How My Consumer Behavior Fuels My Life Goals

A flower arrangement from my October 2020 wedding shot by Studio R Photography.

In my last post on Gray Areas in Sustainable, Slow Fashion, I mentioned that my version of consumer behavior is an integral piece of my overall investment plan to further my long-term, life goals. Please note that the following does not constitute investment advice rather it is what works for me. Although I'd love to hear what works for you so please let me know!

While this may seem like an off-topic post, I always feel like it is interesting to go behind the scenes to see how people are organizing and saving their money. Instagram makes you think content creators just spend, spend, spend yet really they are banking off your spending on their products. And while this blog showcases stuff I buy (or invest in in some cases), I want to make sure it is clear that there's a lot more going on than mindless shopping.

The majority of my take-home income does NOT go to shopping/jewelry/vintage. I try to save 50% of my income every month to invest in assets such as stocks and ETFs. Besides that I keep 3-6 months worth of expenses in an easily accessible checking account. This reserve is vital in the case you have some sort of emergency that needs cash fast. I was laid off in 2019 so I know how essential it is to have this back-up stash of cash.

After saving money in my brokerage or bank accounts and paying the normal fixed expenses like housing, grocery food shopping, and utilities, not surprisingly there isn't much left over! But what is left is typically spent on more food (ordering food or going out to restaurants in non-pandemic times) or discretionary purchases like jewelry or clothing. 

Some frugal finance blogs recommend reducing these types of purchases as much as possible but I do genuinely enjoy spending money on a great meal or a treasured item. As I've said before, when I spend money on material items I try to buy things that I will keep forever. It helps me to avoid some of the trendier things I think I need or impulse purchasing what seem like a reasonable item but still unnecessary from places like Amazon or that I've seen on Instagram.

Buying vintage jewelry and clothing items is definitely still shopping. But I justify the jewelry purchases by seeing them as real assets that I could potentially monetize. We'll have to see if I change my mind in the future when I try to sell something and get half of what I spent 😂.

And to be even clearer, I do track and compare the money I've spent on jewelry "investments" to my total net worth to make sure that I haven't gone totally insane. For reference, the jewelry "portfolio" is in the range of 2-3% of my total net worth and I wouldn't want it to be any higher. Hopefully, writing this down will also keep me more accountable to not over consuming a shopping category I'm defending.

After years of buying way too many things, I have a shopping freeze on make-up and hair products (especially during Covid times I can barely use up what I have). I also love trying new skincare products but I'm forcing myself to use up a bunch of them before getting anything new. There are some things that have expired and it is disappointing that I had so many things I wasn't able to use up in time. These shopping constraints have made me save more money and focus on the things I really love instead of consuming what is fed to me on social media. 

The earlier you can address your shopping habits and begin investing in assets, the quicker you can hit some of those life milestones you truly want!

By the way, if you love reading about other people's money management and life goals, check out these Reader Case Studies by Mrs. Frugalwoods. Despite my coming from a career in money management, Frugalwoods has been a blog that has taught me so much. I also enjoy reading Gen Y Finance Guy, a similarly aged individual forging his way to his own version of independence with strategies very different than my own.

How do you think about your shopping habits? Do your shopping habits conflict with your long-term goals?

Let me know over on The Keeper of Things or in the comment section below.