Clutter Busting: Identify and Tackle Your Weakest Links

There is a reason we have too much clutter. Simply stated, it is because we have too much. We bring more items into our homes than we take out of our homes. The challenge I am offering to you today is to focus on what you bring into your home that you don’t really need.

Where are you weak? What things do you consistently bring into the house that you know you don’t need yet justify their purchase? In what areas do you notice your willpower tested time and time again, and you lose more than you win? Here are a few ideas, but please think about your own individual circumstances.

Clothes
Gourmet foods
Things that you collect
Items from home party sales
Storage containers (yep… even too many storage containers themselves can be clutter)
Candles
Make-up
Shoes
Jewelry
Television shopping channels
eBay
Catalog shopping

Perhaps it is not the particular items; rather it’s where you purchase these items that get you into trouble. I know many people who go to these large Supercenter stores to buy their groceries (because the prices are better) but end up losing out on the savings by succumbing to the marketing geniuses behind the displays offering too-hard-to-pass-up bargains.

My challenge for you is to give it up (whatever it may be) for one month (or perhaps the Lenten season). If you find yourself weak at the shoe department, make it your goal that you will not purchase any shoes (not even shop in the shoe dept. for X amount of time). I am not promising that this will be easy, but it will be rewarding! If the weak area of your life is the large Supercenters, either shop at grocery stores, or make a promise that you will only purchase grocery types of items for the allotted time period.

Learn to say “no” to yourself. So often we find ourselves saying:
“Oh, why not… it’s only money”
“I’ll pay it off at the end of the month”
“I work hard, I deserve it”
“But it’s on sale!!”

Make your challenge known to your loved ones, and/or shopping buddies! Once the time period is over, reflect on the challenges and rewards of gaining control over the items brought into your home. You may at this time want to extend your “no” period or be able to make strict guidelines for going forward.

Please keep in mind that you don’t save money by spending money (regardless of what a tremendous sale it is) if the item is not necessary. Stop trading your long term wants for those things you want right now. Sometimes saying “no” is saying, “yes” to so much more.

Betsy