Decluttering 101

Not only am I known amongst my friends and family as the one who paid off $71k in debt, I am also known as a minimalist who rid herself of clutter. Two years ago, I decided to tackle clutter and cut it out of my life once and for all. The experience was daunting, but worth it. Two years later I am clutter free.

In the past, I would often go through my closet and give items away. I guess I was just making room for new stuff, because within the next year my closet and dresser would be packed to the top again. Does this sound familiar?

What does all of this have to do with money?

Well, look around you. Are there things in your home that you don’t use? When was the last time you bought an outfit and wore it once? In your kitchen, do you have gadgets that are still in the box? All these unused purchases are dollar bills.

Decluttering your home can teach you a lot about your spending habits. When you draw the connection between your unfulfilling purchases and your money, shopping seems a lot less appealing. After decluttering my home, I went to a friend’s house to help them to take on their clutter. It was an eye-opening experience for her. She looked at a pile of clothes and said, “That is where all of my money has gone.”

I believe there are two keys to successfully decluttering your space.

1) Connect the practice of decluttering to a bigger meaning. If you realize that clearing your space can provide more peace in your home, decrease the amount time it takes for regular cleaning and allows you to feel as though you are able to move on from the past, it will make it easier to get through the process.

2) Create a system to prevent the accumulation in the future. While you are decluttering think about how you are going to maintain this new lifestyle. Don’t allow clutter to creep back in.

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Here are a few steps to start your decluttering practice.

1) Choose a room in the house that is easy to get through. I would suggest the kitchen. This is an easy place to start, because we usually don’t have emotional connections to the items there. It is easier to make quick decisions.

2) Commit to completing this space over a couple of days max. Since it is an easy space it shouldn’t take long to finish the project. Sometimes using a month to declutter a room is just procrastinating. Give yourself a weekend.

3) There are only three decisions: Keep, Maybe and Go. These are the only three categories you need. Once you work through the room go back to your maybe pile and make some hard decisions.

• Keep- All the items that you have no doubt about keeping in your home. If you use the item often or if it has a multipurpose use, this most likely is a keep item.

• Maybe- Items you are not sure about. You might think this item could be used at some point, but you are not getting much use out if it now.

• Go- Items you never use, are broken, don’t work or never fit your needs. If you are unsure if an item can go, ask yourself if it fits your needs. These are items I like to call “Only Ifs”. "Only if this oven mitt didn’t make my hand itch." If you wish the item was another way and it doesn’t suit your needs, then this item needs to go.

4) Start with the exposed clutter first and then move to the hidden clutter. Tackle all the surfaces first, like counters, tables, floors and so forth. Once those spaces are done, don’t hesitate and open the cabinets.

5) Create a good plan with rules to stop the clutter from coming back. I have rules like my kitchen table isn’t a holding place or only a hand full of items on the counter at a time.

6) Don’t let your give away bag stay in your home any longer then a day after decluttering. Often if we don’t get the bagged-up clutter out of the house, it tends to find its way back into our cabinets and drawers.

7) Don’t buy storage or organizers. When I finally beat clutter, this rule made all the difference. I read once “You don’t need more space. You need less stuff.” When I decluttered two years ago, I committed to not buy a single thing to organize my stuff. As a result, I had fewer places to hold items. It forced me to make more decisions that resulted in items leaving my home and never coming back. To this day I have very little storage.

So why it is so important to stay clutter free?

I truly believe clutter holds you back. It is baggage. Having an open space helps me relax and diffuse after a long day. Additionally, having less items cuts down on the amount of time you spend maintaining those same items. Maintaining stuff takes time. Finally, committing to a clutter free environment changes your spending habits. In order to stay clutter free you can't buy items. Living with less opens doors to new possibilities.

How are you planning to tackle your clutter?