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This is part of our series on The Simple Living Manifesto. We invite you to join us on the journey.

The 17th idea in the manifesto is:

Limit your buying habits. If you are a slave to materialism and consumerism, there are ways to escape it. I was there, and although I haven’t escaped these things entirely, I feel much freer of it all. If you can escape materialism, you can get into the habit of buying less. And that will mean less stuff, less spending, less freneticism. Read more.

Last month we had two foster boys in our home. A 1-year-old and a 2-year-old — both within two months of their next birthday.

When I think about limiting my own buying habits, I’m reminded of three lessons I learned from the boys.

Tune out the noise.

From day one the boys wanted the television on most of the day. But while they wanted the TV on, we quickly noticed they weren’t paying much attention to it.

As the days passed, rather than simply letting them turn the TV on for the sake of having it on, I decided we would leave it off.

I expected a fuss of some sort but they went back to their toys and never complained.

I also noticed that their requests for things like “Coke” and “Mcdonals” reduced as their days away from the TV increased (perhaps that and the fact that we weren’t giving them to them).

In the real world, there’s always someone adding to the noise and trying to convince you there’s something else you need.

They’re doing their best to create demand and desire for their mass-produced products.

And when we’re surrounded by the noise it’s only natural to want more. But when you can tune out the TV, the billboards, the radio adverts and the Internet sites full of advertising — you’ll win.

After all, it’s hard to want what you can’t see or don’t know about.

Be content.

After their first full day with us — and the stimulation overload that came from all the generous toys we were given — we quickly decided to limit the number of toys the boys played with each day.

Each day we’d only pull out five or six toys (rotating them from day to day), leaving the rest hidden away.

And guess what? Each day they played with the toys we sat out for them and they never mentioned the other ones.

The toy they had played with the day before was long forgotten about.

Watching the boys play, reminded me of how little we really need.

The boys were totally happy with what they had (most of the time). Their needs were met. They had a bed, warm clothes and food on the table. They had people who were watching out for them and caring for them. What more could they need.

We think contentment is some zen state of being but contentment is simply happiness with one’s situation in life.

It doesn’t mean where we hope to be one day (i.e. “I’ll be content as soon as I have ____.” or “I’ll be content once we live ____.:) — but our current situation — whatever it might be.

Ignore the Jones’.

The Jones’ always get picked on don’t they? But then again, they always have the best stuff.

The new 3D television, the new boat, the jet skis, the new truck to haul the boat and jet skis.

They’re living the dream aren’t they? At least until the bills come.

While the boys were were perfectly content with what they had — that all changed when they saw their brother playing with something different.

Once they realized their brother had a different toy, that’s when the grabbing and hording and tantrums would break out.

“It’s mine! Gimme! Gimme! I want it!”

We do the same thing don’t we?

We could simply isolate ourselves from our neighbors but I’m certain that the better option is to simply focus on all the blessings we have. Be grateful for what we have and the fewer bills you’ll have stacking up at the end of the month.

Simply put…

Be happy with what you have and tune out all the noise that tells you otherwise.

Have I oversimplified it? Are there other issues at hand I’m forgetting about? What’s helped you limit your buying habits?

Join us!

Write a blog post about the point above and then share the link in the comments below…

The Simple Manifesto #17 – Limit your buying habits

You may also enjoy reading ::

• The Simple Manifesto #7 – Limit communication
• The Simple Manifesto #15 – Declutter your digital packrattery
• The Simple Manifesto #14 – Simplify your computer life
• The Simple Manifesto #13 – Simplify your wardrobe

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