More and more people want to stop shopping and live with a buying freeze. The inveterate super saver Emilia Arvidsson notices this. She believes that it is partly about the economy, but not only.
– There is a consumption fatigue, people wonder “who am I if I don’t shop?”, says Emilia Arvidsson.
The author and journalist Emilia Arvidsson has had a buying ban for over eight years. In 2018, she became the administrator of the Facebook group “Purchase-free year”. There, she and the members advise each other on different ways to live with a purchase freeze. At the time the group had around 800 members, today they are just under 8,000. The number of members has increased significantly in the last three months, according to Arvidsson.
– I think that it partly depends on the economic situation, but I also think that there is a consumption fatigue. That you don’t want to be part of this shopping carousel, she says.
“The first year I was able to save SEK 100,000”
Today, it is mainly for environmental reasons that Emilia Arvidsson does not shop, but when she started it was about the economy. Growing up with a single mother and financial worries has taken its toll.
– I was able to have a buffer. The first year I was able to save SEK 100,000. I want to feel safe and be able to manage even if I have no income for three or four months.
Buys coffee and skin care – sometimes
You don’t have to refrain from buying everything to be purchase-free, thinks Emilia Arvidsson. It is enough to put an end to certain categories – if you spend a lot of money on clothes, you can limit it. She buys coffee and skin care herself sometimes. A while ago, she spontaneously bought a pair of new headphones, even though it’s actually against her principles.
– I thought it was a bit cool. I usually say that I forgot the code for my bank card, because I draw it so rarely. But I managed to pay, says Emilia Arvidsson.