Most of us are guilty of buying things we don’t really need.
Maybe we’re tempted by a sale, thinking it’s too good to pass up. Maybe we believe a new purchase will make us feel happier. Or maybe we just want to impress others.
But later, we realize the sale wasn’t really a deal—the price was inflated beforehand. The excitement of a new purchase fades, and it becomes just another possession. And often, we don’t even care about impressing the person we bought it for.
To avoid these regrets, the Stoics encouraged restraint when it comes to wealth and possessions. Musonius Rufus, in particular, pointed out that while money can buy physical comforts, it can’t bring true contentment or erase grief.
As William B. Irvine explains in A Guide to the Good Life:
People who achieve luxurious lifestyles are rarely satisfied. Experiencing luxury only increases their appetite for more.
Seneca illustrated this by asking his friend Lucilius to imagine being extremely wealthy, living in a house with marble floors, gold decorations, and fine clothing. Would this make him happy? No, Seneca warned—it would only make him crave even more.
Or, to borrow a line from the American rock band Papa Roach: The things you own end up owning you.
Why Do We Keep Buying?
Sometimes, we blame it on the need to keep up with the Joneses. Other times, we convince ourselves we need something to make life easier. But whenever we buy something that isn’t essential—like food or shelter—the truth is, we’re making that choice ourselves.
With so many products and advertisements surrounding us, it’s easy to believe that buying more will bring us closer to happiness. It’s tempting to think, Once I have that next thing, I won’t need anything else.
What’s harder is saying, I already have enough.
Adopting a Stoic mindset—wanting what you already have—makes life simpler. It means we don’t need to spend £1500 on the latest phone when our current one works fine. We don’t need to pay for multiple streaming services just to fill time. And we don’t need to impress others with our possessions.
As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry put it:
In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.
The Minimalist Perspective
If you’ve heard of The Minimalists, you’ve seen this mindset in action. Early in their careers, they had six-figure salaries, luxury cars, and big houses. But they weren’t satisfied. Worse, their pursuit of “more” led to debt, stress, anxiety, and even depression.
Or as Papa Roach put it:
Money, possession, obsession, I don’t need that sh*t.
According to The Minimalists, consumption itself isn’t the problem—compulsive consumption is. We all need some material things. But if everything we own serves a real purpose or brings us joy, we can clear away the excess and focus on what truly matters: health, relationships, passions, growth, and contribution.
Asking the Right Questions
To keep our focus, we can ask simple questions about what we own:
- When did I last use this?
- Does this add value to my life?
- Can I replace it if I let it go?
Another important question is: What is my end goal? What am I really working for? What is my money actually going toward?
A great way to illustrate this is the story of The Fisherman and the Businessman. And perhaps the simplest way to sum it all up is the Renaissance artist Michaelangelo’s definition of beauty:
The purgation of superfluities.