# Consumption Is Not the Problem

Source: https://www.theminimalists.com/consumption/
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2024-06-12
Author: The Minimalists

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We all need some stuff. Many of us have taken it too far, though: the average American household contains more than 300,000 possessions.

We accumulate more than we need hoping it’ll make us happy someday. It won’t—we know this. Needing [more](https://theminimalists.com/more) will always lead to a pall of desire until, ultimately, we feel [trapped by consumption](https://theminimalists.com/prison).

But consumption isn’t the problem—compulsory consumption is. Purchasing more stuff to make us happy—adhering to a broken [template](https://theminimalists.com/template)—is the real issue.

The solution is to consume deliberately—to ignore the [inane advertisements](https://zenhabits.net/opt-out/) so we can determine what we need based on our lives, not on what we’ve been told.

We’re all different: what we need is different for each of us.

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