Instant coffee, instant noodles, food delivered right at your doorstep, and online shopping. These are just some of the best examples of how the world has changed. They bring what we need or want closer to us. You don’t even have to leave home to get your shopping done, and in three minutes or less, you already have your coffee or noodles.

For the most part, these are good improvements to the world. However, it is still important that you check how they are changing you.

Instant gratification removes your stopping cue

With everything in reach, you can easily buy your beauty essentials such as sunscreen, moisturizer, and rosewater toner. In the same store, you may also see face masks and other new additions to your skincare routine. If you go to a different store, you may also see clothes, home decorations, and other items up for grabs–items that you don’t necessarily need, but are packaged in such a way that will make you want them. And because your payment details and address are already saved on your computer, it is very easy to head to check out with more items than what you need.

Fast fashion is contributing to textile waste

Fashion used to be something you see on the runway and buy from higher end shops, but with fast fashion chains, it has become more accessible. This means you can wear the latest trends even on a budget. The problem is that fast fashion items are not built to last. The main goal is to churn out fashionable items before the trend is gone, and to make them with as low a cost as possible. This usually means resorting to bad labor practices and low quality raw materials. You get your fashionable items easily, but they will not last long, which means you will need to replace them in a short time, and the old items you will throw away will contribute to textile waste that ends up someplace else

It is easy to fall into a cycle of debt

When you’re shopping in-store and paying in cash, you feel the pinch of an expensive purchase and you notice when you no longer have cash to spare. This is your stopping cue. To experience this same feeling when shopping online, you are encouraged to pay in cash or through your debit account. However, many fall prey to the overuse of credit cards, which start a cycle of debt that may be hard to get out of. You may not realize the actual cost of paying using a credit card until you miss one payment and the interest piles up. A lot of people have to take out another loan just to repay their credit card debt, but that means they will have another form of debt to pay

Instant gratification surely feels great, but when mixed with irresponsible spending, you may be facing life-long problems. Be more mindful with your purchases, whether online or in-store. Always ask yourself if you really need the product, and if you do, buy it only if you can afford to pay for it in cash.