Shopping mindfully

15 July 2019

Today and tomorrow are both Amazon Prime Days, where members of Amazon Prime are offered special pricing on lots of items. I took a peek today at some of the specials in categories that interest me and managed to turn away without buying.

I dislike artificial pressure to buy, like special sales or outlet stores or even yard or estate sales. Those situations set up a feeling that if you don’t buy now, you’ll miss out. I can’t tell you the number of so-called bargains that I’ve clients declutter over the years. It’s not a bargain if you don’t use it or it clutters up your home.

I encourage you to shop mindfully, whether it’s during a special sale or just everyday shopping. If clutter is an issue in your life, then decluttering and letting go is part of the equation for relief. But the other part of the equation is modifying your acquisition behavior.

Before you purchase anything, I urge you to ask yourself these simple questions, which are very similar to the questions I ask clients when we’re decluttering:

Do I love it?
Will I use it?
Does purchasing this item contribute to my vision for my space?
Where will I store it?

If you don’t have room to store a new purchase, then either forgo buying it or commit to letting go of something to make room for the new purchase. When clients who are struggling with clutter tell me they can’t resist a bargain at an estate sale, I encourage them to stop going to estate sales. If Amazon Prime Day feels irresistible and you don’t have room to comfortably store all your belongings, then I encourage you to either ignore Amazon Prime Day (or any other special sale) or go into it with a list of specific items that you need and would buy anyway and then search for those items only.

Even if you have plenty of room to store everything, mindful shopping leads to a more peaceful life, in my opinion. It saves you time, money and self-recrimination. It’s excellent self care.

Tagged with: amazon, mindful shopping, shopping