My No-Buy Resolution: An Update

For those who have been wondering, my No-Buy Resolution continues swimmingly. I’ve had two minor slips – birthday gifts for 4-year old bought with a gift card and a wad of cash spent on homeopathic remedies – but otherwise I haven’t purchased a thing all year.

It’s been easy, really. I just don’t go to stores anymore. Out of sight, out of mind. That’s it! I don’t feel tempted to shop at all.

And the fact that I don’t miss purchasing things shows me how unnecessary shopping is for my life. Ask me to stop watching television or eating pizza – that would be hard. But buying stuff? Who needs it? Certainly not me.

I think this hasn’t been a difficult challenge for me because for years I’ve been realizing I don’t need much to live a contented life.

I think back to my college years, when spending a day at the Cambridgeside Galleria with friends was my recreational activity of choice. Shopping was a social experience where the frosting on top was coming home with bags of new stuff. I don’t know how or when it happened, but I was trained to be a consumer, a role I fulfilled blindly and joyfully.

Slowly but surely, I learned to see that I just don’t need STUFF. Moving cross-country was my first eye opener. I sold half my belongings and spent over $1000 to ship the rest to Los Angeles, only to realize later that I probably could have let go of another third of it. With every subsequent move, I got rid of more stuff. And after many, many trips to drop off at Goodwill, I started to realize I probably didn’t need to buy most of that stuff in the first place.

So now I’m not buying anything and my life continues beautifully. And with each passing day, I acknowledge the truth that I have everything I need right here, right now. I live an incredibly abundant life – clothes and shoes to wear, two sets of sheets for my queen-sized bed, a car that works beautifully, and pens with which to write and write. I have it all!