I sometimes wonder, too. I'm not quite in your boat: I have quite a few close friends, and many acquaintances, and find they all enrich my life in many ways. But I never understood the "keeping up the joneses" mentality. I have my well-worn furniture, a practical amount of kitchen stuff, some plants, a small amount of art, some tech gadgets, and a 15 year old car, and I just don't feel the need to own more than that, or to constantly "upgrade" all my existing stuff to things that are more expensive but don't actually make me any happier.