The intent of my off consumption experiment is to spend an year without buying anything that is not a necessity.
Even though I have written down rather elaborate rules for what is allowed and what isn’t during my year of being off consumption, I have deliberately avoided defining what is a necessity. This is because one of the most interesting aspects of the experiment for me is to discover what I think of as a necessity and how it changes with context.
Perhaps the only fool-proof approach to discover what I think of as a necessity is to record and study what I actually buy, and how it changes over time.
Filed in Food Cravings, Label Blindness, Shopping List, Shopping Style, What Is Necessity?
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Also tagged Britannia Cheese Slices, Colgate Advanced Whitening Toothpaste, Good Earth Muesli, Good Earth Toasted Oats, Label Blindness, Man's World magazine, Necessity, Time Out magazine
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Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
Now that we know why I have gone off consumption, it’s time to lay out the rules for my year-long off-consumption experiment, list down what is allowed and what isn’t.
The intent of the experiment is to spend an year — from Mar 23, 2008 to March 22, 2009 — without buying anything that is not a necessity.
I have deliberately avoided defining what is a necessity because one of the most interesting aspects of the experiment for me is to “discover” what I think of as a necessity and how it changes with context.
Filed in FAQ, What Is Necessity?
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Also tagged Accessories, Books, Clothes, Eating Out, Entertainment, Experiment, Gifts, Groceries, Investments, Magazines, Mass Media, Movies, Music, Necessities, Never Eat Alone, Newspaper, Radio, Rules, Television, Ten COmmandments, Tolietries
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Why would a twenty-something, single, eligible, IIM-educated, upwardly mobile marketer on the corporate fast-track in India’s business capital decide to go ‘off consumption’ for a year?
Will a year off consumption (no eating out, no going out for movies or music or plays, no television or newspapers, no shopping except for necessities) leave him ill-equipped to handle life and work in Mumbai?
Or, will it leave him with invaluable insights into what drives us to consume, or not, into the nature of consumption, into human nature itself?