Friday, October 14, 2011

Can't Buy Love: Materialism Kills Marriages

From the atricle: Can't Buy Love: Materialism Kills Marriages:
"Our study found that materialism was associated with spouses having lower levels of responsiveness and less emotional maturity. Materialism was also linked to less effective communication, higher levels of negative conflict, lower relationship satisfaction, and less marriage stability," said Jason Carroll, a BYU professor of family life in Provo, Utah, and lead author of the study.
One great way to improve a marriage is to reduce the amount of "stuff" that you have. I mean the physical stuff. Over the years it is easy to accumulate stuff but stuff costs in multiple ways:
  1. There is the cost of buying in the first place
  2. There is the cost of storing.  This might include paying for some storage or just taking space.
  3. There is the cost of inventory.  Periodically, stuff takes time due to having to organize it.
By reducing stuff you can free up money, space and time.