I am the worst for not taking care if things I own.
I've noticed an increased sense of joy and satisfaction by when I, for example, wash and wax my car. Instead of just using it when I need to go somewhere spending time taking care of it reminds me i own it, that it was a large purchase and keeping clean and in proper working order is beneficial and I should be proud.
It has definitely helped me be less materialistic this past year and really appreciate the things I have purchased.
By optimizing for initial purchase price, I often find that I don't take care of my stuff because it was never that good to begin with. When I had a car I loved, I took way better care of it than other vehicles simply because I found it to be a joy to drive. Alas, good care doesn't protect against hit & run accidents. We had a good eight years together. IMO, people often don't bother to care for their belongings because their belongings just aren't worthwhile or deprecate too rapidly: you bought that PC last week? Throw it out, it's an antique.
IMO, it seems that the problem became a self-reenforcing cycle when the middle classes learned that they could optimize on price on nonessentials in order to free up money for the things they truly cared about. That caused markets to bifurcate into cheap garbage that, in a just world, would not be worthwhile at any price and luxury products priced for the wealthy. Mid-price mid-quality repairable goods mostly no longer exist.
That's a little bit like the Ikea effect where people who assemble their furntiure themselves value it more than people who don't.
This also leads onto another problem which is a lot of things you own demand attention and money throughout their life. Cars are the obvious example which demand new tyres, servicing, fuel, cleaning, their own house to be stored in, etc. Even the bookshelf that Moby Dick sits on will need dusting from time to time.
I've noticed an increased sense of joy and satisfaction by when I, for example, wash and wax my car. Instead of just using it when I need to go somewhere spending time taking care of it reminds me i own it, that it was a large purchase and keeping clean and in proper working order is beneficial and I should be proud.
It has definitely helped me be less materialistic this past year and really appreciate the things I have purchased.