In an era of targeted ads and contactless payments, it is all too easy to splash out on things you don’t need – or already have. Here’s how I brought some mindfulness to my mindless consumption

Sometimes, you don’t realise a habit is odd until you mention it casually and people stare at you as if you’d grown a second head. Last year, I mentioned my shopping lists in front of my parents. These lists, stored in the notes app on my phone, are not where I write down things I want to buy (although I have one of those too). Instead, they are a meticulous record of everything I’ve already bought.

One list is for groceries, divided into categories (dairy, fresh vegetables, tins) to reveal everything I have in the fridge and cupboard at any given time. The other list covers almost everything else. There are sections for books, makeup, clothes, miscellaneous practical items (batteries, vacuum cleaner filters, a new bike lock) and more. Transient purchases that don’t take up space in my life – takeaway coffees, magazines, bus fares – don’t go on the list. But almost everything else does.

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