Redefining Need In The Age Of Conservation.

September 24th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

What exactly do we all need to live? Is it 4 TV’s, 3 cars, a 4,000 square foot house? Multiple yearly vacations to far away lands? Piles of cheap plastic doo-dads from China? As the earth slowly heats up because of our emissions and our the stops coming out of the ground, people are starting to think about what they actually need rather than what they just want, and I think it is great that we will be able to participate in this life-changing redefinition of need vs. want.

I really enjoy my things, don’t get me wrong. And I used to have much more of them and like them even more! But over the last couple of years I have stopped seeing any real importance in most of it, instead trying to focus more on our lifestyle and what we do in our spare time. I have now gone without a car for 1.5 years, which is something I never thought I would do. Sure, it’s a pain sometimes - but not as much of a pain as having another car payment, another insurance payment, another thing to maintain. I am sure I will have to get one someday soon when we move out of the center of town, but for now I am OK with being carless, even in this rural area. Not many people think they can live without a car, but it is easier than you think it is - especially in a big city. But this is just one example of choosing need over want…I would love to have a nice new car. But I don’t need one, so I go without.

I used to think I needed to make a ton of money to be happy, but have slowly changed my thinking so that money is not what is important - it’s what I do with what I have that is important. I don’t care to make a million dollars a year as all it will do is buy me more stuff. I just want to be comfortable; that is all. I have a roof over my head, clothes on my back, food in my pantry, a car to ride around in, my health (now, finally), a loving wife, 1 television, 1 DVD player, a computer to do my work on, and enough money in the bank to live a comfortable (but not extravagant) life. What more does one really need? Not much really - and that’s the difference between need and want. There are lots of things I could convince myself that I want, but very few of them are actual needs. It took me a while to get to this point, and I am still not 100% innocent of “wanting” things I don’t need. But I think more and more people will start thinking like this as concern for our surroundings grows, and that’s a good thing.

What do you go without even if you have the means to have it? What choices have you made in your life that have redefined need vs. want?


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There Are 4 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Rene on 24 September 2008:

    When Jim and I decided to hit the road in our RV fulltime, we had to prioritize what to toss, put in storage, or take with us. We got rid of a lot, and stored what I thought was very little at the time, and important to our future home.

    But since I’ve had over a year to think about that stuff that we pay a $200 bill on every month, I know that we should’ve gotten rid of a lot less stuff. I don’t even know when or where we will settle down again, so that bill is incredibly annoying. I’m being kept up at night because of “stuff”!

    We live in such a small space in our RV, and we’ve learned that need so very little. There have been times recently when we were around friends with much larger RVs, and I’ve been tempted to want a bigger one too. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I would just fill a bigger RV with more crap. So forget it, we’ll make do with our little 24′ trailer, and keep things very simple. Life is good this way.

  2. Comment by David on 25 September 2008:

    Rene, you should have gotten rid of less stuff or more stuff? Sounds like you meant more stuff, but wanted to be sure.

    We are struggling with getting rid of stuff while still keeping our “life” available to us. It’s a battle!

  3. Comment by fern on 25 September 2008:

    I can relate to this. I think that wanting less “stuff” is a process and an evolution in thinking. It doesn’t happen overnight.

    I have a friend whose garage is filled with the possessions of her mother, who moved in with her many years ago. They have never gotten around to sorting through all that stuff. I don’t understand my friend’s lethargy and generally apathetic attitude about this, but she’s like that in every aspect of her life.

    Some time ago, her microwave oven died. She knows that her mother has a new one buried somewhere in that pile of stuff in the garage, so she won’t spend the $ to buy a new one, but for some reason, she hasn’t found the motivation to look for the one they do have!

  4. Comment by David on 25 September 2008:

    Fern - that’s amazing! I think over time people will have less stuff - because they no longer can afford it!

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