Clutter is Expensive

Clutter is expensive!

I have many reasons for keeping a tidy, organizes, clutter-free home. The comfort of knowing my home is safe. The relief of knowing where everything is. AND…The enjoyment of knowing I’m not wasting my money on things I already have.

There are so many books telling you to “Kick the clutter,” and for once, I agree with the books. I’ve come to the conclusion that clutter brings chaos. I’m not only talking about tripping over your son’s G.I Joe, or slipping on your daughters tu-tu. I’m talking about financially.

Clutter causes injury-
Yes, I said it. It can really hurt you…both physically and financially. You trip on that stack of magazines, fall and hurt yourself. You end up having to make a trip to the ER. Cost: $175 (On a good day). By cleaning up your clutter, you make your home a safer place.

Clutter causes stress-
“Where are my keys?”, “Mom, where’s my homework?”, “Honey! I can’t find my shoes!” When you are rushing to locate an item, your stress levels rise. When you give everything it’s own place, you know exactly where to locate it. No rush, no stress…Less Excedrin. Stress takes a toll on your health. It makes you more susceptible to viruses. Typical cost of getting a cold=$5 cold meds + time lost = Expensive.

Clutter means you never know what you have-
“Oh no! I can’t find the _______, and I need it for _____. I guess I’ll run out and pick one up!” Why waste money on things you already have? I bet if you dug through the clutter, you’ll find you have several things that were replaced a time or two. By clearing out the clutter, you’ll never have to replace something again (unless it breaks, of course). COST=Price of item + Gas + Stress + cold meds + TIME= See my point. 🙂

What to do:
Go through each room with this mission: Keep, Toss, Donate!!!

1.) Pick a room to start in. I suggest picking one room per day. It makes this a lot less overwhelming. It also prevents you from “Bouncing”. “Bouncing” is when you start on one room and bounce around from room, to room, to room, and end up with a bunch of half finished rooms.

2.) I have three bins labeled Keep, Toss, and Donate. Once I have decided on a room, I bring the bins in and line them up. In the Keep bin, I put all of the items I plan to keep, but don’t belong in that area. In the Toss bin, I put all trash, broken things, and anything else not worthy of going to the donate bin. In the Donate…It’s what I want to donate. Things is fair condition that I don’t plan to keep.

3.) Now get started! I start in a corner and work my way out. I put things away as I come across them. If the bins fill up, I bag them and take care of them. Trash goes to the trash. Donate bag goes to my mini-van. Keep, I put away after the room is finished.

4.) Get it out of there!! On my final day of de-cluttering, I load up all of the donate things and drive directly to Goodwill, or a local shelter. This benefits both parties. The items get to the people that need them, quicker…AND I avoid sneaking out to bring something back in.

Give it a little time, and you’ll notice that living in a less cluttered home will add money to your pocket. The next time you look for the scotch tape…and actually find it, you’ll know you just saved $3. In today’s economy…every penny counts. 🙂