Your stuff is limiting your freedom. Don’t let it.
Every purchase should be thought of us a an anchor on a chain that wraps over your shoulders and the back of the neck that you have to carry around as long as you own the object. And when you give people gifts try and realize you are gently draping a tiny anchor on a chain over their neck albeit presented with fine wrapping paper and maybe even a bow.
Every time you purchase an item, picture everything you own, tied to a chain, wrapped around your neck and shoulders, and visualize adding yet another item.
Why? Objects take up space in your home, they use up resources of the earth, they eventually will take up space in landfills, and they represent opportunity costs that you could have invested instead. Purchasing stuff is a vote against freedom. Clutter is mentally draining, and diffuses your focus on what’s important. And the wild thing is, most of us are not conscious of how much shit we really have.
Right now, clear 10 minutes, and close your eyes. Start just mentally thinking of each room, closet, storage trunk, your attic, garage, patio or deck, or a [shudder] rented storage unit. Go deeper – within each area, think of all the objects there, squirreled away in darkness and individually consider each individual item. Hold them in your mind. The sheer volume of items is hard to comprehend. I then suggest you take a walk to each area and visually inspect it. Be in awe of the volume of your stuff. It just may make you rethink this madness.
It’s even worse if you are someone my age and still have stuff from your childhood or college at your parents’ home. You have taken many little anchors and strewn them around your parents’ necks, and it is pulling them down while the physical objects start caving in on them. It’s a bleak situation.
For certain things, the anchor is worth it of course.
Our ultra-deluxe-fancy-delicious-making-espresso machine is decidedly worth it in our house, as is our le creuset cookware. These are items that we use multiple times per week, we get actual joy when using – for example the heavy le creuset pots are by far the most enjoyable things we have to cook with, with even heat, a tight fighting lid, and colorized sides and bottom from hundreds of meals cooked in it. It’s also important to point out that these are luxuries. The vast majority of human civilization today, and also looking back over the entire timeline of the species has not been afforded such remarkable luxuries. But we’ve chosen to indulge them and they are used often and feel “real” not made of cheap plastic. But even these hallowed possessions have a deep secret we don’t often stop to think about:
They exist, even when we aren’t using them. They are part of earth’s resources that are now taking up space on my counter and cabinet. And they are only used a small amount of time of their existence. The rest of that time they just sit there, useless and in the dark, but taking up space. This is ok for items that get regular use. For the rest? What are we doing? We could be using the capital tied up in these objects to buy our freedom instead.
I’m not perfect at this either, but one of the areas of success that has helped propel us towards financial freedom, is that we don’t shop for the sake of shopping. We don’t want clutter or more things. It is the simplest thing of all: just stop buying things.
Buy second hand. Give things away to people who will actually use them. Only give meaningful gifts that people will truly benefit from (but don’t ever feel obligated to give gifts – a future article). Clear your stuff out of your parents’ home and remove the anchors around them.
Feel your life get lighter when the chains of consumption are no longer hanging from your neck.