Let’s Stop Being PUSHED Around Into a Spending Frenzy

I feel really DONE with how our society (or more accurately, our media) is pushing, pushing, pushing us to buy more/spend money. Get a new car every 2 years. Upgrade your phone (again). Do a daily drive-through to get your $9 coffee in a one-time-use-plastic cup (don’t get me started on how much trash & waste we’re creating). Buy what the social media influencers are wearing, eating, using, pushing… 

I want to encourage living in a different way. Like in the book "Your Money or Your Life," when it talked about the cost of working (need a car, fancy clothes, childcare, gas, etc). What if instead, we CONSUME less? Grow our own food again, maintain a simple, static wardrobe, use the library, trade with others, barter babysitting, etc. We could all probably find ways to reduce our spending if we really wanted to.

As much as I love to daydream about buying an isolated chunk of land in the woods, and living an off-the-land, off-the-grid, minimalist lifestyle, I know logically that it's still not possible to not need money in America. So how can we live off less money so we can work less and live more? Or how can we get back to single-working, one-car families? Relax, I'm not saying women shouldn't work, I just think we should all have the CHOICE. Maybe both partners only want to work part-time and have more time together as a family.

I currently drive a Honda CRV that is 16 years old and has over 250,000 miles on it. I purchased this car new in 2008, and the salesman said “It has a great motor, it should live to 300,000 miles if you take care of it” and I have taken care of it. Although the paint on the hood has faded a bit, and the underside is now starting to slowly rust, the interior is in pretty great condition and it still gets me where I need to go.  Oh, and it has a multi-disc CD player just for ha-has. I don’t own any music CDs anymore. I could have traded my car in for something newer, but why? It gets regular checkups and the mechanic keeps telling me it’s doing great. I’m actually dreading going car shopping at this point (when it fully dies), because I don’t like all the new technology and screens on the dashboard, and I don’t want my car to control the steering or brakes for me– no thank you. I’m hoping to get another year or two out of this car.

Also, I want to be able to stand tall with a natural face out in public or networking and not feel like I need to feel ashamed, or less than. Not looking down at my shoes. For those that don’t know me well, I have permanently super-dark black undereyes– they’re so dark many people have asked if I’m OK when they’ve seen me without makeup, because it looks like someone punched both my eyes. So, needless to say, makeup is a sore spot for me. For years I felt like I HAD to put on full makeup to go out in public, so people wouldn’t think I had either been beat up, or hadn’t slept in days.  Since the Covid-era, I've been better about bravely being out in public makeup-free, but even today I’d still feel personal pressure to put it on for a networking event, where I’d be trying to portray a professional image.  

​It truly saddens me that we can’t all just be real. That we don’t accept our physical attributes, whatever they may be, and love ourselves just the way we are.  That some of us don’t feel confident if we aren’t wearing coverup over our perceived “flaws” and we didn’t spend an hour “doing” our hair. But this is what society and the media are telling us– that we NEED to look perfect, drive “the right” car, carry the brand-name purse, etc. in order to be happy. Those are lies, aren’t they? 

What would happen if we were all brave enough to be real with each other? To stop hiding behind our perfectly painted masked faces? Let's normalize not needing to spend $$$$ on makeup, fake hair, fake nails, fake eyelashes. There's a potential chunk of monthly savings right there! Granted, I don't spend very much money at all on these things, but my question is, WHY are we made to feel that we should be buying these things? 

Another thing that bugs me is the fact that WOMEN are pressured to buy and do so many things to “look good,” but men can roll out of bed, brush their teeth and go out in public fully accepted as they are.  Most men don’t smear on coverup to hide their “flaws” or spend a lot of time and money styling their hair and eyebrows.

Recently I learned about the 100-day "wear the same wool dress" challenge from the brand Wool&. I love that they are promoting the idea of owning less clothes, but choosing higher quality clothing that’s made to last for years. I applaud their efforts to encourage women to simplify. I'd like to curate a small wardrobe of comfortable, durable, simple, long-lasting clothing pieces for myself– still working on this. I wear an XXL or size 18 now, so it’s getting harder to find quality clothing that fits and is somewhat flattering. There are still many clothing brands that only cater to thinner women… but that’s a topic for another day.

Why does society push us to change our wardrobe so often? To continuously buy new clothes? To try to stay "in fashion" and "on trend"? OOH, I know, so some people and companies can make more... money. It has no true benefit to us to keep buying new clothes, does it? Unless your size changes or you need to replace something that has worn out. It keeps us playing the game. We need to work harder to make MORE money...so we can buy MORE stuff...so we will feel ...fulfilled? I don't know what the feeling is, but that isn't it. It's probably more accurately something like "to feel special, seen, important, popular, worthy, etc."

I’ve shared my personal opinions. What do you think? Do you want to keep playing the BUY, BUY, BUY game, or did anything I said above resonate with you? And would you ever dare to drive a 16 year old car??? If you're into journalling, these are good questions to think about.

Jennifer serves as a friendly, relatable Wellness & Success Coach. After completing extensive personal development and coaching training with Jack Canfield, she earned the title of Certified Canfield Trainer, and is authorized to teach others "The Success Principles."

She also holds several wellness certifications including Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Tapping, Thought Field Therapy (TFT) Tapping, Reiki, and more. She continuously expands her knowledge in the fields of Qi Gong, Xien Gong, Vibration/Energy Wellness and Natural Health.

She's an active reader and researcher who loves to learn and teach. It's her great joy to teach and share what she's learned with others!