The relationship between simple living and consumerism is an interesting one. As it turns out, even if you are living a simple life, sometimes you just need new things. Some would even argue that there are times when you need to buy things in order to simplify your life.

I remember reading a book on simplifying once and being very disappointed. The book espoused the benefits of buying more stuff to help simplify all your other stuff and your life as a whole. That is just not how my husband and I view simplicity. If we need more stuff in order to simplify the stuff we already have, wouldn’t it just make more sense to get rid of that stuff? But that is the beauty of simple living - it means something different to every person and there is no right or wrong way to live a simple life. I can only write from my research or personal experience though.

This post is all about personal experience.

As a family, we honestly buy very little stuff. This has very little to do with our frugality, although frugal living and simple living can be very closely related. Instead, we base our buying habits around things that make the most economic and environmental sense.  By environmental, I am not only referring to the planet as a whole, but also to our home environment.

Every purchase we make is filtered through those two criteria. After much discussion and consideration on whether or not we actually need something, we ask ourselves:

• Is this the most economical use of our money? Could we find this product for less money somewhere else? Is there a substitution that would cost less money, yet work equally as well?
• Could we possibly find an alternative with something we already own?
• Is this something that needs to be purchased brand-new? Is there an alternative that we could find second-hand somewhere?
• Does the quality equal the cost and the potential use?
• Do we truly have space for this item so that it will not compromise our comfortable, simple living?
• Will this item take away from the simplicity of our daily lives by requiring more upkeep than we are comfortable with? Is there a less time-consuming alternative that still fits into the above criteria?

We do not take purchases lightly around here. Almost everything is thought about, questioned, and well researched. The obvious exception to this is groceries (although those are most definitely planned out in advance) and seldom purchased small “treats” costing less than a few dollars, or other household necessities. I am still debating the necessity of batteries. If they are for our digital camera, that is absolutely a necessity, but if they are for the few battery-operated toys we have? Personally, I prefer these toys without batteries. Less noise and annoyance is part of simplicity, right?

We have definitely experienced a learning curve in our simple buying habits. My husband and I are very comfortable with how it has developed though. This system just works for us right now. We may have to readjust our views as our life progresses and our situations change. But I’m sure any changes we’d make would just be a variation of the program we already have in place.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites