How owning stuff makes you feel

Freebird · December 2019

I decluttered a long time ago, and now I only own "tools" that have some purpose or a capacity to produce something. In fact, the thought of shopping makes me sick

I do have a Philips Hue system, but I consider that to be a mood generator

goldtop · December 2019

This is going to sound a bit hippyish, but I've come to the conclusion that we don't possess things - they possess us.

You buy stuff you think you want, but as soon as you do, it starts making demands on you. Sometimes you need more stuff (the right cab to go with that amp, or a soundbar that fits the new TV, new slacks to go with your Issei Miyaki shirt, etc). Then there's the space you need to store it. And the hassle of going through an insurance company's telephone system to add it to your policy. Even dusting it from time to time. And, when you want to move home...

I'm downsizing these days, and with each thing I sell, it's cathartic. Literally like a weight off my shoulders.

Freebird · December 2019

goldtop said:

This is going to sound a bit hippyish, but I've come to the conclusion that we don't possess things - they possess us.

You buy stuff you think you want, but as soon as you do, it starts making demands on you. Sometimes you need more stuff (the right cab to go with that amp, or a soundbar that fits the new TV, new slacks to go with your Issei Miyaki shirt, etc). Then there's the space you need to store it. And the hassle of going through an insurance company's telephone system to add it to your policy. Even dusting it from time to time. And, when you want to move home...

I couldn't agree more. I now live in a perfectly formed ecosystem where everything fits perfectly and serves some useful purpose.

The first thing everybody should get rid of is the television, as that is the biggest time stealer and it just fills your head with useless crap!

Philly_Q · December 2019

ICBM said:

I like the stuff I have, but I would generally prefer to have less of it. I do currently have a couple of thousand CDs which I'm trying to cull a bit, I've cut down on guitars and amps quite a lot, and I need to make more of an effort to get rid of junk.

Similar-ish for me. I've got way (way, WAY) too much stuff for the one-bedroom flat I live in, I need to get rid of all the crap and some of the stuff which isn't crap (including many guitars).

But basically I like stuff and I like other people's houses with stuff. I like to see bookshelves and record collections and DVDs and Blu-rays, I like kitchens with pans and things hanging all over the place. I actively dislike minimalist houses with white walls and just a few bits of furniture.

I just need a bigger place to keep my stuff in, so at least it looks tidy.

prowla · December 2019

McSwaggerty said:

prowla said:

I prefer owning things to not having things and wishing I did.

So you like owning stuff, and owning lots of stuff makes you happy.
That's cool......no worries
Each to their own.

Well, I thought I was being a bit more introspective than that...

...along the lines of: having money doesn't make you happy, but not having money can make you unhappy.

McSwaggerty · December 2019

goldtop said:

This is going to sound a bit hippyish, but I've come to the conclusion that we don't possess things - they possess us.

You buy stuff you think you want, but as soon as you do, it starts making demands on you. Sometimes you need more stuff (the right cab to go with that amp, or a soundbar that fits the new TV, new slacks to go with your Issei Miyaki shirt, etc). Then there's the space you need to store it. And the hassle of going through an insurance company's telephone system to add it to your policy. Even dusting it from time to time. And, when you want to move home...

I'm downsizing these days, and with each thing I sell, it's cathartic. Literally like a weight off my shoulders.

Agree 100%

SNAKEBITE · December 2019

I like nice things.

I don't buy stuff to be "trendy" I buy stuff that I like, regardless of what anyone else thinks. This can be clothes or other items.

Over the last few years I have moved twice, each time getting rid of stuff that I have bought again because I regretted parting with it.

Tech stuff doesn't bother me, I don't what telly I have as long as I can see it and it has Netflix on it.

Phones don't bother me, as long it makes calls and I can access the apps I need then who cares what it is.

I have items that are years old, if I want to buy something I buy it to last, whether that's clothes or anything else.

Deep down though I sometimes long for a simpler life where I have nothing and need even less.

jonnyburgo · December 2019

It's a battle, the media, retailers, advertising, social media, neighbours, friends tell us that we need these things to make life easier, or more manageable or more successful or more sexy, or more cool.

Look at the guitar industry, just when you think you've got the nearest thing (according to all the mags) to a 59 Les Paul, then the new super duper historic comes out, using genuine 50s pick up wire or some bullshit and that means that DAMN! my tone is not now as authentic as I thought and actually when I listen it isnt quite cutting it any more, shit, need the super duper LP now. But then what about next near when the SUPER super duper comes out what then?

And what about that review that said "THE ONLY STRAT YOU WILL EVER NEED!", fuck.. I bought that and now theres a new "THE ONLY STRAT YOU WILL EVER NEED",

I hate it it all, especially this time of year, I found myself in some shops by mistake yesterday and honestly I felt dizzy after 10 minutes, fuck the lot of it. Buy used if you must, better if you don't buy at all. And that big posh car just makes people think you're probably a cunt, even if you aren't. We are controlled by the higher powers to be envious and jealous and to want more, to keep consuming like good little shit-eaters.

Danny1969 · December 2019

I've never been fussed about spending money on guitars or amps .... the local players I looked up to when I was younger all seemed to use pretty shitty cheap equipment but still sounded fine and that's stayed with me over the years. To the point I tell my students you're better off spending your money on lessons or taking less hours at work so you can practice more than you are saving up to buy gear that's only fractionally better.

I do like to travel though and that can be expensive and bad for the planet so I'm not better than the average tech hungry consumer. It's just for me the experience of travel and the memories of it are more precious than the enjoyment I would get out of owning a new car or the latest TV etc

Musicwolf · December 2019

Philly_Q said:

I just need a bigger place to keep my stuff in, so at least it looks tidy.

Crap just grows to fill the space available.

ROOG · December 2019

Moved house recently and this did wonders for clearing crap out. It took days for us to move the stuff we had hoarded from the loft and sift through it. I lost count how many times we went to the recycling centre with a full estate car. At first, we threw lots of stuff out, then realised that much of that had some value, and so we became the Gumtree Kings of the close.

I am reluctant to board out the loft in our new place, just in case we start hoarding again. I don't ever want to go through that again!

So I guess stuff makes me feel uncomfortable.

ICBM · December 2019

What's worrying is the amount of crap almost all of us accumulate, and that's even on top of the stuff we *do* already throw away... no wonder rubbish disposal and landfill capacity is one of the major problems for the modern world.

Philly_Q · December 2019

Musicwolf said:

Philly_Q said:

I just need a bigger place to keep my stuff in, so at least it looks tidy.

Crap just grows to fill the space available.

Yeah, but it takes time...

Philly_Q · December 2019

ICBM said:

What's worrying is the amount of crap almost all of us accumulate, and that's even on top of the stuff we *do* already throw away... no wonder rubbish disposal and landfill capacity is one of the major problems for the modern world.

I spent yesterday morning filling a skip with stuff from my dad's house... to be fair, most of it was at least 40 years old, not too much accumulated in recent years (except paper).

boogieman · December 2019

Philly_Q said:

ICBM said:

What's worrying is the amount of crap almost all of us accumulate, and that's even on top of the stuff we *do* already throw away... no wonder rubbish disposal and landfill capacity is one of the major problems for the modern world.

I spent yesterday morning filling a skip with stuff from my dad's house... to be fair, most of it was at least 40 years old, not too much accumulated in recent years (except paper).

I was dreading doing the same thing at my
old mum's house, because she’d hoarded stuff for decades. We had the place renovated last year when her health problems dictated she either went into a care home or we got her own house made more suitable for her to stay in. When she chose the latter option it was a great time to finally get her to clear out the clutter ready for the builders. I think even she was surprised at the sheer amount of crap she’d accumulated. It still took a lot of careful sifting because she’d got things like family mementos, cash, photos and important documents mixed in with all the rubbish. It was quite cathartic for her I think and we found things she hadn’t seen since she’d moved to the house in the 60s, including my dad’s love letters to her when he was in the navy in WW2. (Great for me too, not only have I discovered things about my family history, old family photos I’d never seen before etc etc, but it’s going to save me a boatload of aggro when we need to sell the house, for whatever reason).

WiresDreamDisasters · December 2019

Not sure I get threads like these really. I don't accumulate crap, other than beer cans I suppose. Everything else has a use, and it's usually musical equipment. I don't regularly buy anything else because I don't regularly want anything else. I'm fairly ascetic in that respect.

I don't buy posh shirts. I don't buy sound bars. I don't buy TV's every other year. I don't switch up my mobile phone. I don't follow the consoles because I'm PCMASTERRACE, and I no longer buy CD's.

I have tons of books, but most of those were bought in charity shops or sales at various points over the last 20 years. I had to throw a bunch out about 10 years ago because they all went damp and mouldy. I was really pissed off about that. Lost a lot of good books.

I don't even have crazy guitar collections compared to some around here. I've got my Orville LP, ESP LTD LP, a Rally LP, Taylor acoustic, Stingray bass, and Fame bass. That's a fairly stripped back guitar collection, and I actually use em!!

I have gone a bit crazy on the amps - Orange Rockerverb, Fryette Sig X, Diezel D-Moll, and Diezel VH-4. There's no way I need them all, but I do want them all.

Yeah looking at my stuff, I don't have much. What I do have I use regularly. So.... no crap accumulated.

boogieman · December 2019

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Not sure I get threads like these really. I don't accumulate crap, other than beer cans I suppose. Everything else has a use, and it's usually musical equipment. I don't regularly buy anything else because I don't regularly want anything else. I'm fairly ascetic in that respect.

I don't buy posh shirts. I don't buy sound bars. I don't buy TV's every other year. I don't switch up my mobile phone. I don't follow the consoles because I'm PCMASTERRACE, and I no longer buy CD's.

I have tons of books, but most of those were bought in charity shops or sales at various points over the last 20 years. I had to throw a bunch out about 10 years ago because they all went damp and mouldy. I was really pissed off about that. Lost a lot of good books.

I don't even have crazy guitar collections compared to some around here. I've got my Orville LP, ESP LTD LP, a Rally LP, Taylor acoustic, Stingray bass, and Fame bass. That's a fairly stripped back guitar collection, and I actually use em!!

I have gone a bit crazy on the amps - Orange Rockerverb, Fryette Sig X, Diezel D-Moll, and Diezel VH-4. There's no way I need them all, but I do want them all.

Yeah looking at my stuff, I don't have much. What I do have I use regularly. So.... no crap accumulated.

One man’s room full of crap is another man’s faeces collection.

McSwaggerty · December 2019

Musicwolf said:

Philly_Q said:

I just need a bigger place to keep my stuff in, so at least it looks tidy.

Crap just grows to fill the space available.

Exactly - Take a womans handbag for example....they bigger it is, the more shite they put in it.

beed84 · December 2019

viz said:

beed84 said:

Tech wise I have the following:
50" Plasma TV
Apple TV
Nintendo Switch
Nintendo GameCube
PS4
MacBook Pro
iPhone SE
Philips Hue

What’s your address?

Watercress

RaymondLin said:

@beed84 ;;;;

That list is nothing to be honest.

You have 1 semi-modern console, an old TV, a computer (everyone does), a really old phone and the only thing stands out is the Philips Hue but that is hundreds, not thousands of pounds. I wouldn't call you materialistic, not even close. I would say on the scale of materialistic, 1 being living in a tree house with electric and a Nokia T9 phone and 10 being someone who buys everything shown on Unboxed Therapy. You are like a 2.

I am probably on like 8 in that scale. New OLED tv yesterday....I am trying my best to tone it down but it is like a sickness and addiction. To fill an emotional void with materials. It never works, well it does for like a day until whatever i bought arrives.

Thanks. When you put it like that it does make me feel a bit better. Thinking about it, I'm not one for having the latest TV/phone/console whatever, and I'm quite happy to wait it out or buy decent old technology – my Pioneer TV is off the chain good and it only cost me £100. It took me several months to pull the trigger on the Switch and even longer for the PS4 (I reasoned that could take the place of my Apple TV and BluRay player whilst also allowing me to play some decent shooters etc). I bought my MacBook used for £200 and it took a good while for me jump from my iPhone 4 to the SE. The Philips Hue was also a considered choice and took a few months to hit the buy button. I know it's only a lamp, but it's a bloody good lamp!

dindude said:

I try to own as little as possible really, it gives me a more Zen feeling!

Easy to fall into the trap of thinking things are good to own, but if I haven’t got time to use them then it becomes a distraction/frustration.

In the words of Arcade Fire “‘til every room in my house is full of shit I couldn’t live without”

I agree. The fewer things one has, the more at one feels. As others have indicated, clear outs, decluttering, charity shop runs, trips to recycle centre is a hugely liberating feeling. I was in the loft earlier and discovered various shit that doesn't need to be there, including empty boxes! The lyric above certainly rings true

McSwaggerty said:

Over the last 2 years l have got rid of loads of stuff.

Some stuff went on Gumtree, some on EBay but most of it went to the recycling centre. And l have never missed one single thing.

Owning less is great.... And it feels great..... It really frees you up.
And l have discovered there is another benefits of owning less......
I now want less. lnstead of wasting money on stuff l don't really need, l now use the money to go and do stuff l couldn't afford or have the time for before.....

I totally recommend it...... You will never ever get bogged down with stuff again...... Freedom.!!!!!

Dude, you're speaking to my inner Marie Kondo. One day soon I'll arrive with nothing but feel like I have everything!

But this is it. Some of us acquire stuff we think we'll miss but after it's gone we realise it was pretty insignificant after all. The meaning and attachment we put on things is quite remarkable, really.

ICBM said:

What's worrying is the amount of crap almost all of us accumulate, and that's even on top of the stuff we *do* already throw away... no wonder rubbish disposal and landfill capacity is one of the major problems for the modern world.

True. The amount of waste that a single person can yield in their lifetime is concerning at the very least. It's hard to imagine what that would be like for the entire population. But I'd also argue it's the exponential at which we produce stuff that is the overarching problem. It's okay being given the option to recycle everything, but the process of doing so comes with it's own set of strains (e.g. man power, fossil fuel, money etc). If people really want to "save the planet" or to waste less, it would perhaps require the production rate to be reined in and for us to buy fewer things. But that won't happen partly because of capitalism and the fact that people like to consume. It's a vicious circle that I'm sadly embroiled in.

scrumhalf · December 2019

I have no problem with clutter, or stuff, unless it gets in the way of life..

I have a lot of books, and I consider that to be a good thing.I have CDs, albums, singles, instruments, amps, outboard gear. My joy comes not from owning a strat but from playing it. It would be difficult to play one without the ownership thing kicking in, either outright ownership or some form of temporary ownership. It's nice to look at, but that's not its purpopse for me.

I don't see what the benefit would be of chucking stuff out. More space in cupboards? Whoop-de-do. It's a cupboard, it exists to put things in. I have a clearout of clothes every so often, either because they are not fit for purpose any more, have shrunk in the wash or, more insidiously, have somehow shrunk through just hanging there and it's nothing to do with my changing shape. That's practical.

And to me, practicality is the key. If it's impractical to have stuff then don't. You can't keep a houseful of stuff in a small flat, so some of it has to go.

Never be a slave to your stuff, but if the stuff you have doesn't make you unhappy don't be talked into getting rid of it just because someone's written a book.

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How owning stuff makes you feel

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