You’d think this was from a sermon on materialism but its from the Money blog at Time. Brad Tuttle says that “spring cleaning” gives you a chance to ask why you have so much stuff, not just what you should do with it. So true:
People complain that they work too much. But maybe the problem is that they "need" too much. Sure, you work to pay the bills—but lots of those bills wouldn't be quite so high if you didn't feel compelled to live a lifestyle of shopping and constantly compiling stuff. It's one thing to work long hours to provide for your family. It's another to endure endless work weeks in order to get more stuff.
The other problem with stuff is that once you've accumulated it—a process that generally requires an outlay of money—you often incur more expenses taking care of your stuff, or at least finding places to keep it. Hence, the necessity of walk-in closets, 5,000-square-foot homes, and $300-a-month personal storage units. If you hadn't acquired all of that stuff, you wouldn't need all that extra space—and you also wouldn't have to work so hard to pay for all of that stuff, and for all of that space to hold your stuff. People say "stuff happens," but this sort of stuff doesn't have to happen.
So, in honor of spring, while you're doing the annual clean-up, why don't you also clean out? Getting rid of stuff is a literal and figurative cleansing process.
It can also net you some cash, if done properly.
The article ends with a George Carlin clip, which is so true but, well, it’s George Carlin, which should be warning enough.
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