Posted on 01/11/2019 7:07:48 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Most of us know we own too much stuff. We feel the weight and burden of our clutter. We tire of cleaning and managing and organizing. Our toy rooms are messy, our drawers don’t close, and our closets are filled from top to bottom. The evidence of clutter is all around us.
Today, increasing data is being collected about our homes, our shopping habits, and our spending. The research is confirming our observation: we own too much stuff. And it is robbing us of life.
Here are 21 surprising statistics about our clutter that help us understand how big of a problem our accumulation has actually become.
1. There are 300,000 items in the average American home (LA Times).
2. The average size of the American home has nearly tripled in size over the past 50 years (NPR).
3. And still, 1 out of every 10 Americans rent offsite storage—the fastest growing segment of the commercial real estate industry over the past four decades. (New York Times Magazine).
4. While 25% of people with two-car garages don’t have room to park cars inside them and 32% only have room for one vehicle. (U.S. Department of Energy).
5. The United States has upward of 50,000 storage facilities, more than five times the number of Starbucks. Currently, there is 7.3 square feet of self storage space for every man, woman and child in the nation. Thus, it is physically possible that every American could stand—all at the same time—under the total canopy of self storage roofing (SSA).
6. British research found that the average 10-year-old owns 238 toys but plays with just 12 daily (The Telegraph).
7. 3.1% of the world’s children live in America, but they own 40% of the toys consumed globally (UCLA).
8. The average American woman owns 30 outfits—one for every day of the month. In 1930, that figure was nine (Forbes).
9. The average American family spends $1,700 on clothes annually (Forbes).
10. While the average American throws away 65 pounds of clothing per year (Huffington Post).
11. Nearly half of American households don’t save any money (Business Insider).
12. But our homes have more television sets than people. And those television sets are turned on for more than a third of the day—eight hours, 14 minutes (USA Today).
13. Some reports indicate we consume twice as many material goods today as we did 50 years ago (The Story of Stuff).
14. Currently, the 12 percent of the world’s population that lives in North America and Western Europe account for 60 percent of private consumption spending, while the one-third living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only 3.2 percent (Worldwatch Institute).
15. Americans donate 1.9% of their income to charitable causes (NCCS/IRS). While 6 billion people worldwide live on less than $13,000/year (National Geographic).
16. Americans spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches ($100 billion) than on higher education (Psychology Today).
17. Shopping malls outnumber high schools. And 93% of teenage girls rank shopping as their favorite pastime (Affluenza).
18. Women will spend more than eight years of their lives shopping (The Daily Mail).
19. Over the course of our lifetime, we will spend a total of 3,680 hours or 153 days searching for misplaced items.The research found we lose up to nine items every day—or 198,743 in a lifetime. Phones, keys, sunglasses, and paperwork top the list (The Daily Mail).
20. Americans spend $1.2 trillion annually on nonessential goods—in other words, items they do not need (The Wall Street Journal).
21. The $8 billion home organization industry has more than doubled in size since the early 2000’s—growing at a staggering rate of 10% each year (Uppercase).
The numbers paint a jarring picture of excessive consumption and unnecessary accumulation. Fortunately, the solution is not difficult. The invitation to own less is an invitation to freedom, intentionality, and passion. And it can be discovered at your nearest drop-off center.
,,,still have Clutter!
I’ve always Loved
Army Surplus stores
and my apartment reflects
that I may open a store myself.
Is it Clutter or Stock?
I suspecet JOSHUA BECKER · is a 30 something snowflake...
An "excellent point" bump
We just need a bigger house! For starters my wife has 186 pairs of shoes. I counted them once and she has added to that.
Like when a parent or aunt/uncle pass and you are the one to sort through the “stuff” they leave behind.
I don’t want my daughter to have to go through that.
We’ve seen both sides, of that scenario.
One Aunt completely cleaned out, sold/gave away practically all of her belongings and then decided to move herself in to an assisted living type situation.
When she passed, nothing (of material value) was left to haggle or get upset/emotional over. Very thoughtful.
A friend, whose mom recently passed, is now having to go through a home - luckily with her siblings - containing 60+ years of acquired ‘stuff’. Not fun. They stress just with the thought...not to mention their sadness, on top of that.
That being said, I think our culture is too materialistic and our stuff (which we collect to make us happy) is a source of great unhappiness for many.
As automation increases and as the risk of large numbers of people having no skills (or abilities) that are needed in the 21st century job market, I think a lot of folks will find themselves with limited income opportunities. I oppose socialism (of course) but I wouldn't be surprised if we end up drifting toward some sort of Guaranteed Basic Income to that people have an income even if they don't have a job. Not my solution of choice, but I fear it may be inevitable.
Perhaps our culture would benefit from a trend toward a minimalist approach to life. People could occupy themselves with gardens or something and avoid collecting things other than hoes
Hold up an object or piece of clothing and ask does this bring you joy. If not, thank it and discard. Very interesting way to think about things we try to hang onto.
She also has a show now on Netflix where you can watch her work with clients. She definitely has something that’s striking a chord to help people declutter.
Sorry, my link did not work
300,000....hell I have 1/2 that in books and double that in shells and cartridges.
:)
LOLOL!! When I moved into this townhome in Denver, I had a 2 car garage, no car, and a garage that was wall-to-wall S T U F F that I had just paid a small fortune to move down here from Alaska. I could not believe I had paid perfectly good money...
Gradually, I sorted to the point I called the Salvation Army and they came and loaded up almost half a truckful of useless consumption (partly thanks to my kids, who just HAD TO HAVE IT!) Then, I realized it was still to much stuff, so I went through it again, moved all the nonessentials to one corner, and called College Hunks Hauling Junk. Away with the rest of the dross! Now, I have a virtually empty garage, a couple of corners not full but orderly, and still no car. Took four years, but it was worth every minute.
Marxism is why we ‘cannot have’ nice things
Some of these are absurd.
>> Shopping malls outnumber high schools. And 93% of teenage girls rank shopping as their favorite pastime <<
There are three shopping malls in Suffolk County, NY... and dozens of high schools.
>> Women will spend more than eight years of their lives shopping <<
That amounts to over two hours per day average every day.
>> Americans spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches ($100 billion) than on higher education <<
$100 billion amounts to only $300 per person.
RE: There are three shopping malls in Suffolk County, NY... and dozens of high schools.
Depends on how you define shopping “malls” I guess. There are lots of shopping “centers” everywhere.
C’mon down to North Texas.
I have 8 major shopping malls within a 30 minute drive of my home (2 that are 10 minutes away) and two “mixed use” areas (small towns in essence) that are a blend of shopping, office, and condos/apartments, with more coming...
Quoting a TV character living in Seattle... (Frasier)
“My things, my things, my beautiful things”
There’s something to be said for the Tiny House Movement: little room, fewer things. But who of us past 60 wants to climb a ladder in order to find our bed in the loft?
The main reason persons rent storage space = to keep the many records and receipts which will be needed when our government comes a’knocking on our doors. No receipt, no deduction. No papers, into the jail house for you.
Here, just thankful it is not necessary to load up our “possessions” into a covered wagon and cross the country to unload them in a brighter place. All we need do is call U-Haul. :-)
My wife keeps her shoes, boots and flip flops in our guest room. My wife is NOT a big clothes person or hundreds of shoes. However, I counted 15 pairs of flipflop/sandels. Keep in mind we live in NH not Florida.
The millennial(24 year old woman) sitting next to me was complaining that she did not have any money to pay off her student loans. We(middle aged men) pointed out to her that she wears a different pair of fancy boots to work everyday.
That almost every day she goes to some place to eat lunch out or order lunch to be picked up. Then many days she runs down to Starbucks to buy a $5 coffee. We have a Koreg machine out back with 20 different coffees and teas that are free.
Great example!
Yeah Bagman, first world problems. I have 6 functional TV’s (digital flat screens) in my house and I don’t feel guilty about it. Me and the wife have worked hard and gotten to the point that we earn an upper middle class living and can afford that stuff. I thank God every day that I was born in this country and that my Dad instilled a work ethic in me and my siblings so we could get through life as earners and not takers.
Am I an oppressive practitioner of white priveledge? Nope, just a guy enjoying his life. I have not stolen, cheated or harmed anyone to be able to acquire “non essential goods”. We pay a crap load of taxes (not sure I’m gonna be able to afford continuing to live in Nebraska after retirement but that’s another story) so Uncle Sugar can subsidize other people’s lifestyle. Trying to make people feel guilty (which I think is the point of this very interesting and informative article) is a non starter with me and mine, FRiend. Sounds like also with you?
I’m forwarding this article to my Household 6. I may not survive the day.
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