Buy better to be better

As we approach the peak shopping holiday season and Black Friday, consider how you relate to shopping and what you want to spend your money on. Here are three things you can consider to ensure that how you spend your money will contribute to the wellbeing of yourself and others, including a couple of specific tips for Black Friday.

What and how we buy shapes our wellbeing, both in the short term as well as the long term. In the long-term, if we buy things beyond planetary boundaries, our wellbeing and the wellbeing of others will be negatively impacted. In the short-term, if we buy things we don’t really need, they won’t give you the wellbeing you were looking for in the first place.

So how should you think about what you spend your money on? Here comes three things to consider:

Only buy new what you really have to buy new: Many times we don’t really need to buy something new. Either we can lend it from someone (e.g. tools), or we can own it together with someone else in a sharing solution (e.g. car pooling), or we can buy it used (e.g. clothes and furniture). If you think about it, there are actually quite many hoops to jump through before really having to buy something new.

Buy things that improve your wellbeing and/or the wellbeing of others: There are stuff you don’t need that are obvious, like cigarettes. There are other things you don’t need that are less obvious, like more clothes if you already have a lot of them. One thing you can buy that I simply love because it’s great in so many ways is personal trainer sessions in different topics. First, it’s great because it’s not a product, but a service, so the impact on the environment is often much less. Second, you learn something, which has a strong correlation to wellbeing. Third, you learn together with someone, which is great from a social point of view. I’ve bought personal trainer sessions in areas such as weight training, running technique, swimming technique, guitar playing and video production. Every single time it’s been a true joy. There are many things you can buy that are actually good for both you and the planet.

Consider alternatives to shopping: Instead of trying to feel well by shopping, consider trying other things, like meeting a friend for a walk in the forest, going for a run, calling someone for a chat, walking over to your neighbor that you’ve hardly spoken to, donating the money you were planning to shop for to a good cause instead, or just reading a book that you borrowed from the library. All of these things are likely to have a much bigger impact on your wellbeing than shopping.

Linked to events such as Black Friday specifically, consider these three things:

1) Only buy what you were either way planning to buy, and that you have decided you have to buy new. This is by far the most important principle and aligns with the previous three points. Everything else aligns to this one somehow.

2) Don’t fall for “3 for the price of 2” types of promotions unless you really really need 3 pieces as per point 1.

3) Don’t buy something just to bring it home and try it on, since then you risk falling for the endowment effect where you are more likely to keep something you have than to buy it.

So buy better and be better over time. Black Friday is a marathon, not a sprint.