What don't you need?

[catherine]

1969:
My best friend and I were perusing Seventeen Magazine in 1969, getting ready to be fashion plates for senior year. She made a list and was reading it off and she said, "I need a white sweater." And I stopped her and asked, "You NEED a white sweater? Like, you'll die if you don't get one?" And she said "Yes, "M___ (my last name), I NEED a white sweater."

2019:
Our stove just died. Our little 1995, 20-inch basic electric stove died. So I bought a new one. Instead of comparing features and determining what we "needed"--I bought the cheapest one. Unfortunately, it's messed up. For some reason, the ignition wires on the left are mapped to the burners on the right and vice versa. I was livid--that is a weird, unacceptable mess-up. DH, who is usually on these quality failures like stink on s**t is all of a sudden complacent. "We'll get used to the fact that you have to turn the left burner on to get the right one to heat up." he said encouragingly.

But it did make me reflect on what we no longer need. We need a stove that works. We don't need extra burner lights. We don't even need burners that match the picture on the dials. We don't need more clothes than fit in our small closets. We don't need more gardens than we can weed. We don't need duplicates of many things except toilet paper. We don't need an air conditioner, we've come to learn up here near Canada and with good working ceiling fans. We don't need more than 3 chairs, 2 beds, or 1 bathroom.

So what don't YOU need?

[iris lilies]

1969:
My best friend and I were perusing Seventeen Magazine in 1969, getting ready to be fashion plates for senior year. She made a list and was reading it off and she said, "I need a white sweater." And I stopped her and asked, "You NEED a white sweater? Like, you'll die if you don't get one?" And she said "Yes, "M___ (my last name), I NEED a white sweater."

2019:
Our stove just died. Our little 1995, 20-inch basic electric stove died. So I bought a new one. Instead of comparing features and determining what we "needed"--I bought the cheapest one. Unfortunately, it's messed up. For some reason, the ignition wires on the left are mapped to the burners on the right and vice versa. I was livid--that is a weird, unacceptable mess-up. DH, who is usually on these quality failures like stink on s**t is all of a sudden complacent. "We'll get used to the fact that you have to turn the left burner on to get the right one to heat up." he said encouragingly.

But it did make me reflect on what we no longer need. We need a stove that works. We don't need extra burner lights. We don't even need burners that match the picture on the dials. We don't need more clothes than fit in our small closets. We don't need more gardens than we can weed. We don't need duplicates of many things except toilet paper. We don't need an air conditioner, we've come to learn up here near Canada and with good working ceiling fans. We don't need more than 3 chairs, 2 beds, or 1 bathroom.

So what don't YOU need?

on stoves: we dont need all of that happy crap they pile onto stoves. We lived for 30 years with the simplest scaled down stoves we could buy. These stoves didn't even have a window into the oven. When we went posh last year with a new stove, I drug all of our friends in front of it to show them”look! It has a window into the oven! There is a button that turns on a light to illuminate that window! Wow!” I like to emphasize our past simple choices for dramatic effect, haha.

But I would want a new stove to be wired correctly, yet I might think living as you do out in the boondocks with no truck might make it problematic to return. It is actually pretty funny that opposite knobs control the burners. I just might keep it that way for the novelty. One of your kids could write a. Ook someday about their crazy family and this stove would be featured.

[herbgeek]

So many thing I have but don't need, and if they break/wear out, I will not replace. I gave all my martini paraphernalia to a niece- I don't do fancy drinks anymore. I got rid of a lot of stemware, we almost always use some cheap stemless glasses. Still have too much.

I also don't need all the female maintenance that is expected. Got rid of nail polish years ago, and a box of makeup only gets pulled out for the holidays. I no longer dye my hair (and never got into those expensive treatments). My clothes are clean, basic and definitely not fashionable or top of the line. I find it ironic that women typically make less than men, and then spend lots of money on things that don't matter in the long run. Put on makeup in the morning only to wash it down the sink at night.

I also don't need people who tear me down, are passive aggressive, competitive with me, or otherwise just make me feel bad. I need people to talk with, but not a lot of them.

I don't need a full calendar, and to tell everyone that I'm busybusybusy. I need projects that are useful to me, but I don't need to juggle a lot of things at the same time.

[Gardnr]

There is no way I would accept this miswired stove! They need to bring a replacement and haul this one away. It doesn't matter what you paid. This is a safety hazard.

[razz]

There is no way I would accept this miswired stove! They need to bring a replacement and haul this one away. It doesn't matter what you paid. This is a safety hazard.

I immediately thought of someone turning on the stove innocently and being injured or setting something alight. You need someone to speak up and do something.

As for myself, I am changing and realizing that I am now so content with my life that I need very little more. I consider a trip overseas and thought I don't need the hassle of the air flight and sleepless travel. I will go for short outings or even a week away but I want to be totally catered to and relieved of any responsibility while away.

[Yppej]

A career. I just need a job until I am able to retire.

[rosarugosa]

Good point about the stove and safety. I think I would be tempted to keep it for the amusement value, but agree that would be unwise.
I do not have a white sweater, so I guess I don't need one of those! Don't have or need a lot of things but microwave and cable TV seem to be things many consider to be necessities.
IL: I love your story about the stove. I recall replacing a car many years ago and saying to my manager that it was great to have car windows that work. She said, oh yes, the automatic windows were a great invention. I said we didn't have automatic windows; they just weren't broken and we could roll them up and down with the crank handles, unlike the previous car.
Fun fact: Our 2014 Ford Focus has auto windows in front and crank windows in the back. How weird is that?

[Tybee]

Thats a great question, Catherine. I am struggling with the corollary right now--what DO I really need in life, but maybe I will have better luck looking at it from the opposite direction.

In your case, I think you need the stove to be wired correctly because you'll have visiting grandchildren and it just doesn't seem like something you want to be goofed up.

I was looking at a house with a mini stove and was wondering, do I really need a bigger stove?

We've lived for 10 years in really small houses and done without things like central heat and air conditioning and I guess I'm thinking of lots of things I'd really like . A second bathroom. A hot tub. We don't really need them, but it would be nice to upgrade our housing to be more comfortable instead of less comfortable.

On the other hand, living on a lake would be an incredible upgrade. So would living on 50 acres. So it's a fun question to think about.

[ApatheticNoMore]

my stove in this place is a permanent pilot stove that might for all I know be as old as me, so clearly I don't need much with stoves but do need *a* stove.

don't need a microwave, don't need many kitchen gadgets (occasionally consider them but doesn't go anywhere), don't have a t.v., don't need fancy vacations, apparently don't need a heater beyond a couple space heaters (but that's because I'm in SoCal), don't need fancy food apparently (still can like it).

need: paid time off, really truly a human need, not kidding.

[Teacher Terry]

My stove was not expensive but it works correctly. I did go one up from the bottom because it’s self cleaning. I keep it simple with appliances because I don’t use the fancy features. I didn’t have A/c in Wisconsin or upstate NY when we lived there. It’s a entirely different situation to not have it in Tx, KS and Nevada. We now have 55+ days over 90. Much warmer than 22 years ago. Really depends on where you live. We don’t need new cars or a huge house.