An argument to eschew the materialism of modern America

We love to own things - homes, cars, boats, clothes, fancy gadgets, computers. There is an underlying premise that such ownership adds value to our lives. I would argue that everything we own is a complication - a responsibility that has a chance to further complicate our lives.
I'm not arguing to embrace the ascetic life of a monk - we clearly need things to live. What I would argue against is unbridled desire to simply own things to make ourselves feel better.

Let me relate 2 examples of items that were introduced into my life that have added more headaches than any particular pleasure.
My wife ordered a patio set from JC Penny recently. After taking delivery of the patio set, I went about assembling this set. It turns out the design/build of this set was horrible. The screws for the chairs in this set would not thread properly. Now, I'm stuck with a bulky patio set that I had spent hours trying to assemble. I now have to spend several more hours re-packing it and returning it to the store. I would have done just as well to sit outside in the grass than bother wasting hours with a defective patio set. By shunning such complications in my life, I release myself from the hair pulling headaches of problem merchandise.
Another example - I drive a 2007 Toyota Camry, XLE version. I've had 2 major quality issues with this car. The Bluetooth function on this car doesn't work, and an underbody bolt on this car fell off, loosening a body panel that scraped against a tire. I haven't had time to get either of these issues fixed or looked into. A trip to the dealership translates into waiting and hours of wasted time. While I'm not about to give up my car over these relatively minor problems, they are still problems and complications in my life.
I would wonder how much more efficient our country could be if we gave up some of the items we really don't need and as a result had fewer headaches over the care or problems that arise from owning things.