This internet user shares his technique which also allowed him to reimburse all his accumulated debts!
When you try to earn money, you rarely think about reviewing your consumption habits. We are rather looking to obtain a salary increase, to find a second job or to set up a project in parallel which reports more. While changing the way we spend can also report money, and quickly enough. Because contrary to what one might think, spending better is not depriving yourself of everything. It is learning to recognize what has value, what lasts, which really serves. It is also stopping to buy without thinking or to fill a lack. Ashlee Piper has been in this scheme for years. She bought without counting, even not to look at her bank statements. This American, expert in sustainable development and book author No New Things: a radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, The Planet, and Your Sanityassumes it, nothing stopped her when she was shopping. It must be said that she also very well earned her life, which made him switch.
“I had never had this kind of relationship with consumption before, probably because I had never earned so much money. In a short time, I accumulated about 22,000 dollars of consumption debts, which shocked me”, she told the American media The Cut. One day, however, in 2013, she found the strength to say stop and resume her life in hand. “I had all these clothes that still had their label because I did not even get inside. I was wondering:” Who am I? What am I waiting for? I realized how shopping I was doing to comfort myself, which did not correspond to my values at all. ” To get out of it, she launched a rather radical challenge: to buy nothing new for a month. Except that she did not stop there … She continued the challenge for months.
“What allowed me to hold on is that I saved money, and I realized it immediately. I continued to buy what I needed, but always used. The first week was particularly difficult, that’s for sure. What really helped me was noting my purchasing desires.” By noting everything that made her want, she started understanding her habits. For example, as soon as she felt bad, she wanted to shop. Once she spotted these patterns, everything became simpler, and little by little, she managed to control some of her pulses. Thanks to this consumption approach, which is not to buy anything new, Ashlee Piper has managed to save over two years 36,000 dollars, which is just over 31,500 euros. She was also able to reimburse the debts she had accumulated.
One of the other tips she learned during her challenge, and doing research, is that in general the “impulses” of purchase last only two to seven minutes. If you manage to occupy this short period of time otherwise, slowing down and turning to an activity that makes you feel good, the desire passes. With habit, the brain adapts and the impulse becomes less and less strong, until they disappear almost naturally.
Today, Ashlee Piper continues to consume differently. She only buys what is really useful to her, favors the second hand and no longer yields to her immediate desires. This change of course did not only have an impact on his finances: he transformed his way of life.
