Over the past week Jamie and I have been going through each room in the house top to bottom. We don’t want to be stuck with two houses so we’ve made it a priority to declutter as much as possible and make our current house desirable to potential buyers.
In doing this I’ve realized that we have a lot more stuff than I had thought. And the really bad thing is that most of this stuff is meaningless to us.
At this point we’ve literally filled up at least ten trash bags full of stuff that’s not worth moving and we still have a few rooms to go.
I’ve always thought that I erred more on the minimalist side and after preparing for this move I’m seeing even more benefits. Having too much stuff and being unorganized costs you money.
Here’s how.
Buying Multiples of the Same Item
When your belongings are unorganized it’s likely that you’ll buy multiples without realizing you had the item you needed in the first place.
After sweeping through bedrooms I found we had multiples of vacuum cleaners (one hiding in the basement I was unaware of), ponytail holders, brushes, and more. Granted some of the stuff was on the cheaper side but had it been organized and properly put away I wouldn’t have bought doubles.
Buying More Than You Need
The hard part of keeping a nice organized house for me is toys. My parents buy both of my girls toys, I do on occasion, and they drag stuff back from their father’s house.
The thing is neither of the girls are attached to hardly any of their toys. When we cleaned out the girls’ room we got rid of all toys except for one bin each. And it felt amazing.
Let’s be real, toys are a total waste of money. When my kids get a toy they’ll play with it for an hour before tossing it aside. The only things they actually play with are hula hoops, jump ropes, their bikes, the Kindle, and on occasion baby dolls. That’s it!
As tempting as it is to buy your child the new-whatever-toy-they’re-into it’s really not worth it. The attention will soon be on something else and your house will become a gigantic mess of toys!
If you can organize your house (and in this case, your child’s room) in a way that highlights your favorite things you’ll be less likely to go out and buy less meaningful items.
Physical Clutter Leads to Mental Clutter
As well as the obvious signs of clutter wasting you money there’s also those hidden costs. For instance, when my house is a mess I can’t think straight. It’s extremely hard for me to get any work done which is a major problem since I work from home.
When everything is nice, neat and organized I can sit down in my chair and work without any mental interruptions.
I think it’s safe to say being organized can help you save money, earn money, and overall, just hold onto your sanity.