Making Educated Consumer Choices

So, we thought we should combine the two directions we discussed the last two times. It's about combining crowd-sourced information with the information you get from your bank about where you use your money. All to help you make more educated choices about how and what you spend money on.

When shopping you use the crowd-sourced information to make your choices. But to judge if a purchase is really a smart choice, you have to compare with what you already got. Filling out all that information is a big hurdle, so we think it should be done along the way. For example, if you're buying a pair of shoes, you'll be asked about how many shoes you already have. And in this way gradually building your inventory of all your possessions. Of course you can also at any time add items to your inventory.

Several banks are helping people get more control over their financial situation by automatically sorting people's purchases in different categories based on where they shop. This could be enhanced to show more information at the end of a month. By taking known information about corporations you can see if this is really who you want to buy stuff from. Ref. "Slavery Footprint". For example, in the last month you spent 2000 NOK at HM, the average lifespan of a HM garment is so and so long, they produce the clothes in this and this country where the workers are treated so and so. The crowd-sourced information regarding quality and people's opinion is included here as well.

So basically your buying habits are compared to your inventory of possessions and the quality of the items and the stuff you buy. In addition, how much impact the bought item has on the environment and the people that make it. The point of it is to help you learn over time, so that you can make better choices. It can also include tips like "it's time to clean up your closet and give some away to charity". Doing challenges like this should be rewarded and can be shared. So can your progress.

Could this help you to become more conscious of what you buy? Tell us what you think, share your ideas!