Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Conversation >

A lot of Stuff.

Page: (1)2

Ex

16:25 / 08.05.06

I may (may) have a bit of a rise in my income, soon, and I was thinking about the Stuff I could get with my new shiny money. Because I don't have much Stuff.
But I found I've been in low spending gear for so long that I couldn't get my consumer salival glands going immediately.

My list of desired Stuff so far goes thus:
- some shampoo (I've run out, but I might buy the slightly less rudimentary kind next time round)
- pair of boots influenced by Kate Beckinsale in Underworld (the first film).
- those artichokes you get marinated in little jars

So: two consumable items under a fiver and some outdated goth footwear.
That made me wonder whether I actually want to accumulate more Stuff. So I thought I would consult.

Do you like having a lot of Stuff, and in what specific categories do you accumulate/overaccumulate? Is the only limit on getting more Stuff the amount of money you have to spend on Stuff? Do other consideration kick in (space, aesthetics, the William Morris golden rule)?

17:02 / 08.05.06

I have a fair amount lot of Stuff, mostly in the form of books, CDs and liquor. For the books at least try to operate a 'one in one out' sort of policy (and they don't get in at all if they're wearing trainers). It's not that I want to have more books, in the sense that I like accumulating them as physical possessions, but there are lots of individual books I would like which, all taken together, become Stuff. I am, by contrast, quite acquisitive when it comes to CDs (in the sense that I'm ill inclined to give them to charity when space becomes short) and I'm not sure why they should be different -I think it's because the churn rate is so much faster, perhaps I am worried I'll run out of music one day.

The buying fancy booze started when I was in a similar situation to yours -I'd just had what was to me a substantial hike in income (I had an income at all) and when wondering what I could buy with my riches thought, 'Aha, I could make all those cocktails I often read about but seldom drink!', and started working towards those ends. It did take a while to get used to spending money again, though.

I would identify those artichokes you get marinated in little jars as the thin end of the wedge, by the way, buying food is great because it's not really Stuff, once it is gone you 'need' more and now that you're in the supermarket oh look, vanilla pods, I bet I could make the best custard ever with those.

All Acting Regiment

17:05 / 08.05.06

I've got loads of stuff, and have only really realised this recently. I don't like it. I like having x number of books there, and the acess, but I don't like being surrounded by it, because it reminds me that I don't really deserve it. However, I know that being reminded of this is a good thing.

17:06 / 08.05.06

The only law of kipple is that it multiplies.

I have a reasonable amount of stuff. Do I want more? Yes.
I have no quested after item at the moment, however, I do feel a grand clean out approaching (the type in which I donate alot of old clothes/c.d's/objects to Oxfam and then clean out any boxes of randomness I have into the bin).

17:07 / 08.05.06

I have lots of stuff, not that I buy a lot of stuff, it just mounts up because I'm rubbish at throwing it out. Books and comics are my worse vices and when I finally get around to shifting them from my parent's house I recokon I'll need a Transit to haul it and a whole new room to keep it all in.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

17:10 / 08.05.06

I have huge amounts of stuff- more than will comfortably fit in a two-bedroom flat and my mum's attic. It's all comics, books, CDs and games, and I can't bear to part with any of it. Desired stuff? Anything I see in the shops that's suitably shiny or cool-looking (I have a very short attention span. Indeed, this week, in an attempt to stop me buying any more stuff, I've decided to start smoking dope again in order that I might stay in and actually read/watch/listen to/play the stuff I already own instead of going and getting more).

The vast majority of it I could almost certainly live happily without... getting rid of it would probably kill me, though.

17:15 / 08.05.06

Getting rid of it is easier than you think it's going to be, though. A good clear out has a satisfaction all of its own, where you go through everything you own thinking 'Beautiful? Useful? Really?' while screwing up your face like socks and thinking about how useful this exercise is to you on a personal level.

(Sorry about the threadrot...)

17:18 / 08.05.06

In my flat, the main stuff consideration is space. To see a masterclass in stuff compression, visit my mum's house where multiple decades of stuff dwelll ALL IN ONE HOUSE. It's frighening.

I'm reasonably good at getting rid of it though. But I still have too much. Books specifically. I should adopt a one out one in policy.

17:23 / 08.05.06

My sister is the queen of Stuff. Her possessions include a dressmaker's dummy, a stuffed bird, a pickled lizard in a jar, and a carved wooden aubergine.

I have a lot of possessions, mostly books and clothes (and a moderate stash of knitting wool), but I don't really have the space to expand much. So I'm thinking of acquiring storage items, which clearly don't count as Stuff at all.

On the food items issue which Vincennes identifies, we do have a (smallish) cupboard full of jars of spices, etc., some of which we never (sumac) or rarely (juniper) use.

I'm hoping to reuse and recycle and buy secondhand things more - the problem being that in order to make things, one has to acquire the tools, i.e. Stuff...

I think my limiters, as well as space, are my sense of guilt (well-developed) and shame, and my consciousness that if I don't buy Wondrous Item X, in a couple of weeks I will have ceased to desire it.

18:02 / 08.05.06

Oh, and I'm supposed to have a 'two year' policy, whereby, if I haven't worn an item of clothing, listened to a CD, or read a book in the last two years, I have to get rid of it. But with books I changed it to 'read for the first time within the last two years', cos clearly, it would take me more than two years to reread all the ones I already have...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

18:05 / 08.05.06

my consciousness that if I don't buy Wondrous Item X, in a couple of weeks I will have ceased to desire it.

See, that's a reason why I DO avquire stuff... "hey, if I don't get it now, there'll probably never be a point in my life at which I'd enjoy it, so I'll miss out".

18:14 / 08.05.06

I am a stuff addict.

I have had an awareness of this, but it has been brought into stark releif recently when my folks started converting their loft. It contains many much of my old stuff you see.

Some of it is stuff that doesn't necessarily serve a purpose anymore, but I can't conceive of getting rid of... this stuff is old school books and note books, ranging down to work papers and research for jobs completed, but that might come in handy again one day.

Other stuff I really need to get rid of. Old toys and things feature here, complete with boxes. I am aware that such things can be sold for cash on ebay, but have not yet worked out how. I'm also worried that I'd be a bit crushed if the stuff doesn't make a price comensurate with whatever vestigal emotional attachment I have with it...

But yeah, per haps the strangest thing about my stuff addiction is while I would be quite sanguine about the loss of stuff through an accident, say a highly specific stuff fire that left the rest of the house entirely undamaged, I have trouble actually getting rid of stuff myself... What if i change my mind? What if that is the last copy? what if i want to see it again? what if i need to use it again?

On the plus side, I am reasonably certain that I can get rid of my copy of the Aircraft annual 1978, so that is potentially one less bit of stuff...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

18:19 / 08.05.06

sleaze's second-to-last paragraph frightens me. It's like he can read my mind.

18:22 / 08.05.06

What if i change my mind? What if that is the last copy? what if i want to see it again? what if i need to use it again?

If you do get rid of stuff, you'll be surprised at how little this thought crops up. And if it ever does, surely you can pick soemthing from the mountain of stuff that you still possess. We are neurotic and illogical with regard to our possessions.

*

18:25 / 08.05.06

I have a lot of Stuff. I want different Stuff. Does anyone know a formula for changing lots of bits of scrap paper with unimportant notes on them into consumer electronics?

18:26 / 08.05.06

Not unless those "scraps" also have barcodes and pictures of dead presidents on them.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

18:29 / 08.05.06

I have a lot of stuff, and I need to figure out a solution in the next few months. I am currently losing $300 per month to the US Government repaying student loans I defaulted on. I will be done in about 4 months. When that time comes, if I still have the current volume of stuff, + the now extra cash (been paying them for over a year now) then I will have WAY too much stuff.

I need to cull the comic collection I think.

Tryphena Absent

18:36 / 08.05.06

The amount of stuff I own could easily fit into a room if I lived alone. I am a stuff manager. I like throwing things away and I'd rather buy stuff storage than stuff.

Stuff that I would cry about if it frazzled away in a fire:
my computer, my teapot, hippo and girrafe (toy animals), my statue of Bast, my hydrangea and azalea, my picture of PJ Harvey in a leopard print leotard, my blue haired troll, Mr Curramundo. Looking at this list 5 of those things were given to me by other people.

18:42 / 08.05.06

I need to cull the comic collection I think.

I suspect you speak for many.

18:45 / 08.05.06

I´ve got hundreds (each) of CDs, DVDs, comics and books. I´ve wrestled with this need to go out and buy stuff, but at last I´ve accepted it. It´s probably in our genes (getting satisfaction from hunting and gathering).

I´m keeping a book avbout my expenses, and as long as there´s some money left at the month, I feel okay with my shopping DVDs, books and comics I only see/read once.

At least, I´m not a Messie (I don´t know, what these people are called in english). A close relative of mine could not judge, what was good stuff and what was trash. And after a couple of years, you could hardly walk through the appartment, because of all the accumulated stuff/trash. That would be the worst case scenario of having a lot of stuff.

19:08 / 08.05.06

I am going through a Stuff cull currently.

It's hard. I have tons of old crap that I keep on the principle that I might use it/fix it/paint it/mend it/get back to that size someday. There are boxes and boxes of papers to sort through. I have a container addiction, so there are boxes and bottles and jars stuffed into every available crevice of my shelves. And in the laundry room are several crates of Stuff that have remained unopened through two moves and probably should just be thrown away as I don't know what they contain and obviously it's Stuff I can live without. One of them I do know contains 500 copies of my husband's late band's third-to-last album, which are probably good for skeet shooting or flinging out of car windows, but it cost money to press them so I can't seem to let them go.

19:39 / 08.05.06

One of them I do know contains 500 copies of my husband's late band's third-to-last album, which are probably good for skeet shooting or flinging out of car windows, but it cost money to press them so I can't seem to let them go.

Ship them off to CDBaby and forget about them.

Ex

20:01 / 08.05.06

I feel for all your tiny hoarding souls. Maybe this calls for some vast comics sculpture made of papier mache...

Less searchable M0rd4nt

20:09 / 08.05.06

I want these two texts on magic and folklore and can't have them because they are out of print and horribly expensive. It's not like my reading list isn't long enough as it is--I haven't finished reading all the stuff I can read for free, let alone the less flashy and far cheaper books I ought to be getting into. Be that as it may, reading reviews and commentary on the flashy out-of-print books actually made my mouth water slightly, which is a bit wrong but I don't care.

Other than that I would like some herbs (growing in pots), a ring, and a Black&Decker Workmate bench or generic equivalent. Mostly I want the books though.

20:51 / 08.05.06

i'm currently cutting down my stuff to my favourite items - my motorbike, laptop and video camera are necessities. The Dr Who pinball machine can probably go....

I'm really feeling a need to shrink what i have - not by getting rid of it (pinball machine aside) but digitising a lot of it. (So i have scans of all the comics i own, mp3s of my cds, etc). I need access to my stuff, but i don't want it taking up all my space.....

Goodness Gracious Meme

00:15 / 09.05.06

Stuff addict here. Somewhere between 'it's all books' and Kit Kat's sister, as some of my stuff is utterly random.

I have a large studio flat, ie no servant's wings and cellars, and there's at least two corners of my abode filled with stuff that I haven't seen in at least 2 years.

I think I'm okay getting rid of stuff I haven't seen forever, it's more pure laziness.

I have done a couple of charity drops recently, which is good.

Doesn't seem to have made an appreciable difference=not so good.

Goodness Gracious Meme

00:24 / 09.05.06

That said, alot of it dates from past when I had alot more money. Given that I don't really have or foresee having cash to replace things for a long while, this makes me more hesitant about chucking things out.

Also, what sort of 'stuff' one spends money on can impact on this enormously.

The vast majority of the money I have after paying bills goes on adding to subsistence things to make them pleasurable: eg buying (relatively) expensive food items if I fancy them (occasional trips to yummy deli, for eg) and/or events/socialising stuff: food, booze, entry to things. So, alot of the 'stuff' I buy doesn't take up permanent space in my house.

Hmm. Don't know if that's better or worse. At least the other way I'd have something to show for it

Goodness Gracious Meme

00:41 / 09.05.06

*re-reads last couple of posts*

Self-justifying-addict-logic much?

00:52 / 09.05.06

I'm in the process of getting rid of stuff. I don't have enough that the stuff I do have is problematic, I just want less of it. I've found that once you start it's not so bad, but starting, itself, is murder. I instigated my first cull about five years ago by throwing away a box full of childhood toys. I didn't need them or play with them, they just collected dust and took up space. But throwing them in the dumpster and walking away was like pulling out a foot of intestine.

Fast-forward.

This month I got rid of five bags of books, four bags of clothes, a bike, misc. papers and other odds and ends. I'm ruthless now. If my SO will let me, the comics are next.

My new favorite way of getting rid of stuff might be good for n00b stuff-get-rid-ofers: Replace stuff you get rid of with something better and smaller. This can be difficult for some, as you need to get rid of the original stuff first, otherwise you simply end up with more stuff.

01:36 / 09.05.06

I didn't think that I really had that much stuff. I really didn't... until my water heater burst and the basement flooded last Christmas.

In moving all of the stuff I had in the basement out, so that I could replace the carpet, I came to a sobering realization.

I have SEVERAL TONS of stuff. Having to carry a large amount of stuff up a couple of flights of stairs and stuff it into whatever free space was available with the rest of my stuff made me realize just how much stuff I have. ALL KINDS of stuff, and that's not counting the stuff in the garage.

Most of my stuff is gear and tools - two 6' high, 4' wide, 2' deep shelving units full of camping and climbing gear and hunting gear, shelves and shelves of books and notes, snowboards, a music studio, STUFF! Sewing stuff, dead computers... it all amounts to quite a pile.

After doing all of the repairs, I desperately tried to get rid of things as I moved them back down the stairs. But when all your stuff is gear, it's so hard! Everything has a use, a purpose for which you bought it and used it and will do so again! I've got diving gear that I haven't had the opportunity to use in the last five years that's just waiting for me to get the time to take another diving trip. A metalworking shop that I haven't put to good use in ten years that I'd desperately like to get back to. A myriad of half-completed projects all neatly stowed away for that magical moment when I'll suddenly have time for them.

There's an old adage that inventory will grow to fill the space available. Well, that's certainly happened to me. My only consolation is that I think I've hit the maximum limit on my number of hobbies, so I shouldn't need to go out and get any more stuff.

Except, I have been thinking about taking up kayaking, and that's only a little more stuff...

03:05 / 09.05.06

..and you don't need so much stuff for golf, mirror, which you'll need to take up to calm down from all those hobbies with so much stuff involved...

03:31 / 09.05.06

Golf! I've got golf stuff, too. And flyfishing and fly-tying stuff, from when I was a kid. SCA stuff from my teenage years - a ton of armor and rattan and costuming hidden under the house. Mountain bikes - a freaking mountain UNICYCLE. Beer brewing stuff. And, on top of all that, all the ordinary household stuff, holiday decorations stuff, yard tools stuff, cooking stuff... TOO MUCH STUFF!

julius has no imagination

05:43 / 09.05.06

I'm somewhat frightened even by the amount of Stuff I've built up in my house at Uni, and I'm only here during term-time. But it's still under control, I don't think there's much here that I really don't use and that is pure clutter. And I hat a bit of a cull the other week.

At my parents' house is a different story, but even there I cleared out a tiny bit when I was last there. Still, there's a lot that there's not much reason to keep, but I'm bad at throwing stuff out. Especially if I'm only ever there quite briefly. On the other hand, it's all in the loft or my room, so it doesn't really get in the way of the others when I'm not there.

As for acquiring stuff... well, like any geek, I have a (moderate, compared to some I know) tendency to accumulate the shinies of all sorts, although I'm often more into retro technology and seem to gather obsolete-but-functional shinies I can get for free.

The other one is food - there are quite a lot of items in my cupboard that I haven't touched in more than a year, and I'm always likely to buy some exotic and exciting ingredient I spot. I'm actually trying to get through that now, checking which ones are still edible and feeding them to my housemates...

Oooh - digital Stuff anyone? Files on your hard drive that you haven't touched in years? The oldest I could find right now was a Word file of some school work from 1996, but I know I've got older stuff around. And this is on a laptop that was only actually built in 2003! However, what with the continuing inflation of disc capacities, I don't really see a problem with keeping this. These ten-year-old files, even if they were considered huge back then, now take up less space than a single MP3 song, so why bother deleting them?

06:36 / 09.05.06

yeah, after i installed that desktop searching program produced by a large search engine company (not spruiking here) i discovered some rocking essays i'd written years ago that were relevant to my current studies. kinda glad i save all those essays. Also found some floppies with saved webpages on them (!)

07:06 / 09.05.06

I find all this talk of a comics cull disturbing.

Comics are deserately underrepresented in libraries. Historically, they have been viewed as disposable and have been best preserved as part of private collections, and worst preserved when those private collections have been thrown out/destroyed/broken up...

CDs are ubiquitous. You can probably find a copy of the first CD you ever bought in the nearest HMV. Not so the first comic...

Page: (1)2