How do you stop yourself wanting all the things?

[Gettingabitnippynow]

I’m not a materialist person at all, but have just been to pick up a few Christmas bits for Dd and I just want all the things. They’re not particularly expensive, but would be to buy them all. Christmas candles, Christmas mugs, pjs, teddies, wooly hats, jumpers etc etc. Do you all buy all these things or just ignore? I realise it’s a bit silly to buy new every year and a waste when I have last years xmas mugs and pjs.
Just wish I was wealthy sometimes!

Reduce the air of materialism that surrounds you - delete the influencers/content creators/whatever they call themselves from your social media feeds. All they are doing is trying to entice you to click, click and buy, buy, buy to swell their own bank balances. Ignore the gift guides/pay-day treats nonsense. Stay away from the shops if you are unable resist buying needlessly.

Christmas themed clothing is naff, other than perhaps a Christmas jumper perhaps and pj’s and that’s only if last year’s doesn’t fit, Last year’s Christmas ornaments are perfect I’m sure and there’s always a fun nostalgia with opening up the boxes from previous years, maybe adding one or two new things a year. Until the year, you decide you’ve accumulated far too much, less is more and donate a lot of it.

You don’t need stuff to have a good Christmas. You don’t need a different outfit every day just to post cute photos on your own SM feeds. Your children will remember the board games you played, the decorating of the tree for five minutes until they get bored, the watching movies together, the going for a walk. They won’t remember the Christmas outfits or scented candles or whatnot.

I remind myself that the happiest and longest lasting Christmas memories I have from my childhood are of my family and doing festive stuff together, not of "things".

And I think about the trash island floating in the sea and suddenly that tacky Santa mug isn't so appealing.

Agree. I had to go into M&S yesterday to buy some things for someone else. There was relentless, hideous Christmas music blaring, the clothes were really badly displayed, and no regular sizes available - just lots of size 6 and size 22. I found myself swearing and muttering under my breath like a mad woman.

I don't think I am very materialistic. I've bought quite a few things for the house this week. They keep arriving and I have started to panic at my spending and this influx of stuff. I have to remind myself, the last time I decorated the rooms I'm revamping was when DC were in primary school. They left uni a few years ago! It's okay to replace a lampshade and tattered old blind!

And all of it is plastic. Just this endless merry go round of ever changing plastics, none of which will biodegrade. Has no second hand value because it was all cheap to begin with. They are literally selling us things that are designed to be thrown away.

I'm also in camp "think of the landfill". If something (any time of the year) catches my eye, I look to see if I can find it or similar second hand. And sometimes just searching and adding stuff to favourites is enough to scratch the itch.

If I want something "new" for Christmas, I look for a (secondhand) game we don't have so that we have activities to rotate through December.

Think about the environmental impact of all this wasteful tat.

Try and see that we are constantly being marketed to and manipulated into consuming.

I'm very in to second hand buying but I still get a dopamine hit from a vinted purchase!

I only buy things that are seasonal now if they hit the long term criteria:

1. Love it. Not just like it. Love it.
2. Is quality and will last
3. I already know where I can store it for the rest of the year

Otherwise I don’t bother.

Ask yourself what is making you want all the Christmas tat. I'm quite old and when I and my children were children it wasn't a thing to have Christmas jumpers, pyjamas, bedding etc. You might get a new jumper or pyjamas as one of your Christmas presents but they wouldn't be Christmas themed and you could wear them at any time in winter. We still had fantastic Christmases!

Tell yourself you're being manipulated by clever marketing to think you need the stuff, most of which will have been made in a sweatshop in China.

If you cannot resist then do as pp has suggested, buy one beautiful expensive glass bauble every year which will last a lifetime.

Charity shops are full of Christmas stuff too at this time of year - I volunteered on Monday and sold lots of decorations, mugs, toys, jumpers. All second hand. You can scratch your consumerist itch a little more ethically.

It’s not only about the wealth though, I can afford to IF I wanted too. But I don’t. I hate clutter, I’m a minimalist, I only buy what I need now. I have everything I want.

It is all so relentless, shopping channels running day, and night, encouraging us to buy fancy, expensive face creams that promise the earth. liquid soap, hairdryers that cost hundreds, because they have a wand that comes with it. It is insane.

They look pretty and shiny and appeal to some basic instincts

recognise that, enjoy looking and you will
be fine

But why do you want the things?

Will they actually bring you joy? Will you use them? Are they quality items that you can reuse next year (and reduce next year's spend), or are they cheap tat that will be in the bin the day after Boxing Day? Can you even afford them?

I used to be like this with pretty much most things - Christmas decorations, mugs, candles, clothes, lipstick, etc.

I’m about 90% cured. I still do occasionally buy a new skirt in 3 colours because I like it, but I will never again buy Christmas decorations. I still like to browse them, but I remind myself that they’re clutter and a waste of money.

My other tricks are to keep a photo of it, transfer your money to a savings account, leave something in your basket rather than ordering it, unsubscribe from email alerts, and I don’t follow any “bloggers” who try to convince us that we need all this tat, e.g because it’s Christmas - we don’t NEED a sparkly handbag or a sequined bolero

It’s all so hard to resist the fabulousness isn’t it. I find I want stuff that I’d have never even thought of until I see it x

And I definitely don’t need a gravy boat that looks like a Christmas pudding, just because it’s Christmas (Aldi).

I absolutely get you OP.
I take pictures of all the stuff I want so I can think it over. If I still want it in a few days/weeks, I might buy it. But 99% of the time I have forgotten about it.

I get it OP - I grew up pretty poor and have never had a lot of spare cash. I dont have that much now but I'm divorced with no kids at home so there's nobody to answer to if I want to buy something that makes me happy - and nice things do. I'm not a big fan of Xmas themed everything but I'm a sucker for candles, books and stationery.

However I also live in a tiny house so that does limit me because where would I put it all? I ruthlessly decluttered when I moved here and 99% of what I have now is either useful or something I love. So if I'm tempted by something new I do tend to see whether it fits either of those and also ask where I will put it or what I will have to get rid of (generally to a charity shop or give away not bin) to make space for it.

Buy it buy it buy it 🥳🎅

I don’t buy any of them.

I think I actually cured myself of this because I never want anything anymore unless it’s practical. I used to look at pretty things and feel a yearning in my belly.

What I did was tell myself I don’t need to own everything I love, I can take or save a picture of it. Or just appreciate that it’s out there in the world being a nice thing. It didn’t take long at all for me to stop bothering even saving images.

I think I know more about marketing now too, which kind of breaks the spell.

And bin the almost identical stuff from last year? Then bin the new stuff this time next year in order to buy yet more very similar stuff?

I don't get the whole Christmas Mugs/PJs etc thing so I am probably the wrong person to ask. I think of the money I am wasting on it and the hassle of storing it.