Happy Friday from Misti, friends!
Have you ever really noticed just how pervasive messages to buy, buy, buy are in our daily lives?
From social media to billboards to commercials, even to our friends and family talking about the latest cool thing they purchased… it seems we can’t escape consumer culture.
This consumer culture centers consumption (or overconsumption) as a key value.
It’s all too easy to lose track of our own values in this environment.
Case in point: Do I really need a fancy new $200 travel backpack to look “legit?”
No, my $46 one is doing just fine.
Being aware and confronting consumer culture can help us more intentionally approach our own value-based spending.
But where do we even start to do that?
Join the movement to de-influence ourselves from consumer culture.
Small Changes to De-influence Ourselves 🛍️
We think it’s our civic duty to buy what we love and not consume beyond it.
Our spending is how we advocate for ourselves, our friends, family, community, and people we will never meet who may not currently have the resources to advocate for themselves.
Because if we don’t, the problem will get worse.
The good news is, this doesn’t have to be a huge burden; instead, small changes can make a big impact!
Here are three quick action steps:
-
Spread out your repeat purchases. 🧾 Do you really need to upgrade your cell phone every 2-3 years? Just delaying your next phone purchase by a year can significantly cut production of new phones, with a major environmental impact!
-
Limit food waste. 🍽️ Every year 30- 40% of all food produced for human consumption in America ends up in landfills. Food waste also has a direct impact on our personal budgets. Jen and Jill have a lot of great episodes about food waste, so be sure to go to the Frugal Friends website to search all episodes by this topic to get some ideas! The number one thing that works for me is meal prepping meals I can freeze and challenging myself to come up with new recipes using ingredients I already have on hand.
-
Stop following influencers and brands on social media. 📱 The more we limit our exposure to unnecessary advertisement, the less likely it is we’ll purchase things we don’t need!
I’m curious, do you have any tips that have helped you balance this pull to consumerism?
If so, please reply to this email and let us know!
On Tuesday, Jen and Jill help us combat food waste by sharing How to Eat The Food You Have at Home (Ep 422).
Today, we heard another great debt-free story and a successful Public Service Loan Forgiveness story with DFS: Nika paid Off $78K of Debt on a Single Income and got $133K FORGIVEN! (Ep 423).
Listen wherever you get podcasts and let us know what you thought of the episode over on our latest Instagram post!
✅ Read: The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman. This was a very powerful story about love, motherhood, and freedom within the context of restrictive societal norms for women and girls. 📖
✅ Watch: The Bear on Hulu.
✅ Do: As you engage in your mid-year financial check-ins, don’t forget to track all your retirement investment accounts, and see if there’s any you’ve forgotten about! Capitalize, a free 401k rollover service, makes it easy to find and move any old retirement accounts for free! **
✅ Meal Prep: 5-MINUTE TAJIN WATERMELON – Front Range Fed (Misti’s pro-tip: Add feta and cucumbers to make this more of a salad!🥗)
Enjoy your weekend,
Misti
⭐️⭐️ P.S. Want to share all this goodness with your friends AND earn cool Frugal Friends merch?
**Means this is a sponsored or affiliate section. We may earn a small fee or commission when you choose to try one of our sponsor or affiliate partners. But opinions are still 1000% our own.
