Shadowing Practice: my low-consumption habits & tips - Learn English Speaking with Video

at the beginning of this year I decided

that I was going to start a low buy

so I really did a lot of assessing of my different spending habits

but also just my consumption habits in general in an attempt

to limit how much I was actually spending in being more

mindful of my spending I feel like I've naturally also just

become more mindful of my consumption habits the first area that I've made a huge adjustment is my daily coffee.

I'm somebody who used to buy coffee almost every day.

I worked as a barista for a couple years and I just got in the habit of drinking coffee from coffee shops, especially when I was a college student and I was a barista at the same time.

I was buying coffee constantly and I've actually had an espresso machine for about five years.

I have a Breville one that my husband bought me back in like 2021.

I've gotten so much use out of it, but even with having an espresso machine, I felt like I couldn't get my coffee the way that I wanted it.

So I would still go and buy coffee.

As of recently, I have cut my coffee spending down to almost nothing

because I've been making my own syrups and my own lattes.

So all I spend money on now are ingredients for the syrups that I'm making, which are usually ingredients that I'm buying for other purposes as well too.

So I already have them in my kitchen and then I have to buy espresso beans.

And one bag of espresso beans lasts me usually like two or three weeks, sometimes even longer depending on how much coffee I'm drinking.

For a long time I was buying creamer to add to my at-home coffees

because I felt like I needed some fun flavoring to compete with the coffee that I was buying from coffee shops.

And then I got into a habit of buying expensive syrups

and just buying lots of stuff to make my coffee at home better.

So even though I was saving some money by making my coffee at home, I was still spending quite a bit of money on creamer, on syrups and additional flavorings and stuff.

But in the past like two months, I've been making all of my syrup at home.

The one I'm drinking right now is a toasted marshmallow in vanilla syrup.

And I cannot stress how easy it is to make simple syrup at home.

I combine mini marshmallows, with brown sugar, vanilla extract, and water, and I just simmered it on the stove until it all kind of melted together into a syrup.

Put it in a little glass jar in the fridge, and it usually lasts me about two weeks.

I've made a blueberry vanilla one, banana bread flavor, and it's always so delicious.

They're super quick and easy to make, and they save me so much money on buying creamer and other things.

Another way that I've really limited my consumption is by not buying books, and this is a habit that I got into a couple years ago.

I would go to barnes and noble as a pastime and

because i love reading so much i was really fixated on just buying a bunch of books

and like building a book collection after i read the book

i was just left with all of these stacks of books

that i probably will never touch again and lots of books too

that i would buy and start and i didn't like the book

so i never finished it and it's just sitting and collecting dust

and i And I just feel like it's so wasteful because libraries are free and have so many options.

I have a library card and sometimes I will go and rent a physical book if they have it.

But what has been absolutely game changing for me is the Libby app.

So once I got my physical library card, I downloaded the app.

Now I have access to all of these eBooks through my library.

And not only has this saved me like money on books, this has made me a much more consistent reader.

Because it's on my phone, I will lock myself out of my other social media apps

and just keep the Libby app so that it's the only form of entertainment that I can access on my phone.

I have finished two books in the last week, which for me is a lot of reading because since I had kids, it has just become so much more difficult for me to sit down with a book.

But because it's on my phone, I've kind of replaced my habit of mindlessly scrolling.

So if you want to get back into reading

or you are a reader and you're looking for ways to save money on books Libby is just such a great option.

If you're curious the two books that I've read in the last week are Strangers by Belle Burden.

I really liked it.

It was really well written and I also read Heart the Lover.

I loved every second of it.

It broke my heart into a million pieces.

I literally bawled my eyes out for like 12 hours after I finished the book.

I was just like on and off crying all day.

Another way that apps have actually helped my consumption so much is by digitally cataloging my wardrobe.

So this is not sponsored in any way, shape or form, but I use the app index.

I took pictures of everything that I own and I can see my closet laid out digitally.

So if I'm ever feeling like I'm in a rut with my clothes or I feel this impulse to buy new clothes, I go to the index app and I see what I have

and what I maybe am not wearing

because I don't know how to style it

or I just kind of feel uninspired by the piece

and seeing it laid out with the rest of my clothing on the app makes it

so much easier to visualize new outfits.

Instead of using apps like Pinterest or online shopping for fashion inspiration, I'll see what I already have in my closet

and the Index app helps me to kind of lay everything out

and create new outfits so

that I am able to be re-inspired by my clothing instead of feeling this impulse to go buy something new.

I also rarely buy clothes new anymore.

I pretty much buy everything second hand.

I also try to sell my clothes so that if I am feeling an itch to buy something new, I will sell some pieces first and then use

that money towards another piece that I think I would get more wear out of.

And occasionally I'm not able to find what I'm looking for secondhand.

So every now and then I will purchase something new, but I really make an effort to purchase from small or sustainable brands if I can't get it secondhand.

and I just really don't tend to participate in fast fashion anymore.

I pretty much buy everything that I can secondhand.

I also try to repurpose clothes before I get rid of them.

So if it's something that I'm not really wearing or I just like don't really get much use out of, I will see if there's any way

that I can repurpose it into another piece before I end up selling it

or donating it just to give them like a little bit of a different appearance.

And sometimes I actually will reach for my clothes more after I've altered them a bit.

I also don't buy home decor new, hardly ever.

95% of the pieces that I own in my home were purchased secondhand from Facebook Marketplace

or I found kind of like through random avenues like somebody was throwing it out on the curb

or a family member was getting rid of stuff.

My house has just kind of been decorated with like this mix and match of different items that I found secondhand.

There are a few things that I have bought new like my bed and my bedding sheets,

things like that that I worry a little bit more about the potential of bugs with.

I will buy new, but for a lot of the other pieces that are more like decor items or wooden furniture, I always buy those secondhand off Facebook marketplace,

or if somebody I know is donating something or looking to get rid of something, but I do not buy home decor from places like HomeGoods or Amazon.

I just find the quality is usually not great.

They're usually really hyper trendy pieces that go out of style.

And I just like the look of a home that's curated with more like vintage pieces.

This way I'm not participating in like hyper consumerism around my home decor

and also I feel like my home just has more of like a lived in and curated look to it.

I feel like homes

that are filled with lots of like new trendy items they almost look like staged homes

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and not really like lived in homes.

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Something else that's been a really big shift for me has been not shopping as a hobby.

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I used to be very guilty of just going to Target

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or going to a store like TJ Maxx or Marshalls

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or HomeGoods because I was bored and I was looking for something to fill my time.

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Naturally, by being in those environments, I would buy things that I didn't necessarily need or even want in the first place.

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But upon seeing them, I decided to get them.

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So now I don't go to the store without a purpose.

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I don't go without a shopping list and I rarely ever deviate from my shopping list.

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Sometimes I will even take advantage of things like free pickup

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so that I don't have to go in and see items that I might potentially be tempted by.

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I have shopping lists, and I go to the store for a purpose.

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If I have an urge to get out of the house, I'm not just going to go shop for no reason.

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I also was really guilty of just going to the thrift store to go somewhere, and I got into a really bad habit of thrifting

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and just buying a bunch of clothes that I didn't end up wearing

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or I didn't need because I felt like it was better that I was shopping secondhand.

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I didn't see it the same as shopping somewhere like Target or TJ Maxx, but it still was just overconsumption.

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I was bringing home stuff that I didn't need.

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Every now and then I will go to the thrift store or a vintage shop or something like that, but it's always with a purpose.

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It's always because I'm looking for something specific or intentionally going and not just because I'm bored.

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Similarly, I try not to online shop or follow people

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that will make me feel this urge to online shop And don't get me wrong.

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Like I love engaging with fashion content beauty content

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But I am somebody who's so easily influenced

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and i've learned this about myself So

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if somebody is making me feel like I need to buy

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something new every time I engage with their content I just unfollow or I mute them.

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I try not to engage with their content I've also spent less time on apps like Pinterest

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or Instagram that give me this urge to look for new items.

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I love to hunt for a new item and I will hyper fixate if I get something on my mind.

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Another thing I don't do anymore is impulse shop, especially with beauty items.

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Anytime I would go to like Target, Sephora, Ulta, I was always itching to try a new beauty product.

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Now I just keep one of each beauty product that I own

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and I use it up before I allow myself to purchase a new one.

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I don't really allow myself to give in to impulse purchases.

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If it's something that I'm interested in, I will take note of it.

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Sometimes I'll write it down in my notes app or I'll save it on Pinterest.

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Whatever the case, I will take note that I want it

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and I make myself wait usually at least like two weeks before I decide on the item.

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If it's an essential item, I'm going to buy it sooner than that but

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if it's not I will give myself a waiting period

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if I really thought it through over a couple weeks

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and I still want it and I decide

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that it makes sense to purchase it I will but the fact

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that I'm not impulsively buying it I normally have put a lot more thought into whether I need it

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or not and most things do disappear from my wish list after like a week

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or so that is everything on my list I would love to hear some ways

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that you guys are limiting your consumption or just being more mindful when it comes to this.

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Hopefully this was helpful.

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Thank you so much for watching.

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I would also love for you to subscribe and stick around if you're not already, and I will see you in my next one.

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Bye!

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Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?

Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.

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