July 21 2009: Toyota Camry – Benchmark of Materialism
Filed under Life
I spent most of today helping my friend move house – she’s moving in with another friend of mine as she needed a place to live, and he needed someone to help pay rent. Being the awesome networker that I am, I managed to set them both up with what they needed.
Anyway, holy fucking shit. I don’t understand how people can accumulate so much crap, so many material possessions. We had five carloads of possessions to move, as well as having to get Dylan to help move a trailer’s worth of furniture and white goods. And I don’t drive a small car – I was driving a 1996 Toyota Camry (my parents have hijacked the Honda Jazz for the past year under the claim of “we have to drive further for work and the Jazz is more fuel-efficient”), and that is a big motherfucker of a sedan. All my wordly possessions (clothes, paperwork, media, other random crap) could easily fit into my Camry with a trailer for my bedroom furniture – her possessions required five carloads.
And it’s all useless crap. Shit she doesn’t need or use. Things that lie hidden away in boxes, that never see the light of day but which she can’t bear to part with. That kind of disorganisation and hoarding drives me absolutely insane – I’ve basically told her that I’m never going to buy her material possessions ever again because she owns too much, but that as a Christmas/birthday present, I’m going to give her X amount of hours in which I’ll help her go through her possessions and donate/sell/give away/throw out anything that’s unnecessary. To help her pare down her belongings and simplify her lifestyle so that she’ll no longer have to require five car trips to move her belongings next time she moves.
When it comes down to it, I’m minimalist enough to not understand why anyone (who doesn’t own their own home) would need to own so many small material possessions that they’d need more than one large car to fit it all. That should be the benchmark for materialism and excessive consumerism for people in our situation (twenty-something with no permanent home and who work/study) – if your possessions exceed the holding capacity of a Toyota Camry, you own too much. Get rid of some of it, and learn to embrace the little things in life that have no price tag on it – spending time with loved ones, eating good meals, spending time in nature, etc.
16 Responses to “Toyota Camry – Benchmark of Materialism”
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May I borrow your Camry, I need to put all my crap in there and work out if I own to much :)
Alexandra on July 21 2009 #
I own a 2004 Canmry, and they’re still fairly gigantic, so I think I could fit most of my stuff in there. But I don’t think I’ve reached the age where I’ve had the opportunity to hoard 5 carloads of stuff anyways.. We’ll see in a couple of years!
Shen-Shen on July 22 2009 #
When I first moved to Uni, the boxes of posessions I was bringing easily fit into our ford escort. I was able to unload everything in under 40 minutes, I do believe.
Now, three years later, all of my crap barely fits into our mazda, and if I really wanted to take it all home (I usually rent a storage unit in the city of my university), I would have to use the mazda, and probably a truck for the larger stuff (fridge, chair, etc). Unloading/Loading time is much longer, too.
sometimes things just add up.
Jennifer on July 22 2009 #
When I moved into my dorm last year, I fit my stuff in a Honda CR-V. Yes, a CR-V is bigger than a sedan, but when considering I had to fit my mom and brother and a suitcase for them in the car as well as all my junk, I think I managed quite nicely.
Manda on July 22 2009 #
I’m going to move into a dorm in a month, and I decided that I would go through all my stuff and decide which to sell. I’m thinking that what I’m selling might not fit into your Toyota Camry. But I think if you’re going to move, it’s time to have a giant yard sale, but that’s just me :).
Alyssa on July 22 2009 #
XD Second what Alexandra said.
Noellium on July 22 2009 #
I would love to be able to fit all my stuff into a single car, and a trailer for furniture. As it stands now, I would need a full sized moving van … ick. I don’t know how you do it, but honestly I envy you. Granted, it’s not all mine, at least 1/3 of it belongs to my husband ;) but still, we live in an apartment. It’s hard knowing what is okay to part with, and what is worth holding on to, just in case.
Amanda on July 22 2009 #
I was thinking that I have a lot of crap because it took two trips in a vehicle quite a bit larger than a Camry (a Nissan R’nessa) when we moved, but then I realised I’m a grown up and we were moving an entire home (5 rooms), not just a bedroom… and there are two of us.
I have one box of crap, which isn’t really crap. It’s all my 1st year
Darnielle on July 22 2009 #
… assignments and notes and stuff.
I hit enter too quick. Bah!
Darnielle on July 22 2009 #
Hahaha you are too cute. When I moved into my apartment, I got rid of a whole bunch of crap like that which was stored away in my old room in my parent’s house. I agree, although I do have a bit more stuff than you probably would, still. It’s a start.
Caity on July 22 2009 #
I was such a a horrible hoarder. Before I moved out of home, I had kept most of my school notes and books (including all the notes from the HSC!) from about year 1 onwards. I threw most of it away when I moved out but I still kept some select ones.
I don’t think you necessarily need to be materialistic, in the sense that you bought too much, to have too much stuff. :P
Belinda on July 22 2009 #
Yeah, and you still fit more in there than the 46kg I *used* to be allowed to take on planes to get to college. It really pisses me off that I have to pay for checked baggage now. Thanks for screwing over the college students, airlines.
Also, while I agree with you that you shouldn’t give her more junk, if it’s stuff that she cares about she cares about it and you don’t need to do anything about it.
Stephanie on July 22 2009 #
Besides clothes and towels, I think most of my possessions are textbooks =/
marilyn on July 22 2009 #
Ugh, I’m the exact same way. I hate having tons of crap and clutter and whatever all over the place. I think I could also fit all my posessions into a large car with a trailer for the furniture, but I still think I have too much. I’m moving in less than a month and you can bet I’m going to use the opportunity to get rid of a ton of stuff.
Everyone just buys stuff and then loses it in the clutter and then buys more stuff to replace it, so they end up with like five battery chargers and two mixers and ten serving trays. My mother does this and it drives me nuts. I don’t know how people can live swimming in so much junk. It’s ridiculous.
Becky on July 22 2009 #
OH LOL, this reminds me of my moving experience. It took me and dad some 2 trips with 2 suitcases each. Then again, we didn’t have to carry any furniture.
In any case, my mom was horrified that I refused to carry most stuff. Some days I’m also missing important stuff. Like a truckload of jumpers and blouses XP
Vera on July 23 2009 #
[...] in the house. Which, by the way, I managed to fit into my new car, so I obviously own less than one Camry’s worth, considering the Colt is a micro car! I own much less than I originally thought, which bodes well [...]
Jingwen » Blog Archive » So This Is What Actually Went Down on November 5 2009 #