Decisions – decisions

Increasingly, I am aware of a difference between the ‘very wealthy’ and the rest of us. When it comes to possessions, they know exactly what they want, and don’t hold on to anything else.

Growing up in a household familiar with post war austerity I was indoctrinated with the full set of hoarding mantras – ‘it may be useful one day’ – ‘just in case’ – ‘too good to throw out’ and when it comes to clothes – ‘one day it will come back into fashion’. Judging by prime time TV I was not alone – schedules are full of programmes encouraging us to ‘sort out our lives’.

Look at the wealthy and you see a difference – they live clutter free lives – and the richer they are the less their clutter. Richard Branson famously views everything as an asset – that should be put to work while Alan Sugar says everything he owns is available for sale – at the right price!

My daughter showed the way. As a teenager he bought an iPad which she protected with cases and screen covers, kept the box and packaging, then used it every day. Four years later she bought a new one, transferred her data, took off the case and screen cover from the old one and put it back in the original box. Hotly contested on eBay it sold for 60% of the original price.

So, before you make your next purchase think through the whole life-cycle. Why are you buying – how long will you own it – what happens to it when you’ve finished. You may decide to buy a better one, to keep the packaging, or maybe not buy it at all!