How much of your stuff do you really use....

I'm struggling with wanting to get new things, yes I have that consumer instinct in me. High on my list is getting a new mobile phone and new computer monitor (so I can compose even more blog posts (yeah a little self justification/deception going on)). But I look around and ask, how much of my stuff I don't use or just sits there. I have my old dreamcast, fun fun fun, Marine Fishing anyone? But it sits there most of the time.

What got me re-visiting this topic is an LA Times blog posting on the renewed interest in small houses. Do we need large houses for us or for our stuff?

Do we get things, because we can? If we didn't have a place to put it in, would we accumulate. For instance, I don't have a TV, not because TV is bad, but because I have no self control. A physical contstraint of no TV makes me watch less TV. A little draconian. But you get the picture.

The other question is, would it make us just throw away more stuff as we get new stuff?