{"id":309,"date":"2022-10-31T12:02:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T12:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/minimalism-and-critical-consumption-lagom\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T18:58:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T18:58:03","slug":"minimalism-and-critical-consumption-lagom","status":"publish","type":"essays","link":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/essays\/minimalism-and-critical-consumption-lagom\/","title":{"rendered":"Minimalism, \u201clagom,\u201d and Critical Consumption"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As I\u2019ve shared before on The Money with Katie Show<\/em><\/span><\/a> and likewise on this very blog<\/span><\/a>, I\u2019ve had a fairly fraught relationship with materialism. I\u2019ve gone through phases when I would\u2019ve branded myself with the Chanel logo if given the materials and opportunity to do so, and I\u2019ve also gone through stages when I embraced radical simplicity and frugality to the extent that I carried around a broken travel coffee mug wrapped in a can koozie because I didn\u2019t feel it was necessary to spend $15 replacing it. <\/p>\n

I tend to find myself binging on consumption (spending a lot of money on clothes, buying an overpriced bag, going a little wheels-off with food spending for a month or two and generating a lot of waste), then pulling back in an overcorrection wherein I swear off everything altogether. <\/p>\n

In some ways, it\u2019s a little bit like crash dieting: Overdo it, overcorrect, repeat. Whiplash between unhealthy extremes.<\/p>\n

My theory about why this tends to happen? Because my internal goals and philosophies are often at odds with the cultural messaging I receive during most waking hours of my life. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s insidious. In a statistic that seems almost impossible, Lunio\u2014a product designed to \u201canalyze traffic behavior across all acquisition channels,\u201d whatever that means\u2014reports that, on average, we\u2019re exposed to between 6,000 and 10,000<\/span><\/a> advertisements per day<\/em>. <\/p>\n

You\u2019ve gotta be firmly entrenched in your desire not<\/em> to spend to have willpower that can outlast 6,000 to 10,000 consumption-urging brain blasts\u2014especially<\/em> when you consider that the ads are not randomly generated, they\u2019re hyper-targeted<\/em><\/span><\/a> based on your demographics, interests, and search history across devices.<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t a post meant to criticize the always-on nature of online advertising. Instead, I want to explore the ways in which we all have to reckon with the messages of cultural consumption we\u2019re constantly inundated with if we actually want to be happy<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Microclimates of consumption<\/h2>\n

While we can wax poetic about how overconsumption is an American ideological linchpin in general, there are dozens\u2014if not hundreds\u2014of subcultures throughout the US that probably influenced your own personal<\/em> attitude toward consumerism.<\/p>\n

Human beings have to find new and inventive ways to confer status<\/span><\/a> on themselves and one another, and one easy way to do that is by adorning yourself in branded garb, driving around in a flashy metal box, and building your home with materials that convey you just made partner and you\u2019re not afraid to spend like it<\/em>. <\/p>\n

The particular<\/em> ways in which communities do this vary a lot, which makes this conversation difficult to generalize: Sure, I could<\/em> point out that you can\u2019t toss a rock out a window in Uptown Dallas without boinking it off the side of a G-Wagon, but that type of sentiment likely wouldn\u2019t resonate with someone who lives in, say, Wichita, Kansas. That doesn\u2019t mean there isn\u2019t some <\/em>means of status signaling in Kansas, it\u2019s just not the same <\/em>means of signaling. <\/p>\n

Having lived in four different parts of the country, I can think of three distinct \u201cconsumerism microclimates\u201d I\u2019ve experienced\u2014each with their own strange markers of success. <\/p>\n

Where I grew up in Northern Kentucky, handbags by designers like Dooney & Bourke and Coach were the leather-bound talismans of the day. Being involved in some sort of expensive, elite sport (be it swimming, cheerleading, or \u201cselect soccer\u201d) also earned you points. (I was neither athletic nor rich enough to participate, but you can bet your ass I was a devoted extra in high school plays.)<\/p>\n

In case it\u2019s not obvious, I grew up in a pretty solidly middle class area.<\/p>\n

Where I went to college in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, it was Louis Vuitton bags, David Yurman jewelry, and a revolving closet of trendy game day gear. Oddly, there were certain cultural phenomena I had never heard of, too, like cotillion: the practice wherein a college-aged woman would dress up like the Princess Bride and show off her manners for a crowd of\u2026adoring fans? <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know. I still don\u2019t get it. All I know is, it was easy to tell the rich Southern women from the not-so-rich ones, because the rich ones posted the obligatory cotillion pictures. Another strange Tuscaloosa indicator, albeit less of a wealth-signaling one: giant T-shirts. I practically burned everything Size S I owned when I arrived on campus and replaced it over the next four years with shirts I was swimming in. Evidence:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

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The time stamp on this picture tells me it was taken approximately 5 days<\/strong> after I moved to Alabama. Your girl assimilated quickly<\/em>. \u201cLaughably giant T-shirts\u201d was practically a social experiment being conducted on the SEC, and we all gladly, unquestioningly obliged.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t a direct signal of wealth, but it did<\/em> confer status and belonging\u2014you were \u201cin the know.\u201d In the \u201cin-group.\u201d <\/p>\n

Where I began my career in Dallas, it was Range Rovers and boutique fitness memberships (plus, of course, the lululemon sets and thin, tan, blonde body to match). While the latter admission may sound more like a cultural physique preference, rest assured there are financial implications as well: You gotta stick to the rigorous diet, exercise, tan, and bleach schedule to achieve it, and that don\u2019t come cheap, honey!<\/p>\n

Even now\u2014in Colorado\u2014I notice a little microclimate around consumerism (or maybe, rather, the performance of the lack thereof). While it\u2019s not as obvious as it may have been in, say, Dallas, it still exists: All you need to do is spend a Saturday at an REI to see it\u2019s just as common. One must adopt the common trappings to really blend in: Patagonia shorts and hats, Nalgene water bottles, a Subaru, Chacos, Tevas, belt bag-style purses, an assortment of bikes outfitted specifically for whether you\u2019re riding on a road or the side of a mountain\u2026<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mean to suggest that buying tactical gear is the same thing ideologically as buying a Range Rover for your three-mile round trip commute through the flat, scorching eight-lane thoroughfares of greater DFW\u2014but there are miniature cultures of consumer norms everywhere<\/em>, and if you dressed like a generic Northern Kentucky girl in Tuscaloosa, you\u2019d stick out, just like if you dressed like a generic Dallas girl in Colorado.<\/p>\n

The status signifiers I\u2019m mentioning may not resonate with you depending on where you<\/em> live in the Land of the For-Profit and Home of the Flash Sale, but my guess is you can think of a few, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Where \u201cminimalism\u201d falls short<\/h2>\n

When The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up <\/em>came out, it felt like we were maybe<\/em> on the precipice of a shift in the way we related to consumer goods and spending. Everything from the emergence of the capsule wardrobe<\/span><\/a> to the growing popularity of professional organization<\/span><\/a> content on social media all seemed to suggest one thing: <\/p>\n

By paring down and organizing impeccably, you could create a better life. <\/h3>\n

(Marie Kondo had some choice words<\/span><\/a> for professional organizers, though, calling them \u201choarders\u201d\u2014so it\u2019s not all kumbaya in KonMari Land.)<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, embracing a minimalist attitude toward consumerism can also be good for your finances<\/span><\/a>, because it\u2019s considered more of a way of life and less of a restrictive spending diet. (The idea, of course, is that minimalism is supposed to make your life better<\/em>, not worse.)<\/p>\n

But minimalism as a movement has been criticized<\/span><\/a> for being a classist dog whistle; the idea that someone could only own one <\/em>of something (and that that \u201csomething\u201d would be so well-made, durable, and high-quality that it could withstand being the only version of it that someone owned) is inherently a lifestyle choice for people who can afford to shell out the big bucks at least once per required item. <\/p>\n

The lifestyle magazine version of a minimalist aesthetic often carries with it an emphasis on clean, neutrally colored, sleek, open spaces, which can be\u2014surprise\u2014relatively expensive to reproduce. (Cue the Halloween slasher music with shots of Kim and Kanye\u2019s house and furniture that appears to be crafted out of one giant marble slab and little else.)<\/p>\n

Minimalism is, at the end of the day, a lifestyle choice. But the spiritual side tends to ring hollow, especially when it becomes a design aesthetic to be mimicked through\u2014you guessed it!\u2014more consumer purchases<\/span><\/a>. <\/p>\n

Any philosophy for consumerism that ignores the philosophical underpinnings of why <\/em>you\u2019d only take what you need (and no more) will probably fall short.<\/p>\n

As with healthcare and childcare, the Swedes might be onto something<\/h2>\n

While I am loath to reference anything dubbed a \u201clifestyle trend\u201d by publications with names like Country & Town HOUSE<\/em><\/span><\/a>, my Suecophilia (a love of all things Swedish; stick that one in your back pocket for a later date) simply won\u2019t allow me to make this point without involving \u201clagom\u201d\u2014the Swedish concept for \u201cnot too much, not too little\u2014just right.\u201d It\u2019s basically the Goldilocks principle: It embraces contentment that accompanies taking only what you need, and rejects excess consumption. <\/p>\n

Crucially, the principle emphasizes what else<\/em> happens when an entire culture embraces the idea of taking only what you need: You leave enough for others to be happy (and have what they need), too. <\/p>\n

Aware that I\u2019m tiptoeing up to the line of other fetishized life philosophies co-opted as interior design mantras (\u201cthe Japanese art of tidying up\u201d), I\u2019ll state it explicitly: <\/p>\n

Lagom is an important ideological system not just because it emphasizes that you\u2019ll<\/em> be happier if you possess and consume less, but because it reinforces that it enables everyone else<\/em> to have enough. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a cultural belief system that emphasizes the importance of not taking more than one\u2019s fair share, and being happy<\/em> with one\u2019s fair share\u2014recognizing that one\u2019s fair share is still likely more than enough. <\/p>\n

Contrast that with the very American \u201cmore, better, newer<\/span><\/a>\u201d explanation for how to live a good life: Just own the best of everything, publications like Wirecutter tell us, and your happiness is guaranteed or your money back!<\/p>\n

But the very notion that there is<\/em> something newer, better, or \u201cmore\u201d out there waiting for the swipe of our AmEx is precisely the thing that makes us unhappy in the first place. <\/strong><\/h3>\n

The expectation<\/em> that there\u2019s something out there\u2014some version of a thing, product, or service\u2014that\u2019ll give us that incremental happiness boost we need to finally live The Life We\u2019re Supposed To Be Living makes us miserable. It\u2019s the age-old handshake of advertising and capitalism.<\/p>\n

When \u201cpursuing happiness\u201d is literally written into the fabric of your country\u2019s national identity, it\u2019s probably no surprise that we expect we should<\/em> be happy\u2014and in post-World War II America, the solution to said pursuit offers two-day shipping.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not having what you want, it\u2019s wanting what you\u2019ve got\u201d<\/h2>\n

To quote the great 20th century philosopher Sheryl Crow, always wanting more is a recipe for disaster\u2014and it\u2019s a recipe that\u2019s been hardwired into our psyches by everything from carefully calculated infomercials to targeted TikTok ads.<\/p>\n

Maybe that\u2019s why my materialism whiplash is so strong: Embrace, reject, embrace, reject. But being critical of our consumption habits\u2014and adopting a spirit of \u201clagom\u201d\u2014might be the best path forward for our happiness levels and<\/em> finances. <\/p>\n

Anyway, I bought a book about lagom with two-day shipping. I\u2019ll let you know how it is. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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