Shopping Ban - 1 month later

It has been one month. That's far less time than my inspiration spent in a shopping ban (see prior post with book link – 12 months…and then another 12 months). I feel like in some ways I succeeded and in other ways I must confess that I did not. However, I did learn a few things. Here are my takeaways from the last month and some inspiration to keep going:  

1. Starting a shopping ban during the same month as “prime day” is a bad idea. – I will admit that in the past, prime day at our house was a whole event. There were years that I took off work and sat up shop at a desk near Scott’s office and we would work together to get the best deals possible all day…just to see if we could. It was a game for us to get the best bargain out there. But I’m learning that just because something is on sale, does not mean you need it. This year was vastly different. I did have an item I wanted to get my daughter for a birthday present, and we did purchase a smart screen we had been wanting for our home to help with life organization for half the typical price. We also bought 2 new lamps needed to properly light our living room. I confess these because the latter two were not on my approved shopping list. I did not however spent all day on amazon.com obsessing over what was on sale and looking at things that I didn’t even know that I wanted or needed. My purchases were far more intentional and planned with specific needs in mind. So, while technically I feel like I failed in some regard, I think I was able to learn the importance of conscious consumerism…even when sales abound.  

2. I realized my greatest downfall in the past has not been in spending lots of money shopping, but in spending lots of time which is far more valuable – In the past, I would spend an off day just roaming the aisles of Marshalls, TJ Maxx, or Sam’s just to see all the new pretty things…and often walked away with 1 or 2 items…because who could resist amazing deals? I was actually SAVING money right? But that sometimes therapeutic practice took up so much valuable time. Time that could have been spent with family, exercising, enjoying the outside, reading, or taking time to process my own thoughts. Because in the last month I’ve been avoiding this practice, I realize how much more time I truly can gain by being more purposeful with purchases and only going out for what is needed, or better yet, getting it delivered to my door (looking at you Walmart plus) to avoid the inevitable impulse buy.  

3. Tailgating on #2, I spend HOURS online shopping – As part of my shopping ban, I wanted to focus not on just not purchasing anything, but not wasting time looking at things or researching things I might want to purchase. I realized that I spend hours on my phone each week either reading reviews of products or seeing what is currently on sale, or comparing who has the best prices on a particular item…sometimes even after I have purchased the item (to ensure that I got the best deal, of course). There have been times that I have bought something just to stop myself from the constant research and comparison so that I can get hours back in my life. This not only robbed me of precious time, but filled my headspace with constant thoughts about the “things” which takes away from time to process what is truly important. I have realized that my journey with minimalism in the material world is only serving to help me declutter my own mind and leave me adequate space to meditate on what really matters. While I can’t say I avoided all online retail apps or google searches this month, they were vastly limited. I also unsubscribed from all retail emails and texts and hid retail ads from myself on social media which has left me feeling like I have so much more breathing room in my head.  

After 1 month, I'm encouraged to continue the practice of only spending time and energy consuming products that are needed rather than what society tells me I should want. I want to focus on necessity, quality, and pertinence. 

Next Steps: 

After spending the month focused on avoiding material things, I realized this is just one step in the direction of simplfing my life and my soul. I think God is using the practice of minimalism to work the journey of spiritual transformation in my life. As the next step, I'm going to spend this next month on a social media fast. When I had more time in my head back from avoiding shopping, I realized just how much I have cluttering the recesses of my mind and how much needs to be deeply processed from the overwhelm of the last 2.5 years. I always feel like I don't have enough time to reflect. However, because I've been putting a timer on my social media apps (one that I hit the limits of most days) I know exactly how much time that has been robbing from me. Therefore, over the next month I'm going on my next ban in order to regain that time and spend it in meaningful interaction with my community, my family, my God and my heart. See you next month for more thoughts in this journey!