I pull my car into the Target parking lot, excited at the prospect of acquiring MORE – more gifts, more clothes, more mugs, more cheap doodads from those bins at the front of the store that will surely come in handy someday, more more more more more. Mindlessly I throw items into the cart that are and are not on my shopping list – oh, that cute blanket is on sale! Oooo, maybe I should also get some new gardening gloves this year. Omg, David Bowie t-shirts – I need one! Hmmmm, I’m thirsty…I should grab me a Frappuccino from Starbucks, too.

I push my full cart up to the register, pay way more than I was planning on in the first place, bring my newly acquired purchases home…and wonder why I bought all of that shit that will be used once or twice and then will ultimately end up at a nearby thrift store. Or in the garbage.

Like most elder Millennials like me who were brought up in the 80’s and 90’s, consumerism was THE name of the game. Blue light specials, BOGO sales, 99 cent offers – not to mention the overwhelming peer pressure urge to look “cool” and grab those really expensive name brand items – made Gen Y (not to mention Boomers and Gen X) collectively drunk on wanting more and more stuff…much of if we ultimately really don’t need.

When the pandemic hit, much of my freelance work went away, which was both planned and not planned. Although our family finances were totally fine thanks to my husband’s relatively stable full time job, we realized that we needed to make a financial shift and cut out much of our unnecessary spending.

Unlike other families that were increasing their Amazon purchases at the time, we decided to cut back on our “want” spending in a big way. No longer did I feel the need to purchase fancy new clothing since I never really left the house. Nor did we need random doodads to decorate our house with – no one was coming over anyway. Plus, according to Marie Kondo, many of those items didn’t really spark joy for me anyhow.

After my workload picked up later that year and into the next couple of years, even though we had more money to spend our newly-formed habit of not overdoing it on the “wants” portion of our budget stuck. This habit is coming in handy lately as my freelance work is once again slow and rather unpredictable in light of…well, everything right now. *waves hands around at the chaotic world*

How did we do it – and how are we still keeping with it? Below are a few strategies that worked for us that you can use to cut down on your consumption habits!

Determine Your Longer Term Goals – And How to Financially Meet Them

For us – and for many other Millennials – eliminating student loan debt was a big goal of ours. When we realized that the extra money that wasn’t being spent on worthless crap or overpriced coffee drinks could instead be put toward student loan debt, boy did that help motivate us to finally pay those suckers off. The result of this epiphany: I was able to pay off my student loans – in full – by 2022, several years earlier than originally projected, saving me (and therefore, us) thousands in interest.

Between my husband and me, I’m definitely the saver out of the two of us. Because of that, his income now goes toward necessities and mine is used for bigger ticket items that are often longer term financial goals – a recent example being our new basement couch, which replaced two ancient ones that were definitely on their way out of commission.

Figure Out What Your Needs vs. Wants Are

Do you really need that new pair of shoes? Or do you want them? If they’re a pair of sneakers to replace old ratty ones, then they’re definitely a “need” (please get a quality replacement pair – your feet will thank you, as will the rest of you!). On the other hand, if they’re a pair of really cute heels that would just be added to your already extensive collection of really cute heels….then they are a want. Walk away from those heels and enjoy the ones you already have in your closet, missy!

I’m not saying to not ever have fun with money again – I’m more suggesting to carefully consider bringing additional junk into the house that may not be needed that will take up valuable space.

Shop Your House First

I suggested a similar strategy for cutting down on food waste in a prior post – turns out, shopping your house also works for preventing bringing extra stuff into your home that you probably don’t need because you might already have it!

So many times in the past I would discover I had multiples of some items because I forgot I already had it and bought another just like it (like craft supplies, which have a tendency to randomly disappear for some odd reason). No more! Shopping our house before going to a store has been a great strategy to save money and cut down on buying more stuff.

Invest in High Quality Items that Last

A few years back, my beloved Gucci purse that was generously gifted to me by a relative finally bit the bullet. Determined to save some money, I drove over to Kohls and bought a new purse for about $30 that lasted about a month before it fell apart. Undeterred and apparently determined to make a purse, I went back to Kohls and purchased another new purse for about the same price…and the same thing happened. I know, you’re shocked.

A few weeks later my husband and I ended up at a local outlet mall and just happened to wander into a Kate Spade store. I found a beautiful leather black purse with polka dots inside (so cute!) that was on sale for $200. Not wanting to spend that much on a purse at the time, I put it down and decided not to get it. Luckily my husband (aka: the spender in our relationship, and much better at math than I am) gently reminded me that in the long run I’d spend way more on shitty cheap purses that would end up in landfills and that I’d be happier with a more solidly-made purse that – like my Gucci – would last a few years. I coughed up the $200…and it lasted me several years.

Now I’m on my third Kate Spade bag (also gifted to me by a relative – I’m one lucky lady!) and it’s also holding up incredibly well. We started investing in other higher quality items in general that tend to last longer and ultimately lead to less spending and waste – despite the upfront cost. (note: this is not an ad for Kate Spade or Gucci)

Instead of Buying More Stuff, Purchase Experiences Instead

Does your kid really need another new toy to add to their ever-expanding collection? Do you really need another knick knack that’s just going to take up space at home? Life’s short – don’t fill it with more crap. Put that money toward a vacation, movie and/or theatre tickets, indoor rock climbing, arcade…you get the idea. That way you still get to enjoy your money and have fun – without bringing more stuff into your house!

Now pardon me while I count my money whilst sipping on my at-home-brewed tea from my old-yet-still-adorable-and-trusty mug.