Shownotes Transcript
Hi everybody, welcome back to another episode of Talk with Tara. So today I want to talk about consumerism and materialism.
I used to be really influenced by all kinds of commercials and ads in my life, I have to say. And I used to think that I needed to have at least 30 different lip colors and 20 different eyeshadow palettes, things like that. And in recent years, I've been trying hard to get rid of things, trying to declutter, trying to stop impulsive shopping.
Today I want to talk about why I think materialism makes us really unhappy and even anxious and depressed. I want you to join me to stop impulsive shopping and to stop normalizing the behavior of buying things in large quantities.
Every day we are bombarded with all kinds of ads, our world is flooded with advertising. Advertising really plays on our fears and the need for social acceptance. When we are told that this one product will give us youthful skin or help us lose 30 pounds, we start questioning how we are now.
Are we not good enough? What should we buy to impress people more? This really results in low self-esteem. One phenomenon I really dislike on social media is the prevalence of haul videos. So haul videos are videos in which the influencer shares with the viewers
various of items he or she has bought from a specific brand. But one thing you should know is that most haul videos are sponsored by a specific brand. So influencers are rarely paying full price for all the products. In fact, most likely they're getting paid by making the video. This is something you do not know behind the scenes, but by watching this kind of haul videos all the time, every day, you start normalizing this kind of behavior. We are all
all being trained to think that constantly acquiring new items and acquiring many of them is the new normal way to shop. Studies show that comparing ourselves to those flawless celebrities and influencers on social media can lead to feelings of inadequacy and depression. And another dangerous thing is the trend of the #OOTD, outfit of the day.
OOTD really puts us under a lot of pressure. It really heightens the pressure of not wearing the same clothes twice.
When we see OOTD, we see the beautiful girl in the video wearing beautiful special occasion outfits and you will be like, "Oh, do I need to look that impressive all the every day? Do I need to put on something different, something new, something fresh every day? Do I have to dress to impress every freaking day?" Those beautiful girls in the videos are wearing special occasion outfits,
that are being passed off as an everyday look and making you question yourself, am I underdressing every day? And that leads to overconsumption. So how do we cut down on this impulsive buying behavior? My first tip for you is sleep on it. Give yourself a waiting period.
leave those things in your shopping cart and next day ask yourself, do I still really want them? Do I really, really need them? And most of the time, the answer is no. Tip number two, try to spend cash more instead of digital wallet or your credit card. Because when you physically see the money being spent, you feel like,
Heartbroken you don't want to do that. You feel more stingy towards your money So yeah, that's a really effective way to save more money and stop spending that much
Tip number three, learn to say no to your friends. Many times when we're spending money, it's because our friends are asking us to go to this event, to go to this activity, to spend money with them, to buy this thing together. I get it. There is peer pressure and you don't want to disappoint your friends, but it is really sexy to be able to say no. Just simply tell them, I'm sorry, I can't. I'm trying to save up a little.
Tip number four, try to set a bigger goal, a more meaningful one, like a trip abroad, an art course that you've always wanted to take, or a house, something like that. Always focus on enriching your experience, expanding your skill set, investing on yourself, or increasing your wealth if that's something that you're interested in and that's something that can truly make you happy.
So yeah, that's pretty much today's episode. Thank you for your time and don't forget to subscribe to my channel if you haven't already. I'll see you in my next one. Bye!
