I Feel Like I have Been Tricked Into Buying Things

I wonder if I have been tricked into buying a bunch of stuff that I don’t need. Companies spend billions of dollars a year to persuade us to buy things. Many of their methods use psychology and our natural tendencies against us. With the overwhelming psychological knowledge in their hands, do I even have chance? It is like I am playing cards against someone who can read my mind and I don’t even know it.

I used to think I was immune to the advertising, especially from Gmail and billboards. What if I am wrong and their message is sneaking in?

One trick advertisers use is to make us aware of a problem that we did not know we had and then tell us they can solve it. If we are not careful we become trained that we solve problems by buying things.

I know I have been “trained” in this way. When I notice a problem at home, I begin researching something to buy to resolve it. Sometimes I justify the purchase because it is so inexpensive. Considering all of the stuff I have collected around the house, I have justified a lot of these “solutions”. Many of these problems could have been fixed with knowledge, imagination, and the things I already own. A simple example is the vegetable chopper. I purchased one of these years ago believing it would make food prep easier. I ended up throwing it out because it was a hassle to clean. Once I acquired decent kitchen knife skills, the chopper was a waste of time, money, and space.

Now that I am more aware of my tendencies I have been able to interrupt this buying pattern and solve problems less with my wallet. Every time I do this I feel like I won that little battle.