Shopping for shopping’s sake has become a “national pastime” for many Asian countries, a global online survey done by AC Nielsen suggests. Of the top ten markets where people shop regularly for recreation, seven are in Asian countries: people in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand rank the highest in the world. On average, they shop… Continue reading Shopping: A National Pastime in Asia
Category: Money Psychology
Extreme Overshopping Leads To Legal Troubles
Lisa Walker, 42, of New York City, more commonly known as Antoinette Millard, charged nearly a million dollars of goods on her no-limit American Express card during a three-month period in 2004. The former investment banker, who quit her job and pretended to be a Saudi Princess, tried to buy her way into high society.… Continue reading Extreme Overshopping Leads To Legal Troubles
Recommended Reading: Hooked: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the Urge to Consume Stephanie Kaza, ed. (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2005)
Buddhism contains some wonderfully apt messages that concern “affluenza” and “luxury fever,” our modern day plagues of materialism and overconsump-tion, and reading this extraordinary and diverse collection is a very inviting way to access those messages. Compiled by Stephanie Kaza at the Univer-sity of Vermont, these essays sharply challenge today’s ingrained cultural assumption that what’s… Continue reading Recommended Reading: Hooked: Buddhist Writings on Greed, Desire, and the Urge to Consume Stephanie Kaza, ed. (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2005)
Consumer Monster Mockumentary
Canadian filmmaker Jeremy Lutter has nearly finished shooting Not For$ale, a mockumentary about overconsumption. Styled after Michael Moore’s work, the film follows the picaresque journey of a Cookie Monsterish yellow puppet. At home in Canada, he meets a variety of people who teach him about the growing movement to scale back our consumption. His addiction… Continue reading Consumer Monster Mockumentary
Recommended Reading: The Soul of Money; Transforming your Relationship with Money and Life (Lynne Twist, Norton, 2003)
Lynne Twist’s The Soul of Money is a valuable resource for anyone looking to reevaluate his or her relationship with money. Through inspirational stories, Twist reveals how to let go of burden and guilt and replace them with purpose, transforming your ground of being from scarcity to sufficiency. A global fundraiser and activist, Twist uses… Continue reading Recommended Reading: The Soul of Money; Transforming your Relationship with Money and Life (Lynne Twist, Norton, 2003)