I Don't Feel Like Buying Stuff Anymore

[LiberalArkie]

I didn’t even realize I’d lost my desire to shop until one day, about six weeks into isolation, I absentmindedly clicked on a Madewell email offering an additional sale on a sale. I don’t even have anywhere to wear the jumpsuits I already own, let alone one that would require heels. Every work trip, every speaking gig, every quick vacation had already been canceled, even as my calendar still had reminders of the life I had planned in advance, on a different timeline, for myself. But in a matter of weeks, those, too, would be gone. I feel very lucky to spend my days walking my dog on the same loop I always take. But that walk, for the foreseeable future, requires no new purchases.

I don’t need new makeup, because I’ve stopped wearing it. I have Zoom calls with my friends after they’ve put their kids to bed, and everyone’s hair is just as wild, their faces just as makeup-less, as mine. I’m still lucky enough to be working. Others have been furloughed or laid off. Those changes may shape the tenor of our shared but separate isolation, but not its fundamental character. The aperture of my world feels very small, its rhythms incredibly repetitive. Sometimes, it’s almost calming. Other times, it’s incredibly claustrophobic. Either way, there are only so many pairs of leggings I need to navigate this new life.

Not wanting to buy things feels as bizarre as not wanting to sleep or not wanting to eat. It’s been ingrained in us, as Americans, as an unspoken component of residency. Before the coronavirus pandemic, I’d find myself clicking on the emails that overflowed the Promotions tab in Gmail, seemingly from every store I’d ever patronized. I’d online shop while I was traveling for work, while stressed, while avoiding a seemingly insurmountable number of other emails in my inbox. Buying things, especially things on sale, provided a momentary sense of comfort: I was fixing some problem, completing some task, simply by clicking “Buy Now.”

We’re trained to buy often, buy cheap, and buy a lot. And I’m not just talking about food, which everyone has to acquire in some capacity, or clothes. I mean all the other small purchases of daily life: a new face lotion, a houseplant holder, a wine glass name trinket, an office supply organizer, a vegetable spiralizer, a cute set of hand towels, a pair of nicer sunglasses, a pair of sports sunglasses, a pair of throwaway sunglasses. The stuff, in other words, that you don’t even know that you want until it somehow finds its way to your cart at Target or T.J. Maxx.


A local laborer window-shops at a jewelry store, 1950.


Snip


https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/recession-unemployment-covid-19-economy-consumer-spending

[mr_lebowski]

1. I'm kinda the opposite ...

I almost never buy stuff (though I do look at computer components, home theater gear, and cars online fairly regularly), but lately I've been shopping more and buying a bit more.

But it's stuff for the house like a new subwoofer and speakers to give me things to enjoy while stuck here. I also got a new blender and toaster oven since my old ones were on their last legs. And a new office chair. And a printer which I'm hoping I'll return before 30 days cause I'm back at the office and can use one there for my rare printing tasks.

[Alex4Martinez]

2. I love this. Our culture, economy, education systems, all about consuming more and more

Very little about what really matters in life or what the meaning of the word sustainable is.

[pecosbob]

3. And so the cycle is broken

I have spent time away from the things of man several times during my life and after having abandoned consumerism by necessity I never picked up the habit again.

[hlthe2b]

4. I only open emails/ads from grocery stores, my drugstore and online nutritional suppliers

finding food products in short supply, cleaning and sanitizing products and the like is all I'm interested in. I do keep tabs on other shortages (e.g., naproxen or other OTC meds) with an eye on perhaps buying with the thought of future shortages.

Other than that I don't pay much attention and certainly have NO desire to shop anywhere. My joy each day is the long walks with my pup on my nearby trails and seeing wildlife when we manage to get out at sunrise when the temperature remains cool and pathways largely untrafficked.


Shopping? Eating out? Movie Theaters? MEH. My only concern is if I badly need something like a new modem/router or other electronics replacement that may be increasingly hard to get, but which I don't want to buy in advance.

[Freddie]

5. Early March

I got a big box from Penney’s filled with clothes and (inexpensive) jewelry for our long-planned trip to Florida for our son’s wedding. Before that I spent countless hours looking for the right mothers gown and shoes to go with it. The wedding was postponed and will probably be in Ohio (bride’s hometown), not Florida. I can’t bear to open the box from Penney’s, it’s like a souvenir of the trip that won’t happen.
FYI Penney’s has fabulous clearance stuff! Hope they don’t go out of business.

[appalachiablue]

22. Sorry to bear bad news, Penny's update yesterday

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/18/business/jcpenney-store-closings/index.html

[Freddie]

25. Not surprised

There’s one a half hour from here that opened in 1975. Hope they spare that one although I do all my Penney’s shopping online, hope they keep that.

[Dagstead Bumwood]

59. I hope ours stayes open as well.

I don't make a lot of purchases there, but, it's a link to my childhood when my mom would drive us to the mall on Saturdays and we'd go in through the Penny's entrance. Ours had a lunch counter where we ate on occasion (we also ate a few meals at the lunch counter inside of Sears). Good times.

[eilen]

6. I know what you speak of...

Although today I did buy some things. I purchased a replacement tablet (refurbished off Ebay) for my husband who's current tablet has decided to self-cancel. I also ordered a set of wireless headphones (from Google store) for myself since I realized how dorky I look walking my dog on that same loop wearing the giant blue corded ones on my head. I also purchased a vintage Simplicity sewing pattern (off Etsy) from the 1980s.. which is less expensive now than the current patterns. Outside of mask materials, these are the first items I have ordered and not even one order from Amazon.

[Blue_true]

55. Your husband's tablet.

If you husband keeps the tablet plugged into a surge protector, he may want to try another plug on the surge protector. My laptop stopped working. I thought that it had died. Turns out that the problem was the plug on the surge protector that I had it plugged into, when I changed plugs on the protector and pressed the start button, the laptop came right up perfectly.

I really don't understand how one plug on the surge protector could be bad and none of the others are bad, although each plug is set in parallel to the others, so maybe that explains how one can "drop out" and others work just fine.

Of course that surge protector in likely being stripped for metal right now. I don't need something like that adding drama to my life.

[eilen]

68. It recharges

However he can't log in. His password doesn't work anymore. We tried wiping it through his google account and redoing the password but it says it is "unable to complete that task" -- We thought if we drain the battery entirely and then recharge it, it may work (per some internet help board entry). That was 7 days ago-- it is now a paperweight with a 5% charge. This is apparently a known issue several years old for Google Pixel/Slate tablets. Google must have other priorities.

[Blue_true]

69. I am a Neanderthal, I am totally a PC/Windows tablet user.

Looks like you are dealing with a problem that I have never seen.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. "We're trained to buy often, buy cheap, and buy a lot."

That's so true. It comes from being inundated with constant buy messages on TV. Even many shows themselves depict people living unrealistically in terms of their homes, cars, vacations, and so on given what their supposed jobs are.

One of the most interesting things about giving up a TV twelve years ago is that I am simply not exposed to those messages anymore. And so I have far less inclination to buy, other than essentials, than I ever did. Oh, I watch my share of shows, just via the internet and therefore I see almost no commercials, ever. It's quite wonderful. And since I've never been especially rich, it makes it easy to live on my income and save money.

Right now I'm doing even less of my previously minimal shopping and spending, mainly because I used to go out two or three nights a week. Not any more. I've been working slowly on reading some of the several hundred unread books I currently own. Normally I'd go to the library frequently. Actually, my local library has just somewhat reopened this week. I can finally return the books I checked out last February, and I could move some of the books on my hold list to active status. They are doing curbside delivery of those. But of course, going to the library involves no spending, other than the trivial amount of gas I use.

I did decide to adopt a cat since I'm not sure when I'll go somewhere again, so I'm buying stuff for her.

What I like is the positive impact on my money all this has had.

I am retired, and so my income has not been hurt by this.

[True Blue American]

14. Feels good,huh?

[LanternWaste]

52. Well, we've come a long way from...

"Am I the only one who thinks that almost everyone is overreacting to the corona virus?"

[barbtries]

7. i'm still buying,

but it's food and groceries primarily, or accessories for the kitchen. i'm panic buying food, anticipating more shortages. Used to be I'd empty the freezer, then go shopping to fill it up. Now I open the freezer and if there's room for something i rush to get it.

i'm not kidding when I say I have enough clothes and shoes for the rest of my life. I did pick up a couple pairs of shorts recently. I only wear shorts these days, and t-shirts. I'll put on a decent shirt for a zoom meeting, or just leave my video off.

Everyone should have a pulse oximeter on hand. It took a couple weeks to receive mine from Amazon and I recommend if you don't have one, get one. This likely will be more important than a thermometer (though we all should have one of those as well).

and then there's the endless search for toilet paper, lysol, etc. I basically shop these items on Amazon daily, since they're pretty much always out of stock. if something's in stock, grab it fast.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. It's people panic buying more than they

need at the time that's responsible for shortages of things like toilet paper. Although that's come back quite nicely where I live. Still a lot of empty spaces on the shelves, but I was able to purchase a 20 pack of my preferred brand, so I'm good for the next three months or so.

[barbtries]

39. TP is not something I've been able to panic buy.

We're good for now, but I don't have my preferred brand. 21st century problem. it's food that I'm panic buying.

[LeftInTX]

12. I hate all the junk that's accumulating

I've got too many paper towels, too much toilet paper, too many Swiffer clothes and nowhere to put them. I don't know if Goodwill will even accept them. Normally that's what we do when we have too many dry goods for our own good.

I've also got piles of other stuff...Paper cups, plates, plastic utensils. (I bought in larger quantities than usual) A bag of apples (as opposed to a few select).

It's driving me nuts!! I often buy stock that will last for a few days like flavored water, bread etc. But now I buy I week's supply, so I'm overrun with that. I buy my groceries curbside.

My freezer/fridge situation is good. Our old fridge was dying and we had to buy a new one in April. It seems what goes in comes out.

[True Blue American]

13. Those items are now plentiful

In the stores.

I just switched my slacks and sweaters for shorts and shirts. I used to buy something I liked in every color. Now I am wearing them.

[SoCalDem]

49. My local small grocery store had an endcap Full of paper towels

and another with TP.. I only shop once a month or 6 weeks..

I still cook, but since there's only me now since my husband died, I get milk and eggs from the local butcher shop (3 blocks away)..veggies from the veggie store not far from me.

Large supermarkets have no special charm for me.

Cat food/litter come from Chewy.com and end up on my porch.
Paper towels, trash bags, tp are a once a year purchase from Amazon.

[Freddie]

27. Got my pulse ox yesterday

Cool little gadget and good to have. Even if we avoid the virus my husband has asthma, will be good to check if he’s in trouble with it.

[barbtries]

48. absolutely.

it's a must if you get the virus. I actually have become a little calmer since it arrived.

[Brother Buzz]

10. We should not go back to normal

[CaptainTruth]

19. +1 Let's go back to better than normal.

[Blue_true]

56. The problem for us.

The Earth has something like 3 billion years left to recover. I doubt that it would even need 50 million years after it killed us off for screwing with it to erase all signs of our existence.

[True Blue American]

11. I know how you feel.

I have cut way back. But my fairly new TV was hit in a storm so need one. Power surge did not stop it.

I just heard that Walmart sales were way up because of panic buying. Showing huge lines. I stayed away from that.

[NightWatcher]

15. It's a sign of grief. We've all lost something, be it two months of income or being at home, bored

Most of us are in some stage of grieving. I wish we could've gotten the trumphumpers over the angry stage and onto acceptance. We'll just try again later I suppose.

[womanofthehills]

16. I'm mostly buying meat for my freezer instead of other stuff

Being All I ever wear are t -shirts, shorts or capris- I buy one funky Life is Good t-shirt every month. Dressing up for my Zoom book club meetings. A lot of the meat is for my dogs. I have one who hates canned food and is not crazy for kibble either.

[MissB]

17. I was never into casual shopping

So I don’t miss that.

I’ve been making a list of things I want to buy once this is over. Not once things open up, but once Covid 19 is no longer a threat.

The only thing I’m making an exception for is a piece of furniture. The store where I’ll buy it is one I would hate to see go out of business, since I’ve been buying their stuff for more than 20 years. It takes them 3 months to build a piece of furniture. I’m hoping to start the order in early June.

[bobbieinok]

18. Happened to me about 5 yrs ago. Retired and rheumatoid arthritis.

AND DOWNSIZING!!

Why shop, buy when having to dump so much now

[Delmette2.0]

33. That was me about the same time.

I started by getting rid of something when I bought something. I had run out of room for stuff. Then one morning about 5 am I started going through my closet. Before long I had a pile of clothes that I would never wear again. I eventually went through closets and drawers and cupboards and got rid of more stuff. Sad to say, when I sold the house I had to do even more editing. When all is said and done I don't miss any of it.

[bobbieinok]

42. About that time I went shopping with my wheeled walker, driven by my taxi friend

Told a couple of customers that my changed situation meant the city would see a massive drop in income from sales!

[True Blue American]

54. Been purging

For 5 years now. Oh what a relief it is!

We had a local Columnist who retired. She had 21 waste baskets. By the time she finished purging she had 1. I still have 5!

[bucolic_frolic]

20. No sense in buying, any of us could be dead from COVID-19 in a week or two

Leaving more junk for my heirs to clean up is wasteful. I'm going to savor good food instead.

[marble falls]

23. We're buying better quality food and we are staying out of restaurants from now on ...

I agree with you about stuff, I do not want to burden my kids with disposing of it.

[marble falls]

21. Its weird. We've never had so much money in our budget. We watch less tv then ever ...

when Covid19 is under control we're going on a trip.

[BamaRefugee]

30. Same here! Buying nothing, bank account better than ever, and besides The Last Word, I'm only

watching YouTube on the big TV, it's great, sooooooooooooooooooooo many things on there to learn about.

[barbtries]

41. YouTube is keeping me sane.

I'm into farming videos: sheep farmers, cattle farmers, homesteaders, goats. you're right, i've learned a ton and there's one thing I've learned: nobody works harder than a farmer. Also cooking, SGN, infertility and birth vlogs. I don't get the thing about makeup. Lately I've also watched a bunch of "I have (or had) coronavirus."

Right now I'm watching the Absolute History channel. Every once in awhile I can't find a damn thing I want to watch and feel like I wore out the internet.

[BamaRefugee]

45. I've found the best way to discover completely new things on YouTube is fall asleep in the recliner

with youtube going, when you wake up youtube has taken you in a direction to a topic you would never have thought of in your life!

[barbtries]

47. lol i do that every night

and often during the day. In fact i sleep in a recliner, don't even have a bed. I've found my back doesn't bother me this way. I have a reclining love seat in my room and curl up on it with my puppy.

Getting distracted and just letting it play has ended up in me subscribing to a bunch of channels I never would have looked for.

[SoCalDem]

50. My cat often chooses channels for me when I fall asleep

He steps on the controller and I wake up watching Mexican Midget wrestling

[yaesu]

24. I've always hated shopping, only buy what is necessary to sustain life. nt

[IronLionZion]

26. I hope retail workers can find employment in new jobs somehow

since America is a consumer economy, changes are going to be painful. Retail was in bad enough shape before this pandemic.

[Warpy]

28. I lost my desire during my last period of real poverty

between 2003-2006. I didn't even realize it had gone until I inherited a surprise when my dad died and had money again. I bought a Sunday paper and looked at all the sale adverts and realized I didn't want any of it.

About the only thing I needed was clothing since my thrift shop wardrobe was getting worse than threadbare. I went to a mall (they were still booming in 2006) and discovered there wee kids' clothes, men's clothes, and Britney Spears inspired slutwear for teenagers and that was it, except a few items designed in polyester by Omar the Tentmaker in the old lady section.

So welcome to my world. I'm afraid it bodes ill for the retail sector, which was already on the ropes before this virus made an appearance. The only thing that is going to rescue any semblance of an economy is a significant rise in wages at the bottom along with a rise in taxes at the top, and no Republican is going to allow that.

[bobbieinok]

44. 8 or so yrs ago I discovered Good Will, VFW, and Salvation Army thrift stores

They had many clothes in my larger size. Also out of style skirts. Style wasn't being sold in stores anymore and was exactly style I loved.

Also discovered a couple of colleagues with serious money periodically toured the local thrift stores, since many women apparently get rid of v nice clothes after a yr or less.

My dad and a brother haunted local thrift stores for old cameras in the 90s. They said cadillacs, jags, etc in the parking lots on Saturdays

[Warpy]

58. I lived out of thrift shops in the 90s-00s

but since then, I've been a donor. I knew too many people like myself who didn't have a choice, we had to dress out of castoffs. I got quite good at overdyeing ugly cotton sweaters. Wool, I knit myself.

[Hugin]

29. I'm glad you brought this up. Does anybody else find the tousled devil-may-care look du jour kinda..

HOT!

or should I seek counselling?

It sure cuts to the substance.

[jmbar2]

40. Yes!

I am sheltering from the pandemic with two other roommates for the past two months.

We are all in our late 50s-60s, and we are going feral together. Listening to rock and roll, cooking, and wearing weird baggy fun clothes. It feels like college again. Loving it. I don't want to go back to the pre-covid days. Never thought having roommates at this age would be so much fun.

[Hugin]

46. Going feral.

A good description of the situation.

[SoCalDem]

53. Hippies recycled

free flowing dresses..no make up no haircuts

[jmbar2]

57. yass -- delightful

[Luz]

63. Ha! That's me. I'm turning into the old hippy I've always been.

I've bought 2 new long, flowing "boho" skirts, cut off most of my hair and I'm thinking of dying it pink.
Staying home, going for walks and painting are the things that make me happy. Also I really didn't realize how much it cost me to work. I go days now without spending anything.

[jmbar2]

64. Me too

I am spending almost nothing. Got a big raise in my food stamps, more than I need. So I've been splurging on good food to share -- making sushi, fried calamari, luxurious fruits and salads. One of my roomies cut my hair this weekend.

I wish the FreeDumb knuckleheads would recognize what a gift it is to just stay home and LIVE. But then again, I am retired. Working folks don't have that luxury.

[Luz]

66. I was set to retire in December. I juggled a few things and

took off a few months early. I am very grateful.

[jmbar2]

67. Congratulations

I have loved being gainfully unemployed.

[Iggo]

31. I don't care about sports anymore. I knew it'd happen, but it still feels weird.

I'm still gonna pay for haircuts after this.

I'm doing my own, but I'm not good at it.

[Woodwizard]

32. I have always been frugal

I was born on the tail end of the baby boom my parents grew up during the depression and then ww2, my father served. Then my father made a living as a freelance artist so watching money was always a thing.

Only time I have been in debt was my mortgage. And went the direction of my father I am self employed so I put more away than spend. Two friends of mine just got notified there jobs are eliminated and now their healthcare, being a veteran I am lucky to be able to go to the VA without a big healthcare premium.

The Economy is not coming back for a long time, a lot of people are going to be seriously effected I feel for them.

[DarleenMB]

34. I feel exactly the same way.

It hit about 2 weeks ago and I found it kind of puzzling at first. But, as you said, where am I going to wear any of this stuff? The clothes, the makeup, etc. My cats sure don't care as long as they can sit on my lap and shed fur all over me without me yelling at them. They're fine with it.

[catbyte]

35. I've been buying a lot of baking and cooking equipment that I always wanted but never got around

to buying along with stuff like elderflower syrup, vanilla beans, and Creme de Violette liqueur for recipes. As far as clothes and other stuff, nah. I ordered pasties from Lawry's Pasties in Marquette, yum. The shipping killed me, but I need comfort food, and pasties, especially Lawry's, are the best. My mom grew up in Ishpeming, so pasties and I go way back. Forget the gravy and even ketchup. Just a little butter and tabasco and I'm in heaven.

[llmart]

36. I was secretly hoping this would happen to more people.

I've always hated shopping with a passion. It seems such a waste of time and life. Yes, there are things I have to shop for such as food to eat and if some necessary household item breaks down, I have to replace it, but I could never understand women who would wander around a huge store just looking at stuff.

Now that I'm retired I mostly live in a handful of items. There is so much more time to do enjoyable things or to take my time doing one thing a day. As a younger woman with a full time job and two teenagers and a house and yard to maintain, it never seemed like I had enough time to read a good book, or take a stroll through a new park, chat on the phone with friends, volunteer. I had to dress nicely for my job and I hated having to figure out what to wear every day.

It's amazing how much money one can save when they just become more conscious of what they're wasting it on. Now the money I saved is for amazing trips (whenever we can resume that once again).

[panader0]

37. I already have enough stuff. I'm trying to get rid of stuff.

Food and drink and a bit of gasoline.

[marlakay]

38. I am buying but besides food differently

Spending more on the yard this year because I want flowers to look at and bird feeders and food because watching them takes my stress levels down. The last thing I ordered was one of those things for your neck and shoulders with lavender and other good healthy seeds you heat up in microwave to destress. And this is first year in a long time I bought big pots and planted strawberries and two kinds of tomatoes. I wanted to see something grow.

We normally retired travel off and on in good weather so not home to take care of plants and garden.

Then I have ordered 3 puzzles we just finished the second one.

[Roc2020]

43. Glad it's not only me

and I like to keep it this way as long as possible. The exhilaration of seeing my credit cards balances shrink with little desire to use them is a very victorious feeling.

[Blue_true]

51. I drastically downscaled on material items about 5 years ago and I have not gone back.

Gone are the days of expensive furniture that I never used, multiple top of the line television sets. Now, if I have it, I am using it. Just makes life much simpler for me.

Maybe you are in the process of finding a balance that is right for you, like I did five years ago as life was hitting a bottom for me.

[EllieBC]

60. I was like this until I realized

that 2 of 3 of my kids need new bikes and helmets. All 3 had a growth spurt and last year’s summer clothing doesn’t fit. So bicycle shop and online clothing shopping here I come.

[Raine]

61. I have a whole list of things I'm going to buy 🙂

things I would've gotten weeks ago except for places being closed. Some sewing stuff, craft items, socks, underwear etc.

[Marrah_Goodman]

62. I did some shopping with my stimulus check after paying off bills

I've lost 75ish pounds since August and even the clothes I bought in the fall are falling off me. So I bought some summer clothes for a bargain online.

Then I purchased paint supplies as I have been learning to paint and am enjoying a new craft while sheltering at home.

[Jamastiene]

65. It is nice to see that there are others starting to see things how I see them.

Buying more and more stuff doesn't lead to happiness. It leads to more debt and more of a feeling of never getting out of debt, so why not buy more stuff....a never ending cycle.

Whatever job you have, never assume it will be there tomorrow. It just might not.

[Silent3]

70. I've never been a big shopper anyway, but I have shopped a littlle bit more lately

Besides being a software engineer for a living, computers are also my hobby. I've upgraded an old desktop computer, and just a few days ago order an upgrade of the not-so-old laptop I'm typing on right now. I also upgraded the display for a Raspberry Pi project.

I'm wearing on my wrist right now a new Fitbit that just arrived yesterday. (It might get returned or replaced, however, because the display is annoyingly dim compared to the three-year-old model I had before. I don't know yet if the problem is the particular one I've got that's so dim, or the whole line.)

These are things I'd probably have bought eventually anyway, but probably bought sooner than I would have otherwise.

Other than tech toys, there's not much I want to buy anyway, and I do less of that in recent years than I used to.

It's hard to compare particular buying interests with those of the author of the article, since her interests seem more traditionally female and mine are, I suppose, closer to traditionally male, but I'm sure there's other stuff typical men are interested in buying apart from tech, and none of that much interests me either.