The Hidden True Cost of Our Stuff

How many times have you walked by a store, or virtually stumbled upon a page with a beautiful product and thought, ‘I need that!’

*Raises hand*

Even being minimalist doesn’t make me immune to the siren call of a super cute hand-knitted Nintendo plushie, a stunning notebook, or another quirky pair of socks. 

But while I’m not immune, I’m aware of marketing tactics, and I know that as soon as something enters my home, it’s one more thing to care for and worry about. And the more beautiful, more collectable and more expensive the thing, the more stress it causes. 

Fear about it getting broken, lost, or stolen. Worry about how to keep it from small grabby hands. Indecision about where it will look best. And if the object in question is a beautiful notebook, how the heck I’m going to bring myself to actually write in the thing. 

When most people look at an object that’s caught their eye, the price tag is what influences the final decision. If it’s cheap, popular, or on sale, into the basket it goes.

But the price is always higher than the label. 

The true cost is the time taken and the ongoing price of care and ownership. 

Firstly, there’s the time it took to research the product, the time taken to browse and buy, the energy to make the decision, and the energy to unpack it. But that’s not all; it’s one more thing to store, one more thing to lift out the way when you dust or vacuum, one more thing to fear getting damaged or lost, one more thing to pack if you move, one more potential thing for the guilty purchase clutter pile when the novelty wears off. 

And when ‘one more things’ get together in our homes they create one more mess.

Thinking about a potential new purchase that way suddenly makes that cute plushie or merch seem far more trouble than it’s worth. Because it often is.

That’s not to say that I never buy anything physical – last week I finally caved and bought a stunning Disney Fantasia folio I’d been looking at on and off for a couple of years. 

For me, pen and paper will never go out of fashion, but like most things I own, I’m not attached and am just allowing myself to enjoy it as my present self. 

So the next time you feel ‘I must have that!’, stop and ask yourself if that’s really true, and if it’s worth the hidden cost.