Materialism

[Asella]

This is a really interesting thread. I only like having the bare necessities because I feel having too much stuff makes life complicated (and the house is hard to clean too). I feel it is unfortunate that there is so much “stuff” in the world today. When I walk through stores, it is just amazing to see all the different, useless products out there. My husband is a pack rat and he especially likes his collection of DVDs, which I would LOVE to get rid of. I dislike anything that is not practical. It seems like so many people I know personally are obsessed with the idea of having more and more stuff. Before I got married, relatives asked me to have a bridal shower and I refused for several reasons, one being that I did not want a lot of stuff. My relatives could not believe that I would turn down a prime opportunity to get presents. After my wedding we opened up the gifts we received from our big day, and a lot of it was not at all practical and I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with all that stuff. Makes me glad I opted out of the bridal shower because then I would have twice as much stuff!! By the way, has anyone ever seen the junk that people get for their baby showers?? I’ve been to baby showers where people have received about 50 bath toys and NO BOTTLES. People just don’t think. (Sorry, a little off topic )

 

[coralewisjr]

Asella:

This is a really interesting thread. I only like having the bare necessities because I feel having too much stuff makes life complicated (and the house is hard to clean too). I feel it is unfortunate that there is so much “stuff” in the world today. When I walk through stores, it is just amazing to see all the different, useless products out there. My husband is a pack rat and he especially likes his collection of DVDs, which I would LOVE to get rid of. I dislike anything that is not practical. It seems like so many people I know personally are obsessed with the idea of having more and more stuff. Before I got married, relatives asked me to have a bridal shower and I refused for several reasons, one being that I did not want a lot of stuff. My relatives could not believe that I would turn down a prime opportunity to get presents. After my wedding we opened up the gifts we received from our big day, and a lot of it was not at all practical and I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with all that stuff. Makes me glad I opted out of the bridal shower because then I would have twice as much stuff!! By the way, has anyone ever seen the junk that people get for their baby showers?? I’ve been to baby showers where people have received about 50 bath toys and NO BOTTLES. People just don’t think. (Sorry, a little off topic )

When I think about my parents’ home, I remember all the useless stuff they have up in their attic. They have a small desk that I’d like to have someday. They have tons of holiday ornaments (so many that it’s hard to walk without tripping over something). They have old computers. They have lots of books that could be given away. They have bookshelves (I would like those too, as I’m a bookworm and I collect good books).

I don’t want bottles because I hope to breastfeed but Mom has given us bottles for our preborn child anyway.

I know what you mean about there being too much useless stuff out there! I saved up Betty Crocker points and ordered a catalog. When I looked through the catalog, I could see NOTHING useful in it. All I want is a blender and a crockpot and I didn’t see much in it that’s affordable and usable.

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne

 

[turboEDvo]

Well, I have a tendency to be a bit attached to my stuff, but I have been getting better at realizing that it is just stuff, and when it wears out, it’s time to go (with the exception of a few things, like my pillow and blankets, I guess they’re stuck with me for now ). I generally have a “get rid of junk and clean house” day about once ever 4 months, where I go through my room, and get rid of the random junk that I have collected. Anything worth money I give to my mom to donate and everything else gets junked.

Eamon

 

[Blanka]

AlanFromWichita:

My wife grew up neat freak, and I am pack rat. I won the battle, in that the house was messy. Good Friday, our house caught on fire and I lost a lot of the stuff. Now I want to be a neat freak, too.

One of our previous associate priests had a Bose Wave Radio CD player – I’d heard them advertised but never seen one. He said he was thinking of giving away the radio and his CD’s because he has too much stuff. I couldn’t grasp it then, but I can now. Attachment to stuff undermines freedom to live and love as life unfolds.

I don’t know why this fire happened to me, but what is has done against me materially it has done for me spiritually. Neighbors helped us, giving us food, clothes, and shelter for the night. From there the insurance company picked it up, and we had lots of help from parishioners and some of its organizations. Truly we should not worry what we are to eat or to wear; we will be taken care of.

Alan

I am so sorry for your loss in the fire. It has to be a helpless feeling to see fire consume your home. I commend you for being able to find the silver lining to the destruction you experienced. My prayers are with you.

Besides clothing and “things”, we Americans tend to have excessive appliances as well. Quite a few years ago I realized that having a clothes dryer wasn’t absolutely necessary so I asked my husband to build a clothes line and I haven’t used a dryer since. We do not use an electric can opener and we do not have a dish washer or garbage disposal by choice. I’m not necessarily advocating this for anyone else. I just think that it really helps to look at all the gadgets we have in our houses and decide which ones are necessary and which ones are mere luxury.

There are people living in the world (some in our own country) that do not even have running water. Instead of taking our hot and cold running water for granted, we can at least silently recognize what a gift our water is and remember (and pray for) those without when we take our showers and turn on our faucets to use water. :tiphat:

 

[chevalier]

I don’t own stuff I never wear. I prefer less things but better things. Better fabric, nicer colours. Not necessarily the label. Except suit trousers, nearly all my trousers are nice dress jeans. You can wear them around the house or out, with t-shirts and with polos and hand-made sweaters (God bless grannie). Even with a less formal suit jacket (just pray no tie with anything which isn’t suit trousers…). T-shirts are mostly souvenirs I’ve brought from abroad trips, I normally prefer short-sleeved shirts with buttons. They are classy, they are never overdone and rarely too informal. Same goes for polo neck shirts and polo shirts (except you wouldn’t really wear anything short-sleeved if you were supposed to remove your jacket at any point ). I have a knack for theming things… colours, fabrics, cuts. Ladies have asked my opinion on what to wear since my highschool times. My poor future wife, God bless her, is probably going to feel like a dress-up doll with me.

 

[Edwin1961]

coralewisjr:

LOL good idea as long as you’re not throwing away things that others can use. Good for you, contemplative.

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne

My mother saved almost EVERYTHING.
When we sold the family home, mom had passed away before, I found a LARGE box of letters, calanders, photos that spanned 30 years.

It was a blessing for me, since I am working on our family genealogy, that a lot of that stuff vecame valuable. Some things I found I knew I couldn’t find ANYWHERE else.

There is a limit to what you should beep and what to throw away: IF you hadn’t used it within 3 years, it’s time to get rid of it.

Then again, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure!

BTW:
I had started a thread in the Moral Theology area for the discussion of the Spiritual battles against the how much is TOO much materialism.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=48671&highlight=materialism

 

[coralewisjr]

Edwin1961:

Then again, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure!

So true! I used to collect PEZ dispensers and religious calendars and other useless items. I threw those away before I moved in with DH. I also collected beautiful pictures from Christmas cards that charities would send me and put them on my bedroom wall. It was hard to take those down before moving out of my parents’ but I did it, and now I decorate my home religiously. We have three prayer cards on the vanity (bathroom mirror), one in the kitchen area (Jesus staring at us), and one sitting next to both DH and I. Anyway…isn’t it fun to ramble and go off-topic?

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne

 

[sarcophagus]

I’m too materialistic. So’s DH. I wish we weren’t but we were raised that way and it’s a hard habit to break. My worst is magazines and makeup. DH’s is computer/PS2 games and CD’s/DVD’s. He also HAS to keep every holey sock and t-shirt he owns…he still has t-shirts from when he was 12…they don’t fit him, but he needs them anyway. We’re moving in 2 weeks so we’re having a HUGE throw-out day. EVERYTHING MUST GO!!! (except the stuff that is charity-worthy )

 

[coralewisjr]

sarcophagus:

I’m too materialistic. So’s DH. I wish we weren’t but we were raised that way and it’s a hard habit to break. My worst is magazines and makeup. DH’s is computer/PS2 games and CD’s/DVD’s. He also HAS to keep every holey sock and t-shirt he owns…he still has t-shirts from when he was 12…they don’t fit him, but he needs them anyway. We’re moving in 2 weeks so we’re having a HUGE throw-out day. EVERYTHING MUST GO!!! (except the stuff that is charity-worthy )

Have fun giving away the things you don’t need! Believe me, it will feel very good. You will be clothing the naked and helping those who need a hand. I was raised in a materialistic home, too, and being financially poor has definitely helped me to be grateful to God for what I have and it’s helped me to remember those who have much less than I do. God bless you!

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne

 

[Luke-Jr]

Asella:

I’ve been to baby showers where people have received about 50 bath toys and NO BOTTLES. People just don’t think.

Well, almost all children are going to likely use a bath toy if they have it, but bottles won’t necesarilly be used ever even if someone gives them…

 

[Miss_Piggy]

I’ve always hated clutter, but every January I noticed that I would go crazy with the desire to rid my house of everything that I could. After repeating this pattern for many years, I realized that I wasn’t necessarily unmaterialistic because I was able to let go of things or didn’t want too many things. I realized that I was buying too much to begin with, and that what I really needed to do was start asking myself some tough questions before I made my purchases. Now I’ve tried to adopt the motto of “Living simply so that others may simply live,” so that I could give even more than our tithe to charity. This is the only way to get off of the hamster wheel of buying and de-cluttering. Now if I could only get the rest of the family to go along with the idea!

 

[StephanieC]

Miss Piggy:

Now I’ve tried to adopt the motto of “Living simply so that others may simply live,” so that I could give even more than our tithe to charity. This is the only way to get off of the hamster wheel of buying and de-cluttering. Now if I could only get the rest of the family to go along with the idea!

I love that motto–so glad you reminded me of it!

 

[Asella]

Luke-Jr:

Well, almost all children are going to likely use a bath toy if they have it, but bottles won’t necesarilly be used ever even if someone gives them…

Well, the reason I said bottles was because all my friends are working moms. Even if they breastfeed, once they go back to work they will absolutely need bottles in order that the babysitter may feed them. I just thought it was absolutely insane that they got bath toys instead of bottles because in their particular circumstances the bottles were a necessity. However, sticking to the subject of materialism, it just boggles the mind all the useless junk there is out there for babies. The poor babies are almost conditioned to be materialistic right from the start!!

 

[coralewisjr]

Asella:

Well, the reason I said bottles was because all my friends are working moms. Even if they breastfeed, once they go back to work they will absolutely need bottles in order that the babysitter may feed them. I just thought it was absolutely insane that they got bath toys instead of bottles because in their particular circumstances the bottles were a necessity. However, sticking to the subject of materialism, it just boggles the mind all the useless junk there is out there for babies. The poor babies are almost conditioned to be materialistic right from the start!!

LOL yeah…I’m wondering how DH and I will shop at Wal*Mart after Baby is born. I hope that Baby doesn’t say “I want that! Can we get that?” like I did when Mom took my brothers and I shopping.

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne

 

[Lilyofthevalley]

I don’t consider this household to be materialistic, however I would like a newer mini van as mine is a '93 and starting to make funny noises, and some larger rooms for my children and another bathroom.
I don’t think that’s materialistic just some basic things that would make life nicer.