Why do you own so much stuff? Minimalists argue that most of your possessions stem from emotional needs rather than practical ones.
This article explores the four psychological drivers behind excessive accumulation. It will also help you understand these emotional motivations so you can break free from the cycle of accumulation and create a more intentional relationship with your belongings.
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We Own Too Many Things
In Goodbye, Things, Fumio Sasaki argues that most people have too much stuff. Maybe it’s a garage full of tools you never use, or a closet stuffed with clothes you haven’t worn in years, or a basement full of inherited furniture. How did you acquire all this stuff to begin with? Sasaki explains that most of your possessions come from attempts to fulfill emotional, not practical, needs.
(Shortform note: Research has substantiated the view that people own an excessive number of possessions, especially in the US. The average household move in the US contains 8,000 pounds of items, and many Americans store extra possessions outside of their homes—making for a $24 billion self-storage industry. By contrast, some extreme minimalists report owning as few as 42 possessions, enough to carry around in a backpack.)
1) You Accumulate Things to Demonstrate Your Value
Sasaki argues that you accumulate new possessions to prove your worth to other people. For example, by owning expensive things like designer clothes or top-shelf electronics, you signal to others that you’re successful and important. By owning a large collection of records, you present yourself as a music aficionado, thus signalling your value through your taste. By owning a shed full of tools, you may be presenting yourself as someone who is good at DIY projects, and so on.
Furthermore, once you equate your worthiness with owning things, you become jealous of others who own nicer things, as it signals that they may be more intrinsically worthy than you. Therefore, you constantly compare your possessions to others’ so that you know where you stack up on the “worthiness scale,” and you accumulate even more things to catch up to those you perceive to be ahead of you.
The Cycle of Consumerism
In his book Early Retirement Extreme, Jacob Lund Fisker believes that many people sell decades of their lives to employers so they can buy consumable goods and status symbols that don’t make them happy. He broke out of the cycle of consumerism by learning how to survive on just $7,000 a year, which allowed him to permanently retire at age 33. (This book was published in 2010, but many of the basic principles still stand.)
Fisker argues that the dominant cultural narrative of the modern age influences people to work far more than they need to survive. The average worker believes that the ideal life is to be as busy and productive as possible, earn as much money as they can, and then spend that money on consumer goods. For this reason, as their income increases, they increase their spending in lockstep rather than saving their money and buying back their time by retiring. They don’t question this narrative and end up living unfulfilling lives.
Is life as a habitual consumer really so unfulfilling? Fisker says it is, offering three reasons to break out of the cycle of consumerism:
Reason #1: Your purchases don’t make you happy.
Reason #2: Habitual spending keeps you dependent and vulnerable.
Reason #3: Paying off debt wastes precious time.
Let’s take a close look at each reason.
Reason #1: Your Purchases Don’t Make You Happy
Many people falsely assume that you can find happiness by spending money, asserts Fisker. Because the dominant cultural narrative defines “successful” people as those who earn and spend the most money, people who want to feel successful spend excessively on status symbols with little intrinsic value. For example, you may buy a large, lavish home not because you need that much space to live a good life, but because it signifies to others and yourself that you’re a “success.”
(Shortform note: Not only can you not find happiness by spending money, but research also shows that some purchases may make it harder for you to find happiness. Although many people purchase status symbols to impress others, one study found that displaying luxury items actually discourages others from getting to know you further as a potential friend. If status symbols don’t really improve personal relationships, it’s possible that people seek them primarily to prove status to themselves rather than to other people.)
Others seek fulfillment in the intrinsic pleasure of accumulating possessions. They enjoy building collections of items that are personally meaningful to them, like antique toys or designer handbags.
Fisker argues that both of these spending habits position spending money as your life’s source of meaning, and consequently, they lock you into a cycle where you feel you always need to spend more to be happy. Spending money becomes a compulsion, something you feel you must do rather than something you want to do.
Reason #2: Habitual Spending Keeps You Unskilled and Dependent
According to Fisker, people in consumer culture are unskilled because they’ve internalized the habit of solving their problems by spending money. They deprive themselves of the opportunity to grow through solving their own problems; consequently, they become dependent on the products they buy.
For example, if they don’t have enough warm clothes for the coming winter, most people will go out and buy some. They believe they need to do this, but in reality, there are many solutions that don’t involve such an expensive purchase: They could learn how to tailor hand-me-down clothes into scarves and layered jackets, learn how to trap heat in their houses more efficiently, or even move someplace warmer.
When you believe you need to buy a certain product or service to survive, Fisker argues that this limits your freedom by creating the illusion of a greater cost of living. You believe you need to work more to afford all your expenses, so you spend all your time working rather than pursuing more fulfilling activities.
Reason #3: Paying Off Debt Wastes Precious Time
Debt is one of the most limiting constraints possible on your time and freedom, says Fisker. Going into debt means selling your future time and labor to buy something now. Additionally, you’ve committed to selling more of your time to pay interest on that loan. The deeper in debt you are, the more time you must waste working to pay interest and the less time you’ll have to live your life the way you want to. Despite this, it’s common practice in modern culture to live perpetually in debt.
Fisker argues that it’s almost always entirely unnecessary—and against your best interests—to take on debt of any kind. This means only purchasing something when you can aff
2) You Accumulate Things Because Satisfaction Is Fleeting
Sasaki explains that you also accumulate more than you need because the satisfaction that comes from obtaining something new is so brief. It feels good to buy something that you’ve wanted for a long time, like a new computer or a new deck chair. However, the novelty will quickly wear off, and your purchase will no longer feel as exciting and satisfying as it first did. Rather than continuing to appreciate its value, you begin to desire something new again. Sasaki explains that this becomes an endless cycle of accumulating new possessions only to tire of them and desire something else, leaving your home cluttered with items you no longer use or appreciate.
3) You Hold Onto Things to Preserve Opportunities
Sasaki argues that you also hold onto things you don’t need because you’re trying to preserve opportunities. This happens when you have items that you’re planning or hoping to use someday—holding onto them is a way to hold onto that hope. For example, suppose someone starts a new baking hobby. They invest in rolling pins, baking cookbooks, and a stand mixer to support this activity. Then they lose interest and pursue other hobbies, but they keep all their baking supplies around because they believe that someday they’ll pick it up again. This habit keeps you holding onto possessions that go unused.
(Shortform note: According to some psychologists, you may have a hard time getting rid of objects you hope to use someday because of a cognitive bias called the sunk cost fallacy. This bias leads you to continue investing in something that’s no longer working or unlikely to work in the future, because abandoning it would require you to admit that your past investments were a loss. For example, you’d have to admit you wasted money on baking supplies since you haven’t used them and probably never will. To overcome the sunk cost fallacy, experts recommend considering what you’d do if you were starting from scratch. Imagine that you haven’t sunk anything into this project, and decide if you would still want to invest in it.)
4) You Hold Onto Things to Preserve Memories
Lastly, Sasaki explains that you hold onto things you no longer need because you want to hold onto the memories you’ve attached to these objects. Gifts, souvenirs, and family heirlooms can be especially difficult to let go of. These items trigger memories and emotions related to important people and experiences, and you hold onto them because you’re afraid of losing those memories. However, Sasaki argues that your keepsakes don’t contain the memories. You can still remember these important people and experiences without holding onto the objects that remind you of them.
(Shortform note: Mementos may be especially difficult to get rid of because they remind you that you’re cared for and appreciated by others. In The Art of Community, Charles Vogl explains that mementos also create a sense of belonging to a particular community. For example, a class ring or company jacket may be difficult to get rid of because they symbolize membership in your school or your company. Because mementos can play such an important emotional role in your life, some minimalists argue they’re worth keeping even if, as Sasaki says, they don’t actually contain memories.)
Explore Further
If you want to learn more about the psychology behind owning too much stuff and minimalism, you can read our full guide to Goodbye, Things.
