I love stuff. It doesn’t own me. And I enjoy looking after it. None of my stuff goes to the landfill. When it goes anywhere, it’s not because it has worn out, but that I am upgrading and someone else benefits from my careful selection.

Stuff doesn’t make me feel bad in the least. I look around and reminisce over the times when I had the most pleasure buying and using it. It helps that I have chosen wisely by only buying quality and with consideration, and I can’t help feeling that the stuff that makes most people feel bad about themselves has been bought on impulse, in respond to some great advertising, or as compensation for an emotional blow or shortcoming.

If you buy in those conditions, well – you get what you pay for!

Some readers have commented on the downside of large homes. After 6 decades of life’s ups-and-downs I have a large, uncluttered and architecturally designed home, and with 4 cars between my wife and I this is nirvana for me! I am not greedy nor mentally unstable, but take pleasure in nice things and sometimes sharing them with others. I have worked hard and boxed clever to earn my modest treasures, and now is the time to enjoy them. And there is an upside advantage to owning as many cars as us: We can only use one at a time! That means we’ve saved the world in a small way by not using the others which would have been in use if owned by others. The more I buy, the more virtuous I feel

While it seems a fatuous argument in the face of times of cutting back and saving the planet, there are many millions of people who depend on us to buy their stuff so they can earn a living. You cannot talk about greedy monopolies in the same breath as denying the tens of thousands of people they employ their livelihood, and who would be homeless without our financial input.

Money makes the world go round, and it’s naive to think that we can all exist in an nonstuff vacuum.

sky: i’m in the same boat. please stop giving stuff to your kids, though. that’s how we wound up with boxes of crap we realized three years later we didn’t want!

@ peter (a different one): ugh. the books. i was the same way. i JUST cleared out the bookshelves. i was an english and drama major; my husband was a drama major (with too many philosophy courses thrown in there).

i had the paperback college bookstore version of every classic book written since time began. at least it felt that way. i wish i had taken “before” pictures. our house is so much more beautiful without them! you say you use yours, though. i don’t have time to reread books i’ve already read.

Although my boyfriend pointed out the irony of a Disney-affiliated film taking a anti-consumerist stance…

Even though I could have gotten some of these books electronically, I feel much better when I can crack open a book and lay it on my desk while I use it for reference.

My latest Shiney is a new motorcycle. It was mostly paid for by the sale of my Band gear I have not touched for 4 years. (the 80’s will not be back, my Moog synths and keyboards can go away) I cleaned out an entire closet of musical gear that was unused and I get a new toy!

she’s happy, I’m happy, the checkbook’s happy.

I have a co-worker in Italy right now and her assistant asked me what my glove size was. Already having a pair of gloves, I asked if it would be rude of me to decline getting a pair of something that I already own.

Her assistant said that it is ‘fine italian leather’ and that I should be happy that she is thinking about me while on vacation.

My issue with this is, why do people assume we want these random gifts? Yes, Italy might be known for their leather goods, but at the same time, I have made no request for new gloves, and being someone who has lived on the east coast for 25+ years, I already have several pairs of gloves for various occasions.

You can exchange the gloves in this story for any number of things that, while practical, you just don’t need. And I’m at the breaking point where I am just telling people that if they buy me something it is most likely going to end up at good will. I would rather get nothing from my friends and not contribute to waste than convert a closet in my apartment into the Re-Gift Empire.

This year, our twins turn 2. Last year, we were SHOCKED at their birthday party by all the gifts. We certainly didn anticipate a mountain of presents. We put away half of it to put under the tree. We couldn’t imagine bringing even MORE stuff into our home.

For their birthday this year, we’re planning a memory birthday. We’ll take them to the movies for the first time and go out to lunch someplace fun and kid-friendly. No big family party.

I can tell you, I don’t remember what I got for my 5th birthday or how much I liked whatever it was.

What I do remember is getting dressed up with my mommy and going to see a dinner theater production of “Annie.”

That’s the kind of birthday I want to give my kids.

Is simplifying life by having less stuff an age thing?

Over the past few months I’ve been buying less and less stuff and the reality is I’m happier for it. I don’t have buyers remorse nor do I feel like I need to spend time with a piece of stuff that I bought on a whim.

It’s hard to stop too with all the economic and cultural ramifications. Every generation is supposed to be doing better than their parents which was good when ya know people didn’t have food to eat. Now, however, there is no need to do better than our parents but we are still driven by that desire.

Mcmansions especially depress me. They’re so ugly and what do people do with all that space if they have less than six family members??