Clutter Costs You Money In More Ways Than You Think
Clutter costs money simply in the acquisition of it, and that’s the way I often think about it. Stop acquiring things you don’t need (or even, upon reflection, want) and you’ll stop wasting so much money. However, just hanging on to clutter costs money as well. In more obvious ways, like the cost of storing all the clutter - be it a storage unit or simply a bigger home. But also in less obvious ways, and that’s what I’ve been combating in my own house in earnest lately. The abundance of clutter simply hides the actual useful things I have, and makes it so that I think I need things I actually already have.
When we moved to our house about a year and a half ago, I had the best of intentions for taming our clutter. I was going to go through everything, get rid of what we didn’t need, and only pack what was really useful to us. But the reality of moving while taking care of a 2 year old and a newborn caught up with me, and in fact, much of what I packed and moved was literally dumping drawers into boxes and carting them here. When I unpacked, I did do some major decluttering but I also didn’t think too hard about it, and kept a lot of things I really didn’t need to, especially in my clothes closet. My clothes closet is what I’ve been tackling this weekend.
Much of what was in my closet was there for sentimental reasons. Not just the typical idea of things that didn’t fit anymore but I hung on to anyway (although there was a little of that) but things I keep for sentimental reasons but don’t wear any more, mostly because they’re in bad condition yet I haven’t thrown them away. This is not to say that I think nothing should be kept for sentimental reasons, but a closet full of sentiment hides the clothes I can actually wear.
So this weekend, I completely emptied my closet of clothes, and actually sorted it all. I kept a few things I know I probably won’t wear, like the first concert t-shirt I ever bought, but all the ripped, torn, and stained items went away. And what I found was although I seem to wear the same 4 or 5 shirts every week because I thought I didn’t have any others, I actually have 8 or 9 other shirts I could be wearing, but were hidden by the massive clutter of ripped up superbowl shirts and clothes I’ve spilled things down the front of and never got completely out.
Now I don’t need to go shopping for some new short sleeved shirts. And I can actually see everything in my closet. If only I could do such a good job sorting my childrens’ closets…
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July 28th, 2008 at 6:23 am
I recently purged myself of a lot of useless clutter by selling it on ebay. I made around $1,000 for everything. So in fact my clutter (well getting rid of it) MADE me money.
This is not actually true because I sold things for less than I bought them, but an extra $1,000 was nice when I needed it. Great post and I look forward to more to come
July 28th, 2008 at 8:08 am
I completely agree. Purchasing, then storing all that stuff you don’t really need adds up quickly. Sometimes you actually buy something you already had because you couldn’t find it.
What about the cluttered spot you place your mail… then you lose a bill or two and get changed the late fee. Or the amount of extra time it takes during the day to get something accomplished.
The cost of clutter can really add up!
Thanks for the post. It’s an important topic.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:19 am
amen, sister. we just did our semi-annual toy purge (i have two young daughters) and i feel ten pounds lighter. we got rid of the things they don’t play with/are broken and now they have space to actually see what toys are left. i also found some stuff i’ll use with them during quiet time this week. now i’m revved up to start decluttering the rest of the house.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Definitely! I’m really in “declutter mode” right now and at times, it’s overwhelming. Especially when I find things I haven’t used in five years–but these particular items have lived in five apartments. Um. Time to go, thing!
One thing I’ve heard people to when they try to pare down their wardrobes is to take ALL of their clothes out of their drawers/closet and put them in their basement or some other space.
They can retrieve an item to put it on, and once it is worn and makes it to the laundry basket, it can be hung in your regular closet.
Clothes that haven’t been touched in 6 months or whatever can be safely tossed.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:53 am
One of the wisest rules I’ve found for decluttering is to take the step you took and get rid of everything that you don’t love — and then, when you buy new stuff, make a rule that you get rid of something of the same type that you don’t need. So every time you buy a new shirt or pair of pants, you have to think about which shirt or pair of pants you have to get rid of in order to make room for the new one.
This simple rule has saved me hundreds of dollars on clothing. I wrote about my decluttering experience and how I came to this realization here:
http://www.erica.biz/2008/my-7-day-no-complaining-wrapup-or-how-to-acknowledge-yourself-101/
Great job on cleaning it all!
-Erica
July 28th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I have found that paying attention to the laundry is a great way to identify items that I do and don’t need in my closet. Anything non-seasonal that doesn’t go through the laundry for more than two months probably doesn’t belong in my wardrobe anymore. The same is true of new items. I leave the tags on things that I buy until I wear them for the first time; if something still has tags on it a month after purchase, I take it right back to the store.
July 28th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Good for you. It’s funny how you get sentimental about concert t-shirts. I purge every six months. Usually throwing away clothes that are no longer able to be mended or stained. I also give away clothes to the goodwill that are a lovely apple green color and given as gifts!
July 28th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Well said!
I used to love watching the show Clean Sweep and used their technique a few years back on some items we had stored in our shed. It was enlightening! We didn’t have that much, but we still reduced the collection by half.
The hardest part has been finding a home for stuff we no longer want/need. I’m acutely aware of the need not to dump more into our landfills, so have had to find alternatives for everything from clothes the kids outgrew (easy) to old paint and ‘kaput’ computer electronics (not so easy). So far we’ve been able to find a second home for all our excess “stuff”. We’re lucky enough to have Stopwaste.org as a local resource for recycling.
Definitely wish it wasn’t so easy to buy things online, though!
July 28th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
It’s true. I’ve paid thousands of dollars over the years in storage fees. Now that money goes towards paying my Eldest Daughter’s mortgage and we have a couple hundred extra feet of living space and less than half of it is our 3rd bedroom/storage room, so we have more room to actually live in!
The boxes are still a work in progress, as I go through them one or 2 at a time but at least now I can! Before, it was very awkward to access the containers in the warehouse.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
This is such an issue for me
I moved into my ‘under construction’ home 16 months ago and am still living in a construction zone. I am refusing to put away the boxes still stacked in a corner until I can actually go thru them one at a time, piece by piece, and toss or recycle. It’s a slow process, but it’s working.
What’s not working is my closet…wait didn’t I hear that already?
Everytime I actually manage to get rid of some stuff, my mom cleans out her closet and ships me two boxes of clothes…from clear across the country 
And they fit, of course, and are in excellent hardly worn shape. It is soooo hard to toss things that fit, look good, and are in good shape just because I have too many! I’ve tried boxing some up and delivering them to MY daughter who lives across the street, but she’s smarter about only taking one or two pieces than I am.
About those old memory T-shirts…. One day I cut the fronts all off of them in nice squares, saved them in a plastic zipper container, and gave the rest of the shirt away to friends who needed grease rags. The fronts will one day be a quilt top of memories…..
In the summer time I’m too busy enjoying the sunshine and garden. Winter time is the time for decluttering and quilting - rainy/windy/nasty weather out here…. So I’ll leave it all on the back burner til winter again.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I agree with the something in, something out mentality. When I do buy a new piece of clothing, another piece goes to Goodwill or on Ebay. And I have learned to buy only what I love, that is flattering and comfortable.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:00 am
I so can associate with this article! I have started the decluttering as I am told, its a sign of having a clear mind as well … heck!
July 29th, 2008 at 9:29 am
LOL! I love your remark on keeping clothes for sentimental reasons! There are the old sweatshirts from our trip to the top of the mountain on Maui that I kept until they fell apart, and the t-shirts from other junkets that now have holes in them.
In a recent decluttering frenzy I managed to throw out most of that stuff. But there still are several sweaters my mother made that I can’t bring myself to get rid of. She died over 30 years ago…I can’t wear them because they’re too small now. Somehow I have this idea that my son will get married and either the wife will be dainty enough to wear things I could wear when I was 20 or they’ll have a daughter who can use them. He’ll probably end up throwing them out after I croak over, not having any idea what they are. Best that he never knows, eh?
August 24th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I know what you mean about clutter. I have trouble throwing anything away. It takes a herculean effort to toss old socks and such!
But the one good thing about being home so much, is it starts to feel awfully claustrophobic every two to three months. This usually galvanizes me into a cleaning mode. I go through the closets — where boxes from elementary to high school are slowly being whittled down to the more essential items — and through clothes.
For people like me with big sentimental attachments to things, a frequent approach is the best, I think. Because what you can’t quite part with today may, in fact, be expendable one or two cleanings down the line. Sometimes it’s about getting used to the idea of not having it.