Did I Cheat? No Buy Year - Month 11

Long socks - did I really need them?

The most common question I get when I mention I'm doing a No Buy Year is: Have you cheated yet? And the answer is yes, I have indeed fallen off the wagon. But only a few times.

Rather than beat myself up about breaking my 12-month challenge, I decided to use my wobbles as an opportunity to explore why purchasing certain items seemed so important to me in that moment.

One such item was a pair of socks (pictured). I have a very specific winter sock preference - black, knee high, and tight enough to stay up but not so tight that you cut off the circulation. Boody is my favourite brand, but unfortunately, it is many other people's favourite brand too, and Boody recently ran out of stock in my size and style. I've been on the wait list for a looooong time, then a couple of weeks ago, I received an email saying my socks were back in stock. Since many of my current socks have got to the point where they can't be darned anymore, I decided to buy a few pairs. Afterwards I felt good about this purchase. I needed them, and my feet are grateful.

In comparison, I also bought a cookbook from one of my favourite YouTubers. At the time of purchasing, I was convinced her nutritious recipes would benefit my life and that I needed them. However, by the time the book arrived, three months later, I was no longer in that impulsive wanting space. So, while it's a nice book, I didn't derive all that much satisfaction from it. The zing of purchasing had worn off long ago, and let's face it, I can easily get similar recipes online for free.

This exercise has been useful as I'm now more aware of when my rationalising brain is taking charge. It has a distinctive, salesperson-esque talk style, and I can now recognise when it's trying to convince me to buy something. It uses a lot of words, creates false urgency, and likes to stoke the fear that if I don't act now, I'll miss out. On the other hand, the centred voice is calm, succinct and doesn't use fear to motivate. The more I listen this voice, the more likely I am to feel genuinely satisfied after a purchase, not partially sated, only to want more later on.

In the end, I've realised it all comes down to why I'm buying something. Is it to alleviate boredom or stress, or is it to meet a genuine need or for true enjoyment?

I think William Morris said it best when he opined:

'Have nothing in your houses that you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.'

This will be my motto going forward. In the meantime, there's one month of this challenge to go ...