The Untouchable Economy: Why Americans Are Turning Against 'Stuff'

Post by munin » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 7:20 PM UTC

cletus wrote: post #10

This resonates with me. Frankly I'm tired of owning "stuff". All I really need is a place to sleep, a laptop, a tablet, a phone and clothes. I'll get limited furniture but it'll be cheap Ikea stuff that I'll simply dispose of when I move. I don't own a TV. In fact I doubt I'll ever own a TV again. Nor do I own a big sound system. I do own a table and chairs, a sofa and a desk. All but the desk I regret. One thing tha…

Post by mindcrime » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 7:22 PM UTC

johncch wrote: post #29

mindcrime wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cool stuff. My problem is, I don't really have more wall space for shelves. The two remaining walls that would make good candidates for shelving, I use for hanging whiteboards. :-) That said, I could get rid of some of these books... especially older tech books that aren't relevant, either because they're plain out of date, or because I've made a conscious decision to move away from that technology, or both. For exam…

May I ask what whiteboards are you hanging?

Post by pavel_lishin » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 7:29 PM UTC

cletus wrote: post #10

This resonates with me. Frankly I'm tired of owning "stuff". All I really need is a place to sleep, a laptop, a tablet, a phone and clothes. I'll get limited furniture but it'll be cheap Ikea stuff that I'll simply dispose of when I move. I don't own a TV. In fact I doubt I'll ever own a TV again. Nor do I own a big sound system. I do own a table and chairs, a sofa and a desk. All but the desk I regret. One thing tha…

Post by danmaz74 » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 7:33 PM UTC

stephengillie wrote: post #26

cletus wrote: post #10

This resonates with me. Frankly I'm tired of owning "stuff". All I really need is a place to sleep, a laptop, a tablet, a phone and clothes. I'll get limited furniture but it'll be cheap Ikea stuff that I'll simply dispose of when I move. I don't own a TV. In fact I doubt I'll ever own a TV again. Nor do I own a big sound system. I do own a table and chairs, a sofa and a desk. All but the desk I regret. One thing tha…

For most of my life, I've been able to fit all of my possessions within my car, and move in one trip. Recently I've upgraded from a 20" monitor to a 46" tv. This means I'm up to 2 car trips. It's frustrating to move entirely into a new place, and find that the place looks empty and plain because you simply don't have enough objects to fill the place. In a way, it reminds me of dieting: I hate having to eat like an an…

Post by will_work4tears » Tue, Aug 28, 2012, 7:43 PM UTC

xradionut wrote: post #30

will_work4tears wrote: post #28

I hate stuff too, but fell in love with a woman that, while she isn't a materialist, tends to want the typical amount of stuff. And now that we own a home, presents tend to be tools, and they are sometimes used, sometimes not. Frankly, I'd love to cast it off and throw it away, but I'm afraid she'd not let me, lol. I love her more than I hate stuff though.

I was living in a very, very small apartment until I got a partner. Now we are married, we have a small house with very little storage room for stuff. A slightly larger house would be nice, not for stuff, but so we could work from home without interruptions, entertain our large family and have a bit more room for tools and pets.