I spent a ridiculous amount of time on Saturday scrolling to the bottom of emails and clicking that little "Unsubscribe" link... Why? Because I've made the decision to no longer receive messages from retailers.
It would have been easier to just ignore them all and be diligent about deleting them as they stream in endlessly throughout the day, but then I'd still see the "Free Shipping On ALL ORDERS Today Only!" and "Get $10 OFF On $40 Purchase" headers, get curious, and click. and click. and click.
I imagine most people are leaping to the conclusion that I have a spending problem. Although I'll definitely admit that I need to be more committed to saving the bulk of my income, that's not the case. I usually don't end up taking advantage of the almost-irresistible daily sales alerts, but the issue is in the occasions that I do. Yes, a surprise gift of 50% off of one of my favorite makeup brands is lovely, but do I need more eyeshadow? No. Will I buy it anyway? Possibly. Probably. Would I have purchased anything that day if I hadn't gotten the notification? No.
Even though I've not made a terrible habit of it, all of my little unplanned and entirely unnecessary online shopping adventures have added up to a big pile of things I hardly use... Or ever worse, never use.
I don't want to spend 30 minutes of my day clicking through emails and potentially spending money that could've had a better purpose on anything that I don't need or have a true, real desire to own.
I'm planning on continuing this journey elsewhere online also, i.e. Instagram and Twitter. Generally all social media platforms are going to receive a marketing blackout from my account.
With all of this said, I will keep emails from my favorite retailers who give back. If a brand plants a tree every time I buy a tee, or gives 5% of sales toward ending sex trafficking, I'll happy commit some impulse spending there.
My goal is to continually live more thoughtfully, intentionally, and graciously. This is just the newest step I'm taking toward that.
- Kathleen
Twitter / Instagram
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