“Too many people spend money they earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people that they don’t like.” ~ Will Rogers
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“Things” meant many things to us when we lived on top of a ridge line in Greenwood, Arkansas.
My husband collected guns and ammo. We had two ranges on our 8 acres. One was right beside the shop. It was bermed so shots were contained. We shot handguns at targets that spun when we hit them. We had another, longer range half way down to the road. That was bermed, as well. We could shoot rifles there at targets. My husband was a former Marine and security was a big thing for him. One memory was the me-sized rifle he got me as an engagement present. We didn’t have ranges then, so we got on his motorcyle and rode down the highway in search of a safe place to shoot. My hair was in pigtails, I had the rifle strapped on my back. People were whipping around in their cars trying to decide if we were Hell’s Angels or not. 😜
We both collected books. We had wall to ceiling bookshelves in the living area on either side of an entertainment area. We had books in every room – my art room, the guest room, floor to ceiling shelves in our bedroom, books out in the shop, and more. 📚
I collected art supplies. I had a website where I displayed my own art plus that of up to 100 others for some 17 years. I also had an Etsy site where I sold my artwork after I shut down Creative Artworks. I had supplies for all the things I made, plus supplies for things I wanted to learn to do. The art room was overflowing. 🎨
We collected food – just in case. We lived up a steep driveway that we couldn’t negotiate much of the winter. Trees would fall down into the driveway covered with snow and ice and we would have to cut our way to the bottom of the driveway ourselves – as we could. So we tried to stay stocked up on supplies and food for ourselves and our pets in case we were stuck up there. Once in a bad storm we lost power and public water for 14 days. We used our generator for heat. We had enough for ourselves plus the rest of the neighborhood…🍳
We collected tools for the shop. My husband was a fix it person. He was the son of a man who also believed in doing things himself rather than getting help. Because of that, we had huge tools, like the mill and lathe. We had tools like the sand blaster and the CNC table and computer so we could cut out decorations for our mailbox and create yard critters for the yard. I had painting stuff out there to paint the things we made. ⚒️
The point of all this – and these were just examples, is that we had a lot of ‘stuff.’ We didn’t get it to impress other people, though. We justified our purchases in lots of different ways, but the end result was that our large home was full-to-overflowing with STUFF.
MinnPost
When we moved to Thailand, we had to arrange an auction of all the STUFF so we would have money for the move and living in a new country. Some things we gave to friends. Some things friends insisted they buy from us. We packed one suitcase and one backpack for each of us and walked away from everything else.
This was 7 months ago. My husband is now in a nursing home. The things we brought for him are stored in a series of closed cabinets on the wall of my living area. Most of the STUFF we had is not even missed. It’s a relief to be rid of so many things we had bought, but didn’t really NEED.
I now have a small condo in Thailand. I have everything I need. (Well, I have a list of things I would LIKE to add) but mainly I already have everything I NEED. It’s amazing what we can do without.
Our money now goes for priority things, like the nursing home, AND several really nice luxuries, such as getting massages, my housekeeper, getting mani/pedis and haircuts, and chocolate drinks or iced coffee in the afternoon, and jigsaw puzzles…
Funny how quickly things change when your life is turned upside down. Priorities shift, heads get straight for the first time in years, and you adapt to a new lifestyle embracing a new chance to value important things.
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