Simplicity

I get teased a lot by my love that I have a "Little House on the Prairie" attitude -- "We didn't have it when I was growing up, and we don't need it now." (Specifically, he's referring to the fact that I lack a dishwasher at age 45, though I could well afford one, and cable TV.) But, the truth is that I like simplicity and every gadget you add is another gadget to maintain and service. As an old boyfriend (into Zen) once told me, "Ownership of cow means care of cow."
Other than hiding the dirty dishes or storing the freshly cleaned ones, I can't see the advantage in a small household (two people, four animals) of having a machine to do my dishes. I can very well wash all our dishes in 20 minutes every other day. (Yes, she hangs her head in shame, every OTHER day.) I loathe paying the price for cable or satellite television since most of what is on is not worth watching anyway, let alone paying the cost of a decent bottle of wine monthly, and I don't have more than an hour or so a day to waste on it anyway. Likewise, I have yet to purchase an I-Pod, though I am not anti-technology. It's merely that I have so many other music-playing devices in my life and I'm not that intensely needy of a soundtrack to my life.
I think differentiating between what one desires and what one needs is vital. Once you have decided that you want something (rather than need it) you have to decide what price you are willing to pay for it -- not just in money, but in maintainance or space or clutter or aggravation when it breaks. Thus, I have not been willing to pay the price in space for a waffle iron or mutltiple other small, subspecialized equipment for the kitchen. Nor, for a dishwasher.