how to stop being materialistic and greedy?

serious question

Go pack up the bare minimum to live, and camp out somewhere with next to nothin'.

You can't.

Lose everything during a natural disaster.

Licorice said:

Lose everything during a natural disaster.

Click to expand...

Good one!

You can never fully stop - you're a living being after all and part of being alive is being selfish enough to get what you need to survive. What you can do is take the time to recognize what you need vs what you want, and cut down on wants. You could even say "I want a new gaming system it costs x" and instead of buying the game console put half into a savings for when you're older and donate half, or give a few servers some very generous tips. Or something like that.

The best way for me is to stop going to shopping sites or malls. Don't look at them or you'll be tempted to buy them.

I'd also empty your closet(s) and drawers to see what you already do have. If all that stuff is tucked away, I can't see what I actually own. Once I take out all my stuff, I realize how much I actually own and I begin to appreciate it more.

I've been on a minimalism journey and that has helped me be more content with what I have. I'd begin to read some articles about the whole minimalism thing to see if it can help you too.

Good luck!! ^^

You gotta know what's best for you, what to spend money on and what not to.

I tend to spend money on video games, besides daily needs a fair bit but I'm responsible about it.

If you mean it in the context like, being materialistic when it comes to people and relationships, I suppose it can only be changed with a development in conscience.

actively think about ur actions and thoughts and recognize when youre doing or thinking things you think is wrong. find other things to put value in that doesnt cost money, if you feel better about yourself when you wear expensive clothes or own expensive things maybe try to find something else that makes u feel good abt yourself.
start trying to not act greedy in small situations and focus on the positive things about what u did instead of the negative. (so like if you paid for your friend's chocolate bar don't get annoyed with urself for spending money, instead Focus On The Positive thing - that it made your friend happy and that made u happy. idk)

but also remember that being greedy, jealous and materialistic is normal and human and that it doesn't make you a bad person for feeling that way.

Become a Buddhist monk.

give stuff away. stop taking what you don't need. find love and friendship. i'd need more detail to help any further.

Go camping somewhere, I guess.

Categorize possessions into 3 categories: can't live without, don't need/donate, and unsure on keeping/buying

For the stuff you're unsure on keeping, pack it in a box and stick it in your closet. At the end of the month, if you can't remember what's in the box, then you don't need it

Help out at a soup kitchen. Sit down to talk with a homeless person and learn their story. Take a look at all your things and count off how many of those things do you REALLY need, and what are the things others might have better use for. Donate them. Volunteer at hospitals and care homes and see how many people there are that are fighting for their lives and don't have the luxury to care about materialistic things. They only care to survive and spend what little time they have with their loved ones. Learn to appreciate the people who love you and are there for you. Etc. Just find ways to humble yourself and keep yourself in check - there are so many people who don't have as much as you, and it's good to know how blessed you are. That doesn't mean to not enjoy anything materialistic, but it does help you APPRECIATE what you have and what you can do for those around you.

Run naked into the woods and let yourself be raised by wolves. Learn their ways.

stop buying things you don't need
give stuff to people in need

boom. problem solved

A lot of people mentioned how to have less material possessions rather than directly saying how to be less materialistic (as in a mindset), so I'm going to pop in and say that just getting rid of stuff is not always a sure-fire way to become less materialistic. It can help in cases! But really, what is your motivation for wanting to be less materialistic? Look down that avenue of reasoning. Why do you believe it is bad to be materialistic (by your definition)?

If you are sympathetic, perhaps learning more about the cruel conditions put on the people who make some of the items you splurge on will help. If you're moved by compassion, it can make you think more about what you really need and what you could live without, and because many fair-trade things happen to be more pricey (though not always), you'll probably not buy more of it than you really need.

If you want to become less materialistic because you are sick of clutter, then yes, evaluating the stuff you have and getting rid of what you don't need can help you to realize how great simplicity is. Practice appreciation, or thankfulness for your stuff. If you're not appreciative of it, you know somebody else will be. So, you can gift it to someone you know or donate it if you don't know anyone personally. Think about what your priorities are in life. Try to keep your spending mostly towards those things. Being picky about what you personally spend your money on reduces impulse purchases. It helps me to not buy everything that's cute.

Maybe evaluate your mindset about how much you are potentially influenced by advertisements or peers or what-have-you. Try and come up with ways to taper down your impulses to people-please, needlessly impress others or fill in any gaps in your life with material things. Someone mentioned not putting yourself in spender-happy environments, like the mall.


TLDR; Think about why materialism is bad and set up solutions to fix your lifestyle based on your answer. I give examples above.

Stop acting like a millennial.

There's a lot of things I wish I had. But over time, those wants for material things turned into wants for skills. For instance, instead of wanting a million dollars to buy anything I want, I want to learn how to be more outgoing and caring. I want to help people.

Also, my friend just lost her mom last night. Could you imagine losing both of your parents before you even turn 16? I can barely imagine losing my cat, Molly.

I realized, as I got older, that you can replace a lost wad of money, but you can't replace a friend, a family member, or a pet.

Just think about it, if your 3DS suddenly stop working, you might be really upset, but eventually you would get over it and buy a new one. Of course.
But what if your favorite pet ran away from home? Or in my case, was stolen from you, and never to be seen again? Can you replace that?

I think that once you lose enough material things in your life, you begin to realize that they hold a dollar value, but not an eternal value. When you die, none of the money or possessions you have accumulated over the years will remember you, but your friends and family will.

It's like one of those motivation quotes I read one time...

"Greed... because he who dies with the most money, wins."

I'd recommend looking up the Youtube channel Real Stories. Full of documentaries ranging from anything to everything. Many are poverty or suffering related, which always brings me, personally, back down to earth. I just watched Evicted: The Hidden Homeless, about folks who were forced out through no fault of their own. I'm now thankful again just to have a bed and a stove, etc.

It's something most of us probably should do every once in a while, as it's human nature to become ungrateful and forget the bad when things are actually good in our lives.