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Unconscious consumption – spending, consuming, and wasting without understanding the related costs and real value – seems to be standard in our culture today. As a recovering unconscious consumer, I’m starting to recognize some of the symptoms of the condition. For what it’s worth, I’ll share them here.
So — you might be an unconscious consumer (like me) if …
- last month’s credit card bill was higher than you expected. (And the one before that. And the one before that.)
- you find yourself justifying your overspending by claiming that it was an unusually expensive month … twelve months of every year
- it takes you more than one minute to find out how much you spent on groceries (or any other major spending category) last month.
- you wait until the end of the month to figure out if you kept to your budget or not. (And you never do.)
- as soon as you overspend on a budget, you stop using it, because obviously budgets can’t apply to your unique situation.
- you buy something because “you deserve it.” You do this often, especially with little things. (Coffee. Dark chocolate. Books.)
- you have a running list of things in your head that you hope to get sometime soon because obviously your life will be so much better with them.
- a lot of your contributions to conversations include the phrase, “I want to get …”
- you buy and collect specialty versions of things that you use rarely (For example, 8″ cake pans, 9″ cake pans, dome pans, shaped pans … and you bake a cake once a year.)
- you buy things because they are on sale, whether or not you need them.
- the leftovers after every meal go in the fridge and stay there until you throw them out. You justify this by composting them.
- you justify purchases by thinking about one area of your life where you’re not consuming as much as your neighbours. (It’s okay if I buy this new pair of shoes, because after all, I don’t use air conditioning.)
- your “emergency fund” is a line of credit.
- you think that lists like this don’t apply to you.
Let me know if I start to show any of these symptoms again, will you?
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Photo by christopher.woo
Ouch! I think you just described my life…and I was doing so well at fooling myself… Thanks for the insight, I look forward to reading more from you.
It’s been surprisingly difficult for me to admit that I’ve been making these mistakes — after all, I’m a Mom and I should have everything together, right? But I will say that it feels quite good to have identified these patterns and have them out there. I feel like I can mange my consumption much better now.
Thanks for stopping by!
The funny thing is I used to work in that mall!! I knew that photo right away. I’ve since moved to the states and am still tempted every day. My goal is to move further and further away from the cities.
Excellent post!
Ahh I am so ashamed! I didn’t think I was that much of an unconscious consumer, but I fit almost 90% of these on your list. Shame, shame on me. *bows head*
This post made me laugh, especially the cake pan needs. I do that all the time. I can only say that one of those things I don’t do (whew). Now to work on changing the other habits….
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Double ouch! I saw my beloved “deserved” dark chocolate on the list. Curse those impulse racks near the cashier.
I’m trying to do things to stop being so unconscious – like stopping catalogs, not going to the malls/Costco “just to look around”. Amazing how much envy things like that create.
Dark chocolate is my downfall. I need a separate budget line just to monitor my expenditure (and consumption) of that glorious food!
Skipping catalogues and avoiding malls are good things to avoid. I agree with you — it’s too easy to become discontent after seeing all of the “stuff” out there.
I came back to reread this post after reading your “Cash or Credit” post recently – moving toward a cash system has helped us curb a fair bit of our unconscious consumption. I still wince when I go through this list, though, and realize how many of these continue to apply to me.
Ditto here: there are a lot of these symptoms that crop up more often than I’d like. Especially my deserved treats (chocolate!) and my ability to justify expenditures. I wish that I could consistently generate the same amount of creativity I seem capable of when rationalizing purchases.
Just wanted to say thanks for this post… I have found myself coming back to it as a reminder to myself to “check in”…. such a terrific piece of writing! Thanks
Thanks for your kind words. This is a post I need to return to often myself — I’m glad someone else is using it, too.