Twenty Reasons to Purge Your Life of Stuff
(This is a guest post from Sara, blogger at the always thoughtful On Simplicity)
There’s stuff, and then there’s Stuff. The first kind is useful, and it’s pretty hard to get
anywhere in life without a bit of it. Stuff with the capital S, on the other hand, is the pile of junk that you don’t need, use, care about, or even remember why you bought. It’s this Stuff that weighs on your mind and gets in your way. It’s the garage sale find that was too good a deal to leave behind, and it’s the status item that you don’t actually like. Either way, we’ve all got some of it.
If you’ve been unable to break away from the Stuff that’s mucking up your life, here are a few good reasons to give the heave-ho.
1. You have to store it.
2. You have to clean it.
3. You have to pick it up every time you clean. Or, you don’t clean because of it and develop allergies.
4. You have to rent a bigger moving truck.
5. You pay insurance costs to cover it.
6. You use everything a little bit, but nothing reaches its full usage potential.
7. You have increased heating and cooling costs for a larger house.
8. You alienate other people who are intimidated by your stuff.
9. You add to landfills.
10. Your kid makes you store all the stuff you bought them until they can afford a house big enough to hold all their unused Stuff.
11. You pay interest on the Stuff you charged.
12. You fight with your spouse about the interest on the Stuff you charged.
13. You have to figure out new ways of arranging your Stuff so that you don’t get sick of it. (If it weren’t for that difficult ottoman placement, you could’ve figured out cold fusion by now!)
14. It ages faster than you.
15. It wears out at exactly the wrong time.
16. It loses value over time (typically), leaving you less and less value each year.
17. It gives your mom a reason to nag you.
18. It sucks up money that could be going to an incredible vacation or early retirement.
19. It makes you feel guilty that you don’t love it as much as you’re supposed to.
20. It makes you start to think too much about the Joneses. And are the Joneses — or their stuff — worth all that thought?
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1 Comment to Twenty Reasons to Purge Your Life of Stuff
I have always thought that the best way to eliminate excess stuff from your life was to not purchase what you don’t absolutely need to begin with. That saves time, money, and a lot of hassle.
Also, try explaining to others in your life who “have to” buy you gifts that you only want to have need items; then tell them about any needs you have. If they are truly your friend(s), then they should be able to understand and accept your request, and buy you gifts that you can actually use. And, when you can, try to get them to give you the receipt(s), as that makes returning bad stuff easier!
And what about the rest of the stuff?
That’s what Goodwill and Salvation Army are for!