Why Decluttering Saves You Money

Clutter. It’s terrible for the soul, and terrible for all other life aspects as well. Clutter not only drags you down mentally, but it is also a huge waste of your financial resources. How exactly does clutter waste money, and how does getting rid of it help you save financially?

You Find Items You Forgot You Had

When you declutter, it can be like going shopping. As you clean, you will likely come across many objects that you forgot you had. You may need more pens and find close to one hundred. You just never know what you are going to find when you declutter. The rescued items can be organized from this point on, and used as needed.

You Don’t Have to Buy New Items Because You Lost the Old One

We’ve all been there. You have an item you need and you are sure you bought it already. You know that you have it somewhere, but you have so much clutter lying around that you may never find the item. You inevitably end up buying a new one, only to find the original several months down the road.

With piles and piles of seemingly random things being stored in your home, it can be near impossible to find what you are looking for when you need it the most. Decluttering can make your home more organized so that you never have to waste time looking for things you bought and misplaced, or buy a duplicate item.

It Encourages You to Buy Less

When you have spent a large amount of time decluttering your home, you realize what a time-waster it is to have too many items. It can be the most effective way of convincing yourself to buy less. You will save a large amount of money if you take the simple step of curbing your spending patterns. Buy less, and your life will instantly go in a positive direction.

You Can Downsize

The amount of real estate that clutter takes up is amazing. When you declutter, it makes you feel good and you will want to keep going. When you have gotten to a point where you are closer to being a minimalist, you will find that you truly do not need a lot of space to enjoy the home you live in. You may even find yourself seriously considering downsizing your home in order to save money and prepare for the future.

You Can Create Income Selling Old Items

Decluttering leaves you with not only a lot of junk, but also with many perfectly good items that you simply do not need. By selling these old items, you are not just saving money, but making some. This can be an added incentive to your decluttering efforts. Whether it be through a garage sale, word of mouth or an online ad, sell your old items and make some extra cash.

Decluttering is good for the mind, body and soul. It is also good for the wallet. If you are hoping to save money and be more responsible with what you have, take these thoughts into consideration. Decluttering can and does save you money, and in a big way.

Giving Every Item a Logical "Home"

As you declutter your home, and after you are done, there are several secrets that will help you to keep it looking spotless long after you have finished your task. One of these secrets is to give every item a logical home. Here is how to use this step to your advantage in your quest for clutter-free living.

Why Items Need a Logical Home

You may have all the items you could ever need or want, but if you don’t know where to find them, there is no point having them at all. Giving each item a home means that you will always know where to return something when you are done with it, and then when you need it again you will be able to find it easily and immediately.

Giving each item a logical home means that you don’t just choose a random spot for it to be stored, but rather store it in a place that makes sense. This way, if you forget where your item is, you can think about where it should be and find it without wasting too much time.

Starting Off with a Clean Slate

The best time to give multiple objects a home is when you have just done massive decluttering. Now that your home is purged and ready to be organized, find storage places for all your items that make sense to you personally. There’s no point in trying to organize anything at all when you have too many things around that need to be given away or discarded.

Giving Each Item a Room

Observe the items that you have chosen to keep. Decide what room you are generally in when they are in use. Things such as scissors, paper and pens will likely go in your office - or if you don’t have a designated office, your living room.

Things pertaining to sleep or clothing will likely be stored in the bedrooms of those whom they belong to. Kitchen items always belong in the kitchen. Continue on in this way until all your items are sorted into rooms.

Giving Each Item a Particular Spot in the Room

Now that you have a room for each item, choose a particular place for it. Your bedroom might have a closet and shelves for clothing, a section in your closet for jewellery, and one drawer chosen for odds and ends. Try to keep similar items like shoes all in the same place so that when you are in a hurry to leave home, you don't have to look through the entire house to find the pair you need.

As you take these steps, remember that wherever you choose should be fairly obvious and make sense to you and anyone else who lives there. For example, store your piano books in a small book rack beside the piano, rather than on the other side of the room. This seems fairly obvious, but it deserves repeating because this organization rule is broken so often.

If you are not a natural organizer, it can be a challenge to become one. With a little time and practice, however, you will get there. By using these simple steps, your organizational ability will grow in leaps and bounds.

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A Calm, Clutter-Free Home Office Environment Conducive To Work

The home office is often the foundation of the modern day family. Moms and Dads routinely use the home office to pay the bills, plan and coordinate schedules, appointments and calendars. Moms may organize recipe files and family photo albums. These tasks can all be done on our computers or on paper. 

It is actually becoming very popular for one or even both of the parents to work remotely from home. Moms have become very savvy with their social media and blogging skills. More people of all ages are taking advantage of creating their home businesses.

Here are some great ideas for possible work-at-home opportunities: blogging, affiliate marketing, direct selling, data entry, freelance writing, medical transcription, medical coding, customer service, proofreading, virtual assistant, bookkeeper and more. Many individuals are make a living from home. 

It is easy to understand with so many different activities happening in a home office, it can become the most disorganized and cluttered area in the house. So, if you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed from a messy, disorganized office it can be helpful to develop a plan for making your home office clutter-free and conducive to work. A clean organized desk and home office can help you save time and stress, especially if you work from home. 

An accumulation of mail may be the biggest contributing factor to cluttered desktops. Get in the habit of sorting through your mail on a daily basis. You can easily place those items that may need to be shredded into a shredding bin and routinely shred them once per week. File items away properly. Make sure that you keep your own filing system updated with folders for current years or months. 

It is a good idea to keep certain computer storage media, such as CDs and DVDs properly labeled and placed in a protective storage cases. You can even categorize them for easy access. 

If your home office area is commonly used by all family members, it can become cluttered with coffee mugs, snacks and even a few dirty dishes. Since computer equipment can easily be damaged should something spill on it, it’s probably smart to impose a rule about no eating and drinking while using the computer. 

If you spend a significant amount of time during the day in your home office and your office space is roomy enough, you could create an area far enough away from the computer and other electronic equipment where food and drinks could be set down without the fear of ruining equipment if a spill would occur. 

If you use a bulletin board, take the time to keep the items posted up-to-date. Make sure your calendar is always current so you can see the month’s scheduled activities and appointments. 

An over abundance of office supplies have a way of cluttering up a workspace as well. Make time to clean out and organize desk drawers if needed and make sure all office supplies have a home other than the top of your desk. 

With some good planning and ongoing maintenance, your home office can become an organized and productive workspace that you truly will enjoy everyday.