1.2 Trillion.
Represents the number that Americans spend annually on goods or services they don’t necessarily need. (Src) And that figure is from 2011. We’re in 2016 – it’s probably higher.
This past Easter weekend many people celebrated the occasion with bunnies, Easter grass, Easter chocolates, and more – with some people mentioning that they spend $25 -$30 per child on Easter Basket goodies. Then the day after, some people ran to Target to stock up on clearance.
Were you one? Was it a necessity? Probably not.
We celebrate Easter as Resurrection Day – after all, that’s what it is. Not so much about the baskets, candy or “stuff” – it’s about the resurrection of Jesus. Sure, commercialism is there, but we prefer not to associate that day with other stuff just because society dictates that as the norm.
Our problem this past holiday was that not participating in the commercialism that is the holidays is not the norm. We kind of kept to ourselves – we had several ask us why we didn’t have a candy round up on our site. We had friends ask us why we weren’t “giving” our kids things. We even had a few tell us “come on – it’s not that big of a deal – aren’t your kids going to feel deprived?”
Deprived? Hardly. That’s another topic.
The U.S. economy depends largely on the purchase of goods and services that people just don’t really “need”. The idea of what is essential probably does vary from person to person.. for some, the idea of their kids not getting an Easter basket would distill fear that their kids would be disappointed in them (hardly true, but perception).
For some, a superfast car and a big house are essential.
After all, stuff makes you happy and being happy is essential for less stress – or so we think :)
People enjoy so much leisure and consume SO many extra things that even a deep depression would not help them cut down to the nitty gritty basics.
I won’t forget, the last time I was in Target – it was the 1st or 2nd week of December (yes, it has been THAT long…) and I heard a 10-12 year old yelling at his mom as she pushed her cart from the baby to the toy section.
“I WANT THIS, and THIS, and THIS, and THIS. MOM are you stupid or what???! Are you LISTENING? MOM! I’m TELLING you to BUY this!”
It took her a while to respond, but her response was … less than what I had expected. People fighting over toys in the toy area, parents throwing “stuff” in their cart … Dads listening to kids dictate what they would “get” for Christmas. Kind of sad actually.
In the end, all these months later, do you think that these kids remember what they got? Did they really need all that stuff? Or are people just conditioned to shop in that manner because, after all, everyone else does. Right?
The truth? Buying things won’t make you happy.
The quest for physical possessions may lead to temporary joy – but the feeling of happiness rarely lasts too long with a new purchase. And that is for many reasons – why is that?
Possessions require maintenance – new items need to be cleaned, maintained, and organized. New vehicles need our energy and focus. Even a NEW car at some point will need your attention – after all, it’s only new until you drive it off the lot.
Always something better – this is the truth. Just when you pick up a new Macbook Pro, there is a new one RIGHT around the corner. This goes for new phones, to kitchen gadgets, to technology – even more. The world never stops creating newer and fancier products – so just as soon as you unbox that new item, you will be tempted to buy another newer version a year or two later – if you can even wait that long.
Purchases cost more than money – Although the items you see in store DO have price tags, and are always usually associated with a cost in dollars and cents, the REAL price for the item is the time you spent – in hours at work. Those are hours of your life, time away from family. So although you might exchange money for the item when you purchase, the real price of the item is the “amount” of life you are paying for the item in exchange for it’s cost.
People really don’t care – sometimes we buy things or do things to impress others. We do this consciously and even subconsciously. Deep down, people really just don’t care about your purchase. They are too worried about their own situation to be impressed with your newest purchases – whether it be a car, house or even clothing.
Experiences make people happier than stuff – we believe largely that this is true. We have mentioned that one of the best ways to enjoy the Christmas holiday is to forego the material items and make it a Christmas of memories – through experiences. With 4 kids, we have done this for the last 3-4 years and our kids quite honestly don’t remember “stuff” like they remember places.
Now, we try to make each Christmas holiday unique by doing things that they will remember versus buying them stuff. Does that mean we have an empty tree in the corner of a room? Sure does. And children are resilient – they understand even better than you think they do.
In the end, shopping does not satisfy our contentment for more “stuff” – we’ll always want more. We will never have exactly what we want and we will always be looking for that next best deal.