From a consumer and even a GDP perspective, having a lot of products or things could indicate success. However, from a financially free/independent or environmental/sustainable perspective, having too many products indicates only one thing: failure.
Conversely, friends and family are likely to view the skill-based lifestyle with some skepticism. They’ll wonder why you don’t have a full set of tools, a blender, juicer, or food processor, a (larger) car, nice furniture, or a wardrobe full of suits and shoes. It will also be difficult for them to understand why you don’t want these things.
This is something one needs to get used to when breaking a rule. Thinking and living differently from 95-99% of the rest of the population is something that needs to be learned. Of course this is something that a minority of people struggle with on a daily basis: religious and ethnic minorities, vegans, homosexuals, the highly intelligent, people who choose not to have children.
I can only suggest being diplomatic about it and saying something like “I’ll think about it” or “Maybe someday” when offering unsolicited advice. On the other hand, if you feel like getting even, try the reverse trick. When you walk into someone’s house, act surprised and say, “Wow! You have so much stuff?! How long did it take you to put all this together? Imagine what you could do if you didn’t have to care about it. You could go see Europe or Asia, …, or Quit your job and write a book or go back to college, … if you hadn’t bought it, I bet you could have retired by now, …”.
Maybe they’ll get the point.
Yakezie’s Daily Short Carnival: A Look at Personal Finance Data @ Narrow Bridge Save Time & Money with Dvorak @ Eliminate Muda!, Why I’m a Fan of Lifestyle Swelling @ Sweating the Big Stuff Are you a monthly buyer or the budget? @ Auto negotiation coach
Jacob comments: This problem is very similar to the problem of the introvert (another minority) in an extroverted world. I’m not sure much is gained by counterattacking the problem because the way we use language is directly to make the majority’s view seem neutral. Maybe the idea is to shut up and write angry rants on the blog 
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Originally Posted 2010-05-21 15:05:11.
