New To You

 My returning daughter has managed to get herself a job in retail to tide her over until she decides on further training. She had to go in and sort out details for this new position so my husband and I tagged along as we had some things to do in town also. We had to spend some time in the mall where she will be working - not my husband's favourite place to be!

I must admit that despite all of the lovely things to see in the shop windows I had little desire to browse. Does that mean that I have all that I need? We sat on seats in the middle of the mall like a couple of retired people and people watched. We bumped into two different people we know and had a good catch up with both of them.

As we were sitting there I spotted this sign on the shop window opposite to where we were sitting and felt that instead of reading "New For You" it should read "New To You" as i think that simple phrase encourages so much more. Now I am aware that the shop is trying to entice people in to spend their hard earned money on things they probably don't need and are capitalising on the fact that as human's we crave the experience of the "new" to make each day seem different from the last. It makes us want to buy things to satisfy this craving and that flaw is a marketers dream. My argument is that we can get the "new" experience without having to buy new items. They can be preloved and still feel new to us. They can be new experiences or places visited that cost little or no money. 

By approaching things this way we can satisfy the craving for the "new to us" feeling (or "new for us" as per the sign) and do this by spending very little money, recycling products and thereby saving both your wallet and the planet. Go and try it! (and stay away from the malls...)