Many people spend much of their money buying new things and are never satisfied. Merchants encourage this by convincing people that they are missing things they need. Merchants do this with ads that play upon people’s insecurities. But many people already have what they need. Although a few recognize it, most people don’t. There is no perfectly reliable sign that you have everything you need. But there are many good indicators. If you have these indicators, you likely have everything you need already. So, let’s take a look at some of these indicators:
You are physically comfortable.
Physical comfort is the sign that you have met all your physical needs. So, you won’t be comfortable if you are starving to death, freezing, or thirsty. This means that if you are comfortable, you have everything to meet your physical needs. Comfort also means that you can meet these physical needs with relative ease. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be comfortable.
But once you are comfortable, adding extras will not make you more comfortable. So, if your bed is comfortable, then a bigger bed won’t improve your comfort. The same goes for if the temperature is perfect, if you are well-fed, or if you are fully hydrated. So, if you are comfortable, extras are of dubious benefit to you.
Ads only show you things you already have a substitute for or won’t use.
Merchants are very good at convincing people to buy things. Their ads try to convince you that you are ill-equipped (or inadequate) without their product. But this is rarely if ever true. If you don’t have a use for something or you have a worthy substitute, you don’t need to buy it. So, if you have no use for something, buying it will waste your money, time, and space. Also, if you have something that works perfectly, buying a new one is a waste of money. If everything you see on ads fits one of these criteria, you don’t need any of what they are selling.
You have a lot of clutter.
Clutter happens when things are out of place. This is most likely to happen when there are too many things in a room. It is because every room has a finite amount of space. So having too many things in a room will prevent having a proper place for everything. When this happens, clutter will pile up. The primary cause of this is people having too many things. Also, people need relatively few things to live in comfort. This means that people who have clutter have more things than they need. In fact, they can improve the quality of their lives by reducing the number of things they have.
You replace things when you don’t need to.
Many merchants try to get us to replace things when we don’t need to. They often use ads that persuade us to upgrade our gadgets before we need to. But if a gadget does everything you need it to do, you don’t need an upgrade.
Another culprit is the fashion industry, especially fast fashion. Fashion promotes the idea of getting new clothes because the old ones are out of fashion. This is so, even if the “old” clothes are in good repair. Fast fashion often has 52 fashion seasons per year. This means that your clothes will be out of fashion one week after you bought them. Anyone who follows these trends will most likely have more clothes than they need. People who struggle to meet their needs wouldn’t the money to waste on this.
You use paid offsite storage.
Using paid offsite storage turns your excess stuff into liabilities. It is because it makes you pay to not use your things. So, having a picture in paid offsite storage means you are paying to not look at it. But it happens for the same reason why people have clutter. It is because people have many more things than they need.
Your primary concerns have nothing to do with physical well-being.
We all have some basic needs that include the following:
Sustenance (nutrition and hydration)
Protection from the elements (shelter and clothing)
Health and sanitation
If you lack the means to get any of these, it will become a major concern. That is because you need them for your physical well-being. So if you are starving, you will be concerned because you can die as a result. In fact, this concern will outweigh more trivial concerns. So if you are worrying about trivial things, it’s because your physical needs are being met.
You are more interested in experiences than things.
All useful things are tools. Also, all tools exist to enhance an experience or make it easier. This means that the experiences are more important than the tools. If you know this, then you know something most people don’t. You also have a healthy perspective and are on track to living a happy life. You also know that you have everything you need.
In summary, here are some of the signs you might already have more than you need:
You are physically comfortable.
Ads only show things you already have a substitute for or already use.
You have a lot of clutter.
You replace things when you don’t need to.
You use paid offsite storage.
Your primary concerns have nothing to do with physical well-being.
You are more interested in experiences than things.
If you have a few of these, you likely have everything you need.