Millennials who buy less are happier
As a Genxer for my wife and I the thing that helped the most in getting off the consumerism cycle was abandoning all commercial television, paying for commercial free services, and cranking up the ad blockers. The constant barrage of psychological manipulation to tell you how you are not keeping up with the Jones&#x27;s is overwhelming. I almost can&#x27;t stomach event TV like the Super Bowl or New Years. It feels like the event is no longer importation and barely the focus as they slam cut from commercial to commercial designed to make you feel worse about yourself and push you to buy the next thingy.  I honestly start getting a headache it&#x27;s so much worse than it was even 10 years ago. It&#x27;s like looking at the code of the Matrix now and it disgusts me. The focus isn&#x27;t on entertaining the audience anymore it&#x27;s about keeping you captive while the pull apart your psyche.<p>I have a 10 year old car I drive 100 miles a month. It&#x27;s a tool not a contest. Why would I need a new expensive vehicle with phone home capabilities so they can start blasting ads at me on startup or start charging me monthly for heated seats. When I&#x27;m gone, no one is going to remember of I drove a 14 year old Nissan or brand new Rivian.<p>Once we got off the train it became easy. We focus on long term upgrades to our house, paying down debt, and saving for the inevitable retirement. Even as someone making 4-5x the national average, I endeavor to be frugal because it doesn&#x27;t last. We spend on stuff that will actually bring joy not stuff someone has blasted our brains into thinking we need and we buy quality which makes a huge difference.