We tend to measure people by what they own - even if they've bought it on tick.
Yet as one US/Icelandic longitudinal study found, the more importance people give to material things, the poorer their wellbeing. The study "Changes in materialism, changes in psychological well-being" found the messages that we're sent by marketers promoting materialism benefited the economy more than individuals.
Study leader Tim Kasser, of the Department of Psychology at Knox College, noted that the more individuals prioritise values and goals for money and possessions, relative to other aims, the lower they scored on outcomes such as life satisfaction, happiness and self-actualisation, and the higher they scored on outcomes such as depression.
Poorer countries relative to New Zealand often do better on international happiness rating scales than we do.
Other psychological studies show that any improvement in mood from retail therapy is short-lived. Don't we all know it? A purge of goods is often more satisfying than buying.
I'm not perfect. Herald cartoonist Guy Body, who used to live across the road from me, popped over one day a few years back to ask if I had a sieve in my "Aladdin's cave", a description of my home that made me laugh.
In my defence, anything in the house that's not being used and is cluttering the place is swiftly put on Trade Me or taken to the op shop.
Nonetheless, there is so much stuff in my home that I couldn't downsize to a tiny home such as that lived in by journalist and author Catherine Foster.
Foster, who wrote the book Small House Living, is an advocate of living with less. When she downsized, she was no longer beholden to the bank.
We're a nation of bargain hunters. However, the best bargains are the ones you don't buy.
For example, thanks to a delayed plane connection, I had an hour last weekend to look around the Ikea store in Tempe, which is walking distance from Sydney airport.
As a follower of the Bring Ikea to NZ Facebook page, I was, of course, dazzled by everything I saw and expected to walk out laden.
Fortunately, I took a dose of my own advice before hitting the checkout queue and left with just tea towels and some Swedish food.
The items put back on the shelves were the best bargains as they cost nothing and aren't going to clutter my home, life or brain, consequently saving me money and energy.
I wrote something a few weeks ago that I'm now going to contradict - in part. It talked about how stores such as the Warehouse and Kmart were stocking more stylish furniture and homewares these days. At the time, Warehouse chief executive Simon Turner mentioned that this made it easy to update your home's look regularly for relatively little of the folding stuff.
That's true. There's a "but", however. Since when did homewares become disposable items? It's an attitude that seems to be seeping its way into Kiwi culture from countries such as the UK, Australia and the US and it's not good for our collective personal finances.
Andrew Walker, director of the new Devonport Community Recycling Centre at the suburb's transfer station, sees the other end of our obsession with buying stuff.
Walker has worked in the waste industry for 20 years but is still shocked at the number of perfectly usable items that people dispose of.
In Devonport, he believes, the stratospheric house price rises have made many locals feel "cashed up", encouraging them to replace household items before it's necessary.
Plenty of TVs, sofas and other home contents are dumped in Devonport because the owners simply felt like buying new stuff, says Walker.
As well as buying the new item, there's a cost to get rid of the old one, says Walker. That can be anywhere from $26 to $50 depending on weight if you want to dump your old sofa at the transfer station.
Walker raises an eyebrow at some of the items locals are discarding. This week someone turned up with a piano, expecting to dump it in the landfill. When I popped in to the centre it was being played enthusiastically by a member of the public.
I'm sure the piano, which the centre was selling for $150, will be snapped up. But the idea that the previous owner thought it acceptable to dump it at the transfer station leaves me agog.
Sue Wallis, general manager of Waiuku Zero Waste, another community recycling centre, says barely used sports equipment is one of the largest categories of items her centre diverts from the landfill.
Invariably, someone has a New Year's resolution to get thin or fit, buys equipment and then forgets to use it. Waiuku Zero Waste diverts 75 per cent of "rubbish" going into the local transfer station into its shop, the Waiuku Junktion. Kitchen items are another category of stuff that shows up barely used, says Wallis.
Our obsession with consumer goods means self-storage businesses are doing a roaring trade. Storage units in Tauranga, for example, have waiting lists of customers, the Bay of Plenty Times reported.
Anyone who is using a storage unit for household goods for more than a simple move from A to B might want to do some navel gazing. The ongoing monthly cost of these units soon adds up. Some people pay month after month just to dump the contents of their lockup at the end.
Budget advice centres see some of the other negative effects of buying too much stuff: individuals and families in crisis because they are mired in debt.
There are various steps to be taken when it comes to shedding excess belongings. For some people it might even need to start with counselling or psychotherapy if their buying habit has to do with deep-seated psychological problems. They either can't get rid of anything or can't stop themselves buying more.
Step two is to find an outlet. There are so many ways to get rid of excess stuff. Some, such as Trade Me, bring in money.
Since the inorganic collection died a death, I've found that I can haul large unwanted items onto the verge outside my home and they disappear within a few hours. Even a well-worn hall runner disappeared.
Alternatively, offer such items for free on Freecycle, Pay It Forward Facebook groups or other sites such as Neighbourly.co.nz.
