The Lack of Happiness From Consumerist Habits

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at advertisements. They think about it carefully first though, and if it is an unnecessary waste they don’t buy it at all (152). Once they have decided what is best, they buy it locally rather than from big corporations. The Ables treat their stuff carefully, and keep receipts in case they need to return something (153). As for food, everything is either bought organically from local farms or grown in their backyard. Even though this all costs more time and money, they are saving on medical bills from hospital visits due to ingesting chemicals. They also don’t waste money on a lot of the things that typical Americans do. Mrs. Able doesn’t pay for any beauty enhancing treatments or chemicals, and Mr. Able doesn’t buy junk like all-terrain trucks and widescreen TVs. As a result of these habits, they live a happy life. They don’t have much debt hanging over their head. Also, they need not work as much because they save so much money, and therefore have more time to ...

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once to get free shipping). The worst part was that we’d only play these games two or three times before they got tucked back into some dark corner of our shelves and forgotten. Verdant tells of the Binges doing very similar things: “These high prices [of things they buy] are often masked by expensive advertising campaigns that promote ‘sales’ and ‘discounts’ designed to lure in customers.” (155) and “when products cease to work or fall out of favor...they are sent to the landfill.” (156).
Not only does this sort of reckless buying create a financial stress on a family, the happiness it provides is very short term. Verdant states that the Binges, “can seek, and obtain, immediate ...

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