By coincidence, I ended up reading two books on the topic of spending money. And as one ended up supporting the other - it worked out quite well. The first title was Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine. Levine took the challenge of having her and her sig other, just buy what they needed - not what they wanted, for a year. It becomes a fascinating study of minutiae - is a Q-Tip really not a necessity? (I think they are necessary!)What about a fancy mustard or new shoes to replace worn ones? How does one can convince oneself that you really NEED an item?
She finds that just deciding these things can be exhausting, and that shopping for some has become an extension of oneself. She goes into a lot of buying psychology and investigates the simplicity movement. She is not rich, although she does have two residences in which they both work from home, which complicates matters. Does she save more in NYC or Vermont? But in Vermont, they need to drive. You find yourself cheering her on, as the urge to cut back and enjoy the little things, really does start to happen. They are not saints - they have some failures, and you may think their neccessities are frivilous. In the end, she makes you want to try it (kinda like going through Lent for a really long time) and she succeeds in saving $8000. Could you do it?
To continue in this anti-consumerism mode, the book, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic by John De Graaf, David Wann and Thomas H. Naylor is a funny and serious look (yes, they can be in the same book) at consumers in American society today. Originally, the book was meant to go along with a PBS series of the same name. This version is a updated second edition. It is interesting that the term "affluenza" has now entered the mainstream - a google search gets many hits and not all from the U.S.
For someone who has not looked at the concept of over consumerism and the simplicity movement - this might be a great place to start. With it's facts, figures, stories and interviews; it tells the tale of how life improvement became the concept of getting more stuff. For those wanting to take the serious plunge of consuming less, this might inspire you to keep you on the path of curing your affluenza. Well written - and they made the economics easy to understand.
After September 11th, the general public was told to go shopping to keep up the economy. If you thought that was a bit goofy or wacked, these might be the books for you.
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