This is a bit more political/ideological than my own thinking in this general direction, but on the whole I agree. I often think “why do you all want to own so much junk?” I’ve been getting more and more anti consumerist over the years, and it’s become kind of a point of pride not to but things, and start at the top, at "reduce*.
Ever since Covid, by far the most money I have spent is on transport (gas) and food, apart from housing. Beyond that, most of my discretionary spending has been entirely on items that can be immediately used like clothes/outdoor wear, kitchen ware or books. I also try to buy whatever I can used, since there’s such an excess of unwanted stuff in consumer society that you usually can find things used. The next step would be more DIY projects for a range of things and accumulating hard skills instead of items, but I haven’t quite crossed that bridge yet. That would stand me in good stead for the future that’s actually coming, though.
The system has been broken for pretty much my entire adult life and I’m doing my part not to make the problems of our time worse.
Yeah, picking up useful skills is a good one, no matter what happens. I’ve started gardening a bit, but most of my time is still taken up working what in the end is still a non essential bullshit job (when though I enjoy it most of the time). That need, that trap is what keeps all of the rest going. But I agree, we do what we can to minimize our impact and maybe Even have some positive influence.
