Consumer happiness

Last August, I came across an inspiring article about a couple who lives with just 100 personal items. The article came at a time when I was annoyed about the U.S. media’s propagation of “retail therapy,” a time when the average consumer saves just 6.4% of his after-tax income, as of June 2010. Before the recession, the rate was 1 to 2 percent for many years.* Of course, “retail therapy” is a mind-set in most of the world now. After having spent last June in China, I was shocked at the materialistic/status-seeking attitude of some of the newly minted middle and upper-class of my generation on the other side of the world.

I don’t know if I can personally live as minimally as with just 100  items**, but I have been trying to live to my comfort level and save as much as I can and really think about how I use money and for what purpose. After much consideration, I put myself under an experiment of sorts over the past eight months.

Scarf in royal blue

I started giving away good-conditioned clothes and other items to Goodwill this past year. Now that spring has finally hit New England, I changed out my closet last week, switching out cold for warm-weather clothing and shoes. I did the similar bi-annual closet switch last fall as well. A small pile of clothes and two pairs of shoes currently occupy a corner of my closet, soon to be in the Goodwill system. It felt really good to free up some space and perhaps contribute to another individual’s happiness.

I’ve also been trying to not buy any new personal item unless I have gotten rid of an item that was sold, broken, or given away. And if possible, get rid of more and buy less. Of course, I’m not perfect and broke the rule a few times, but thus far I’m doing okay. I’ve also been conscious about where I buy new personal items and the happiness of making something tangible (e.g. the pure joy from making and gifting a scarf).

My third goal has been to improve my diet and physical exercise habit. Having recently turned a quarter-century old, I’ve felt my metabolism slowing down. My food intake for the last eight months has been pretty healthy. I don’t track it with nearly the amount of detail I track my spending/saving habits, but I’m satisfied. Hm well, I need to continue to think more deeply about where I buy my food items. As for physical activities, there is muuuch room for improvement to be made there. I hope to start lifting weights again (10 lbs for each arm…Sigh this will be hard. Last time I kept up with regular weight lifting was a little less than ten years ago when I played tennis regularly), continue yoga, and keep up my running program, especially now that the weather is so nice. For the fall, if I can find a soccer league in my area, I would be a very happy girl. My mindset is that the habits I form in my 20s will most likely continue into future decades. Life only gets busier. I might as well figure out my priorities to myself now and learn how to keep them because in the future, I’ll eventually want to place people’s priorities above my own.

I’ll have to revisit these goals later this year and give a one-year report. In the mean time, I’ve decided to add one new rule: No purchase of cut flowers and only gift or purchase potted greens, flower plants, or dried flowers. This is the result of an accidental happenchance, my rescuing an indoor green plant’s cut branches from the garbage at work…I had no idea how resilient plants can be! Look at how this “garbage” is dancing under the morning sun in my apartment! As an added bonus, potted plants provide longevity to friends and family and they represent the blossoming of continued relationships.

Anne with an "e"

If you have any suggestions on other goals I should consider, to learn the importance of ownership over one’s possessions and an individual’s role in her immediate and larger communities, please share! You would be contributing to my happiness

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* It is certainly a balancing act between the right level of spending and saving for an individual household. I’m not skilled in economics to go into this discussion. For interesting discussions on economic theories, check out my friend Jonathan’s blog. http://oikonomeo.blogspot.com/

** What’s the definition of a personal item? Does one pair of underwear count as one? Does a car count as one if I live in an area that requires me to have a car because it’s cheaper than public transportation and because there are no bike paths or sidewalks for certain stretches?

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