One of the things that we are most guilty of in the current age is overconsumption. Most likely that is due to convenience and competitive pricing but influencers have a big part to play in the story too.

When I’m talking about overconsumption, I’m talking about anything from food, to clothes. We no longer buy only what we need, but we regularly spend on wants. Generally speaking, there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, we work and earn money so that we can enjoy life. The only time buying a lot becomes a problem is when it impacts either you or others negatively. That, for me, is overconsumption.

I can speak a part from personal experience. It dawned on me one day recently that money isn’t one of the major challenges I face. Instead, it’s space and waste.

Here’s the thing. I have a lot of hobbies and when I get into those hobbies, I want to make sure that I have everything.

For reading, I’ve accumulated so many books that I want to read and the reason I’ve bought them all because they were for a good price or I needed a little pick me up. But then I was forced to see that I’ve run out of physical space to store these books.

One of the biggest areas of overconsumption in recent years is fast fashion. A big reason this has become a problem is because of influencers and people trying to become influencers. That means constantly having to churn out new content. This has meant that brands will try to be competitive in pricing and bring out cheap clothes so that people will keep buying.

The reason this can become such a problem is that the clothes often end up in landfill. Either they aren’t taken to charity shops, or they just don’t last so they get thrown a way rather than recycled. It’s easier to buy a bunch of clothes than it is to dispose of it.

On the flip side, you have influencers who are encouraging people to constantly shop the latest trend. Again, that leads to overconsumption as you are having to continuously buy clothes to stay on trend.

As a cherry on top, it’s also a dopamine hit. We’ve seen it for decades that people shop when they are feeling low. Think Confessions of a Shopaholic.

On the same point as fashion, we’ve got make-up. Many influencers specialised in make-up which meant there was a big increase in sales of more premium products. Similarly with fashion, that meant there was a gap in the market for dupes of these products.

The problem with dupes, is that because of the price point, they are also easier to discard. Brands are having to release new products so often, and consumers are curious to try them; myself included.

We also see a problem with food. Supermarkets are offering many choices which is fantastic, but it also means that very often food goes to waste whether because of the supermarket itself or with the end customer.

Overconsumption happens in so many ways, including media. News and stories are all around us, usually on social media. Streaming giants are releasing new stuff every week, telling us it’s the next best thing. All we have to do is try and consume it.

When we look at all of these things that we are consuming, it can feel incredibly overwhelming. It’s as if we are on a treadmill and the world is setting the pace and we are just trying to keep up.

But what if we can take back control? Or better yet, what if we get off the treadmill?

In the last few weeks, I’ve tried to be more mindful with my purchases. It started with clearing out some full cupboards. I was trying to organise things and realised that it’s hard to organise if everything is full. A lot of the things I have, I like which is why I’ve kept them but I’m not actually using them.

To avoid this over-consumption, I’ve started to give myself more time and thought when making purchases. I won’t buy things immediately because the desire for that particular item might vanish.

If it doesn’t, then I look at why I really want it. Do I get much benefit from it? Is it different enough to what I already have?

With food, I try to plan my meals more carefully and make sure there’s flexibility in there. It’s good to stock up on certain things, but if you forget about it then it usually ends up in the bin.

It all leads me to a similar point that my last post was about – which is that, it’s time to slow down. It doesn’t matter that things are said to be ‘unmissable’ online.

When you fancy sitting down and watching something, then you’ll have a look and browse.

When you go into the shops and you want to buy some more make-up, you’ll see what takes your fancy.

With clothes, just try to get use out of them straight away. Or if it’s something that you don’t want to let get away from you, make sure you have space for it.

There is no problem with buying the things that you love, especially in an age where they are trying to take away physical ownership of things (PlayStation, I’m looking at you), but it’s a case of not allowing yourself to be influenced into buying things that you otherwise wouldn’t have bought.

A little indulgence is fine but even too much of a good thing isn’t so good.