The amount of stuff we own these days is staggering.
The average American home size has grown from 1,000 square feet to almost 2,500 square feet. Personal storage generates more than $24 billion in revenue each year. Reports indicate we consume twice as many material goods today as we did 50 years ago. All while carrying, on average, nearly $15,950 in credit-card debt.
These numbers should cause us to start asking some difficult questions of ourselves. For example, “Why do we buy more stuff than we need?”
I mean, when you really stop to think about it, this becomes a fascinating question. What thinking would compel somebody to spend money on things they didn’t actually need in the first place?
If we could successfully answer this question, we could more easily free our lives and our resources for more important pursuits.
But this question can be difficult. It forces us to admit weakness in our lives. Consider some of the lies we have believed:
7 Reasons We Buy More Stuff Than We Need
1. We think it will make us secure. Our logic goes like this: if owning some material possessions brings us security (a roof, clothing, reliable transportation), owning excess will surely result in even more security. But after meeting our most basic needs, the actual security derived from physical possessions is much less stable than we believe. They all perish, spoil, or fade. And they can disappear faster than we realize.
2. We think it will make us happy. Nobody would ever admit they search for happiness in material possessions—we all just live like we do. We buy bigger houses, faster cars, cooler technology, and trendier fashion hoping we will become happier because of it. Unfortunately, the actual happiness derived from excess physical possessions is fleeting at best.
3. We are more susceptible to advertising than we believe. On average, we see 5,000 advertisements every day. Every advertisement carries the same message: your life will be better if you buy what we are selling. We begin to hear this messaging so many times and from so many angles, we begin to subtly believe it. This is not a complete condemnation of the marketing industry. This is simply a call to realize their messaging affects us more than we realize.
4. We are hoping to impress other people. In a wealthy society, envy quickly becomes a driving force for economic activity. Once all of our basic needs have been met, consumption must become about something more than needs. It becomes an opportunity to display our wealth, our importance, and our financial success with the world.
5. We are jealous of people who own more. Comparison seems to be a natural state of our humanity. We notice what other people are buying, wearing, and driving. Our society encourages these comparisons. And all too often, we buy stuff we don’t need just because people in our friendship circles have done the same. A culture fixated on praising excess will always misdefine true success.
6. We are trying to compensate for our deficiencies. We mistakenly look for confidence in the clothes that we wear or the car that we drive. We seek to recover from loss, loneliness, or heartache by purchasing unnecessary items. We seek fulfillment in material things. And we try to impress other people with the things that we own rather than the people that we are. But these pursuits will never fully satisfy our deficiencies. Most of the time, they just keep us from ever even addressing them.
7. We are more selfish than we like to admit. It can be difficult to admit that the human spirit is hardwired toward selfishness and greed, but history appears to make a strong case for us. We seek to grow the size of our personal kingdom by accumulating more and more things. This has been accomplished throughout history by force, coercion, dishonesty, and warfare. Unfortunately, selfishness continues to surface in our world and our lives even today.
Excess material possessions do not enrich our lives. In fact, buying things we don’t need keeps us from experiencing some wonderful, life-giving benefits. We would be wise to realize the cause and become vigilant in overcoming it.
There is more joy to be found in owning less than can ever be discovered in pursuing more. (tweet that)
Vishnu says
Hi Joshua, insightful tips and observations. YOu hit all the main reasons for buying more. I think the two biggest reasons we buy is because others buy and we try to keep up (comparison shopping) and like you say, security – the more we have, the more secure we think we are.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve gotten rid of most of my things. Everything I own now fits into one car load and I’ve actively kept it this way. In place of things, I’ve substituted it with space for people, experiences and personal growth.
Toni - Reclaiming Your Future says
As someone who had to learn to let go of a lot of her possessions when I moved from the UK to Australia with just a backpack and a handbag, I have to agree with most of these points particularly advertising. I can be watching TV and all of a sudden, thanks to advertising, I’m craving a chocolate Bounty bar. It’s frustrating but thankfully I have strong will for the moment.
I will say that for me, on a personal level, I like to have some ‘stuff’ around me to make me feel like I have a home or a base and not just ‘visiting’ but I keep it to a minimum and it usually encompasses things I use on a daily basis or a note a friend from home has written :)
Fiona Cee says
Good on you Toni. I envy my Nephew. He has just returned from living in Colombia where he has married a local lass. She is coming to join him having just gotten the right visa, along with her daughter. They are coming to their new life here [Aust] with just a large backpack each! And he does not want to acquire a whole lot of stuff. They will live as simple a life here as possible, maybe having to move states [within Aust] to find work. I sure wish him well and admire such an outlook. To be able to up sticks and move wherever!
E says
Very inspiring! I think that we also do buy stuff, because we don’t have anything to do – of course we have to work to earn our living etc. But in contrast to life some decades ago, our work does not directly support our living – it is only linked over the invention of “money”. I think that this leads to a certain unconscious feeling of pointlessness and emptiness with which our brain cannot deal. Buying is an easy way to fill this emptiness. At least that’s what I experience myself.
John says
If we are hardwired to be selfish and greedy as you suggest in your article, then is promoting a minimalist lifestyle a futile endeavor?
joshua becker says
I do not think it is futile. Two thoughts, John. First, we can always retrain our tendencies and habits. Second, we can redirect our pursuits. The seeking of happiness seems to be hardwired into each of us—and I think the sooner we realize that material possessions are not bringing it to us as we thought they might, we can begin to look elsewhere.
Luc Durepos says
Thx from a non-materialistic reader… very interesting read!!
Adan Carrillo says
Thanks again for your easy to read and to the point writing style.
Deborah Mitchell says
Your reasons are right on. I run into reason number 2 so often it’s scary. Thanks for the list!
Cheryl says
A good reminder about advertising. My husband and I downsized 6 yrs ago and I didn’t realize how many art supplies I had until the move. I always thought there was a “better”…easel, pastel, oil paint, brushes, etc!!…that would help me in my work, but all I really needed was practice. Buying was just an avoidance and distraction. I won’t be making any purchases for awhile since I have plenty of basics to keep me going. It took me some time to get rid of the supplies because I couldn’t help thinking about the wasted money, but they were finally all donated and I feel a big relief.
Also, my husband has finally come around this year on his own to minimalism and has gone at it like a hurricane. He keeps saying, “It is so nice to get rid of stuff so everything is organized and I can find it” :)
LL in Prescott says
I’m impressed! Kiss that man! Both of you on board together will make such a difference in your marriage. Those of us married to pack rats can only hope!
bob says
It is so very hard to get over the thought that “I *might* need it” that things do tend to pile up. I’m in the opposite situation than you. I am into minimalism and have been working the last few years on downsizing my stuff… much of which has been stored away in boxes since we moved into this house 15 years ago! I realized that if it hasn’t been missed in 15 years it definitely has no place here. My wife is beset with the thought that she needs to hold onto things “just in case.” Or that she really needs her over abundance of cooking supplies or excess of teaching supplies (she’s a teacher), even though she doesn’t ever use even half. The only thing holding me up from downsizing all my stuff is that some of it is “ours” so I have to win her approval to get rid of it. She is getting a little better and has realized some things don’t need to be around. Usually some clothes that don’t fit or haven’t been worn for many years (but she still hangs onto other clothes that haven’t been worn just as long) or other things that have been sitting in a box for years and forgotten about. Maybe someday…
Lisa says
I’m new to the process and have started purging stuff. My husband is not quite on board and will pull things out that I’ve put in a box to get rid of. Even if it’s not really one of ‘his’ things. I have an otter collection that I said I would be okay getting rid of. He said I couldn’t because I brought them into his life and now he’s attached to them.
Since I’m the one that does the bulk of the cleaning around the house, I don’t think he really appreciates how much time is spent just moving things around.
But being able to find things is HUGE! Nothing drives me more crazy than not being able to find something and I’ve been telling him that if we had less stuff, we’d be able to find what we’re looking for much easier.
Dee says
I think my first step to “less” was during the beginning of the smartphone movement, I got one and then realized I was so distracted by it that I would even miss a favorite tv show sitting on the couch with it in my hand (can’t get worse than being distracted from a better distraction.) I got rid of it and got my extra $100 a month back. The steps do get harder and I am having a tough time with the thought of ditching cable or at least the dvr but I’m getting there and I feel like I’m being “unplugged from the matrix!” Having a three year old at home has also helped curve me away from stores and now I only hit the grocery store, and not being dept. stores seeing the new things out there has really decreased my desires…..I don’t even know how on earth I use to end up shopping as a recreational activity….weekly???? I can’t remember what I use to find to buy or why, it’s a blur. I love your article….and I’d love to see something on impulse buying, especially fast food. I find myself at dunking donuts getting coffee when I don’t even want one and I don’t know why. I am starting to realize the food/beverage has a unique hold over me in the marketplace that I just can’t shake.
Kate says
“I find myself at dunking donuts getting coffee when I don’t even want one and I don’t know why. I am starting to realize the food/beverage has a unique hold over me in the marketplace that I just can’t shake.”
This sums me up perfectly, just with different fast food places and stores that sell food in general. It’s a big problem for me that I can’t seem to control, so I would also love to see something on impulse buying fast food.
Sheri says
Me and my husband got rid of cable this year. It was much easier than I thought it would be. We got an anteanna and a roku box, signed up for Hulu plus and kept Netflix. Now, when I go to someones and watch tv, I find I can’t find anything to watch on cable. Make the leap, you will be glad you did!
Heidi says
After many years of living paycheck to paycheck, our salary took a leap. We payed off our credit cards and any outstanding loans and payed cash for everything except our home and our cars. After making the decision in the late fall of 2014 to start purging and stop buying, I looked around me woundering how we had accumulated things we rarely or never used and I realized there was one reason: BECAUSE WE COULD…
Erin says
I think another reason is the thought that things are going to make our life easier. Smart phones and tablets mean we can work from anywhere but do we really need to work from anywhere or do we generally use the smart phone or tablet where in the same place. My husband continually wants to buy things for our children, something new to entertain them and essentially make our lives easier but they don’t. We have to nag them to clean them up, we have to find space in our lives etc… but the promise that it will make things easier is very attractive to sleep deprived parents.
Lucy says
I must comment on the Smartphone. I’m retired and spend most of my time at home, so I just have a simple flip phone w/camera which I use as my only phone. I have a laptop and get the access to whatever I may need on it.. So why would I need a Smartphone? What a huge expense for something I wouldn’t use. I’d rather have the big screen of my laptop then a Smartphone. And now that I think about it even if I was still working and was out and about a lot I still would not buy one! I don’t want to be connected all the time!
Book lover says
me too – you just described me to a t. glad to know I’m not the only one ;)