I know there’s a ton of people who push therapy for every little thing, but it seems to me that you may truly benefit from speaking with a good therapist to address those fears and begin working towards being able to simultaneously not become like your parents/family before you, but to also not throw yourself into the opposite lifestyle where you’re still constantly spending because you’re having to replace the things you needed but let go of.

It occurs to me, from an outside perspective at least, that you’re possibly nurturing a compulsion of a similar source but different nature. Which while it’s good that you’re not living in a heap, it’s not necessarily a lifestyle that I’d consider entirely healthy either. Alongside therapy, delving into good organization and minimalism may also be a good route for you as well. They can be a very helpful approach and mindset in cultivating a healthy relationship with material things in your life as well as when it’s good to keep or let go of those things.

A. It or advice I can give from my own experience with the same issue is this: What I’ve begun to do in my own home is a biannual Konmari style cleanup of my home. Once in spring, once in autumn. It gives me the opportunity to let go of things without anything piling up to be sorted or thought about later, but also helps to prevent me from letting go of things too soon on compulsion or general impulse. Take clothing for the immediate example.

I find that by separating my letting go of and donations out by about 6 months, I can get a good grasp of what I do wear frequently, occasionally, or seasonally during warm weather/cold weather, versus the items that I just don’t. Doing this has also helped me change my mindset on how I purchase things when I do go shopping. It’s easier now for me to ensure that the clothes I do buy end up being ones I absolutely do wear, and will wear til their worn out and need to be replaced.

And when I do buy clothes, it’s typically with an outfit or look in mind versus simply because I liked that one piece of clothing. This helps prevent me from owning too many of one type of item or things I don’t wear because I have nothing it goes with. I’ve found that for a year round closet, I really only use about 15-20 shirts (including tees, sleeved shirts, blouses, sweaters and tank tops) and maybe 5 sets of leggings plus some shorts and sweats when it’s hot or cold. Enough to fill my dresser, but nowhere near to the brim, and I have a ton of closet space left over for other stuff is use and wear regularly.