Not only is this a form of passive resistance, it's undetectable if you need to be a stealth anti-communist. You can say "I'm having a buy-nothing year!" in front of the Karens at the water cooler and they'll think you're one of them.
Benefits: you aren't funding people who hate you. You ARE funding people like you. Your life will be filled with less crap. You won't die gagging on toxic fumes from the plastic you've surrounded yourself with.
My big opt-outs this year (on top of the media subscriptions I already dropped) are new books and make-up. I almost never wear make-up anyway, yet somehow I still own enough that if I wanted to "just throw on some lipstick and foundation" I bet I could do it every damned day for the next six months. And books are just as good used, and I'm not supporting a thoroughly corrupt publishing industry.
Anyone else got any good ones? Favourite ways to save?
Making your coffee at home instead of buying it from Starbucks, etc. And cooking your own food are both great ways to save.
Yes, it's shocking how much you save just by cooking at home. Also, weirdly, it stopped being hard to stay at my target weight (even though I'm constantly cooking cakes and pies...so sugar at home is different from restaurant sugar?? I don't even understand, but I can eat dessert now and not blob out).
"restaurant sugar" is usually High Fructose Corn Syrup, which explains the difference.
Ohhhhh. That would explain a lot. Like how my children eat dessert every night, but neither of them are overweight. We just don't eat out, ever.
I cut the cable. I bought a Roku TV and now I save $100 a month by just subscribing to the channels I want.
Cancel cable, satellite.
there are no conservative causes. Just keep your money. There is no one worth giving your money to.
Stop listening to podcasts. They are insidious elements. Comedians are just gatekeepers of humor because the left hates ridicule. They all want to work the comedy store which is run by the Shores and you can just guess their political alignment in Hollywood. Stop paying attention to them. Only watch shows (online) that align with your views and don't overexpose yourself past a soft threshold of dealing with the bullshit. More and more I come to believe we've replaced prayer to god with being eyeball cows. To the uninitiated its a lesser perverted form of prayer but it suits them enough to make them feel spiritually full
Speaking of podcasts, I noticed last year that even when they discuss stuff I like, they do it from such a leftist slant that it becomes idiotic. I don't listen to them now, not even because I deliberately chose not to, but because it's impossible to find any that don't irritate me.
They are the new wave of mind control avoid at all costs. I listen to the adam corrolla show because he has already established his network and is more or less impervious to cancel culture. He will back off issues but its a cool show and i like him.
I have an audible membership (Amazon i know) and you can just return completed books at this point. I curate my week of audio books during the weekend based on what I want to learn about.
So far dracula and edward moses the rise and fall of new york are my favorites. The latter is like a 46 hour audio book and a must for understanding how tammany hall politics are still alive and well. The tarzan serialization is fun too.
I live in an area that has lots of estate sales. Love browsing them as a hobby, always scouting for underpriced collectibles & art (I've sold some high end items on ebay) . Inadvertently, the best aspect is finding good quality household items like furniture & kitchenwares, appliaces, tools, etc. and paying a fraction of what those items were new, keeps me out of the corporate stores & lessens my tax burden. Buying second hand items w/ untaxed cash always feels like a win too.
Hah! I have a drawer of past make-up buys that are still good. These buys keep going in and out of fashion with me. Haven't bought any new in years. I have nothing against the make-up industry per se. I just don't need to buy more of what I already have.
I'd add in
Been doing it for years: Clothes from thrift stores, buying local as much as possible, spending dining-out money only at local (rural) eateries, going to the coast, hunting, or camping for vacation instead of Disneyland...
Also, only buying vehicles used and buying them with cash. This alone saves a TON of money in the long run.