Resist the urge to buy!

The corporations are using their campaigns to make us feel we must buy stuff we don't need.

By resisting their siren song, you are showing you are not a slave to their powerful message.

They are making it hard not to buy, but you are strong. You know you can resist their call to buy, buy, buy!

We must condition ourselves against the MSM endless loop of malarkey.

We must resist the subliminal messaging.

Soooo... Is it safe to assume that you won't be drawing names for a raucous game of Dirty Santa this year?

But seriously - people shouldn't have to be told what they need and what they don't need. However, it does seem like most people constantly confuse their necessities with their wants these days. Consumerism has become like Girls Gone Wild jacked up on espresso and Red bull. Warp speed so to speak.

I'm not sure we can ever go back. We would have to suffer a total collapse of society.... the power grid, the monetary system, etc. I think that will be the only way that we could even consider returning to a more simple time and that would only happen because it would be by force and us being left with no other alternative but to give everything extra up.

Until then.... Santa says buy more or your children won't love you anymore. Buy more or your children will face years of therapy trying to figure out why mommy and daddy didn't love them or give them enough hugs.

:insert eye roll here:

i just bought 3 games on steam.
does that count?

also i like stuff.
Stuff makes me happy, it makes me complete. stuff is better than people, because stuff never leaves me and is always entertaining.
You can hold stuff at night and look better to others if you have stuff.
I know it's true, the little man inside the bright box tells me so.

Can stuff make us happy? Not a chance.

a reply to: droid56

Buy assets, not crap, if you want to buy something.

Example: upgrade your crappy curtains to nicer looking thermal ones. You get: improved aesthetics and energy saving insulation. Or totally waste your time buying knick knacks and figurines that take up space uselessly.

I dislike receiving gifts because I'd rather get like, dishtowels or something and instead I get a Christmas coffee mug or a pine wreath or something. Not useful. Please provide dishtowels, lol. Last year we exchanged a bizarre standing clock for a front door mat because we had no mat. Assets > Junk.

*All "you" and "your" are general, not specific.

In short, I agree with the OP.

a reply to: droid56

Being Bi Polar buying stuff gives me pleasure ,well no it doesn't . afterwards i feel ashamed of myself .

Forgot to add . So the cycle continues . Anyone want to buy some unused fishing gear . Or

originally posted by: hutch622
a reply to: droid56

Being Bi Polar buying stuff gives me pleasure ,well no it doesn't . afterwards i feel ashamed of myself .

no you don't

a reply to: IShotMyLastMuse

Your right . It is something much deeper than shame . Call it disappointment , emptiness ,hopelessness , i cant really describe it . Above post is not accurate as i have been OK for over a year now , but the black dog is just around the corner i am sure .

originally posted by: IShotMyLastMuse
i just bought 3 games on steam.
does that count?

also i like stuff.
Stuff makes me happy, it makes me complete. stuff is better than people, because stuff never leaves me and is always entertaining.
You can hold stuff at night and look better to others if you have stuff.
I know it's true, the little man inside the bright box tells me so.

Just sayin'...


All the sales throughout the year remind me not to buy. I mean, really?, do I actually need it?

More than likely not.

a reply to: droid56

The whole purpose of marketing is to get consumers to save by spending and keep them spending. If you want to lean how bad it is, start looking for ways of cutting down on what you buy just for the sake of it. You will soon discuover home cleaners, first aid, reusing materials etc etc.

By going through this excerise is the best way to leanring how much we are influenced by the power of the marketers. What Im suggesting is not the same thing as becoming tight and mean, just efficient with money and resources.

try it, you'll be glad you did.

We live in a world where many people are earning £7.00 per hour yet are walking around with £500 phones in their pockets, 60" TVs in their living rooms and new cars on credit.

People feel they need these things.

I get a buzz from spending £300 on a car and seeing how long it will last.

I get a buzz from finding the cheapest mobile phone possible - surprisingly enough my £20 phone texts, emails and takes/makes calls!

I get a buzz from knowing I have ZERO debt.

I get a buzz from not paying £20 a month on satellite TV.

Buying things gives us a buzz for a day - maybe two if it's something special. NOT buying things gives me a long lasting buzz and to boot makes me feel more enlightened (superior) than others

I wasn't always like this. I yearned for a posh car so people could look at me and swoon. I wanted the best laptop. Something changed. I think it was a realisation that those with all the good stuff were not really doing much with their time.

We are consumer robots.

Example: I've not heard the term 'Black Friday' in reference to a sale in a shop. But this year in England the shops have jumped on the BF bandwagon. And our general public have happily jumped on board too. People were actually referring to Black Friday as if it was something important, something we had had for years - like Shrove Tuesday or Easter Sunday!

"It's Black Friday innit!"
"What you buying on Black Friday?"

I honestly believe that sometimes we need to just admit defeat and blow everyone up, including ourselves and start again.... Only for the cycle to repeat

What is so hard about not buying things you don't need?

Stop watching television.

Seriously, stop. I don't watch -any- television and have no idea what people are going on about.

Never been happier.

a reply to: AgentShillington

Very good point AgentShill. The TV is the driving force behind marketing. You are right - stop watching TV and you will certainly lose the urge to buy. You will also start to expand your mind and exercise it.

The TV puts us into a state of mild hypnosis, it's addictive.

Although I do think that swapping TV for internet can be as bad. I'm obviously not aiming this at you - I'm just saying that the gap could easily be filled with internet, rather than long walks and books!

originally posted by: and14263
Although I do think that swapping TV for internet can be as bad. I'm obviously not aiming this at you - I'm just saying that the gap could easily be filled with internet, rather than long walks and books!

Yeah, I imagine internet advertizing is bad too. I never thought about that. It has been a long time since I've thought about what they must be advertising on the internet. My ads are all in Korean, and I don't read the language, so, again, no affect.

a reply to: AgentShillington

Korean? Interesting!

I think internet advertising is a bit less in your face and cannot 'set the scene' as well as TV - less sounds, smaller images - internet ads a bit like cheap billboards but still effective I imagine.

My thoughts on the internet are more towards it being a distraction from real life - Fbook, Twttr, news sites etc - these are all (IMO) just as bad as the TV. I don't think many of us on here fall foul of it though, we can see past it - as evidenced in this thread.

a reply to: droid56

And don't forget the fake discounts. Items the company acquired for an exploitatively low price and now try to market it to you as a HUGE SALE BUY NOW! when it wasn't even in the store at first to begin with. Also, they use many tricks to make you buy more... sometimes I do so when I really need cloths for example, I use the sales because it does save money (unless, again, you don't actually need it). Or they make it SEEM like a discount when it actually isn't, etc. Also, one should always 'translate' prices. €7,99 is 8€.

a reply to: droid56

Guten Morgen- Point of Order?... Which do You mean, before/after cutting down a perfectly fine, living tree and to really show that You "have spirit" illuminate both the now DEAD tree and Your house and then get to pay $$$ to "them" for the honor?

Is it equating YourSelf to a Magi/WiseMan (Giver) or Jesus HimSelf (receiving) I think I'll go fishing... again this year.

I'm awaiting My favorite Noel commercial, the One from ChinaMa...Walmart™ with the family w/4 kids and they're looking to "upgrade" their cell phones, the 'Dad' says that they're currently spending close to $500/month for the plan, yet they don't speak with the 'Mom' to see how She enjoys Her new job that has to pay for it.. In the background, all 4 kids are doing their best Kardashian™ impression and their noses are buried in their phones.. What a CROCK!

namaste

a reply to: droid56

Agreed. Look at every ad and commercial around you. They have put it in everyone's heads that they're unhappy--and that they have something to sell you that would make you a little more happy.

It's some BS. Once people realize they have all they need to be truly, blissfully happy on their own...the jig is up!

Coincidentally, I'm going to shell out $2,000 for some new drums today because I know it will totally make me happy

See? They got me. They got us goooooood

There`s nothing wrong with buying things if you have the money to do it,what good is money if you won`t spend it.
Money is just paper that loses value,better to spend it on something that will make your life easier or more enjoyable.
some of the things you buy might even retain their value longer than money does.

If you are going to borrow the money (a.k.a credit cards) then that`s just foolish and financially irresponsible.a lot of the things you will buy with that credit will be rotting in a trash dump somewhere before you even finish paying back the money you borrowed to buy them.