Friday was the biggest Black Friday of all time, and Americans bought more stuff than ever. We spend $1.2 trillion each year on stuff we don’t need.

When we own too much, we’re often guided into “minimalism.” But minimalism comes with its own set of problems.

We’re dropping some unreleased material from my book Scarcity Brain that explains:

* The three types of buyers (which are you?).

* Why people really buy in excess.

* Why minimalism can be an opposite expression of the same problem as buying way too much.

* The underlying reason people hoard or minimize.

* A 4-question purchasing framework that will help you buy items you actually need—items that improve your life—and forgo those you don’t need.

Asking these deeper questions about why we buy or get rid of things leads to the best outcomes. It leads to larger shifts in our happiness and finances, and allow us to accomplish much more with our resources, time, and this ride we call life.