5 Reasons Why you Don’t Realise You Buy Too Much Crap

Yeah, you didn’t go shopping last Saturday with your friends. Also, you have no intention to buy the brand new iPhone11 that everyone is losing their shit over…

There are some reasons why you may think you don’t buy that much stuff, and those reasons aren’t always on your side!

1. You Live In Small Place

Living in a small flat can give you a false “Minimalist by obligation” feeling that doesn’t really get along with your shopping habits. Yes, you may not have huge pieces of furniture. However, living in a small place doesn’t necessarily mean owning fewer possessions.

As small as your bathroom is, you can probably still accumulate half a dozen shampoo bottles and two more MAC highlighters than you need.

2. You Don’t buy Luxury Items

Yes, I had a fair amount of quality day/night moisturizers, but I never ever considered buying really expensive pieces like designer shoes or luxury bags.

 Oh! And despite being a fashion lover, I never get inside the Marc Jacobs stand at the shopping centre!

I came to the conclusion that, even though I wasn’t a big spender, I was a big buyer (is that even possible?). I wasn’t eager to buy expensive products. Yet, I was a sucker for bargains, sales, and cheap products that I already had with different packaging.

3. Your Mom/Sister/Friend Buys More Than You Do

“Comparison is the root cause of all evil”

Haresh Sippy.

Watching your siblings and friends buying the last trends whilst you are still rocking those last season shoes may give you the feeling that you are a saving king/queen.

Matt bought a brand new car? Wow, my average old car reassures your how frugal I knew I was. Now, let’s celebrate it with a second Venti Frappuccino!

Of course, you are saving a lot of money by not getting an unnecessary fancy car. But not trapping yourself into a life-lasting mortgage for a vehicle doesn’t mean you aren’t spending more money than you need on small daily treats. Be careful with those ones!

4. You Buy Bargains

Last winter, as usual, my skin started having breakouts. Even though I have oily skin, my cutis was getting irritated and very dry. I knew there was a great moisturizer that would fix my breakouts because I had already try it before, but it was a bit pricy.

Instead of spending that a bit extra on that cream, I made a visit to the drugstore and got a low-cost moisturizer that had decent reviews online.

After 3 days, my skin was full of white spots, new zips, and more oily than ever. I went back to the drugstore and decided to try another low-cost brand.

I remember looking at the stand and feeling like it was my lucky day when I saw they had a “2nd unit 50%” promotion. Now, I was able to get a third cheap lotion just in case the second one didn’t do the job either.

The second one wasn’t as bad as the first one, but it smelled so disgusting that you wouldn’t imagine it was made to rub it on your face. I felt lucky again because I still had the “2nd 50% just in case” one.

This one smelled like grapefruit, but it didn’t make any difference in my skin.

At this point, the amount of money I had spent with low cost/quality products had overcome the price of a high-quality cosmetic, particularly the one I was avoiding to buy in the first place. I fooled myself into believing that wasting my money with several low-cost products, was better than paying a bit more for one in which satisfaction was guaranteed.

5. You Still Have Monthly Savings

In this case, you are doing great! In fact, you are doing better than most people, but this doesn’t mean you don’t impulse buy at all.

Having a look at your wardrobe and your bathroom can give you a perspective on your buying habits. As an example, owning several long-lasting products like eyeshadow palettes or hair oils can imply some excess (unless you are a beauty influencer).

Last time I was moving flats, my situation was a bit like this: “This hair oil should go in the soft bag in order to protect the glass container. Now, the Garnier hair oil should go in the waterproof bag, just in case the broken lid gets open and pours the oil. And the super cheap one I got during the weekend trip will be in the toiletry bag.”

Do you also fool yourself with certain affirmations?