It is that time of year; the parking lots of shopping centers across the country are packed with consumers doing what they do best. Soon houses will be filled with brightly wrapped boxes adorning the floor around a dying tree, while children and adults alike dream of all the items they may have waiting for them. To me, Christmas has become a holiday centered around stuff, sadly, rather than about family or religion. How did we get here?

It is at this time I challenge you to try something different. Maybe I am too late to try and talk you out of buying a bunch of gifts that the recipient really doesn’t “need”, but there is no deadline on joy of purging. Personally, I tend to find myself doing almost every week and definitely at least once month.

If something is simply taking up space on a shelf, no matter how excited you were when you got it, if you don’t actually use it – donate it! Haven’t used it in months, maybe even years? Donate it! Wander around your house, look in cupboards and drawers, you will be amazed by all the stuff you find that you haven’t used or needed, maybe even forgot you owned. Donate it!

I have a habit, that anyone who has ever gone shopping with me can attest to – and I am sure is annoying, of picking something up, maybe putting it in the basket, then circling back and putting it back on the shelf.  I work diligently to ensure that I don’t bring things into my house, or worse yet spending money on, things I ultimately do not need. As I gear back up for vanlife again this becomes even more important, but you don’t have to live in a tiny house to appreciate the room and freedom that comes from purging “stuff” from your life.

We all have things that we simply thought we had to have, we knew it would make our life so much better, and so we buy it. Then what happens? Days, weeks, maybe months later, we are right back where we were before. I urge you to take a second to reconsider whatever it is you are looking to buy next and ask yourself, whatever it is, if it is really necessary. Not only will you have more money, but I believe you will ultimately be happier as you begin to realize that this “stuff” won’t make you happy.

Want to read more on the subject? I cannot recommend this blog enough – The Minimalists