We purchase hundreds of things like food, cloth, books, jewelry, and whatnot! In this capitalist society not buying things which we don't actually need is nearly impossible. We buy unnecessary things to show off, to fit in, to amuse others, to make us happy and so on.
Most of us, don't really track what and how we purchase things. And online purchasing became an addition. Marketers are manipulating us to believe in different products in a thousand ways. And we are buying them without thinking. There are deep psychology works behind it. What makes us feel we are having a 'good deal' actually depends on so many things. In modern it became easy to point out those and encourage us to buy unnecessary things.
There's a monetary connection with our purchasing behavior. Continuously temped to buy unneeded products and services costs us much. And it's never healthy for us. It doesn't let us save money, increase our stress in the long term.
This has led the way in financial advice that if you want to be more productive or more happy, you must reduce unnecessary purchases and focus on them as a substitute for money. That's wrong. You should also manage the mindset in which you're creating a purchase so it's more productive than money: An emergency plan and a learning strategy.
I believe learning what manipulates us can help us to get rid of this unnecessary purchasing behavior. Like if you are facing boredom or sadness, maybe this works as an influencer. Or maybe you need social acceptance or want to display your status. And maybe something else. Identifying the specific reason will help us to reduce this behavior.
Try it if you are facing such issues in life. I believe it's gonna help a little bit.
