Conscious Consumerism

For the past year, we’ve sat and watched influencers live their best lives; blazoning £500 Asos hauls across their stories, TikTok and YouTube (where were they even going to wear all that?). How many times have you been scrolling on TikTok, seen an influencer raving about a product and swiped straight across to Amazon to make an impulse purchase? If you answered yes, you are an influencer’s dream. 

Conscious consumerism and impulse buying don’t exactly go hand in hand, in fact, they don’t even belong in the same sentence. You know that here at Financielle that we don’t say that frugality is a must and we believe you can still enjoy your hard-earned money whilst saving and investing.  The notion of conscious consumerism fits perfectly into this; by thinking about your potential purchases and asking yourself if you really need it, you create friction and say goodbye to impulse buying. Thinking about cost-per-wear, the quality of the product and if you’re just buying it because it’s a trend, are all things to consider when making purchases. Congratulations! You are now a conscious consumer. 

Social media-fuelled impulse buying is something we’re all bound to be (or have been) a culprit of. Our view on what the average woman buys fashion-wise is distorted. Not only should we be utilising what we already have in our own wardrobe, we also should certainly not be trying to keep up with the copious number of items our fave influencers are constantly parading across our screens in.

According to the New Standard Institute, one in three young women in the UK consider clothing old after wearing it once or twice. When you stop and think about it, have you ever seen an influencer outfit repeat? Not normally, because it’s their job to promote the new trends, not yours! We simply do not need to be following the trend of spending £500 on fast fashion hauls once every couple of weeks (FYI the influencers who partake in these trends send the majority of their haul back). 

So, what can you do to stop yourself from falling into a trap of impulse buying?

Here’s a couple of tips. Firstly, before making a purchase, give yourself 24 hours to ask yourself if you actually need it and how much use will you get out of it. We also recommend removing influencers from your feed who fuel your spending habit. Next time you see an item you like, screenshot it and ask yourself the next day, Do I still like that? This way, you’re implementing consciousness into your purchases! 

Do yourself and the planet a favour and think before you buy.  It’s important to remember that you are in control of your own finances, you have the power to choose where your money goes, so spend consciously.