Right now I need nothing.  Well, maybe a cup of coffee… and air.  And water, and a nap?  But as far as my pocketbook goes, I need nothing.  I’d like to want less.  No, scratch that – I do want less.  I want less stuff to move.  I want to spend less.  I want to throw less away.

Here’s the backstory:  I went backpacking this weekend.  4 miles in, 4 miles out.  It felt good to get out in the air, to have my home and my food and all my needs packed into one place. It was cool to be responsible for nothing but what I could carry.  The return to reality was strange though.  The parents are selling off cool junk that I always thought I’d eventually own (for example, they’d get tired of dusting the piano, and I need one, right?).  Part of it is the need to just get rid of stuff, and part of it is cashflow-related.  It was weird – just knowing that pieces of my childhood were being sold off.  Inside I was both irritated that they’d get rid of these precious thing-memories for cash, and that I couldn’t rescue these thing-memories from certain doom.

Talking to Mr Bird about it, he said something pretty thought provoking, “That’s why people should stop just buying stuff.  You buy all this stuff and eventually it just gets thrown away, or sold off.  Why even own it in the first place?  It’s money wasted.”  I thought about it.  How many times have I cycled crap out of my wardrobe that I’ve bought but never really worn?  How much junk just gets thrown away each time we move?  How many times have I thought “Oh this toaster/food processor/set of dishes/candle holder/shower curtain will make my life so much BETTER” only to find myself thinking about replacing it within a year?

I understand the minimalist culture’s push to get rid of extra things – of extra wants.  There’s also part of me that really likes being surrounded with the nice things I own.  I’m especially fond of beautiful vintage that I’m saving from certain doom!  But at what point does that become hoarding.  And at what point do you have to just let go of stuff?

So I guess it’s important to look at our attachment to stuff.  And look at how much it costs us, and how much we waste.  It makes me think of shopping bans like the 365 Fashion Rehab girls or like Fabulously Broke did.  I wonder just how much I can do without.  Just how important or consuming my attachment to stuff really is.  Or like my friend Scarlet – I wonder if I could get away with only buying US-made stuff.  Because setting certain criteria will raise consciousness about the stuff I buy.  But is that really the solution to the problem? Is throwing everything away going to make your life more fulfilling?  Or is it about just knowing when to shop and when to stop?

Have any of you done any of these shopping bans?  Have any of you felt the need to have less stuff?  How do you reconcile the two?    I kind of think I’d rather have money in the bank than more stuff I *might* use.  Really, I can’t think of anything I need besides textbooks (and if I can get them electronically, do I really NEED them?).  I’d like to own a backpack and a lighter tent by  next summer, but I don’t NEED to update my wardrobe for fall.  I do need books for school, but I don’t need a new bag for them.  I don’t need wedge heels.  I don’t need equestrian boots to look cute this winter.  I don’t *need* a new bike to get down to campus.  And what’s more, I don’t *want* to see the waste when I clean out my closet., knowing I’ve spent money on things I’ll just throw away.

I think we all need to start shopping smarter.  What do you think?

PS.  An interesting story on Glamping.  GLAMPING!?!  REALLY?