I was inspired by the book The Day The World Stops Shopping to try to do two non-commercial days a week, or in other words, days where I don’t buy anything. The book points out that historically this day would be the Sabbath or Sunday, and during this day all the shops are closed and people would pursue non-commercial activities. Thus that day would take on a different quality, a slower day. Maybe a day where you end up spending more time with family and friends or in nature. But since the end of store closures on Sundays and the rise of buying online, there are less non-commercial days for everyone. And that feeds right into the ever escalating hustle-and-grind, the celebration-of-wealth/achievement/busyness/burnout-culture.
Thus I decided to bring non-commercial days into my life, and for me Tuesdays and Thursdays works best. But boy, the first day wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Maybe because I told myself I can’t spend money, that I ironically wanted to go out and spend money (like buy lunch or snacks). Or there would be times that I remembered I needed something and instead of hopping onto Amazon to get it, I would instead write it down on a list (which I have to say is probably a good thing). I tried not to just not spend money, but also not browse and think about things I wanted to buy (ie spend less time on my consumer habits in general). I tried to spend less time on social media and my usual shopping apps. It’s sort of like when I’m on a no-spend month except those are usually for my closet only and this time it’s a blanket no-spend on anything (which feels harder even if it’s only for a day).
So what did I do instead? I did some extra cleaning (finally cleaning and de-pilling my sweaters) and organizing, and I spent a lot more time reading. Didn’t do anything too special, other than I was consciously making an effort to break my usual mindless consumer habits. I also didn’t drive anywhere since I found going out to a place also made me want to spend money—you know, just pick something up since I’m right there. Right now I’m starting with two days, but I want to increase the number of non-commercial days. And eventually I hope to get to the point where I have maybe one or two commercial days only (the days I run errands and buy groceries—that kind of voluntary simplicity is an ultimate goal).
But it’s kind of amazing (in a bad way) that I’ve grown so accustomed to buying things on an almost daily basis, that to consciously not consume on certain days takes some effort and thinking. It’s probably a good thing I’m trying to break this habit now (again?).
P.S. This is just an experiment for me and I understand that I am very privileged to be struggling not to spend money. Also this quote from the book rings true as well: “But when we stop shopping, it doesn’t bring us any closer to a lower-consuming society… The forces stacked in favor of consumerism are stronger than the movements urging us to live simply…When it comes to reducing consumption, you can be the change you want to see in the world, but it will not change the world.” I realize it’s going to take activism on my part (and not just shopping less) to make any difference when it comes to climate change and our over-consuming Western society.
P.P.S I actually started this a couple weeks ago and I have to report that I failed on the second Tuesday I started (so I got through 2 non-commercial days). And I’ve come to realize that not shopping takes willpower for me, which sometimes get drained by the end of the night. I was tempted to browse, which then led to shopping (on credit— but it still breaks the principle of this challenge). Some women drink wine at the end of the night, and I went shopping. Not terrible but it made me realise I’m more addicted to shopping than I thought.