To think there’s too much ‘stuff’

[autumnnightsaredrawingin]

This time of year is always bad for it, and I know one can ignore the endless marketing emails, the Christmas markets, the shops full of ‘stuff’, the Instagram ‘must haves’ and on and on it goes.

We are having a big declutter at the moment, and it really brings home home much stuff there is that we’ve accumulated, but also just generally how consumerism has really got crazy. I am myself guilty of buying too much stuff.

Eg: Christmas decorations. Why do some people buy a whole new set/colour scheme every year? Same for decorations for the house, there are piles and piles of different things in shops, so much. It surely can’t all be needed/bought.

Black Friday, yes it’s a good deal if you actually need the stuff, but often it’s not things you actually ‘need’.

I just find it all quite sad and obviously from an environmental aspect it’s terrible. I am really, really going to try to cut back on this stuff. Anyone else? Or are you already pretty good? I have added things to online baskets over the last few days and then cleared them and not bought them which is a start.

I buy a few Xmas things every year, but I also reuse ones that date from my childhood (I'm 61). Still me break, look too tatty... I certainly don't know anyone who buys a whole new scheme every year! But every year there are people who have just moved out to their own homes and need decorations do there's always a market.
But agree - I have way too much stuff, compounded by the fact we moved that a house half the size of my old one a couple years ago. I got rid of so much but still have so much (some of which are paintings and some of my late husband's things which I will never get rid of). I certainly never need to buy another tea light holder again - until I see a truly special one!

Don't know if you saw this OP, but France took an interesting Black Friday approach this year

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67527490

Our school just announced the date for their Christmas jumper day. Which I find infuriating. So much single use polyester. Very few of these jumpers get reused or passed down

Some schools do a second hand jumper sale before Xmas each year, so you can get a second hand one cheap and pass yours on.

I completely agree!

There are people who do buy new sets of decorations every winter based on what the shops decree is "fashionable". Everything has to go, everything has to be matchy matchy and coordinated. SIL has a fit when she sees our tree which is a mix of stuff the kids made at school, charity shop vintage, handmade. Nothing matches.

Selection boxes - over the last few years Easter egg makers have got really good at cutting out the plastic and wrapping eggs in cardboard, not so with selection boxes which are plastic fantastic and once you remove the wrapping you get 25p worth of chocolate for £2.50.

The entire "seasonal aisles" at places like Asda and Home Bargains are full of cheap shit which nobody needs. Glittery plastic shite which can't be recycled and will end up in landfill. Although there is a huge group of posters on here who will protest that it is their RIGHT to buy all this tat, and who are you to preach unless you live in a cave and knit your clothing from grass, and I bet you went on holiday, and there's a cost of living crisis dontcha know and people need the joy this tat brings, and what difference can they make and it's up to the government stopping us buying it - and on and on and on to justify their excessive consumption.

This is fair- and what I am trying to do. Yes I do love shopping and buying things, I’ve always enjoyed treating others and buying nice things for my kids and family. But my post was about the increase in volume of ‘stuff’ and the sheer amount of crap there is around. I try hard not to buy most of this stuff as I really don’t think there is a need, and yes I would feel guilty afterwards. Like most things I guess, quality over quantity.

I didn’t see that. Very interesting, thanks for sharing. This thread has been eye opening re Black Friday actually.

This one makes me sooooo cross. ‘Wear a festive jumper, bring a £1 for Save the Children.’ Really, people could just not buy a jumper and donate £2 instead, not to mention that the cheapest ones might have been made through child labour anyway. Awful. Yes you can get them on Vinted etc but many don’t.

I do find the idea of buying all new decorations every year or every couple of years to be really bizarre. Surely part of the joy of Christmas decorations is the nostalgia you experience as you take your old decorations out of the box. Boxes of cheap new plastic baubles wouldn't spark much joy for me. If by chance they're chucking out lovely glass baubles every year though I'm happy for them to chuck them my way.

We usually just give food gifts snd generally receive food gifts, DH and I don't bother with gifts to each other anyway for Christmas, Birthday or anything and DS knows which chocolates I like

Maybe wear a Christmas theme look or something would be better or use things you already have, not a brand new jumper

Yes I do love shopping and buying things, I’ve always enjoyed treating others and buying nice things for my kids and family. But my post was about the increase in volume of ‘stuff’ and the sheer amount of crap there is around. I try hard not to buy most of this stuff as I really don’t think there is a need.

The problem with this attitude is that often when people say 'There's no need for all this STUFF', they mean the kind of stuff other people buy. They feel noble resisting the impulse to buy what they regard as cheap (even though they probably don't want to buy it anyway), whereas some people can't afford to buy higher quality, more expensive things.

I buy things if I need them during the year, but have never done sales or black Friday. I think it's just buying stuff for the sake of it a lot of the time. People are whipped up into a frenzy for Christmas and feel the need to get lots of stuff which will probably just end up in charity shops.

It does sound a little bit like it's alright to buy stuff that's expensive from a nice shop but not from B&M or Home Bargains

Its been this way for years. Most people have joined in and not given a thought for the planet, until they are no longer in need or want of the ‘stuff’ and then start saying how wrong it all is and judging others.

I am already pretty good. I have ignored Black Friday this year and so has everyone in the family. We don't need anything. I spend on experiences these days so I have bought theatre tickets.
Guys and Dolls with DD was SO much better than anything else I could have bought.

My parents did try to live by buying as good a quality as they could afford and making things last.
The C&A dressing gown has got to go though!

Black Friday, utter tosh it’s a sale by any other name, So glad I want for nothing & need even less

Got it all already, eh.

Some of the stuff is pretty awful though

This is an interesting point. Apologies, I didn’t mean it to come across like buying ‘better’ (more expensive) is ok vs buying tat from B&M is not. Some stuff that is more expensive IS better environmentally, but I definitely DON’T think people who buy a lot of unnecessary expensive stuff are any better than those who buy unnecessary cheap stuff…

I guess it comes down to what makes you happy, what you can afford and trying to be responsible in not having excess ‘stuff’ whether that’s from the most expensive places or the cheapest.

There does seem to be “the norm” these days to buy a lot more stuff linked to Christmas. I’ve never done all this elf on shelf, Christmas Eve boxes, expensive advent calendars filled with toys or beauty products. It just seems excessive and greedy to me. And none of that was around when I was growing up so it was never part of my Christmas traditions thank goodness.
And the matching Pyjamas thing?! That’s another new way to make families part with their money! Oh and Christmas bedding is apparently a thing? Who has the money for all this stuff anyway?

I just cannot be bothered with any of it. Reality sets in over many years.

Of course YANBU but this is hardly a new or controversial question. Every single one of my 51 years on this earth there has been a debate about this.

I noticed this a few years ago when DC would get a whole load of tat every Christmas - cheap rubbish bath crayons that wouldn't wash off, lots of cheap chocolate, everything in those plastic trays laid out to look like a "big" present when it was a useless themed pencil/sharpener/rubber/notepad. I had to say to family we have enough "stuff" but would really love to meet up or have vouchers for events instead- something where we do something and experience something rather than have more things to manage. On the whole it worked. My friends and I now also only do earrings for each other, which is nice as they are easy to store and we all know what to expect/spend. I've also taken to leaving the country over Christmas which is great as you don't bump into people and feel the need to rush to wrap something if someone you usually rarely see suddenly announces they are coming over

I'm going to try to get the OH to go through all the lights he has bought over the years. Because he is the sort that opens an cupboard, declares that there's no lights to be seen and goes out an buys some. I then get out the box that was in the cupboard marked CHRISTMAS, open it up and find 8 sets of lights. Add to this that he doesn't take the lights down quickly (I forgive him for last year as he was having a number of heart attacks in January) and then they get bundled into a bag that is put someplace.

So I will gather all of them up (as he won't be able to find any anywhere) and leave them on the dining room table where he can't ignore them. Give him X days to go through them all, choose the ones to keep and all the others will go to a charity shop or similar.