How to Save Time, Money and Effort!

Do you have any things or experiences that you tend to hoard?  Chances are you probably do and you may not fully realize the price you are paying for doing so.  It is time to get a grip and first take a look at how this happens! Then I will give you strategies that will save you time and money and perhaps elicit a sigh of relieve from you.

In my days studying Consumer Science in college, we talked about consumers having three types of resources to apply to buying decisions:

1. Financial
2. Time
3. Cognitive

Most of us have a finite supply of each!

Nowadays consumers have more choice then ever.  Want to buy a book?  You have so many options!  You can go to a department store, a book store, a garage sale, a second hand shop and of course, the Internet.  You also have options on what format to receive the book such as a downloadable PDF or on your Kindle.  This level of choice can indeed be wonderful as we can optimize what works best for us.  However for some of us, who get excited about all the options we can start to develop a hoarding mentality around a particular type of product or experience that is so abundantly available.

We become junkies!  I have personally witnessed or experienced the following types of junkifcation:

• Electronic equipment computers–”I need to keep up to date and it is all so cool!”
• Second hand store/collectables/garage saleism– “It was such a good deal–I’ll use it someday or sell it for a profit.”
• Alternative health–”I need another massage, Reiki appointment, and then next week I am getting an acupuncture treatment with a practitioner my sister recommended.”
• Cars–”I need a car that looks good when I drive it in the city and another that gets good gas mileage.  Then I need a van for hauling stuff and to travel comfortably with my kids and their friends.”
• Kitchen appliances–”I know just the right type of kitchen gadget to do xyz and I want it!”

Mind you I have nothing against the products or shopping experiences listed above.  I am focusing on how we go awry when we apply the hoarding mentality to each of these areas.   Some people apply a hoarding mentality to many of their buying and even life experiences while others tend to have problems with particular categories.

My Personal Story

I was inspired to write this article when I was working on strategic planning content for my intuitive raw food site.   When I first delved into raw foods my focus was on learning as much as I could about preparing interesting and attractive foods.  I achieved this by creating an environment in which I had the right kitchen equipment and a ton of food choices.  I bought more food then I previously had in my life!   My goal was to eat high raw and I valued having many choices so I would succeed.   It was more important to me that I have a variety of foods on hand than it was to save, money, time or effort.   I could accept that my choice would cost me more and even potentially result in some wasted foods because I kept more food in the house than I knew how to handle.

Looking back, I do not regret this approach because I accomplished what was most important to me at the time.  However, now I have evolved beyond the need to have so much food on hand and I would view this type of behavior as hoarding in my current reality.  My values and goals are different and so are the resources that I have to  apply to my new goals.  Once I gained the knowledge and ability to create satisfying raw foods the need to have such a variety available decreased but my shopping behavior did not change.  I used my multiple trips to multiple grocery stores as a form of entertainment.  When I was at the store I sampled all the goodies there–rationalizing that since I would not bring home foods such as cheese and chips it was okay to have a small portion at the store.  I realized that sometime I picked the grocery store I would go to based on the abundance of devilish treats I was hoping to score.  Gluttony at its best!

Once I wised up to what was going on, I started really thinking about what I was doing.  I was enjoying too many treats at the grocery store and creating unnecessary work for myself by bringing too much food home.  Some of which ended up in the compost bin!  If someone ripped a five dollar bill in front of you wouldn’t you think they were insane?  So now that I had an important goal met, other values and needs started to have a larger voice.  I tuned in to my need for simplicity.  Thus I cut way back on my trips to the grocery stores and I sure do spend a lot less money now.  Even if I run out of something, I don’t just automatically conclude that it justifies a trip to the grocery store!   I use the lack of a particular type of food to creatively use the foods I have on hand.  For example, I typically use a banana in my morning green smoothie, however if I run out–then I go to my stock of other foods that can be used instead. Recently I used an opened bag of mixed fruit instead of using a banana.  The mixed fruit had been sitting in my freezer for eons!  The other lesson I learned from this is to adjust my shopping habits according to my preferences.  Why buy that particular fruit mix is I am not going to use it?

So do you have a consumption related hoarding problem?

Here are questions to ask yourself–I am sure you can come up with more:

• Do your inputs of time, money and focus to making buying decisions match your current values and goals?
• Are you easily influenced by sales pitches?
• What affect do your buying decisions have on others?
• Do you buy things to fulfill a need other than what the item or service is for?
• Could you do with less?
• Do you know why you buy stuff?
• What is your method for replenishing consumable goods?

Start you simplification process today!  Here is how:

(1)  Create a clearing

If you have the tendency buy too much clothing, one way you can get this under control is to go through your closets and be selective about what you keep.  Then if you were to try to introduce another item to your clothing family it better be a good one because the newbie will stand out!  Enjoy “white space” in your closets, on your counter, on your desk, in your living areas and on your bookshelves!   I now enjoy seeing empty spaces in my refrigerator and in my cupboards.

(2) Delay your buying decisions

Why is that you think sales people give you perks for buying within a short time?  We tend to be more excited about an item when we first see it.  Sleep on it see if you are still interested in the morning.  If you regularly frequent the store–cut back on your trips like I did with my grocery store visits!

(3) Stop and pay attention!

Call in to question all your buying decisions because chances are, many of them run on auto-pilot or are highly influenced by outside sources that have a very different agenda than your own!  Periodically reevaluate how your goals and values match your buying patterns and decisions and take action to buy more consciously!