What do you Need?

Given the way the economy is people are really reexamining what they truly need in their lives.  I saw it 2 years ago when it first hit the real estate market here and all our friends and family started to down size.  Not just down size, but declutter and live simply.  We, ourselvesa got rid of most of our stuff.  Some recent articles made me look at this subject again.  Over the last 2 years we have accumulated stuff again.  Some we bought, but people seem to think we are a dumping ground for all their unwanted stuff.  I have probably given away 2 van fulls of stuff that belonged to other people.  Yes, we have a lot of kids and need more stuff than your average family.  But that doesn't not mean you can dump everything and anything off here.  Call me silly, but I don't think we need MMORPG games and 10 popples.  So as I once again declutter, here are some articles to make you think.

How big of a house do you need? How about a micro house? Someone asked us on our vacation if we had a huge house.  I don't think we do, its 2400 sq ft and plenty big enough.  We could go smaller easily, but as a renter we have to have a certain amount of bedrooms even if they do go unused.  

How much stuff do you need?  Can you live with just 100 possessions? 

What have you done to save money?  How extreme would you go? There is 1 thing I would not ever do to save money and that is go without a/c.  It would mean death I am sure.  My neighbors did it one year and they lived in their pool.  I guess at that age you don't worry so much about skin cancer. 

What do you need?  Really need?  How does it affect how your kids act and think?  Are we being the examples we should be?