Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hey everybody, it's Marielle. When was the last time you bought something? Like a piece of clothing or jewelry or electronics or makeup or a kitchen gadget or home decor? Was it a month ago? A week ago? An hour ago? After all, buying things is so easy now. We can drop $100 on a deluxe egg cooker while we're waiting for the subway, or buy sunglasses on flash sale while we're in line for coffee.
Even grab an adorable hot pink cake stand while we're in a Zoom meeting. Because we definitely will start making cakes if we have a cake stand, right? Of course, a lot of this stuff we're buying isn't stuff we need.
Let's go through my purse. I have, let's count. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
Six lip balms. This is Alicia Berman in a conversation with journalist Stacey Vanek-Smith back in 2024. At the time they talked, Alicia was 35, working in fashion and beauty in New York. Trying new products and new looks was relevant to her job, but mostly she just loved shopping. And she ended up with a lot of stuff she didn't need.
I have two hand creams, two perfumes. Oh, I have a lip liner. I have sunscreen. I have face spray. Basically, oh, cuticle cream. I'm like the Mary Poppins of beauty products.
All of these products are things Alicia bought almost a year before she talked to Stacey.
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Chapter 2: What is the no-buy challenge and why is it gaining popularity?
Because she started doing a no-buy challenge. As in, she made a decision to join the no-buy challenge. No Buy has been a movement on social media with millions of people giving it a try, most for 30 days. But Alicia, she felt like she needed something more drastic.
One of my goals for 2024 is to do a No Buy year.
This is Alicia's first TikTok post. She started making the videos just to hold herself accountable.
No new clothes, no new accessories, no new beauty.
So right now, a lot of people are reexamining how they consume. Because they want to get a handle on their finances, because they want less clutter in their houses, because they're worried about how all of the buying we're doing is affecting the planet.
We asked journalist Stacey Vanek-Smith to look into the Viral No Buy Challenge, how it's going, and what some of the best advice is for people who want to start their own challenge or just to consume more mindfully.
I've been covering business and economics for more than 15 years. And one thing that has always blown my mind is how much shopping is the lifeblood of our economy. Nearly 75% of the U.S. economy, biggest economy in the world, is consumer spending, a.k.a. people buying stuff.
It is not an exaggeration to say that you buying that coastal grandma cardigan on your lunch break is a main pillar of the whole world's economy. Consumerism is a vast and powerful machine, and opting out of it is not easy. For Alicia Berman, the push to try came from this one moment when she ducked into a store in Brooklyn to buy gloves.
I left the store with a $600 winter coat that I just didn't need and couldn't afford. And, yeah, like, I was so overdrafted that I did a balance transfer into my account to pay for it. Like, it was a mess. So that was kind of my, like... breaking point.
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Chapter 3: How did Alicia's shopping habits impact her life before the challenge?
Okay, now identify your problem areas, the things you'd like to change, what you want to stop buying, buy less of, aka your no column. Tell me the no column.
So no new clothes, obviously. No new beauty products. I'm not allowed to buy any new perfume because I have so many. No jewelry, no new technology, no home decor, and no bathing suits or beach stuff. These are weird and highly specific to me. The no buy rules are going to be different for everyone. My area of overconsumption was beauty and fashion.
You know, there are people who may overconsume books.
And now onto the yes column. Think about what you do want to spend your money on and what kinds of things are allowed in your no buy.
In the yes column, I am allowed to get dinners with friends and my husband. I do allow fresh cut flowers. I'm allowed to buy books. I'm allowed to buy video games. Basically, anything that enriches my life is going to be in the yes column.
Having things that you are allowed to spend on, even splurge on, is really important, says Alicia. That's because the dopamine hit you get from shopping is real. And when you stop buying new things, it can get really hard.
I think you have to find alternative means of getting that dopamine. You can't just kind of expect to deprive yourself and for it to work like you will fail.
Things in Alicia's yes column, Pilates classes, concerts, even budget travel. These are things Alicia feels good about spending money on. And when the hard moments come, Alicia says she tries to focus on what her long-term values are and whether whatever she's tempted to buy aligns with those values.
You've got to. really rethink what it is we're doing and what our intention is as human beings.
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