Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Things and Stuff

While watching the Real Housewives of Atlanta, which is ridiculous by the way, I saw this article on CNN. Wow, can you imagine living in a 154 square foot home? I thought the house we are currently renting is small at a whopping 900 square feet, but wow! I do think that 154 square feet is too small, especially after living in our tiny home.

Does anyone watch any of the Real Housewives shows? I am addicted to them. I don't watch the shows because I envy their lifestyles; I watch because they remind me that I never want that lifestyle. I have never been a name brand kind of person who has to have the latest $500 dollar purse (maybe I had to have the name brands in middle school). As James says, "What does the purse do for $500 dollars?" When it comes down to it, it is all just stuff. It is interesting watching those women living their lives thinking they are better than everyone else because they have fancier houses, more cars, etc. They think they are entitled to everything they have because they are themselves. One of the women does run an organization to help troubled teens but besides that they spend their money on stuff. I wish our society was not one where so many people buy stuff to flaunt the fact that they have more money than the other guy but one where people think about others. I know there are some stars that do great things with their money but there are so many others that keep spending their money on stuff. Seriously, does anyone need 1,000 pairs of shoe??? It is just ludicrous to me.

It really just seems like greed rules the world and that is so sad. It seems to be the root of some of the problems in our country. People want more and more money and it is never enough. So many good things could be done if people thought, "Okay, a few million is enough, I am going to do something good with a large portion of my money." This won't happen because of our society's need for more and more and more.

I will continue to watch the Real Housewives and be reminded how great my life is without the stuff!!

5 comments:

Laura said...

That is insane! I thought we were nuts for living in a 380 square foot house for three years - something I could NEVER do again, by the way - but 380 square feet sounds like a mansion compared to 130!

I just so happen to catch my first ever episode of Real Housewives of Atlanta late last night as I was channel surfing. It was like a train wreck - I didn't want to see it but I couldn't turn away. My mom and I shamefully watched the whole episode. We were discussing how much is enough? Just like you said, how many pairs of shoes do you really need? How big can your house really be? When do you stop? Pretty crazy stuff, huh?

Tammy said...

I have never seen the show. But I know the type. One can get so lost in "stuff." It doesn't fulfill and so you are always wanting more. There is never an ending point. Sad.
130 sq. ft? That reminds me of those tiny little pretend show rooms at IKEA. I saw one with a combo nursery/master suite. It looked cozy, but could you imaging having a couple of kids and living in a shed sized house? That's crazy. A little too small for me. Lol! :-)
-Tammy

Kelli said...

Wow- that is a small house. Especially when you think of the huge houses on the Housewives shows- even in NYC. And yes I have watched all of them....I am pretty much addicted to Bravo TV.

The Baxter Family said...

I completely agree with you! We have a small home, too (we just don't need a big one for such a small family), and I also outgrew the need for the high-dollar name brands quite some time ago. I don't think that we should define ourselves by whose name is on our clothing, purses, etc., but instead by who we are and what we have contributed to others around us. Ours is a very self-centered, whoever-has-the-most-stuff-wins society. I guess that's good for the credit card companies, as evidenced by the high percentage of Americans in astronomical credit card debt, but we try to avoid all of that. It makes life a lot simpler, and I think that the people with the most stuff often seem pretty unhappy.

The Hines Family said...

That article was so interesting. 130 square feet seems so tiny, but I can't imagine the financial freedom they are experiencing. Very interesting!