My fellow Americans, please stop telling Europeans how to live. They’re not hurting you, leave them alone.

I’ve been frugal for years and with the Christmas present I finally made my husband understand it. I don’t buy cheap shit, I buy once and I buy good. And it was very clear this Christmas, I bought him something that he knows he can get cheap but mine is good quality. (Sorry I’m drunk so I ramble)<br><br>And the first thing he said, you’re not American. He knows it’s true. I want to live the way Europeans live. They don’t have a work from home computer, work office computer, a tablet, a phone, two TVs, three gaming systems, and God knows what else. They just live better. They might have a tablet and a computer but they don’t have both at home, and they don’t have a second TV, they have one. I don’t need more than one gaming system but I want more. I have a fit bit and a smartwatch. Why do I need both? I need to make a change and downsize. <br><br>I live in the Midwest, the heartland. My grandparents never threw their trash in the garbage. They composted. They reused their stuff. They lived off the land. When my grandma was growing up she had to walk to school uphill both ways in a snowstorm, I think that’s what she said. My mom learned how to make a dollar last. Christmas presents were always homemade. We never went out to eat. But having money isn’t the same as being rich. <br><br>When I got my first job, I made $11 an hour full time. I was so proud. I could finally afford to live. I was 19. I moved out. I had money. And it didn’t seem like it was that much, but I spent so much money. I bought a TV as big as my bed, literally, 55 inch. I bought a couch. I bought a desk. I bought three full size pillows. I spent so much money. And I thought I had nothing. <br><br>Over the years, with better paying jobs and better budgeting, I thought I was saving money. But Christmas this year showed me that it’s all been fake, the whole time. I was lying to myself. I have been slowly but surely spending my money and storing stuff in my basement and pretending that I’m doing it right because I’m saving money, when I’m actually blowing my money.<br><br>I went through every single thing in my basement and most of it was trash. I threw some of it away, all of it was trash. All of it. My parents bought me a journal when I was a kid. It was pink. I still had it. I had never written in it. I kept it in my basement for the past 20 years. What was I going to do with it? I don’t know. I threw it away. I bought a poster of a band I used to like when I was a kid. I was obsessed with that band. I kept the poster, it was rolled up in a box in my basement. I haven’t listened to that band in over a decade. I threw the poster away. <br><br>I kept a lot of stuff. Books. Movies. I might have 300 DVDs. From when I was buying movies. I buy them sometimes, I had 30 Bluray movies that I didn’t open. I didn’t know I had them. I bought them on sale and never watched them. I opened them and watched them. And now they’re in storage again. I have a room full of stuff. A full room. I have to live in this room now because my living room is being renovated. When it’s done, where is all of this stuff going to go? I’m going to put it all away again. The majority of it I haven’t touched in years. Some I haven’t touched since I moved in, and it’s been 5 years. <br><br>I’m going to start living more like Europeans. I’m going to buy once, buy right. I’m going to buy what I need. But I’m also going to use what I buy. I’m going to open my presents and play them. Even if it takes me years to finish them, I’m going to finish them. I’m going to set up my kitchen so I can finally cook in it. It’s been a kitchen for a year, but I didn’t have the right cooking supplies so I never used it. I’m going to finally use it. <br><br>I’m going to get rid of a lot of stuff. Not all of it, probably not most of it. But I’m going to go through it and figure out what I need to keep. I’m going to start journaling. After 20 years, I’m finally going to open my pink journal. And I’m going to fill it. I’m going to read all of my books. I’m going to buy new ones. I’m going to watch all of my movies. And then I’m going to get rid of them. I’m going to live. <br><br>I’m going to let go of my American need to keep every useless piece of trash. I’m going to throw my trash away. I’m going to live like Europeans.