We first looked at curbing consumerism for better living theme back in 2007 and now the idea is spreading. Now, thanks to the ongoing recession, people are learning that all the stuff they bought didn’t really make them happy so they are getting rid of all their stuff.

When you start buying less you have more disposable income to spend on experiences, and that, my friends, is the key to happiness. What are you going to talk about and remember fondly in ten years, the concert you went to or the new shoes you bought?

Here’s a story about a person who downsized their junk and upsized their fun!

Tammy Strobel wasn’t happy. Working as a project manager with an investment management firm in Davis, Calif., and making about $40,000 a year, she was, as she put it, caught in the “work-spend treadmill.”
…
Today, three years after Ms. Strobel and Mr. Smith began downsizing, they live in Portland, Ore., in a spare, 400-square-foot studio with a nice-sized kitchen. Mr. Smith is completing a doctorate in physiology; Ms. Strobel happily works from home as a Web designer and freelance writer. She owns four plates, three pairs of shoes and two pots. With Mr. Smith in his final weeks of school, Ms. Strobel’s income of about $24,000 a year covers their bills. They are still car-free but have bikes. One other thing they no longer have: $30,000 of debt.

Keep reading at the New York Times.

Here’s some info on how to stop shopping.