Opshopping and living with less

What would you do if you lost all your possessions?

I have thought a little about what it would be like to lose all my possessions, because a good friend of mine many years ago lost everything in a house fire 🔥 and it changed her attitude about possessions and what we need to survive forever.

If I lost everything I would begin to regain some of what I need, by thrifting at charity opshops. It is amazing what you can find at second hand shops. It would be an opportunity to declutter and buy good quality second hand goods and buying only the things I need to survive initially, and slowly over time bring back the sort of items that bring me the most pleasure 🙏.

I would hope that I would still have some devices that I could use to blog about my experiences along the way and what I would learn as to what is important to me. I would scrimp and save, so I could have some sentimental items, that would make life more pleasurable, but this would be very gradual. As I already slowly save for things, that I can really afford it brings more pleasure to save for something as you can afford them, than just going out and getting everything on credit. You then are left with a big bill, that you most likely won’t be able to pay back. I am a firm believer in delayed gratification. It feels better to get something you have worked hard to save for, rather than the instant gratification of getting everything on credit and never really outright owning anything, because your debt increases overtime as you spend and spend to keep up with the Jonses.

Keeping up with the Jonses has never been of interest to me, so perhaps the lesson to learn from losing everything is to learn how shallow and meaningless keeping up with the Jonses is. The true pleasure 🙏 comes from appreciating what we have , and treasuring the small meaningful things we have. I have never been big on keeping up with the Jonses. I believe in being grateful 🙏 and appreciating the things I do have.