Stuff Is Bad

One warm summer afternoon, I was shooting the breeze with a friend of mine who had just graduated from college.  He had landed a nice high tech job in Silicon Valley, and like the rest of us recent grads, had money for the first time in his life.

"I'm thinking of getting a new car."

"Oh?  What kind?"

"A Ferrari."

"Wh...seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, but then what will you get after that?  A space shuttle?"

So, here's one thing to recognize.  And soon.  Here goes:
 

Stuff is bad.

Stuff escalates.  You think something new will bring happiness.  And it may.  For a  moment.  But new has a way of getting old and tired.  Fast.  So to make you happy again, you have to buy something even better.  And better.  And better.  There is no end.

Stuff is vain.  A few years back, our next door neighbor was moving into a bigger, more expensive home by the country club.  So they held a big ol' garage sale where all kinds of stuff, including furniture was up for grabs.  I asked why they were getting rid of a perfectly good desk.  The answer was, "Oh, well...it doesn't really fit in."  (Translation: It's too cheap for our fancy new digs.)  Once we get a taste of nice stuff, our natural tendency is to surround it with more nice stuff.

Stuff is clutter.  You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT organize stuff.  People try all the time.  I've never seen anyone do it successfully.  You simply cannot go out and buy a new desk, or a new bookshelf, or several new filing cabinets and somehow get a cluttered room organized.  You can hide stuff.  You can stack stuff.  You can cover stuff with more stuff.  But it never really gets organized.  At best, it's just cross-referenced clutter.

Stuff is a burden.  It clogs up your home.  It clogs up your head.  It clogs up your calendar.  That's because it takes space, it distracts and complicates, and it needs tending.  Try tracking the time you spend trying to organize stuff, thinking about stuff, moving stuff, repairing stuff, buying stuff, recycling stuff, earning money for stuff.  You'll be amazed.  You don't own stuff.  Stuff owns you.

Stuff has hidden costs.  We often buy homes with three car garages not because we have three cars, but because we want the space to put our stuff.  Same goes with extra bedrooms.  Sometimes we even rent extra storage space, just to store the stuff we don't like enough to keep in our enormous stuff-filled houses.

"Okay, Mr. Deadwood.  I get it.  You hate stuff.  You think I shouldn't waste money on stuff because money is better spent on other things than worthless, wasteful, distracting, cluttering, burdensome, expensive material goods."

Wow, Holly.  I couldn't have said that better myself.

"But okay, then, what am I supposed to do?  You, yourself, talked about human nature.  Humans are materialistic by nature.  I can't fight that."

Well, then, don't.  Instead of fighting it, manipulate it to your advantage.  Enjoy your socks!

"Excuse me?"

A couple of years ago, my socks were getting really worn.  I was wary of feeling the cold floor through the thin heels and balls of my socks.  And I was tired of folding the holes over and sticking them between my toes before pulling on my shoes.  So I went out and bought some new socks.  But then, instead of wearing them right away, I thought, hey maybe I can use this as a reward.  A retirement present to myself.  So I waited a few weeks before using them.

The anticipation was a lot of fun.  And let me tell you, once the day came, I really enjoyed those socks.  They are plush and white and elastic.  They hug my feet like little fluffy clouds of pure delight.  And I've only worn half the pairs.  The other pairs are still sitting in my drawer, awaiting their turn to be truly appreciated someday.  Maybe when Brazil wins the World Cup.

"You are weird, Mr. Deadwood."

Weird like a fox!

"That doesn't even make any sense."

Yeah, okay, scratch that.  What I am trying to convey is that you don't have to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a new car to be delighted with stuff.  You can enjoy the simple pleasures just as much.  In fact, I bet I enjoy my socks more than some people enjoy their Teslas.  Or space shuttles.

"Okay, so maybe that's true for socks.  That can't be true of everything."

You'd be surprised.  For instance, I see that you are holding a latte.  Do you drink it often?

"I have two every day."

Do you enjoy it?
 

"(Sigh.)  Oh, I don't know, Mr. Deadwood.  I don't really think about it.  I drink it for the caffeine.  I forgot I was even holding it."

Well, that's how it is with a lot of things.  When we habitually spend money on stuff, we eventually lose our appreciation for it.  Rooty and I don't drink coffee, tea, soda or juice.  We drink water.  We never tire of the taste, it adds no calories, and it's super cheap.  And the few times I indulge in a cup of coffee (maybe once a year), it's like POW!  I get this amazing burst of flavor washing across my taste buds.  It's incredibly enjoyable.

"I get it.  Save your money and then only splurge on special occasions, right?"

 
Great strategy, Holly.  But let's do one better.  For instance, Rooty recently asked me where I wanted to go for my birthday dinner.  I thought quite a bit about that one.  I love steak.  And I love lobster.  But I also love Kentucky Fried Chicken (which we almost never get).  So I chose KFC and had a very enjoyable birthday dinner for a fraction of the cost of Ruth's Chris.  Although it was cheaper than steak and lobster, it wasn't any less enjoyable because it was just as much of a rarity for me.

Throttle your indulgences.  You'll appreciate more and spend less.