What Would Happen If You Don't Buy Anything for up to a Year?

Writer Katie Jgln asks exactly that

Photo by Jingxi Lau on Unsplash

The eagle-eyed among you may notice this is the first post of Simple and Straightforward this year.

I realised that I told all my paid subscribers last year that I was taking a small step back from S+S which meant all articles going forward were no longer behind a paywall (thus offering paid subscribers to cancel their subscription if they want to, and that still stands).

But I don’t think I ever mentioned this to my free subscribers, many of whom are you.

I’m not going to labour the point because I hate “I’m sorry I’ve not written in a while” posts, but simply put, other work including writing at Medium and my other Substack — The Capsule Pantry — had to take priority whilst I go through some rather complex and laborious personal stuff.

That sounds vague and I’m sorry to make it sound so, but that’s the way it is for now.

That being said, I’m reading some great articles around the internet that I think you lot would love.

Whilst I take a small break from writing about simplicity and minimalism, I want to direct your attention to some of them, including today’s from fellow Medium and Substack writer, Katie Jgln.

What if You Did Not Buy a Single New Thing This Month or Even Year?

This article is on Medium which normally keeps its articles behind a paywall, but thanks to a nifty new feature that came with becoming a “Friend of Medium,” I can share Medium articles with you, paywall-free.

Even better, if you click and read, Katie gets paid as if you were a Medium member (Medium pays their writers from reader subs so normally external links don’t count towards earnings, but not in this case).

Katie writes here about unchecked consumerism, thriftiness, and societal norms around spending huge amounts of money on things we don’t even need.

I think you’re going to love it.

Read Katie’s article here.

Article highlights

We were still largely enamoured with constantly buying new shiny ‘stuff’ and sold on the idea of what it supposedly means. (A better you. A happier you. A more successful you.)

The unpleasant truth is that we’re buying into our own destruction, and there’s no way we could possibly consume our way out of it.

The idea that consumption is good because it drives economic growth and economic growth is good because it ‘trickles down’ fails to take into consideration one crucial aspect: our lives are entirely dependent on complex natural systems we’re currently burning up in a final frenzy dedicated precisely to the Gods of Economic Growth.

Here’s that link one more time.