I stumbled upon the blog and the book on many of my daily reads. It's been a hot topic around the design world, and for a good reason. Obsessive Consumption is a book of daily drawings done by Kate Bingaman-Burt. After finding herself in debt she took on a personal project where everyday she drew an item she had purchased.
The book itself is well designed and I love Kate's simple line drawings. And the whole idea of the book is a simple reminder of how much money one person can spend on a daily basis. It's hard to wrap your head around the total amount of money we spend daily, weekly, monthly, yearly. It can be a heartbreaking number sometimes.
There is a great interview with Kate about the book on Book by Its Cover. She explains why she started the project and how it helped her get out of debt.
I think many of us are guilty of mindless spending and we have a mentality that says, "Oh, it's only a few dollars..." but in the end those few dollars add up big time. And those daily Starbucks coffees or newest magazines aren't worth the guilt later. Trust me, I know. Even those expensive haircuts are sometimes a little too much...
So if you're going to indulge in that cup of coffee, save your money in other ways. Go to the library and read all the latest magazines and best sellers. Pack your lunch. Sit in the park and people watch. Listen to Pandora instead of downloading music. It's so easy to do the things we love and not overspend. Okay, okay, I'm done now.
xoxo
omg I love this
ReplyDeleteI want to buy it
but I also want to draw everything I buy. I love that. I've always wanted to do it, but never actually do. Maybe I'll start and give you a copy.
I read about this book a while back. I'm waiting for the bookstore where I work to get it in. That way I check it out and not have to buy it! Thanks for the shout out a few weeks back. I've enjoyed going back and reading your posts.
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