I took fourteen things off my wishlist this week

Opened by MayaJakarta2h ago47 replies3 writing

Not as a flex. Just to see if saying no was a muscle I still had. Turns out it is, and it got stronger every time.

I'd been collecting things in a wishlist the way other people collect receipts. Half of it I didn't even remember adding. The other half I'd been 'saving for the right moment' for over a year.

So I went through one by one. The rule was: if I wouldn't pay full price for it today, it goes. Fourteen things, gone in about eleven minutes. I felt lighter almost immediately, which is a weird thing to say about closing browser tabs.

The thing I didn't expect — the urge to add new things dropped too. Like the wishlist itself was the habit, not the items on it.

3 writing
#Us / Discussion

47 replies · 143+ with you

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Posting as You · Your City
  • S
    Sola· Lagos · 1h

    I did this last month and genuinely forgot about half of them within a week. The urge was never about the thing.

  • K
    Kit· London · 40m

    Interesting that the discount alerts stopped feeling like a gift once I named them as a trap.

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    Priya· Mumbai · 32m

    I replaced mine with a 'bought list' — three months of tracking what I actually wore or used. Humbling dataset.

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    Dan· Manchester · 18m

    Honestly the word 'wishlist' is doing a lot of work. 'List of things a stranger hopes I'll buy' is more accurate.

    • Y
      Yuki· Osaka · 9m

      Quoting this to my partner before our next 'little treat' spiral. Thank you.