More stuff

I've been thinking about stuff (material goods, things we own, etc.) recently. For a lot of reasons: the environment, the economy, the space, my carpets. We had our rugs cleaned and had to move everything out of the living room and master bedroom. We've moved the essentials back in- the bed, sofa, coffee table, TV- and that's about it (too tired to finish). And guess what? I like it that way! There's so much room for the kids to play and it just feels more spacious.

I came across this article (click here) on Yahoo! Finance a few minutes ago, and it speaks to me. Materialism is rampant in this country. I fall victim to it myself. For me, Target is difficult to resist. I walked in there the other night to buy a replacement carafe for our coffee maker (ours broke) and as soon as I walked in the door I felt like I had to also buy a spring-y blouse, a Valentine tablecloth, and a new purse. I resisted the temptation, but it was really hard. Target has genius marketing people. They make you think you need to redecorate your entire house for every season and holiday. What? I still have brown pillows on the sofa? That's sooooo last fall! What I really need are "spring" pillows. Um, yeah.

My name is Sarah and I am a sucker for advertising.

Anyway, I agree with the basic tenets set out in the article. They remind me of the WWII era slogan:

"Use it up, wear it out,
make do, or do without."

Words to live by.