Are We Obsessed With Buying New Stuff?

Today's culture is arguably very commercialized. Commercialization, of course, revolves around the consumption of goods. Yet you can have too much of anything. With this in mind, are we becoming obsessed with buying new stuff?

To answer this question, it’s important to break it down into key areas. First of all, we can address how much new stuff we buy, including whether it’s needed.

Likewise, one should also look at what happens to the old stuff; are we buying to add to a collection, for instance? Lastly, using both of these, one can more easily make out the rate of consumption and see how it relates to how much new items we buy.

Buying New

It's safe to say that we often buy plenty of new things. Adverts, on all forms of media, continue to sell us new items and convince us that we need them. This can further be broken down into two prime reasons and areas of thought. Firstly, is the argument that advertisements, and thus the companies behind the products, continue to encourage our spending sprees on new items.

Secondly, however, is the argument that this can't happen unless we are willing. We buy new products because we want to. When we have money spare, it’s easy to look at something new. Yet it’s not always necessary. From clothes to gadgets, such as phones and consoles, we buy countless items that don't serve any new purpose but we want for new features or because it’s the most recent model/release.

Out With The Old

When this happens, what do we do with the old stuff? A lot of the time, it’s safe to say we don't do anything; it just sits there. This is because our need and obsessions to buy new stuff seems to overpower any of form of logic.

We buy new things, but we don't throw out the old, even when it’s getting replaced. Is this laziness or an additional need to collect personal possessions? Combined with our obsession with buying new stuff, one could argue a very materialistic way of life.

This isn't because we can't get rid of our unwanted goods either. In fact, in this day and age it’s not hard to sell stuff for free using the internet so it’s not as if the average shopper has any difficulty selling on their goods. Selling on, of course, would yield money, something that is certainly useful when buying more new things.

Rate Of Consumption

From all of this, one can argue that, yes, we are obsessed with buying new stuff. In fact, it seems as if our rate of consumption overpowers anything else. We buy new items, even when the old ones remain in the home and are perfectly usable.

Of course, this is fine for someone who can afford it, but it can lead to serious spending and debts if you're not careful; another reason why it might help to sell the stuff you simply don't need any more.

  Jack Edmonds

About the Guest Author:

Jack Edmonds is a money and lifestyle writer and frequent blogger. He likes to talk about all manner of day to day topics, from cutting costs, how to sell stuff for free online, and various other financial influences in typical life.