I don’t know about you, but I am full of excuses when it comes to keeping things around that clutter up my house. If I paid money for it, I hate the idea of getting rid of it, whether that comes in the form of throwing it away or simply giving it away. However, clutter can really wear you done. So now, you are faced with a conundrum; clean it up and cringe while you throw stuff away or live with the clutter and not even know what you have. Here are some lies we tell ourselves about our clutter and how to tell ourselves the truth so we can move on with a plan to have a clutter free home.
Lie #1 to a clutter free home – “I can’t throw this out, what if I need it someday?”
Reality: If you don’t use it now, and you have owned it for a while, why keep it around?
How to fix this: Don’t buy anything you won’t use the week it is bought. Of course there are exceptions to this, such as buying fall clothes on sale in the Spring or buying bulk items, but in general, stop buying things you “might” need.
Lie #2 to a clutter free home – “It’s not broken, why should I get rid of it?”
Reality: If it isn’t being put to use on a regular enough basis, what good is it doing for you?
How to fix this: Give it away to someone who can use it.
Lie #3 to a clutter free home – “But it’s so cute and I love it!”
Reality: If it is not cute enough or loved enough to display, it needs to go.
How to fix this: Don’t bring items in the house that serve no real purpose. Keep in mind, though, decorating is a purpose, however, if you don’t immediately have a place in mind for something when you are purchasing it, you probably don’t need it.
Lie #4 to a clutter free home – “I didn’t pay for it. There’s no harm in keeping it.”
Reality: Just because you didn’t invest money into it, doesn’t mean you need it.
How to fix this: Only accept freebies you can truly use. There is nothing wrong with saying no to something you don’t have a use for.
Lie #5 to a clutter free home – “It’s on my to-do list.”
Reality: If you can’t make time for it, it is doing nothing but adding to your clutter.
How to fix this: Don’t buy items that are for a project you don’t have a specific time blocked out to do in the very near future, such as a within a week or two.
Lie #6 to a clutter free home – “..But I paid a lot for that!”
Reality: It really doesn’t matter if it was expensive or free, if you don’t have a use for it, it was wasted money.
How to fix this: Be very conscientious of your purchases. Just because something is expensive doesn’t mean it is valuable, especially if it serves you no purpose.
Lie #7 to a clutter free home – “This thing reminds me of…”
Reality: Objects may be able to provoke an emotional response and bring up good memories, but it is important to know that even if that object was gone, the memory would still remain.
How to fix this: Make a certain section of your home for mementos. This could be a box in your closet or even a curio cabinet. Periodically go through this area and clear away things that are no longer as important to you.
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This is a great post! You’ve got me on just about every excuse. 🙂
I’m being more and more purposeful about not bringing clutter into the house in the first place, but now I just need to get rid of the extra stuff I have. My hubby and I were talking about tackling the basement this weekend.
Found you at Thrifty Thursday! 🙂
I’ve always wanted to make a memento photo album for those not so important mementos that I can’t seem to part with. After reading this post I’ll get right on that! Thanks for the inspiration 😀