One of my 2016 goals is to continue to declutter our home and to live with less. I think that as a society, we often overbuy when we don’t need to own as much as we think we do. I am working on removing items from our home that we don’t need, whether that be just thrown out, sold on eBay to make some extra money, or donated to a charity shop and it is making a difference to our home. Sure, it’s a small difference at the moment, but over time it should make our home much more tidy!
I think that as humans, we are naturally attracted to getting more, owning more, even hoarding in some households. It’s almost as if owning a lot of things is some kind of status symbol “Look at how much stuff I have!” but the more we own, the more we consume as a society, does that really make us happy? I know there’s a saying that is “Whoever said money doesn’t buy happiness doesn’t know where to shop” and I realise that shopping and buying things can be fun, but, the majority of the time, we are buying things for the sake of buying. Purchasing items that we think we should be buying, so we can fit in with our peers or work colleagues.
I wanted to share today some reasons why I think it’s good to own less, and what benefits there are from owning less. So, here are eleven reasons to own less:
- You’ll spend less. Once you think about every purchase because you want to bring in less to your home, you’ll spend less. More money and less stuff!
- Your home will be easier to clean. You own less, so therefore there’s less to clean. Bonus!
- You’ll know where things are*. You have less clutter to try to find things in.
- You’ll have more time. You can spend less time cleaning and tidying as you have fewer things. More time to spend doing the things you love. Owning stuff takes up more time than we realise.
- You’ll be less stressed. You know what they say about a tidy house equals a tidy mind? Having a clutter free home means a calmer state.
- You’ll appreciate the items you do own more. The less you own, the more you can value the things you already have.
- You’ll be setting an example to your child(ren). I want the Frugal Baby to grow up without thinking that owning stuff means being happy.
- You can own better quality things. Buying less means you can afford to spend more on quality items.
- It’s good for the environment. The less we buy as consumers, the better impact it has on the environment.
- You can let go of the past. Perhaps lurking in a cupboard is a birthday present from someone which you didn’t really like but feel you need to keep as it was a gift? Donate it instead and don’t feel guilty!
- Less pressure. If you feel like you constantly need to keep up with the Joneses, then the pressure of owning the right things is upon you, in a negative way. By saying no to stuff, then you let go of that pressure too.
These are just a few examples of the benefits of owning less. I think that the majority of the time, the items that we bring in to our home could be avoided. I like reading the tiny house blog and about how people manage with very little. Do we really need all of the things that we are told we need on a regular basis? Probably not.
Can you think of any other reasons for owning less?
Really enjoyed your post.
One advantage I’ve found of owning less is asking for experiences as presents. I have much more vivid memories of things like trampolining lessons, concert tickets, a machine embroidery class and a patchwork workshop than any other stuff I’ve been given!
That’s a great idea; creating memories that will last rather than other items you probably didn’t need 🙂
You get more time to relax and do productive things. As opposed to running from shop to shop frittering your money away 😉
Very true 🙂
linked to no.1 is to achieve Financial Independence asap (and to hit savings targets possibly shared on an online forum!)
This is true!
I found many of these to be so true during our big house purge at the beginning of the year! Good luck in your efforts!
Thank you! It’s going to be a slow, steady progress I think 🙂
Definitely! I am glad that I own less because it feels good that I can manage my home more easily.
It definitely will improve home management 🙂
Yes to all of these. When we moved a couple of months ago, I purged our tiny apartment. Once we expanded into a bigger apartment, we realized we did not purge enough. The crap seemed to expand!
I still have a lot of work to do – but minimalism is definitely what I’m trying to obtain.
I definitely think that the bigger space you have, the more stuff you seem to give in order to fill it!
I think I sort of lucked out by getting jobs that required so much traveling right after school. I’ve always seen stuff as a liability – something I have to commit to getting from place to place – rather than just amassing as a goal.
Having a job that includes travel must be great 🙂
I’m definitely up for owning less, decluttering is an ongoing venture for me. I have been holding onto things I don’t need for years!
Same here, and I obviously don’t need them!
I concur. No. 6 about appreciating what you already have is so true.
The only thing I might add as a benefit of having less is that when you don’t get your satisfaction from stuff it frees you up to think about what is really important in life.
A good point; it highlights what’s more important 🙂