Comments on: Clutter and the U.S. economy

By: Red

Red — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:03:18 +0000

I’ve not experienced anything quite to that degree (Yikes!), but my parents haven’t been very supportive of my decision to live simply. Once I began downgrading my possessions and getting rid of clutter, my parents saw the changes as a sacrifice I was making instead of seeing it as a positive change in my life. I tried explaining that I wanted to focus on those things most important to me – spending time with family, D, reading and writing – instead of sitting in front of the TV and watching Felicity for the 200th time. They’re slowly getting better when I tell them about new changes I’ve made – instead of arguing with me, now they just sigh exasperatedly and listen to me. Then they quickly change the subject.

By: LJ

LJ — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:21:08 +0000

It seems to me that those already used to living simply are going to have less of a learning curve in the event of a depression. We won’t have the mental adjustments of “need to buy” forced upon us.

Just my $0.02. Or what would have been $0.02 until the market got hold of it.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:58:26 +0000

People are scared. They want to feel better, and attacking someone else validates their own views. Clutter and disorganisation aren’t always related to excessive consumption. Frugality can also get out of control (hoarding things that aren’t immediately useful, but aren’t totally useless eg bits of string, tiny dessicant packets). Some people may not see that you advocate that too much stuff of any type doesn’t do good, and think you are simply attacking consumer purchasing. I think bubbles are bursting around the world and that most people will need to be very careful about what they acquire, what they keep, and what they demand be produced.

By: Pat

Pat — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 04:09:00 +0000

Yeah, people are pretty afraid right now. Sorry they’re taking it out on you, Erin. I think all the economic fear is amplifying people’s irrational attachment to their stuff.

(Not saying that attachment to stuff *in general* is irrational. I love my stuff — even more than they do, cuz I have so little of it! I try to make it so that I only own things I love, so on average my attachment to any given object I own is quite high! I mean attachment to orphaned socks and never-used kitchen appliances, all the “loose bits of string” of life.)

You’re right on every point up there, I think. I’ve always thought you advocated a very smart consumerism, but I think it’s a subtle one that sometimes people miss because they’re assuming this is an anti-consumerist blog or a consumerist blog or an environmentalist blog, or something else that this isn’t.

By: Christine in DC

Christine in DC — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:20:16 +0000

Wow, I’m astounded people are so hostile, too. spending without having the money to back it up is part of the problem we’re in. I can’t see how my giving away unused items in my home (that I should have never bought to begin with, but was probably indulging some fleeting feeling of inferiority that I thought they’d take care of) would prevent my eventual economic demise–what would have stopped it would have been realizing that happiness and contentment isn’t held in any object or in money…and I think that’s what this site is getting at! Making room for the real things!

By: Dee

Dee — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 05:37:34 +0000

I am one of those people who is trying to get to a simpler, less cluttered kind of life. Having too much crap can stress you out, and I think we all know what kind of problems that stress can lead to, some of which can be pretty expensive.

I’m moving toward surrounding myself with only the things that I need, and valuing the things that I have that make me truly happy. There’s a garbage can and a donation box for the rest of it.

By: allen

allen — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:39:15 +0000

@ eternalvoyageur:

I actually do hang on to my orphan socks. I wear though my socks pretty fast (since i don’t wear shoes at home). I just put the good half of the pair into the same small drawer my hankies are in, and when i have another orphan sock, match them up. nothing weird about that.

@ Erin:
Thank you so much for putting up with jerks & a-holes. I think the studies are on your side when it comes to the better living/saving money through owning what you need/want, not what you want/need owning you.

By: tadeusz

tadeusz — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:57:29 +0000

The truth is that people have different preferences. For some an iPhone is excellent. Then, for some people it’s kind of cool, but too expensive. For other it’s crazy expensive and out of question.

Each and every one of us has limited resources: limited money, limited time, etc. We try to manage this scarce resources the best we can. We also have to predict the future: is this iPod now worth more or less than my future retirement? Whatever, think it through. Maybe it is, maybe it’s not.

Always remember, that there’s no one size that fits all. Your personal preferences and choices are yours only. Other people might value certain decisions differently.

People hear all kind of advice: Buy cool iPhones! Live frugally! Limit green house gas emission! Invest in Vanguard index funds! That’s confusing, if you can’t tell an advice from an order. I believe that this confusion is the real source of anger mentioned in this blog article.

I don’t know if uncluttering helps economy, or not. But I’m pretty sure that general thoughtfulness helps a lot.

By: PrairieGal

PrairieGal — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:24:28 +0000

This sums up what I was thinking.

“You can’t have it all
Don’t blame politicians and bankers. The real cause of the credit crisis is a society that wants everything now”

From the National Post Sep23/08
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=814048

“Those of us with a sense of history, or whose personal memories go back to the 1940s and ’50s, remember some of the maxims of the old society — values forged during many generations when good times inevitably gave way to hard ones. Our parents told us stories of the wrenching effects of the Great Depression and how it caused them never to feel right about spending lavishly or going into debt. It was important to save money in advance to pay for the things a person wanted — education, a household, a home.”

“The left had always been utopian and narcissistic, but the abandonment of thrift and prudence even by conservatives signalled a great social change. Everyone had bought into the culture of having it all.”

By: timgray

timgray — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:33:26 +0000

I love that kind of stuff. It’ reminds me of the real state of mind of the populace. Buying things = good. and if you spend a lot you are doing even gooder! (yes that was intentional)

I fight the following daily..

If you dont drive the biggest SUV you can find, you are unamerican.(in regards to my trading in two cars to get a smartcar)

If you dont have lots of credit card debt you are unamerican. (seriously, I was told this!)

if you dont buy lots of stuff then you are unamerican.

I laugh, and say, “well then you need to double up and make up for me!”

Just smile and know that that person has their head in a cloud and can only be happy that way.

By: jocelyn

jocelyn — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:15:09 +0000

I agree with Karen. Being vigilant about how much stuff we let into the house (even if that stuff was free) saved my husband and I throughout our twenties. Not only because ‘living close to the bone’ (as one person put it) saved us money for emergencies and unwanted expenses (the $1,000 crown for his tooth, the flat tire on the ’88 acura), spared us debt, and made it easier to weather employment/income fluctuations, but living simply meant we were always able to relocate easily to chase jobs and opportunities or to escape rent increases.

By: gypsypacker

gypsypacker — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:42:12 +0000

Uncluttering helps the economy by: Trickling down goods to the less affluent,
making broken goods available to repairers who earn money from their efforts and create a job (their own), freeing up recyclables to recycling individuals and firms, and encouraging intelligent consumerism instead of endless collections of cheap Chinese junk. Give’em hell!

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:23:26 +0000

What will save my spouse and I during rough financial times is that because we have resisted buying things we don’t need, we have been able to pay off our modest house. We owe nothing, to anybody.

If we are headed into another depression, I think a lot of people are going to find out the hard way that large amounts of stuff require a lot of money to maintain. Living lightly is the only way to go.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:14:36 +0000

I live in a community that is just now coming out of a widespread power outage as the result of the tail end of Ike. I was without electricity for seven days, and without a personal support network that would have provided me a place to stay that never lost power. Fortunately, we have a gas water heater, so really what I lost was my refrigerator, lights and television. I pretty much lived in one room, and on the front porch.

What I found was, I didn’t miss television at all, and my possessions in the darkened rooms pretty much ceased to exist. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I spent 25 years in the same house, accumulating “stuff” that was attractive in the light, but pretty much served no purpose. I really didn’t even miss being able to cook, and am going to be slow to fill my lovely clean and empty refrigerator.

By: Cynthia Friedlob, The Thoughtful Consumer

Cynthia Friedlob, The Thoughtful Consumer — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:50:37 +0000

In times of crisis, there are always opportunities, but you’ve got to be lean and mean to be able to spot them and act on them.

If you’re busy “curating” your stuff, you’ll miss out on living your life. Of course, that’s also true when everything is looking rosy!