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Brenley Charkow-McRae jokes with shoppers at her ‘clean sweep’ garage sale. J.P. Moczulski for The Globe and MailJ.P. MOCZULSKI/The Globe and Mail

Piles of dusty books. Junk drawers. Overstuffed garages.

Homes across Canada are filled with useless gadgets and rarely worn clothes, evidence of a society that often associates status with personal belongings.

But as economic uncertainty continues to affect job security and investments, many Canadians have started to reconsider their relationship with possessions. The idea that less is more is taking hold.

"There is this culture of thrift that is beginning to emerge among Canadian consumers," said Jack Bensimon, president of advertising firm Bensimon Byrne, which commissions a regular survey called the Consumerology Report. The April edition found that nearly half of Canadians said they are reducing their daily spending, and that more people now consider the difference between "need" and "want" before making a purchase.

But this cultural shift isn't just about buying less. It's also resulted in a "new minimalism" that is seeing people purge their homes and offices, moving toward a simplified lifestyle free of excess goods and plain old junk.

Toronto resident Brenley Charkow-McRae and her husband recently held a "clean sweep" garage sale where they put unopened sheet sets, extra iPods, stacks of books and countless other items up for sale in a bid to reduce clutter.

"The shelves were piled with things. You couldn't actually see what was on there. … I found it hard to relax in my office until everything was gone," she says. "It's definitely liberating and there's so much more space around the house now."

Although neither of them has lost their jobs - Ms. Charkow-McRae runs a stationery company and her husband is in the Toronto production of Jersey Boys - the couple has started to take spending decisions seriously and focus on simplifying their lives.

"I'm really hesitant to go out and buy new things," Ms. Charkow-McRae says.

Still, the idea isn't to lead a cheapskate lifestyle cut off from consumer society, she says. It's just that the economic downturn has caused her to reconsider the difference between want and need, prompting a decision to be content with what she has rather than continually consume.

"Before it was like everything seemed to me like I needed it," Ms. Charkow-McRae says. "Then you actually stop and take a look at how much stuff you have around and you go, 'I didn't need it, I just wanted it.'" In the last few months, Ms. Charkow-McRae and her husband have started exploring the city, going to farmers' markets and other venues that don't cost money instead of the conventional dinner-and-a-movie date night.

"We're focusing on saving now and not going out and spending frivolous amounts of money. There's so many great free events around the city," she says.

The couple are not the only ones focused on putting money away. A Toronto-Dominion Bank report released in May predicted that personal savings of Canadians will average up to 7 per cent over the next five years - more than double the rate of the past five years.

For Andrew Schwab, the simple life is less about saving money and more about reducing consumption. The book-store assistant manager has made minimalism his personal mantra for years, resisting impulse purchases. He doesn't exchange gifts at Christmas. He wears out clothes rather than continually updating his wardrobe. He cringes at the thought of buying souvenir trinkets when on vacation.

"It's about careful consumerism," says Mr. Schwab, who lives in Toronto. "… I will probably accumulate very little over the rest of my life."

He's not against the idea of spending, either. When he needs a new suit, he gets a new suit. And not a cheap one. He recently shelled out for a made-to-measure number that he can wear to several upcoming weddings.

"I'm not advocating a monk-like existence or anything

like that," he says. "What I'm saying is you should think about how [a purchase]will actually impact your life. Or is it just one more thing that's going to end up in a box in a closet?"

Since the economic downturn set in, Mr. Schwab says he's noticed more people interested in the idea of offloading possessions and putting off new purchases. The problem though, as he sees it, is that many folks want to have their cake and eat it too.

"I think the problem is people … want to cut their spending, but they aren't necessarily ready for living with less stuff," he says. "That's the hard thing for people - to change their habits."



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