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)
Fiona Cee says
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!
Chris Krohn says
All of these reasons resonate, but #6 is the key one, for me. From many years of working with clients wanting to transform their lives, the most common issue I see is low self esteem. Couple this with the key strategy advertisers use…that if you buy their product or service, you will be happy, popular, respected, loved, etc….and you have self esteem-driven consumption. People are trying to fill that hole in themselves, all in the search for self-worth. Good article. Thanks.
Petra says
This is fascinating, that there are actually a lot of people who try to be minimalist. I discovered it quite by accident today, and will definitely check out more of the blog entries tomorrow.
I’ve been getting rid of stuff for many years, and even though I have a lot of books and video tapes, at least it all fits into one small room. And I think it should stay that way. One room, and what I actually use on a daily basis would fit into a car, if I had one.
I’m selling stuff on eBay all the time, or give it away, or even discard it, if no-one else would want it either. Sometimes, I sell something too early by mistake. When this happens, my family thinks it’s very funny. But I like my way of life – everything is easy to find, and it feels so good to get rid of things that are not needed any more.
Mike says
Thanks for this fantastic article Joshua.
I read it last night and after careful self-examination I found that I am guilty of all 7.
Your insight and thoughts have helped me realize the benefits of reducing the frivolous to make room for the essential.
Keep up the fabulous work.
Judy says
I almost died two years ago from an aortic dissection. I am OK now. I have been on a minimalist path since then with getting rid of stuff. One of my favorite sayings is “never buy anything with a commercial”. I have never once missed anything I gave away. Sold or dumped. And, so my path continues. Thanks for your blog. I have not read it all but most! Inspiring!
Barbara Daughter says
Joshua,
A well-written and thoughtful article. I think you touched on all but one motivator: our need/desire to buy to surround ourselves with beauty. With so many people living in cities, and not necessarily having a view of nature … birds, trees, grass, flowers, etc. … we can feel deprived. Humans are natural, i.e. of nature, but when we surround ourselves with so much artificiality, there is a yearning for things which sustain us and remind us of nature. Unfortunately, many manufactured items fail to capture the elemental qualities which would feel intrinsically right and satisfy
Barbara Daughter says
(continued) satisfying to us, so we continue to seek through buying more and more.
Additionally, because color trends are managed (internationally) for all types of consumer goods, we begin to feel our own home furnishings, clothing, cars, etc. are out-dated when we casually observe the new colors on the market, while former colors are retired. I do believe it’s “natural” to want to change colors; one only has to observe the colors of nature change as the seasons do, and you will see a built-in prompt. However, the management of color trends has to do with prompting consumers to buy, and nothing to do with connecting us to our elemental selves.
Judy says
Agree. I find myself bringing in nautical things…only because of my desire to be near the sea.
Judy says
Joshua—I appreciate your reminders. I fall-off-the-wagon sometimes. I’ll buy something here and there, then realize it was a bad decision. It is a life-long process. Hope I get to a better place. I need to let go of more clutter…much more.
Andy says
It is so true. I’m a bank employee in France and i don’t own a car, i’m going to work with my little bike while everybody else is driving. They are all boasting with their cars, bigger than everyone else’s. It makes me smiles. I’m not at all fond of all these huge cars. The only thing that is important to me is not the mean to get at work. It’s the fact to get at work.
I’ve been a minimalist for a few months now. All my flat is minimalist, nothing useless, white walls, clean.. While everyone arround me is buying more and more useless stuff. And as they are buying and stocking more and more they need inevitably more space to stock it… Wasting their time trying to find a place to stock all this instead of enjoying life and taking care of they friends and family. Is that our only goal in life? To be born, consumme and die? Find another way to live and follow your own path in life. Find a way to be different and to be happy.
Kayse says
This is a wonderful article. It’s so very true. It really is amazing how many things most humans collect.
Cheryl says
Great and timely post, Joshua. I’m really embracing not stockpiling on food and toiletries. It feels great not living every day like I’m planning for a state of emergency.