Words by Ayesha

We live in a world where we are tempted and persuaded by clever marketing antics to buy more. For some it is absolute must to buy the latest smart phones, smart watch or follow the latest trend in shoes and bags. The list goes on. More often than not, we always end up buying things we actually don’t need and feel guilty after the purchase. No matter how much we try to avoid it somehow it always gets to us. Can you relate to this?

As today’s clever marketing tactics understands consumers emotions well and use their vulnerability to make them purchase products they normally would not. As a result, a lot of us has become compulsive buyers whether we acknowledge it or not.

A culture of making irrational purchasing decisions has been established, that is buy now for instant gratification and deal with the consequences later. The products sold may not be related to a basic necessity but yet we have developed an uncontrollable urge to indulge in luxuries. As a result, more and more people are falling into debt to cater for their lavish lifestyles.

At this point this behavior is instilled in our psychology and is usually self-justified. Some common justifications being the product being on SALE for a limited time, so actually we are making a saving (of sorts).

Impulse buyers justify their purchase habits with their mentality of “you deserve it” or “treat yourself”. However, some people buy branded labels not because they look any better in it, but because brand labels are a status symbol.

In addition, online shopping has made excessive buying more prevalent. The daily bombardment of ads via social media and email are of no help to curb this excess. Targeting consumers via social media is rapidly increasing. With the advent of online banking and payment mechanisms, the ease and convenience to shop from the comfort of our lounges on a lazy weekend has made shopping effortless and easy.

Another factor that contributes to over-shopping is the pressure from friends, acquaintances, neighbors or even the wider society. We tend to make certain purchases to adhere and conform to societal expectations. As human we have the desire to fit in and fulfill the sense of belongingness to a group and adopt the common ideals of that group.

Despite these increasing pressures and, compulsive shopping is something that we need to be cautious of. Our living spaces are already tight and the more we fall for impulse shopping as a mood-lift or for any other reason, we are going to be drowned in our merchandises be it books, plants, toys, shoes, clothes or tea cups.

Mental health experts encourage the idea of investing in experiences rather than material things for birthdays and holiday gifts as they do not add up to clutter and may be far more meaningful and fulfilling emotionally. A cluttered home drives our stress level and anxiety up. Thus, resulting our homes not providing the comfort we seek from it.

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic, we are currently living the new normal and slowly adapting to our new way of life. One thing it has given us is time to think and reflect on our old ways and become better human beings. Lockdown has given us the opportunity (and sometimes forced us) to keep things minimal. To simplify life.

For many of us it was a much-needed breather from our busy routines of everyday life. There was a time during locked down that everything we bought became things we carefully thought of and questioned whether we actually needed it.

We learnt that we don’t need to go out constantly, for coffees or hang out with friends. We realized we don’t need the unnecessary motorbike rides around Male’. We learnt that we don’t really need most of the spontaneous online purchases from online platforms posted directly to our homes.

Basically, we don’t need to buy to or indulge in excess to fill a void in our life. We realized we need to reorganize our lives, rebuild and rework our relationships and engage in things that feed our very soul – living life itself.

We have learnt to simplify our life. We have learnt we can survive without all the extra! The year itself has been a strain on our mental health. The things we thought we needed are not things we ACTUALLY need. We do not need the superfluous, we can live with the minimum.

All we needed was a breath of fresh air, a sea breeze on your face or of the feeling of warm sunshine on our body, to run in an open space, to walk around the island. What we needed was good company to share our thoughts or perhaps a companionship of a long-time friend to catch-up or watch the sun go down with our kids with hope for a better tomorrow.

These little things we took for granted did us so much more benefit to us. It has kept us wholesome than any product at a retailer’s store.