Trash Isn’t Worth It Just Because It’s Free
“Why not? It’s free.” These two sentences could spell the end of your garage, closet, and trash bin. We all love free stuff. Even if it’s something we didn’t want before, we are tempted to get it for free. However, this does not mean anything.
As the minimalism blog Reimagining Dreams points out, our homes end up full of shit that we don’t need because we are actually very bad at determining whether a subject is a useful addition to our lives. Even apart from frivolous purchases, if something is free, we will take it. Everything from handles to furniture. It doesn’t matter if you have a drawer full of USB drives at home, if someone offers you one, chances are you’ll get one. If this garbage was garbage before you knew it was free, it is still garbage:
Ask yourself: Will I buy this product myself, or am I considering it just because it is free? If you’re considering it just because it’s free, then you don’t need it in your home.
This goes for anything free: gifts for the anniversary of work, free pens or notebooks for advertising, any different items that you can get for free at an exhibition or local carnival, give me gifts from parents or siblings, and everything else that someone wants to give you free.
Sometimes it’s nice to get something because it’s free, even if you don’t need it. If you have a friend who is giving away an old gadget, you may be able to sell it. However, this requires that you have a plan for the subject. If you don’t know what to do with it, or worse, you know you have no plans to do it, then it’s rubbish and you can leave it where it is. Even if it’s free.
Junk is junk, even if it’s free | Rethinking Dreams Through Rockstar Finance