, we end up buying things that our previous selves never needed to feel happy or fulfilled.
Like many others, I have fallen victim to the Diderot Effect. I recently bought a new car and I ended up purchasing all sorts of additional things to go inside it. I bought a tire pressure gauge, a car charger for my cell phone, an extra umbrella, a first aid kit, a pocket knife, a flashlight, emergency blankets, and even a seatbelt cutting tool.
Buy items that fit your current system. You don't have to start from scratch each time you buy something new. When you purchase new clothes, look for items that work well with your current wardrobe. When you upgrade to new electronics, get things that play nicely with your current pieces so you can avoid buying new chargers, adapters, or cables.
Buy One, Give One. Each time you make a new purchase, give something away. Get a new TV? Give your old one away rather than moving it to another room. The idea is to prevent your number of items from growing. Always be curating your life to include only the things that bring you joy and happiness.
Go one month without buying something new. Don't allow yourself to buy any new items for one month. Instead of buying a new lawn mower, rent one from a neighbor. Get your new shirt from the thrift store rather than the department store. The more we restrict ourselves, the more resourceful we become.
Let go of wanting things. There will never be a level where you will be done wanting things. There is always something to upgrade to. Get a new Honda? You can upgrade to a Mercedes. Get a new Mercedes? You can upgrade to a Bentley. Get a new Bentley? You can upgrade to a Ferrari. Get a new Ferrari? Have you thought about buying a private plane? Realize that wanting is just an option your mind provides, not an order you have to follow.
Some readers have pointed out that my purchases were smart, not unnecessary. This might be true, but it is still an example of the Diderot Effect. Just to clarify: The Diderot Effect simply means that when we obtain a new item when tend to acquire additional ones. It's not a value judgment that only applies to unnecessary purchases. So, even if my purchases were smart, I still feel victim to buying more things once I made an initial purchase. Of course, the Diderot Effect often results in unnecessary purchases, which is why I focused on that angle in this article.
As the busiest shopping season looms, Americans have several ways to shop online, but smartphones have become a top way to do so. Roughly three-quarters of U.S. adults (76%) say they ever buy things online using a smartphone, while a somewhat smaller share (69%) say they ever make purchases via desktop or laptop computers. Far fewer Americans (28%) report ever buying things online on a tablet.
Mobile phone shopping is especially common among adults under 50. Around nine-in-ten Americans ages 18 to 49 (91%) say they ever buy things online using a smartphone, compared with 69% of adults 50 to 64 and 48% of those 65 and older.
Age gaps are modest when it comes to shopping on a tablet. Still, those ages 30 and older are more likely than those 18 to 29 to say they ever use a tablet to purchase things online (30% vs. 20%). Experiences shopping on a desktop or laptop computer do not statistically differ across age groups.
Online shopping habits also vary by household income. Across all three types of devices the survey asks about, adults with upper incomes are more likely than middle- and lower-income adults to say they use each device to make online purchases. This is most pronounced when looking at computer use: 86% of adults with higher incomes say they use a computer to buy things online, compared with 74% of those with middle incomes and about half (51%) of those with lower incomes.
There are also some differences by race and ethnicity. Asian (84%) or White (72%) adults are more likely to say they use a computer to buy things online than their Black (61%) or Hispanic (57%) counterparts. There are more modest racial and ethnic differences in purchasing things by smartphone, while similar shares of these racial and ethnic groups report online shopping on a tablet.
While there are no statistical gender differences when it comes to making online purchases via a smartphone or tablet, men are more likely than women to report buying things on a computer (72% vs. 66%).
About a third of U.S. adults (32%) say they use a smartphone to buy things online at least on a weekly basis, while 21% say the same for desktop or laptop computers. This figure drops to just 7% for shopping on tablets.
When asked whether they generally prefer to buy things online or from a physical store, 57% of U.S. adults say, given the choice, they prefer in-person shopping. A smaller share (38%) opt for an online experience.
Companies are partnering with these influencers to reach consumers, with some estimating that brands are spending billions on influencer marketing. But how many Americans follow these types of tastemakers? And how much are their buying habits influenced by them?
Not only do some social media users follow influencers, they are also turning to these accounts to inform their buying decisions. Three-in-ten adult social media users say they have purchased something after seeing an influencer or content creator post about it on social media. When looking only at users who follow these accounts, that number rises to 53%.
There are some racial and ethnic differences on this question as well, with Hispanic (48%) and Black users (43%) more likely than White users (33%) to say influencers affect their buying habits at least a little. There are no statistically significant differences by household income among social media users who say influencers have an impact on their decisions on what to purchase.
One of the most obvious and well-known benefits of buying secondhand is the cost savings. You can often find secondhand goods up to 50% cheaper than you could if you were buying new. When you consider that Americans spend over a trillion dollars annually on nonessential goods, those savings can add up.
Looking at things I regretted buying helped me to become more intentional with my shopping habits going forward. I did not want to re-clutter my home and the way to avoid that was to be a lot more careful about what I bought and brought into our house.
Magazines are another thing I stopped buying after simplifying our home. We only had a few subscriptions, but they began to pile up each month and I was annoyed at seeing them sitting out and becoming clutter on the flat surfaces in our house.
When we think about the stuff we bring into our homes, we typically think about shopping. However, I had also discovered ways to get things for really cheap or even free in many cases.
I made a pact with my sister to try going a whole year without buying any clothes. I feel appalled at the waste created by the fast fashion industry and it is third world countries that end up with all our landfill. After buying from jumble sales and charity shops for most of my adult life and donating clothes I no longer had need for back to charity,I was feeling rather pleased with myself until I saw a documentary about the waste surrounding charity shop donations. I have far too many clothes and less occasion to wear most of them as I get older and my social life shrinks. However I have always enjoyed fashion and decided to change my mindset. I can only bring clothing into the house via a swap, and I can change, recycle and mend current clothing to give it new life.
I place things in bags and put them in the boot of my vehicle before I donate them. That way I can bring something back in if I discover that I want it still and I can donate them if I have not needed anything.
Hi Linda, That is so awesome for you to do that for your sons as you get older. Last year my husband and I: resigned from teaching, moved back home (to our family ranch) and our starting a campground business. Now that we do not have the income we did before I have barely started to downsize on a lot of material things and really look at our finances differently. It is such a good feeling to start this journey. Thank you very much for sharing your information and being an inspiration.From Yolanda 041b061a72