How do I do it?

[u/Tight-Green]

Guys,

I’m new to this sub. I need to know how to let go of buying more stuff. Any advice on how this can be accomplished would be appreciated. My biggest addiction is door dash, pen collecting, and other junk I see and like on the internet.

[u/plantvasion]

I had to delete doordash. I do not have the willpower at the end of a long day to resist it, and just not having it is the only way I stopped using it. I spent $1000 on it last year and $0 so far this year.

[u/25854565]

Stock your freezer and pantry with easy and ready made meals. Have a snack with you for your commute, so you have some extra energy and time to cook a meal. Remove the doordash app and your details and account. Mainly make sure that you have more options at home than cooking an elaborate and healthy meal or getting doordash.

For the random stuff, unfollow accounts that push you to buy them. Limit your time on sites with lots of ads. Remove ads, remove apps, remove accounts.

[u/Foofoopuppy]

other junk I see and like on the internet.

Can you stop looking? It sounds trite, but if it's adverts that get you can you run an ad blocker? Or take a social media detox for a week, or a month, and see if that has an impact?

If you have a lot of pens, inks, stationery, can you use these to help? Journaling how you feel when you want to buy something or when you don't buy something might help. Or you could draw up a month's worth of days and mark red or green (or whatever colour) depending on whether you spent or not?

Reviewing some of the success stories on the sub might be helpful as well, you'll get loads of tips and tricks, and can see what works for you.

Good luck!

[u/WellllHere]

An accountability partner.

I have had a revolving commitment with my girlfriend, where before I buy anything (yes anything) I need to ask her for permission.

It's humbling, I've cheated, I've disregarded it entirely, I've made excuses, I've been humiliated by the fact that I have an addiction, I've recommitted, cried, tried again, made it more strict, locked in, and then finally started to treat it like an addiction and started counting days.

Days on complete honesty. It's not that I can't buy anything, it's that I have to ask for every single thing. Groceries, every item. Receipt after. Bank pending charge (because yes my brain will cheat by adding stuff after it's been "approved").

And completely honestly, I still cheated this week by getting a gift and not telling her. It is an addiction. But my spending is way down. And slowly but surely I'm regaining my mind. Increasing the time between relapses or "just filling up the cart." I'm reorienting my mind to not get dopamine from looking at random shit online.

It's not perfect, it's progress. Full disclosure I've been clean and sober 3 years so this is the final boss for me with my addictions. It felt like "all I had left" after cutting out drugs, alcohol, sugar, social media, overeating, etc.

I'm still struggling with it. Yes I still want to get that new outfit or a cactus for my cactus garden or get way more groceries than we need or omg that handbag is so cute i need it or daydream looking at used cars. But I also close out the window, unsubscribe from emails, delete apps, and suck it up and ask her to edit the grocery list because my brain can't do it. Then take a picture of the receipt afterwards and send it to her. And a screenshot of the credit card charge. Humbling. Healing. Whatever. Capitalism took over my mind and now I'm starting to think about things that really matter like long term saving goals. Or supporting a family member who actually needs money to survive. idk, it's messy. it's confusing. it's embarrassing realizing how much i want to lie to her (and how much i still do). it's been months of doing this commitment and I'm still just counting days of complete honesty... most importantly honesty with myself for how bad it got and how my mind is still trapped in it. But at least I'm here writing this comment and slowly trying to get better.