90 Day Consumer Cleanse

“To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.” ― Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Aphorisms

The overwhelming urge to go buy something creeps up on me often.  I'm not sure exactly how, but quickly I'll find myself researching, justifying, calculating and contemplating the purchase of some thing.

One too many times I give into my relentless, internal interrogation. I drive to the store or click submit and at some point I'm staring at a thing that surely won't live up to the hope I had for it, or more accurately the hope I had for the way it would make me feel. I watch money evaporate from my bank account on a 30-day delay, further removing me from the implications of my decision. There it sits, ultimately making its way into one of our overstuffed closets for the disappointment to be forgotten and the cycle repeated.

Well not any more.

“The things you own end up owning you. It's only after you lose everything that you're free to do anything.” ― Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

My wife and I have experimented with fasts and cleanses before. While I'm not sure if I have ever successfully purged myself of toxins, the feeling of emptiness in your stomach makes every passing second drag on for an eternity, leaving lots of time for contemplation without distraction. What I've always gotten out of these is an acute, temporary awareness to the unconscious behaviors I've programmed in myself. The subject matter to date has been food, and now I'm going to try and apply the same method to stuff.

I'm going on a 90 Day Consumer Cleanse where I'll make no purchases outside of the basic needs. "Basic" as described in Maslow's Hierarchy: food, water, warmth, rest, security and safety.

Saul McLeod, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Simple Psychology

Since we own our house complete with locks, a furnace, a bed and running water, the only spending category we'll have is food. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015 Consumer Expenditure Report the average US household spent $7,023 per year on food, or $585.25 per month, with 43% of that spend taking place away from home.  Our current budget allows for $800 per month in groceries and $120 per month, 13% of total spend, away from home.  To work on the spend less portion of my manifesto, I'll match the 2015 average of $585.25 per month, a 36% reduction in our overall budget, worth $4,000 per year, while maintaining our 13% away from home budget, or $76 per month. Yikes.

Like with any cleanse I'll be in close observation of myself and will redirect myself to "healthier" alternatives when the craving for a good spending spree pops up. One of those healthier alternatives I have lined up already is some minimalist decluttering activities. Along with the spending cleanse, I am going to pile on the objective of reducing my material possessions by 60%.  If it doesn't add value to my life and I can't easily get it to the point of adding value it's gone. Should make for a pretty epic spring yard sale.

Party On,
Le Fruggimalist