Stop buying sh*t you don’t need
📪 The Optimal Agent Newsletter #037
Take Action:
Curb your consumerist impulses.
Why It Matters:
We spend large swaths of our lives working, generating income to buy things we don’t need.
By questioning this pattern, we take control — generating wealth instead of debt, Agency instead of dependence. Done well and often, your ability to curb consumerist impulses will make your participation in the economy elective instead of compulsory (and you’ll find yourself financially free).
How to Do It:
Recognize a lack of need. We often purchase things we already own — another pair of shoes, a third coat, updated furniture — when what we have is both adequate and handsome. Before you break out your wallet, ask yourself: “Do I already own this?”
Hold your horses. It’s frictionless to buy the things we want the moment we think of them — consider one-click checkout on your phone using stored credit card information. Instead, substitute a personal rule: don’t purchase anything the moment you think of it, and if you still need it 24 hours later, go ahead.
Choose smaller impacts. When you buy new, you generate tremendous externalities (watch the video linked below for a look inside the Matrix). More plastic, more gasoline, more packaging, more waste for a future landfill. Instead, ask if you can borrow what you need or buy secondhand. You’ll lower your personal impact while saving money — and you won’t feed the machine.
Explore More:
Listen: O.A. Podcast Episode #37, where Patrick and I discuss 10+ ways we’ve made a habit of not buying sh*t we don’t need.
Read: The Washington Post’s profile of Vicki Robin, co-author of “Your Money or Your Life”
Watch: The Wall St. Journal’s inside look at Amazon’s same-day shipping strategy
