Buying things to fill a void is more common than people know. More and more people are stressed up and fed up with their jobs, life, and overall satisfaction that they’re turning to buying things in order to make themselves feel better. There are absolutely ways to stop this.
There are 40% of people who say their jobs are either very or extremely stressful. With statistics like that, it’s no wonder people buy and shop in order to feel better. Buying things make us feel powerful. It means we had enough power and money leftover from our paychecks.
Aside from the money it takes to keep us afloat. When I first graduated college, I felt powerless. After maxing out my 401k and HSA, I felt awful. I couldn’t spend on anything else that I wanted. All I could do was wait until years until my income increased where I was in a position to do such things.
I couldn’t even buy things to fill a void because I had no money leftover to do such things. The best way to stop buying things to fill a void is to not have money in the first place. However, we all will have some sort of money leftover from our paychecks for discretionary things.
Now’s a good time to ask when do you feel happy? and actually see if you meet the happiness trackers. There could be something missing from your life that you need to fix. Everyone’s got some sort of emptiness at some point of their life. You can easily lead a fulfilled life without spending money.
How to Know You’re Buying Things to Fill a Void
One way to know if you’re buying things to fill a void is if you don’t SMASH that social share button and post to your favorite social media! People just may be going through the same thing you’re going through and may need help.
So with that said, let’s go over how you can tell if there’s emptiness in your life!
1) You Throw Away Things a Lot
Every month, you find yourself throwing things you bought with your hard earned money. It could be a toy you bought that serves no use anymore. Or it could be an electronics you thought you were going to use but never did or do. If you’re throwing things away a lot, it’s because you don’t need them.
When you buy stuff you don’t need or even want, it means you’re buying things to fill a void. You’re buying unnecessary things in order to keep you afloat. Minimalist lifestyle is the best lifestyle ever. There isn’t really a whole lot of things we need in order to stay alive.
Even spending the surplus occasionally is a fine way to live. However, too much surplus to the point of where you’re throwing things away constantly is bad. It’s your hard earned money. People don’t just give their hand money to you, you have to earn it with your labor and/or smarts.
You don’t want to throw away money.
2) You’re Left Wondering Where Your Money Went
The average salary of $58,000 in the United States is more than enough to live on and then some. However, if you earn above that AND at the end of the week, month, or year, you’re left wondering where all the money went, it means some went into waste.
It may mean you overspent your money on unnecessary things or it may mean you don’t know where your money goes on a regular basis. This is a good sign you are buying things to fill a void. You should generally know where your money goes and what you spend money on.
Maybe not to the exact dollar but there shouldn’t be many surprises in your net worth and/or budget reviews as time passes. It may be because you may not be earning enough money. However, it may also mean that you’re spending money too much on things that don’t add value to your life.
3) You Spend More than the Average Amount Spent Per Day
On average, Americans spend $165 per day, including rent, car payments, and the like. If you’re spending more than that and you can’t justify it through your salary and 9-5, then it becomes a problem. Then it means you’re buying things to fill a void.
$165 per day is $60,000 per year. There are many parts of the country you can live on for $60,000 per year. I barely spend close to $25,000 per year. And spending $25,000 per year is on a bad year where I spent more than what is normal.
I normally spend between $23,000 – $25,000. I can’t imagine spending more than that and it would be VERY difficult for me to do so. There’s just no need to spend extravagantly in order to live the good life. The average spending of $165/day is more than enough for your life.
If you are spending more without justifying it with more income, it’s because you are buying things to fill a void.
How to Stop Buying Things to Fill a Void
Now that you know how to tell if you’re buying things to fill a void, let’s go over how to stop doing so. Your financial health depends on it!
1) Ask if Buying Things is from Your Childhood
Recently, I’ve been spending freely. I wanted to feel good about myself with the bear market that happened first half of 2022. I wanted to prove to myself that I’m still financially stable no matter what. As a child, I’ve seen what it takes for my family to struggle with money and I didn’t want to feel that.
Therefore, I thought about the possibility that I need to buy things to fill a void because my childhood wasn’t always financially secure. Then when I figured out that the possible root causes to my spending habits may be from my childhood, I started spending less and spending less.
Spending more money while asset prices are declining is digging a big hole for yourself. You’re losing both ways and if there’s no more 9-5 income, then it becomes lights out. Buying things to fill a void may just be from your childhood. Finding out the root cause is step one to stopping the behavior.
2) Consider Seemingly Unrelated Events
Are you OK physiologically? When you feel sluggish or stressed, do you cope and use shopping as an out? For me, I have bad digestion issues which spills over to other aspects of my life that I didn’t even know. Sleep is number one and root casualty of my digestion issues.
Then when I can’t sleep, I get in a bad mood the day after. Then when I get in a bad mood, I try things to make myself feel better by shopping online. Seemingly unrelated events such as this makes a huge impact to your life. More than you know because it happens to you automatically.
I was going through the motions of spending unnecessarily without understanding the consequences. It’s like I was a zombie who was only really partially conscious. Some other greater being had control over me. Consider and evaluate if these events cause you to buy things to fill a void.
Your subconscious mind affects your life more than you know.
3) Stick to a Grocery List
The grocery store is one of the notorious places where the store places all sort of psychological tricks to get consumers to spend more. From a maze layout to putting essentials on the back of the store, grocery stores play an endless stream of tricks in order to get consumers to spend more.
Sticking to a grocery list solves this problem. Shopping lists have made many people wealthier and will allow others to save even more money. Diligently sticking to a list lets you avoid and stop buying things to fill a void. Because remaining diligent avoids unnecessary spending.
Another trick is to not go to the grocery store hungry. For some reason we love buying food more than normal if we go to the grocery store hungry. Store owners play all sort of psychological tricks in order to get us to spend more money and part with our hard earned money.
4) Notice When You Shop
Online shopping made it easier and more convenient for customers to buy things. Amazon spoiled consumers rotten with their 1-day shipping. Therefore, when it’s easier to shop and spend money, we spend money. The next time, notice if you’re shopping because it’s easier to shop online.
Or whether it’s because you actually need to spend the money to make the purchase. There are times when I wish I hadn’t spent money to buy things because of buyers’ remorse or because I didn’t even mean to shop. You could be shopping because you’re bored.
This is one of the classic ways that people shop. It’s a coping mechanism. Buying things to fill a void doesn’t work because it only temporarily works. Be very wary of the next that you shell out your money in exchange for goods. It should happen way less than you think.
5) Recognize How Serious Buying Things to Fill a Void is
It’s your money. Money doesn’t fall from the sky nor does it grow on trees. Buying things to fill a void is an endless loop in which the root cause of the problem does not get fixed. It’s easy to make ourselves temporarily feel better with money.
It’s hard to actually figure out the root cause of our issues so you can fix them.
It takes work. Maybe your relationship with your significant other isn’t working out. The person you love. So it stresses you out even further. So you buy things to make yourself feel better. You’re not only poorer but the problem still lingers on and will perpetuate.
It’s a serious problem. Finding a long term solution is much better than trying to find a short term solution to a permanent problem. I know because I’ve been there. There was something nagging at me in the back of my mind that I just couldn’t shake off so I turned to shopping.
It’s not healthy.
6) You Have to Want to Stop Buying Things to Fill a Void
Everything starts with desire. If you think your life is fine, then you’re not going to fix or change any part of your behavior or choices. The first step starts with you. It’s not even about building wealth at this point, it’s about building happiness.
Buying things to fill a void is becoming more common than ever. Not just because we live in a consumerist society but because more people are stressed out with their lives. It’s become much more expensive to just exist and mindlessly spending money on non-essentials is not the way to go.
I realized I had a spending problem when I threw away an entire box’s worth of clothes before I moved in 2022. That was the biggest waste of money that I ever saw. $1,000 or so just down the drain. No more. Now, if I don’t need it, I don’t spend or shell out money for it.
No more buying things to fill a void.
Not Buying Things to Fill a Void is Important
When I was unhappy, it was a combination of factors. I had a horrible job, horrible boss, and generally a horrible state of being. Then on top of that, I had a health problem that I didn’t know that I had and fixing that took about 2 years to execute on.
Buying things to fill a void is a problem not just for your wallet but for your health and happiness. The health problems that I experienced just didn’t feel good. After fixing those problems is when my happiness index went up higher.
I now know what it takes for me to feel great about myself and about the way to get things done. With this information, I can only imagine just how much farther I’ll go and how much faster I’ll go after finding out this information. The world just becomes my oyster.
After experiencing my first major bear market of 2022, I now know how fragile my money really is. I don’t want to buy things anymore and I want to go back to the basics to stop buying things to fill a void. The basics of saving and investing as much as I can is important.
There are a lot of things that I already have that is more than enough for me to feel content and fulfilled. There’s no need to buy any more things. I am very excited to know where I can take my life now that I have figured out and fixed the root cause of my problem.
It will that way for you as well.
How to Stop Buying Things to Fill a Void Shortlist:
- Ask if buying things is from your childhood
- Consider seemingly unrelated events
- Stick to a grocery list
- Notice when you shop
- Recognize how serious buying things to fill a void is
- You have to want to stop buying things to fill a void
