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.

Meh. I love Black Friday, this one was especially good for me. I was tracking some things before it, and bagged great deals. That said, I bought stuff I need and will use, not pointless crap: a laptop, 2 heated blankets and other bits and bobs I do need. Laptop was £200 cheaper than normal (I know how much it costs, wasn't a fake deal), blankets half price.

That said, whilst I'm not frugal for its own sake and I don't worry about consumerism at all, I pretty much never buy pointless shit just because. I don't always buy just 'practical' stuff obvs, but if I buy something, I will use it/keep it, I won't bin it in a week or after the season.

Changing decorations, etc every year is just completely alien to me. Not because of frugality or whatever, but it's just weird. Why would you? The ones I own are beautiful, I like them and they're perfectly fine, why would I chuck them and buy other ones? I grew up in a wealthy household, but the concept of chucking good stuff/changing furniture very often (non-broken furniture), etc wasn't heard of. Even among the rich people (I'm not from UK). It was thus: you buy good/best quality possible and you stick with it. Not forever, but you stick with it and don't just replace it every year on a whim.

The most baffling aspect re UK and Christmas for me are cards. Every year I read on here: 'he/she/they forgot a card', 'He didn't even bother to buy me a card', 'where do you buy beautiful cards?', etc. Now I know what they're for, but.. Why? Just call/message? And if you're giving a present, just give a present, why do you need a card on top? And what do people do with them all, straight in the bin? Store them somewhere and look at them from time to time? I don't judge, it's a cultural difference, I'm just interested.

I keep suggesting to our PTA that they do a Christmas jumper sale sometime in November so people can offload their kids’ outgrown ones, other people can get cheap jumper for their kids and the PTA can make a small profit. But no. So I buy a size up every other year and DC wears it for Xmas jumper day, Xmas lunch day, and the carol concert, and then it does the same duty the next year, before getting handed down to a friend with a younger D .

(And yes, I know I could join the PTA myself instead of criticising but I have a taxing full time job, a number of health conditions and a DC with some additional needs.)