101 Ways To Live Better: Stop Spending Money On Shit

Welcome to my 101 series, which explores 101 little things you can do to improve your day to day life, and the world, just a little bit.

Our fifteenth post is: STOP SPENDING MONEY ON SHIT

Did you know there are $30 subscriptions you can sign up for where a bot scans sites like amazon and ebay for items under a dollar with free postage and ships them to you automatically? One a day, every day, so you have the joy of opening packages?

You don’t know what these things are. You don’t need them. However, they are paid for, wrapped in packaging that will become landfill, shipped in trucks, boats and planes that require fuel and create pollution, for… what? For you to have the momentary joy that comes from opening a package? Then what? All that stuff clutters your home, or you throw it out, or you give it away.

This terrifies me. This is consumerist culture at its most extreme. Cutting out even the joy of shopping, of finding, of wanting and just cutting right to ‘having’. A momentary rush of dopamine and adrenaline.

Evolutionary psychologists tell us shopping has biological roots. Particularly if we believe the idea that men are hunters and women are gatherers. Seeking food and resources was vital to human survival, it is a behaviour that evolution has to reward, to keep the species alive. However, fruit and honey has been replaced with handbags, knick nacks, and in my case, fluffy socks.

Acquiring things we want gives us a rush, in the same way calorie dense foods give us a rush, because it is good for our long term survival. However, we have created a world where we can go to huge buildings full of things we want, more than we can possibly have, and we can get that rush whenever we want, as often as we want.

But what we can’t do is house all the crap we have brought. Our crap buying and consuming is not sustainable. It's dangerous. And despite the rush we get, it offers us no long-term benefits. What did you impulse buy in April last year? You can’t tell me. What about June when you were 17? December 5 years ago?

Research suggests you are better off spending money on experiences, not possessions. Read Mari Kondo’s ‘The Magic Art Of Tidying Up’ which will give you a new perspective on how you view the objects in your home and their value.

And if you are going to impulse buy, try and buy things that are helpful rather than harmful. Buy from local, family run businesses. Buy plants and make your neighbourhood greener. By ethically sources, biodegradable things. Stay away from chain stores, plastics and clothes made from unnatural fibres. Buy second-hand, from charity stores. Learn to cook and splurge on exotic fruits and meats (preferably ones without too much packaging) or buy for community kitchens and help cook for people who need it. Impulse buy digital books instead of physical ones, and feed an author, while saving a tree.

But remember, in the long term, you are more likely to remember the great time you had when you hired kayaks and went out on the lake with your family than you are to remember how awesome it was when you brought another dress and heels. You won’t even remember what you were wearing during your best, happiest memories (your wedding notwithstanding, but I honestly can’t remember what a single one of my friend's wedding dresses looked like, all I remember is how happy they looked).

Be happy. Stop spending money on shit. For everyone’s sake.

101 Ways To Live Better: Donate

Welcome to my 101 series, which explores 101 little things you can do to improve your day to day life, and the world, just a little bit.

Our seventh post is: DONATE

There are lots of ways to give back to our community and one of them is donating. You don’t have to donate money, you can also donate time and things. So no matter who you are or what your situation is, you CAN donate something to your community.

People who commit regular acts of charity are, statistically speaking, happier, healthier and more social than people who don’t. However it is a little chicken or egg, are happy, healthy, more social people naturally more inclined to charity or does giving back to other people make you happier, healthier and more social?

I am inclined to say it works both ways. I, personally, have found I am a lot happier now than I was before and I came into charity grudgingly, almost against my will. Now I love it and the sense of satisfaction is reward in itself.

Give it a go and maybe you will reap the same benefits I did.

Donate Stuff:

If you are anything like me, you have a heap of ‘stuff’ you don’t need. Furniture, old toys, books, cutlery, tools, old computers. Just a lifetime of things that have been replaced or no longer needed. You may automatically think these should just be given to charity, but there are other ways to donate stuff that might be more rewarding. Animal shelters often need more towels, blankets, leads, collars, bowls, tupperware and other pet related things you may not need.

ESL classes, hospitals, school libraries, women’s shelters, etc may need books. There are a few charities that are specifically seeking to ship books to refugees and disadvantaged communities.

The same goes for your old prescription glasses, phones and some other odd things you would never even consider.

Unwanted clothes could go to charity stores, but they could also be used by fashion students, disaster relief agencies, or again, to animal shelters, depending on the fabric. (However the global fashion waste is HUGE, so as much as possible, cut down on buying new clothes and focus on having a small wardrobe of versatile, good quality items you can wear for years.)

If you have a garden, your excess seedlings and pups could go to schools or community gardens. Even just offering them for free collection on online sale sites can be a great way to give back to the community. If your garden or chickens produce a lot of excess and you have run out of friends and neighbors who want any, look up soup kitchens and community food pantries.

Donate Money:

I’m a Christian and I believe strongly in tithing. The first 10% of my income goes to charity. However as I am also passionate about conservation, and I don’t always think churches use their funds for the best possible causes, my tithing is done to no kill animal rescue shelters. I can’t think of a more godly, noble pursuit than dedicating your life to the care and rescue of animals.

You don’t have to call it tithing, or even make it ten percent of your income. However if you are a minimalist, you have extra income, and you are time poor, donating money to charities you believe in is a fantastic way to make a real, genuine difference to your community and the lives of people or animals who need you.

I recommend putting a little time into researching the charities you are donating to. Make sure you know their values—some of the better known religious affiliated charities are homophobic, transphobic or even racist.

I choose local, privately run charities that I can visit, that regularly update on a blog or facebook and that don’t pay for advertising. I can go out and visit them and I can see where my money is going. Usually directly into the feeding and medical care of animals.

Donate Time:

Time is money and if you can donate time and even your expertise to charities, that’s just as good as money. Maybe you don’t feel like you have the skills to help out at the charities you are passionate about. Maybe you want to help at a women’s shelter, but they prefer not to have men on the grounds. Or maybe you want to help a cat shelter, but you are severely allergic to cats. You can donate time in other ways. If, for example, you are a gardener, you can offer to donate your time to a raffle and make one of the prizes 20 hours of yard work. Maybe you have a van and can help make deliveries and pickups for a charity. Maybe you can cook for a soup kitchen or offer your time at an ESL class for refugees.

Decide what you are passionate about, and find as many charities in your area that cater to that passion, and email them with your details, skills, experience and availability. Ask if you can go and meet them and ask what areas they need help in.

All of these things really can make a positive difference in people’s (or animal’s) lives. Regardless of who you are, you can make a difference. And you will be glad you did.