I am obsessed with buying stuff and spending money on useless garbage.

A few years ago i was really into mountain biking and that kept me happy/fit/sane. Now i've become obsessed with loads of stuff i don't own and how can i afford to own them.

Mabye its the 4 beers and two jack Daniels, but it just came to me tonight while watching "I'm in a Rock and Roll Band" and thought about splaffing money on a bass guitar (which will go on the list along with i-phone, motorbike, fancy expensive watch, fender telecaster, new car, new bike etc etc etc)

How the hell did this creep up on me?

best not show you this then:

oops!

You have too much money. hth.

When you've spent £100 on an ironing board 'because it's the best' come back and talk to me about materialism.

Been there and done that. Kind of got over it all though to a large extent (given how bad I was!). A big paycut and reassessing life priorities did that, and there is another reassessment coming up I think!

Trying to Dehord all the crap I own.

Sold hundreds £ of bike stuff I would never use.

Well OP at least you recognised the prob, now go and bloody ride.
(In the morning)

stop it.It won`t make you happy 😉

Own lots of stuff, and it can end up owning you…

Simplify, innit.

When you've spent £100 on an ironing board 'because it's the best' come back and talk to me about materialism.

haha that hit a spot with me 😀

If you must spend your money then spend it on experiences. Go on more trips and holidays and treat others well with it too. You will be enriched as a human and happier deep down.

The idea is to aim for your final years being filled with good memories of your life – all the tat we surround ourselves with will be worth nothing.

My personal situation changes monumentally this week coming for the better and will see me finally being able to live the life i want free of burdens that have weighed me down for 10 years.

It's now all about using my resources for helping others and amassing less stuff and focussing on Life.

Give it a go.

think you might have too much 'free' time on your hands. stop dreaming and go out and enjoy being. (agree very much with thebikechain).
easier said than done though for most people (myself included)

Yeah – I will buy into that sentiment as well. Life is for living, not shopping 😉 Having been crap at living life for the last 10 years I am rather looking forward to getting back to it (though my mate tells me to prepare for some rather rough months as I make the necessary changes to allow life to resume….)

why can't life be for spending and living.

i go to work to earn money to spend on the things i like……..what is wrong with that?

Nothing wrong with that at all Ton if it makes you a happy person. The OP doesnt seem to be happy with that approach anymore.

Each to their own etc what's good for one n all that.

Ton – because consumerism is bad man 😉

Think of all the emissions that come from manufacturing – we have to be sustainable now…. Alternatively we are all fked since the Americans seem to have decided that polluting more is actually a positive display of your wealth (I read that somewhere) 🙄

So business as usual then – think I may book a long haul flight in the next few weeks – Christmas in the Rockies is sounding oh so tempting just now!

If you must spend your money then spend it on experiences

+1 thebikechain

I must admit i like to look good when doing it too – what? can't help it, i'm a girl!

I'm going the other way. If it's not getting used,sell it. Had promised myself a new motorbike last year. When it came to actually buying it,changed my mind. It would have just sat gathering dust in the garage.

I like stuff. It causes me no grief and if I really wanted to offset my carbon footprint I would just shoot an American.

Love it, leave it or change it. Your call.

So business as usual then – think I may book a long haul flight in the next few weeks – Christmas in the Rockies is sounding oh so tempting just now!

So long as you avoid BA.

The thing is thebikechain…you're up sh!t creek without a paddle if all your customers decide to adopt the same philosophy to life as you do…or do you sell "experiences" as well as expensive bike stuff? 😉

Heh – that is the knife edge we live on!

We do actually give away places on skills courses on selected bikes so you can get shown how to ride them properly – makes you riding better so technically it's an experience 😀

I pick a pretty tight range of 'value' kit in the shop anyway – prefer selling stuff that actually does last and provide a life of use. That's as close as i can get to the philosophy at the moment, and make a margin and keep people employed!

I've been there. A few weeks of unemployment changed my perspective. I'm now trying very hard to simplify my life and pay off the mortgage very early. Therafter it's one really good holiday for me and the family every year and a lots of weekends away.

The crap I own just clutters up my life.

got to be honest, having just 3 bikes to think about does make life a litte bit easier………. 😆

if I really wanted to offset my carbon footprint I would just shoot an American

That really deserves to be on a T shirt 😀

As a self employed person I am constantly at odds with the customers I deal with. They tend to be wealthy and materialistic, in my eyes not many of them are happy. Some live in huge houses and worry about their security and if their children will be safe.

Some are very demanding 'cos they're used to having everything and everything now!

I must admit it would be nice to be able to go on some of the holidays that they can afford, but they all seem to be 'cash rich and time poor'. I have chosen the other route.

We have too many things, but this is gradually changing, these things are getting older and we're not replacing them, instead fixing, re-cycling or making do without.

Not shopping is easy if you cut up your credit card, or, just allow yourself a certain amount of 'spends' per month.