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Random Simplicity: Change the Way You Shop

In this ongoing series, I will be taking simplicity tips from various sources and tell you how I have implemented them in my own life.

This tip originated in Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter (aff) , where the author advocates cutting down on shopping as a way to simplify. She give the following tips to cut shopping back:

• Leave credit cards, cash and checks at home
• Draw up a list of activities you can do rather than shop
• Take a friend with you to help you cut back on impulse purchases
• Realize that the function of advertising is to make you buy

I agree with the premise that the less you buy, the less clutter you will have. I have never been a recreational shopper, but I have fallen prey many times to impulse buying of things I do not need and end up getting rid of later. My personal list of tips are the following:

• Make a list every time you go shopping and stick to it.
• Never go shopping unless you have something specific to buy.
• Stop watching commercial television. This will limit your exposure to advertising and will cut down on the “wannas”
• Have someone else do your shopping who will not impulse buy. I have a shopper do my grocery shopping, and it has dramatically reduced the size of our grocery bills and increased the healthfulness of the food we eat (because I am no longer buying highly processed food on whims)
• If you want something, put it on a list for 30 days. If you still want it after 30 days, consider the purchase.
• If you really want something like a gadget, see if you can borrow one and use it. If it still fulfills your expectations, put it on the 30 day list.
• For every purchase you want to make, consider if there is an alternate means of getting the use of the item without the purchase. For example, instead of purchasing a book, borrow it from the library. Or check FreeCycle.

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