Stuff, stuff and more stuff

My kids are obsessed with stuff.  With having stuff.  Getting stuff.  And buying stuff.  Every commercial they see, they want it.  Every catalog we get in the mail, they want it.  My kids have gone so far as to point out something totally weird or random in a catalog and ask for it.  I ask them "do you even know what that is?"  "no."  "but you want it?"  "yes."  What is with this feeling of wanting more and more stuff?  They totally don't realize yet that there is such a thing as too much stuff.  Stuff is overrunning our house. 

Once or twice a year I have to make it a point to get rid of stuff.  And yet, stuff is still everywhere.  It never goes away.

My kids ask for stuff and most of the time sometimes they get it.  My kids don't ask for stuff and they still get stuff.  I dream of the day when I get to get rid of all this stuff.

My daughter is like a little pack rat.  She makes multiple art projects at school daily.  I cannot keep all this stuff!  But if she sees me trying to throw one of her papers away she gets all panicky and has to take it from me and put it in her room.  So now her room is full of stuff as well.

I know there is some stuff that really makes me them happy.  Like clean sheets and cozy blankets to crawl in at night.  But Happy Meal toys?  Having 8 Zhu Zhu pets as opposed to just one or two?  Is this really necessary?

Liam has spent every dime he got for his birthday on Beyblades.  EVERY DIME.  One or two wasn't enough.  Now he has 8.

Now with Christmas coming up.  Good Lord.  I'm going to have to buy another house just to keep all their stuff in it.

I often wonder, does any or all of this stuff really make them happy?

And I totally feel that I am dropping the ball on instilling any type of gratitude in them for how lucky and fortunate they are in life.  They rarely have to earn their stuff.  They just get their stuff.  As if Santa visits our house everyday.

Tell me, what are some things you guys do to make your kids "earn" their stuff?