YOU In Bloom (Day Five, Week One)
De-Clutter Your Life – Week One
The Pleasure of Purging
Many of us have a hard time getting rid of our clutter. For a variety of reasons, we often hang on to these “things” that don’t necessarily create a positive impact or add value to our lives.
For the rest of the month, I challenge you to discover the pleasure of purging.
Here is the task:
Set out at least three bins/baskets. Label the first SELL, the second GIVE & the third TRASH. (If you have additional categories, then add the number of bins accordingly. Every day for the rest of the month of May I want you to find ONE item for EACH bin. You can and should get the whole family involved as this is an exercise from which everyone will benefit. Once a bin becomes full make sure to immediately take care of it…
SELL – Since Spring is upon us, it may be a good idea to find a spot in your garage to begin organizing items you can later sell at a yard sale. Another option is to enlist a company like iSold it on eBay that will list, sell & ship items for you. You can also post items on eBay yourself, use Craigslist.org or your local paper to advertise your items. Another really cool option to consider is a company called Listia where you earn points for the items you sell and then, in turn, you get to spend your points on things you want…. This is a really unique concept because no money is ever exchanged as it is built on the trade/barter system using an auction structure similar to eBay. (NOTE: If you are interested in learning how to make money selling items on eBay stay tune in later this month as I will be writing a post on this topic.)
GIVE – The contents of this bin can be donated to friends, neighbors, family or local charities. (Yay for tax write-offs!)
TRASH – Need I say more?!
Just think, by the end of the month you will have purged almost 100 items! You will be de-cluttering your home, putting money in your pocket and teaching your family a valuable lesson.
Below is a really insightful article that helps us to understand individually why we accumulate clutter.
The Emotional Cost of Clutter:
By Carole Fogarty
Editor Rejuvenation Lounge and facilitator of Women’s Rejuvenation Retreats:
Rejuvenate Your Home:
We all have an emotional attachment to our stuff. Sometimes healthy and sometimes very unhealthy. The trick is to take an honest look at everything that you own and decide how it makes you feel, why you keep it and the emotional cost it has on the flow of your life.
How attached are you to your stuff?
*The more often you look or think about the item (of clutter) the stronger your connection
*The more hesitant you are about removing that item of clutter the stronger your connection.
*The longer you have had that item of clutter the stronger your emotional connection.
*The more painful the memory associated with that item of clutter the stronger your emotional connection.
*The more fearful you are about getting rid of that item of clutter the stronger your emotional connection.
The many types of emotional clutter:
1. Emotional guilt clutter:
Usually gifts that are not liked come under emotional guilt. You keep them because they were a gift and would feel guilty if you gave them away. Shift your thinking to conscious sharing by giving away your unwanted gifts to those who really would value and appreciate them.
2. Fear of lack clutter:
You keep all kinds of stuff just in case. Just in case you might need it some day and just in case you couldn’t afford to buy another one. The fact that you haven’t used it in 2, 3 or 5 years doesn’t matter there is an underlying energy of lack. The energy of abundance means things are constantly coming into and going out of your life. Once you stop them going out of your life, you stop the flow of abundance.
3. Unhappy relationship attached to clutter:
Keeping stuff from past unhappy relationships keeps you locked in the past, prevents new relationships coming along or weakens your current relationship. It also keeps a part of you tied to that unhappy relationship.
4. Depression clutter:
People with depression tend to have a lot of things stored on the floor. Stuff on the ground pulls your energies down and encourages you to withdraw from the world emotionally.
5. Addiction clutter:
Compulsive buying for the sake of it and addicted to sales and bargains without any thought or intentional purpose simply adds to the congestion and confusion already filling your home and life.
6. Need to impress clutter:
You feel your sense of self worth is reflected by the appearance and value of your living space. You might not even like any of your decorations or furniture pieces but they are the best and the most expensive and you feel if people like your stuff then they will like you.
7. Unhappiness clutter:
Buying stuff to make you feel happy again is a quick fix solution. It does not bring deep long lasting satisfaction to your life and the item you bought only brings happiness momentarily. Unhappiness clutter can then turn into guilt clutter when you realize a few days later you don’t really need it and feel guilty for buying it.
8. Emotional hiding behind your clutter:
Often people overcrowd their homes with so much stuff that they use it as a kind of shield to hide their true selves from the world. It keeps the attention away from them and directed towards all their hundreds and hundreds of nick knacks.
9. Denial clutter:
You refuse to believe that you actually have clutter. You keep acquiring more things but make no connection to the fact that it is clutter. You are in absolute denial that you never use it. Denial clutterers are often scared of change and believe their whole world would fall apart if they begin removing anything from their home.
10. Inherited clutter:
What can I say, its not yours, you didn’t ask for it and unless you absolutely love it then you shouldn’t have it in your home.
I try to use the time management skill of “only touch it once”. So, when you are finished with something put it away, don’t set it out to put away later. This works great with mail. Shred junk mail asap, file away bills, coupons, etc.
I LOVE purging! I feel such a sense of satisfaction when I throw something away. De-cluttering is great!
Wow, that’s powerful stuff… I fit a lot of those categories, and I guess I was in denial about it too!! I didn’t realize that I had so much untill I started flylady a few weeks ago, and reading these you in bloom posts too. I always have a hard time getting rid of things but I am goin to try! I used to wonder why my house always looked junky even when it was sparkling clean, and now I know- the clutter. Well goodbye junk come monday, my house is going under clutter construction! Wait would that be deconstruction?:D
We’ve started doing this about a month ago in preparation of our move. It’s so invigorating to not have to move stuff we haven’t used over the past year!!!
I started a policy a few years ago whereby if I buy something new (other than groceries, cleaning and personal care items) I must get rid of something i.e. if a buy an article of clothing, I’m getting rid of an article of clothing – if I buy a new set of sheets I’m getting rid of another linen item etc. This has greatly reduced my accumulation of clutter as I go through through time periods whereby I also challenge myself to get rid of 2 for 1 or 3 for 1. It truly has been freeing to buy less if I can’t think of something while shopping to exchange it for what I already have or to donate, gift or garage sale other items. I feel more blessed with less.
Another great place to get rid of your clutter is on freecycle. Give it to someone else who really wants it! I love the site. https://www.freecycle.org/
Great article! I’ve started selling on Craig’s List & it has really helped us save $ to paint these white walls that have been driving me crazy for 3 1/2 years! I would like to get to the point where everything surrounding me is meaningful, not just taking up space.
Just thought I’d point out that it’s ONLY a tax write off if you’re giving it to a registered charity.You can’t give stuff to your neighbor, no matter how needy they are, and declare it as a tax write off. I’m not saying you shouldn’t donate to your neighbor, just know that it won’t be a tax write off.
Great article! I try very hard to get rid of clutter. Selling on ebay is really easy and fun too, I would definitely recommend doing it yourself and not paying a company to do it (or giving them a cut for doing it).
Very true. With the economy the way it is, it’s hard enough to make a profit on eBay.
I have lived in my current home 10 years, been married 21 years and have three kids. Every time I purge, it seems that much of the stuff comes back. And I can only exert so much control over the accumulation habits of a 12 year-old and a 16 year-old. Believe it or not, my kids actually get very little for birthday and Christmas, etc (their grandparents and relatives take them somewhere instead of buying them gifts).
Admittedly though, when I think about how packed the house could be with us living here so long, it assuredly could be worse.
I sell on ebay all the time, have made some good extra cash, paid off some credit cards and we are debit free now……..
I will definately give this a whirl. We have enough to fill about 3 bins for each category. I always have a bin for craigslist anyways. It works out great for a little extra cash.
Ah…Number 10…the bane of my existence.
These totally cracked me up. lolait. . . (laughing out loud as I type =]) I am a cluttered freak!
My daughter who is visiting from college did this today. We ended up with two large bags of trash and three large bags to give away. This you in bloom challenge has really motivated me!
PLLLLEASE don’t throw stuff away. Example: that vacuum that doesn’t run. Put it on craigslist as free. Someone out there is likely to use it for parts or even knows how to fix it.
Even clothes that have a tear and such, post them. Someone is willing to take the time to sew it up and wear it again.
At least make the effort to keep it out of the land fill.
if someone is actually willing to do this, and do it that day or that weekend, that is fine. but people who suffer from over abundance of clutter or hoarding, don’t follow through. My daughters best friends mother is a hoarder, her home is nearly unlivable and she doesn’t see it, and thinks that the 4 rooms you can’t even get into are totally normally because even though most of the items are moldy or destroyed, she is sure, someone will purchase them at a yard sale…only she has been meaning to have that yard sale for at least a decade and it never comes
Hoarding is a mental disorder, and totally unrelated to my post.
They could become hoarders, if they keep the things around for when they have the time or if they’ll find a good home for the items…
Hoarding is a MENTAL DISORDER. Being trashy and nasty is something else.
Thank you for pointing that out Emm. It always upsets me seeing garbage out on the side of the road that could be recycled or re-purposed. My husband and I have used craiglist for so many free items such as paint, extra paneling, old furniture, it never fails to get taken by someone who can actually use it.
Heck yeah, it’s the best! I got an awesome coffee table that looked pretty crappy when we got it! I sanded it down a bit and then repainted it. Everyone compliments it!
Same thing with my desk, my boyfriend’s desk, all of the bed frames in the house, the head and foot board on our bed, the night stands, etc!
im having a yardsale saturday! i have a whole closet full of stuff that i dont need. Everytime the kids outgrow something i just throw it in there. Its time to get my hall closet back!!!
Another option, is if you have any general consignment auctions in your area. About once or twice a year, we gather up a load and consign it. The stuff gets a new home, and we get some money in our pocket. We actually are getting a load ready to take to the auctioneer in about a week.
I wish we could have yard sales here but we can’t so we post on craigslist and give to goodwill. This is so fitting since my DH and I took the last 2 days off to declutter. I can’t stand clutter and the house has gotten a little crazy with outgrown baby stuff, etc. We have taken a lot of stuff away, sold 1 piece of furniture and given away 4 pieces of furniture! Yea!
I have had a wonderful day. I cleaned out my pantry & closet. The items I collected will be given to local food banks & sent to the flood victims of Middle TN.
Oh, I love de-cluttering! I loved this article and printed it off – Today I put in the yard sale pile three Christmas items that have not ever been used – but I just couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them because of guilt! I am loving this month of May!
Sounds like a lot of people on Hip2Save would also really enjoy Hannah Keeley from Help Me Hannah…it’s a reality show on PBS that I think many of you would love! You can check her out on Facebook or her website…and no, I’m not related or employed by her or anything like that….I’ve never even met her!!! She just has a lot of common sense solutions for everyday problems that a lot of moms face. http://www.hannahkeeley.com
For me this runs in with the junk drawer post. I have cleaned out 2 junk drawers (kitchen and bathroom) and found most of the stuff in there could just be pitched…what was I saving it for anyhow?!?! My only worry now is that the drawers are nearly empty so I have this “need” to fill them!
About the gift issue. My relatives told me my kids have too much stuff. At first I felt bad (even though my stuff doesn’t even compare to theirs), but then I decided they must have said this as a release–permission to re-home gifts I had always kept out of guilt. So . . . . . . . as I’m cleaning, I think of this statement. Oh yes–very invigorating!