I admit, I used to want a lot of crap. DVD's, clothes, shoes, books, perfumes, make-up, you name it. I loved the feeling of going to the mall, looking at all the things to buy, giving myself over to the abandon of choosing whatever I wanted, watching the cashier ring up all my purchases and then handing over the credit card so that I could finally possess all of these "things". I got a rush from carrying around loads of bags and then rushing home so I could go through all of the stuff again. The rush, however, was like any drug, and only lasted a short time and so it was necessary to repeat, repeat, repeat. Until of course, your whole life is just FILLED with crap!
Crap here, crap there, crap everywhere so that you don't even know what crap you have, so you have to go out and by the crap again. Then you end up with crap to the third power because crap breeds crap. You run out of room to put all the crap. You hide the crap under your bed. You trying to get creative with how you arrange it in your closet. You have to buy storage systems (more crap) to organize all of your crap.
The crap takes over but somehow you just can't part with it. You think, "Well someday I might want to wear those pair of shoes" even though you have not worn them for 2 years. Or "someday that book might come in handy" because you never know when you will need to look up info on the nomads of the world.
You know its bad when you go through the closets and it feels like Christmas. "Oh I forgot I even had that". Even though you probably haven't looked at it or thought about it for 5 years, you just can't part with it because "you never know".
Well, I have definitely stopped acquiring new crap but haven't done a thing about getting rid of the old crap. Ok, well I did get rid of the old laptop and I have been selling books. But I am taking it to a new level. Cleaning out the closet. Cleaning out the garage. If I haven't used it for a year, it's gone.
I think there is something to be said about living simply. Only buy what you need and put it all to good use. No waste. Less stress about things breaking. More mental clarity. Better feng shui. More money in the bank.
I'm going to clean out the closet and try to sell whatever I can. If it doesn't sell, it will be donated to the Good Will and hopefully someone else will be able to put it to good use, because its not doing any good sitting in my closet!
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
The Simple Life
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10 comments:
Well you are on the way to wisdom
consumerism does not only make people poor, it also put a veil onto your mind that makes you feel great until the day you crash...or open your eyes
Wow...great post! I was sitting around our house the other day, and I noticed that we don't "use" but about 5 percent of the junk we own. Everything else justs sits there, looking pretty or old or dusty or cute, whatever, it just sits there! It does nothing. Pictures, vases, extra chairs, heck, we have an extra t.v. we never even turn on...
great eye opening post...keep on the debt re-payment train!
There is a good book called "Affluenza" about that topic. Affluenza is a term for a "disease" some people have where they have to always be buying, buying, buying stuff.
Good for you. I recently moved to a new apartment and decided to sell some old craft items on ebay and use that money for gambling in Vegas this fall. I ended up making $107 (not a lot, but good money for junk) and I don't need to feel bad when i loose it all!
It really helped to have a purpose for that money in mind. (in addition to all the free space!)
Very smart choice.
Buy less crap.
Invest more money.
Secure a better finantial future.
Some articles on that on:
Money and Investing
Added your blog to my blogrolling bar on my blog (left center pane).
If you approve my blog, I would love to see it listed on yours.
BTW, I saw your posting on My Open Wallet - replied to one of your comments there.
Thanks!
Money and Investing
I have, in my garage right now, equipment for repairing equipment that I don't have. You're very impressive.
Came by to see how's progress.
Good stuff! We're cleaning out some of our junk as well.
I'm glad I ran across your blog in BlogExplosion. Best wishes as you slay the debt dragon!
Do you submit posts to the Carnival of Personal Finance? This might be a good one. Allthingsfinancial.blogspot.com has it this week -- he needs the posts by Sunday 5 PM central time.
I'm adding your site to my blogroll -- if you like mine, you're more than welcome to blogroll mine! God bless.
lol. I still haven't finish clearing my closet out yet. its filled to the max, but I haven't touch ANYTHING in there for 2-3 years.
'cept for some clothes, of course
We've been working on doing the same thing. For years.
The bad part is that when you clean out stuff, you keep what you think is important...but then 6 months down the road, you realize that that stuff is crap, too and you want to sell it.
Never ending vicious cycle. :)
Good luck! You can make a nice dent in your debt with ebay. It sure helps us! lol
Great post! I am in the process of selling my wedding china on eBay since I am getting divorced! We will see how it does. I am going to use the money to get out of debt!
Also, an idea. If you have tons of CDs, why not download iTunes and import all of those CDs or make copies on DVDs in mp3 format and sell them on eBay? Use the money you make to purchase a great iPod to play and store your music on! If there is any left over, get out of debt or put it in savings!
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