9 Surprising Reasons We Keep Buying Things We Don’t Actually Need

In America, we have a standard of living that would have been unimaginable a few generations back. Even those on the lower end of the income spectrum have access to the latest technology, affordable food and clothing, healthcare services, and the means to travel long distances with ease.

And yet, we remain a society consumed with the pursuit of more things. Our desire for great things drives a never-ending desire to increase our wealth and spend more of what we have earned.

This need for more is not just a financial one; it’s a big emotional and psychological weight that we place on our shoulders. By tethering our happiness to material possessions, we trade some of our freedom for the idols of status.

I’m not opposed to spending money, and I’m thankful for the comforts and conveniences it has brought to my world. But we must keep our priorities in order. A life of true wealth, I believe, is one in which you can be generous with your resources while remaining calm and content whether money is flowing easily or drying up.

To achieve this wisdom, you must understand what drives you to spend money in the first place. What are the needs you are trying to fill? Are there cheaper ways to meet those needs? Or better yet, can you make peace with those unmet desires, knowing they will never be fully satisfied on this side of heaven?

Below are what I believe to be some of the biggest reasons we overspend. The key to breaking free is not to hide from these reasons but to hold them up to the light of day and examine them thoughtfully.

Increase your comfort

One of my biggest weaknesses is a desire for comfort. I like a warm, neat home, a cozy bed, and having everything I need at my fingertips. While these are good things, if I let my desire for them grow too large, I’ll feel weighed down by stress when things are not to my liking. I’ll spend more money than I should, and my source of joy will be the convenience of the modern world.

Relieve your boredom

Have you noticed that most of the best online shopping sites now have a feed or scrolling interface very similar to social media? It allows you to keep seeing new items and suggestions based on your previous purchases. This is no accident. We become addicted to the pleasure of clicking and scrolling, and companies want to make it as easy as possible to start shopping even when you don’t need anything.

Reward yourself for working hard

I’ve worked hard today knocking things off my to-do list, and now I’ve earned myself the right to… spend my money? Logically, this doesn’t make a lot of sense. Of course, I do want to spend my money on enjoyable things at some point, but to use it as a reward for good behavior seems to be emotional immaturity. Not only does it reinforce the habit of instantly rewarding yourself, it trains your brain to think that spending money is the best way to enjoy life.

Want what others have

It’s easy to say that you’re content with what you have, but then a friend or neighbor buys something nice, and now you want one too. This shows that our contentment is fragile— it is easily disrupted by seeing others prosper. Some part of us feels that we should have only what others have, or maybe even more. If this is the case, our happiness will always be dependent on others, making it a real challenge to live generously.

Feel good about yourself

Most of us are aware of how others perceive us and care at least a bit what they might think. I don’t think this desire in itself is wrong— it’s normal to want to be liked by others. But I do worry that, for many of us, this desire leads us to spend beyond our means or make unwise financial choices. We feel important and accomplished when we can spend money with ease, so we buy things we don’t need to feel better about ourselves.

Fill a void in your life

One of the traps of modern life is how reflective it is of our thoughts and desires. If you feel bored, there is the internet to stimulate you. If you feel lonely, you can scroll through social media, which, though not the same as real connection, feels close. And if you feel sad about your life or how things are going, a bit of shopping can easily distract you and lift your mood. Taken together, these things make it easier to avoid the hard but rewarding work of changing yourself.

Raise your status in society

Keeping up with the Joneses is an idiom for measuring your status or success in life against your neighbors. Of course, the Joneses aren’t really your neighbors anymore, thanks to the internet. They are now among the many influencers, friends, and interesting people you follow online. Most of the time, we’re not even explicitly aware that the idea of status is floating around in our heads, but it’s there every time we compare ourselves to anyone besides our past selves.

Sticking to your budget is too hard

Sometimes we buy things we don’t need simply because being disciplined is hard. The plans we made to save or be frugal now seem less important when, in the moment, we are confronted with something we want. The thing we want now seems so much easier to attain than the long-term goal that requires us to defer our happiness. This short-term mentality is what keeps us stuck in a bad cycle of spending more than we planned.

We haven’t learned to embrace the struggle

It’s not wrong to want good things for yourself and your family. But it is dangerous to shield yourself so thoroughly from the struggle that you can’t handle the heat when things get hard or to the point that you begin to view everything as a problem that can be solved with money. There is great wisdom to be found in struggling through aspects of your life rather than trying to eliminate the friction. You can’t buy contentment, you can only learn to be content with what you have.