Want it? Walk away from it.

I recently read we have access, without trying, to 5,000 advertisements a day. That seems like a crazy high number. Then I started thinking about all the ways ads come to us.

The internet alone could very well provide us with 5,000 ads a day.  How many ads pop up on our screen every time we’re online? Facebook easily gives us thousands. 

Cross-promoting. My bank is now doing something with Apple. So every time I do online banking I get an ad for Apple.

Then there are print ads, magazines, things that still come in snail mail. My grocery store tracks what I buy and sends me coupons for those items.

Billboards (not the electronic kind) – ah, I love the billboards for their simplicity. They’re the least intrusive. They’re random, they don’t track me or my purchases. They can only show me one ad at a time; big and static and there; entertaining me while I sit at stoplights. Although while driving cross-country they annoyed me by interfering with the landscape. Wall Drug anyone? But I digress.

So I’m wondering about the origin of the desire and action of everything I’ve recently purchased. Was it something I really needed and came to the conclusion to buy on my own? Or was a seed planted that I subconsciously nurtured until it grew into a purchase.

Somewhere along our over-consumerism way we stopped purchasing for necessity and started purchasing for want. I am guilty. I have something, but I want a better one. I recently bought a new bed. Really really needed a new bed. Old one was 20+ years. It was time and justifiable. I have a computer. Want (don’t need) a new computer. And don’t get me started on smart phones. iPhone 6 Plus anyone?

I get it. Our wants have advanced us from living in caves. I get all of that. I’m talking about us as individual consumers.

I will make an effort to track my consumer desires. I will raise my defenses against the attack on my subconscious. I will silence the “want” demons by identifying them as not a need. 

Next time you're buying something stop and ask yourself if it's something you need or only want. If you really don't need it, don't buy it. Put it back on the shelf and walk away. You'll feel good about that.

I love the idea of a life filled only with things I need. It feels very honest.

There are many causes out there that will benefit from the money we don’t spend on wants. Organizations are feeding the hungry, caring for animals, helping villages get clean water, vaccinating children, educating women. There is a very long list of organizations that are 100% donation funded. Pick your cause and donate. Be a good steward of the earth. That my friend is money well spent. It’ll make you feel better about yourself than any new smart phone ever will.