"Possession pressure?"

[Ultralight]

I was wondering which possessions you have or had that pressured you the most. How did you deal with it? How do you plan to deal with it?

To clarify, let me explain what I mean by "possession pressure."

For instance, my sis and her BIL bought a treadmill for about $2,000. While neither of them really like running on it (Who does?!) they still keep it. Why? Because they feel its pressure. They spent that money on it, so they need to get their wear out of it, right? So this treadmill makes them feel like maybe they wasted their money but in order to sublimate that feeling of wasted money they have to engage in an act they dislike (running on the treadmill). If they would simply let go and sell it, then they'd recoup perhaps 25% or 50% of the money and not feel that pressure to run on it. They'd also have more space in their home.

Another example of possession pressure is my coworker whose sports car was dented in a parking lot. Because the car is nice he feels it "pressuring" him to repair the superficial damages even though he really does not want to pay the deductible or deal with the logistical annoyances of getting it repaired and having a rental car, etc. If he had a dinged up used Honda Civic then this would not be a concern to him. But with the nice sports car he feels the pressure!

[catherine]

I get it.

If you buy a nice, expensive shirt or sweater, you feel pressured to take it to the dry cleaners instead of just hand-washing it.

If you have cable, and the triple package (phone, internet, cable) is only a few bucks more than one of the things that aren't really needed, you feel pressured to go for the bigger bang for the buck.

In the worst and most horrible personal example of this is, if you pay for a membership in something you feel pressure to use it, even if you don't want to. I bought into a home improvement buying club once. It was one of the stupidest things I ever did--as Dave Ramsey would say: STUPID TAX in spades!

I also at the moment am dealing with home pressure. I've lived here for 30 years, and they're building a railway station and town center just 5 minutes away which will increase property values, so I feel pressure to stay here until then--also pressured by the sweat equity we put into it to make is just the way we like it.

[Ultralight]

Catherine: Thank you! You really explained it and clarified the phenomenon in a way I just couldn't! haha.

Excellent points!

[Dhiana]

Had a muffin tin at one time.

We like muffins so I thought I'd make muffins with the one I rec'd from my wedding. It was teflon coated so I thought I wouldn't need the paper cups.
Nope. Still needed the stupid cups because my muffins still stuck to the tin a bit.

Unfortunately, it was the monster, oversized cup muffin tins and it was just a bother to find the monster, oversized paper cups then we moved to Japan where everything is super small so that muffin tin went to the charity shop real quick!

I refuse to have burdensome possessions in my home. I refuse to buy a house as I know we are not yet settled and I refuse to buy a car as I don't want to deal with all the upkeep, worrying about parking, etc.

[pinkytoe]

I drove an old Volvo sedan for many years until last spring when I decided to replace it with a 3 yo Honda. I paid cash so it was a large purchase for me but I deduced I wouldn't need one for years if ever. Immediately, my insurance doubled because I elected to purchase collision insurance for a few years after laying out so much cash. Also, my driving angst has quadrupled since I fear dings and wrecks which I never thought about before in the old car. I feel better in this car since it is newer but am not enjoying the added costs.

[freshstart]

I had possession pressure in my town home. It had extra rooms we never used but i furnished anyway. When moving into this house, I decided I will never do something like that again, I sold them but not for near what they were worth. I had it over this ginormous wt lifting center that my ex bought me (for him) for my birthday. Never used it, unlikely I ever will. When moved, a team of men have to dissemble it and reassemble at new home. I was done feeling guilty walking by this thing, even though should've used it and I had room for it. A friend's brother is a fireman, they were looking for exercise equipment like this, they came, I made it free and no more (literal) weights holding me down.

I had my most expensive car, a Prius, loved it, it got totaled and I could not fathom starting again. I bought the cheapest Hyundai Accept possible with the insurance and only had a teeny car payment for a short time. Car works fine for what it needs to do.

right now, I have guilt over keeping my work wardrobe. None of the pieces were particularly expensive or special, they take up a lot of room. I vacillate between getting rid of them, just let them go and keeping them all for if I can go back. But I have the room and even though things are worse, they may one day be better and I will have regretted getting rid of them. But I look at them and feel guilty. Pretty stupid, huh? I have the room, I should stop looking at them, don't think or care about them until the issue comes up. But I do. I hate feeling guilty when I feel like I have more than I need and others don't have enough.