Wednesday, March 19, 2014

I'm Sorry, But Too Much Stuff Is Just Too Much Stuff


Not too long ago I met someone who told me how he had downsized from a 3000 square foot house, which seems absolutely huge to me right now, to one almost half that size.  When I asked him what he did with all his stuff he seemed kind of puzzled.

Did you sell it?  Give stuff away?  What did you do?

He told me he got rid of some stuff but he also shared with me that his house and garage are pretty full as is the shop he works out of.  Then he told me he also has four large storage units "crammed full of stuff".

I asked him what he plans to do with all that stuff and he told me nothing because it is all "assets".  I'm not sure I agree with that.

According to the dictionary an asset is described as "a useful or valuable thing" "good or important enough to justify worth or value, as in money".  So in layman's terms it is only truly an asset and has value if it is useful, as in it would be desired by someone who wants to pay money for it.  If not, then in my opinion, it is just stuff.

I know from my own personal experience the tendency or drive to hang onto objects that may be of value or usefulness.  If not now, then maybe some other time.  As a result I stored a lot of stuff.  After a series of yard sales and Craigslist posting I discovered what my so called treasures were truly worth.

A lot less than I thought and a whole lot less than I originally paid for them.

Based on that experience alone I don't think I could every justify the expense of keeping a storage unit, let alone multiple ones, or the time involved just packing up that much stuff, hauling it over there and cramming it inside the unit.

In this particular gentlemen's case the stuff in storage is not being used and it costs a small fortune every month in rental fees to keep it.  Currently he has no specific plans for any of this stuff.  To my way of thinking you invest that is not an investment as much as it is a financial drain.  While he no longer has the higher mortgage payment every month he has actually made it up in storage unit costs, therefore no savings.

Just recently he told me he acquired another rather large object in the form of a vintage automobile in desperate need of restoration.  He then admitted that he has neither the space to store it or the time to work on it because he has so many other projects going.  To my way of thinking, and I used restraint here, why did you buy it?

Sounds like complete madness and chaos to me.  At this point I can't help but feel he doesn't own all this stuff as much as it owns him.  What are your thoughts?

12 comments:

  1. Oh my word, this is the best post in a long time. This truly fits my husband, i detest clutter and chaos and it doesn't seem to bother him one bit. Having all that junk would drive me insane. I mean just thinking about it in storage would keep me up at night. I would bet that if you looked at his parents and how he was raised, they taught him these great "skills", you know keep everything and these hoarding tendencies.

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    1. I have a friend with a husband that sounds like yours. Fortunately she can keep his clutter (I refer to it as his trash collection) confined to the garage and one bedroom also known as his "office". I have no idea how he gets anything done in either of those places. It is a lot of work for her to keep him controlled such that it is.

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  2. I think he is a hoarder. He just moved to a new space to make himself think he was downsizing. It will soon be full as well. Oh my......

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    1. Something is going on. When you keep buying stuff you don't have space or time for there has to be something wrong, I think. You can't fill a void in your life with stuff.

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  3. I know how I am- there are things I like to hang onto- but I know when to stop and when to just not even buy something. I hear you when you say "Enough is enough!" We know some people who have so much "stuff" in their house- unnecessary things that do not get used at all- it makes me half crazy to think about it. You cannot even find their floor, there is just SO MUCH STUFF everywhere- it is almost like an episode of the show hoarders. Every time I have gone there it makes me want to go home and throw stuff away in my own house- haha. Lately we have been trying to get rid of unnecessary things around our house. With the kids getting older and outgrowing a lot of their toys, etc, it is nice to see more space opening up around the house. We are planning to have a yard sale soon or we'll just take it all to the flea market to try and get something for it. Probably wont get much but anything would be nice. :)

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    1. Every time I watch Hoarders I end up cleaning house and throwing something away before the episode has even ended. Hope you do well with your sales.

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  4. Boy, you got that right! It's OK to like your stuff. It's why you bought it, but in the end, it's only stuff. Not assets, just stuff.

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    1. Thanks for the insight. I was afraid I might be a little narrow minded. We are talking a lot of stuff!

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  5. Those storage buildings are everywhere! Lots of people are just like your friend. I think we have too much stuff and I am trying to weed it down.
    But at least we don't have to rent storage :)

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    1. You are right. Those things are everywhere. That's a business to be in I suppose.

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  6. I have never understood paying good money to store stuff that you can obviously live without.

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    1. That is my thought, exactly. Honestly, how does one even know what all is in there? To me it is a supreme waste of money.

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