http://www.care2.com/greenliving/change-your-spending-habits.html
Change Your Spending Habits
Adapted from Radical Simplicity, by Jim Merkel (New Society, 2003).
With most of us about to spend a lot of money for the holiday season, this is the perfect time to give some deep thought to the ways we spend money, and to think about our financial priorities. How do our feelings of scarcity or abundance have an impact on our spending habits and even our overall attitude toward life?
Here are three simple questions that can change the way we think about spending money even during the holiday season. They are a great first step toward liberating ourselves from spending habits that damage our lives and do not serve our spirits, our selves, others, or the planet.
Every time you buy something, ask yourself these three simple questions:
1. Am I or is the recipient likely to receive fulfillment, satisfaction, and value in proportion to life energy spent?
2. Is this expenditure of life energy in alignment with my values and life purpose? (Think, for instance, of the hours of life-energy you traded to make the money to buy this thing.)
3. How might this expenditure change if I didn’t have to work for a living? (Many of us find ourselves buying things to make our work-lives more tolerable, like that cup of Starbucks for the morning commute, or in order to maintain a certain level of appearance, like buying chic clothing for the office.)
Thinking about these questions and your answers to them can help to clarify your earning, spending, values, purpose, sense of fulfillment and integrity; to help you discover what is “enough” for you and render yourself immune to advertising. Eventually you will be able to create a map of your interactions with the planet and use solid information, intuition, and ethics to guide your lifestyle.
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7 comments
add your comment »Excellent questions to ask yourselves before a purchase! Thanks. Although I like Patricia would have to add "Do I need it?" I also look at where it's made. This year I'm thinking of doing small donations to people's favourite charities instead of gifts; to me that's a win-win.
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I was taught by my dad as a child that money is hard to come by and so needs to be saved or only used on nessessities. He was right. Think about it. Can you take the porshe with you when you go? Will it help your childrens future? I would rather help the needy than buy a bigger house. This fills the soul with riches that can never be bought.
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"Do I really need it?" This question usually does it for me. But then again, except food/hygiene items, I seldom if ever shop. When I do it is usually in secondhand shops, antique shops and so forth. Remember the best you can do for yourself and our earth is to think of the 3 Rs: Reuse, Repair and Recycle. Green Season's Greetings to you all.
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I find that just asking myself "Do I love it?" is usually enough to keep me from buying something. There are very few material things that I truly LOVE. Another important question is "Do I need it?" All those questions mentioned in the article are great but these 2 work for me. And if I am still hedging I look at where it's made - if it's made in China I put it back.
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I agree totally with Alex R. Very simply put, retail is running amuck...selling anything they can put a price tag on. When we buy gifts simply for the sake of buying them we should keep in mind that probably better than half of what we buy is not being made in America and consequently benefits only the companies that make them...not American workers who are without jobs because of cheap companies using cheap foreign labor.
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The Holiday Season is a perfect time to implement this mindset, materialism is out of control. How many of the folks on your list say, "I already have too much ____" and "I don't need anything"? Maybe they are being honest and not just considerate ~
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Good points. I will keep these in mind every time I go to buy something, not during the holidays. Thank you.
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