Too much of a good thing can be bad for you

There is a Swedish Proverb that states: He who buys what he does not need steals from himself.

This sounds a lot like the great American cure-all: Retail Therapy. When unhappy, Americans will spend money on impulsive purchases until they feel better. These purchases come with a high cost of ownership. Once enough unnecessary items have been accumulated, they must either be organized, eliminated, or more money must be spent to house them outside of the home. Each option wastes additional time and money.

Beyond wasting money, having more than you need requires a system to manage the excess belongings. Americans have so much stuff that they rotate their children’s toys to keep the mess in the play room manageable. They de-clutter and reorganize on a regular basis. And still, one out of every ten Americans pays for an external storage unit. It seems our possessions tend to own us, not the other way around. Retail therapy, while cathartic, can hurt your health and happiness by making you work harder, both to earn more money and to manage your new belongings.

Anyone who has traveled abroad, walked through IKEA or watched House Hunters International knows that homes in Europe are much smaller than homes in the US. Europeans have designed some ingenious solutions for those smaller homes, mostly involving storage, but the key to living in small spaces is simply owning less stuff. There is not enough space for excessive amounts of belongings, so they learn to live with less.

Nordics seem to have found a unique solution; one that allows enough space to live and thrive while inside but also encourages them to get outside and interact with the world.

The need to own fewer possessions leads to less debt from purchasing unnecessary items. This in turn leads to less stress, more gratitude for what we do have, and more time to focus on what’s really important.

What did I learn from this?

Minimizing possessions can maximize happiness.