Stuff

I read a news article about a month ago and I bookmarked it as I wanted to write a post about it.... Then I forgot lol It's a good thing I bookmarked it. Then this morning I was reading the news and there was a new article that reminded me of the previous article, and since I have some free time I thought I would write about both articles now. They're about stuff. Yep, stuff. All the stuff we buy because we think we need it, are told we need it, it's advertised to make our lives easier or some just acquire stuff because they're keeping up with the Joneses - so to speak.

The older article (If we downsize and de-clutter our lives can we get more out of life?) discusses the amount of stuff we have and the stress it can cause, the minimalist movement, the growing size of Australian homes although family sizes are shrinking - I wrote about this in another post and Red Balloon - I was going to write a separate post about Red Balloon, but I will touch on it in this post.

The second article (Blender wars: Why sellers of stuff are stuffed) is about two companies (JB Hi-Fi and Dick Smith) entering the small appliance market. These two companies at present primarily sell electronics and associated gadgets. The reason they're expanding into the small appliance market is because you can buy a toaster for less than a loaf of bread, a blender for less than a smoothie and a vacuum cleaner for less than the cost of hiring a cleaner. This is due to most of the products being manufactured in China, thus reducing the cost. As they're now cheaper we no longer want them as they don't show a personal status of wealth. The article states that the less we want stuff, the more it's discounted.

A Google image - Not my kitchen lol

Personally, I used to be a huge buyer of stuff. In fact the pantry is full of kitchen electrical stuff that I rarely use, however when I do use them, they do cut down preparation time. Could I throw them all out and live without them? Yes I could. Will I? Probably not as they do come in handy. It's the same in my garage - I have a range of power tools that I rarely use, however they're there for when I do use them and although they take up a lot of room they're effective time wise.

About 2-3 years ago my wife and I decided for birthdays and Christmas to only buy each other limited stuff that we would use. We were notorious for buying each other huge amounts of stuff, it got out of hand! So now we buy a couple of trinkets and the rest of the present is in the form of an outing or an event such as concert tickets etc.

These days the only physical stuff I mainly buy is things like pet toys which get demolished, components for my ceramics like glazes which get used to create pieces for me to sell (more on this in a future post) and scented candles and essential oils for my oil burner as I like the fresh scent. Any music I buy is a digital download as my CD shelf is full or I use Guvera a music streaming service. Any books I buy go on my Kindle as my bookshelves are full! Seriously full and that's after 2-3 clean outs! I will on the odd occasion buy a physical book, however it's usually a cookbook as I find it easier than using my Kindle for when I'm cooking. 

There's one book I purchased a physical copy of recently and that's only because this book has a lot of activities in it, it's one of those books where you find yourself reading up to a certain section then flipping back to another section that you have already read. I'm no where near finished this book and I can honestly say from what I have read to date, this is one of my favourite books! It's written by Naomi Simson, an Australian entrepreneur who started the company Red Balloon. This company sells experiences, rather than stuff. My wife an I have purchased a number of these experiences for ourselves and as gifts. Naomi started this company with the belief that people find more enjoyment from doing, giving and receiving experiences, rather accumulating stuff. She was right! Like everyone else, she worked a regular job - however felt she wasn't doing what made her happy. So she sunk all her savings into building a website so that she could sell happiness.  

Back to the book, now don't let the title or the blurb on the back fool you into believing that this book is about how to make a million dollars overnight. It's not one of those 'self help, guru, lifestyle coaching' themed books. In a nutshell this book questions you about every aspect of your life. The activities really make you sit back and think about who you are, what you want, what you've achieved, what you want to achieve. It applies to everyone! It doesn't matter if you want to achieve millionaire status, figure out how to climb the ladder where you currently work, run your own small business or most importantly just figure out who you really are. 

I think to some degree we all 'believe' we know who we are. This book really makes you question whether you do or not. The activities are quite insightful, some are easy, but some really make you think. When you have to really think about a question that asks you about yourself, that's a good indication that you don't know yourself as well you first thought you did. So if you're in business, are employed or just want greater insight into yourself, you need this book! 

Now I know this is a bit of a jumbled post lol but the first two news articles were related and one mentioned Red Balloon and Naomi Simson - all topics I was wanting to write about, so that's why it might seem a bit disjointed, but in my mind they're linked lol So I guess in conclusion I want you to look at how much stuff you have, how often you have a clean out and I mean a proper clean out. Maybe give experiences as gifts instead of stuff, memories are built on what we do, not what we have.