10 Bad Habits That Create Clutter
1. “It only costs two dollars.”
Often bargain shopping is the worst type. How many of us see that kinda cool item that we would never buy at retail pricing yet buy it anyway cos we see it was 70% off original price. The way to avoid that is by asking yourself: “would I buy this item if it were full price?” If your still deliberating the answer, then say 70% off retail is still making the store a minimal profit because they paid waaaay less then they are selling to you.
More often you the consumer are not the winner, the store is.
2. “Buy 2 get one free.”
You may have only wanted one at most, but then you think this marketing gimmick will convince you otherwise. Ask yourself: “Do I need three of this? and do I have space for three…”
3. Stocking up your pantry as if a war is going to happen.
If you do a weekly shop then chances are you can re buy that item often, For example, a family that eats a lot of pasta doesn’t need to have 15 bags of pasta. There is a limit to how much healthy stocking up should be- after all how much pantry space do we have? Keep an inventory list of the basics for your family and when you are low i.e. one or two last bags of pasta, buy 2/3 more. Keeping an inventory is also an economical move because then you know what you have and don’t forget to restock up as needed.
4. “I may need it for a rainy day.”
Who are you kidding? If you look at it and it sits there, your cue is to donate or sell. That way someone else can benefit from using that item and you know it has been successfully re-purposed. Thus guilt successfully thrown out the window.
5. “I may repair it one day.”
If something costs more to repair then you originally bought it for then perhaps it not worth holding onto and buying new. Ask yourself how long this broken thing has been sitting in a bag waiting to repair and give yourself a (realistic) date for fixing it. You know your schedule so if you don’t repair in a certain time, then move out and move on…
6. Collecting storage/cheap furniture.
Clutter isn’t only the contents of your closet etc.. It’s also the furniture itself. No need to keep a cheap cupboard or extra table because its furniture… You can always buy quality second hand items that you want and wont obstruct your hallway for example.
7. Not being a role model.
Your kids notice everything and if they see that organisation in the home is important to you, they learn to respect that. Make routines that everyone can get involved in. You cant expect everyone to share the same standards as you but you can expect that certain rules are committed to. For example, Friday afternoons when you are cleaning the house for the weekend, get everyone to do a certain job that is age appropriate- matching socks, folding and putting away laundry, laying the dinner table, cooking, going through the school bags, putting away the clothes laying on the chair. It simply cannot fall into the hands of any one person- its a team effort.
8. “Ill get to this later.”
Granted we don’t always feel like doing the dishes after each meal and some days we will have less energy then others. If you have a routine that is minimal at best, things do not build up making that chore unbearable and thus a large pile of x.
If you have 20 minutes dedicated to AM clear up and also another 20 to PM clear up then its part of your saving grace the next day when you wake up and start it all over again. Routine is key.
9. Not rotating clothing accordingly.
If you rotate your clothing seasonally then you create more space in your closet and only end using what you have specifically for that season. Similarly with kids clothing, change over winter and summer so your left with less mess if they were to all be stacked in the same shelf/cupboard.
10.General collections.
We as growing mature adults no longer need to feel sentimental re the things we once cherished as kids. If your dolls are sentimental, keep the (best) one in a memory box. Not 20 of them. The same goes for non sentimental items such as useless kitchen gadgets…
Bottom line…be functional. We don’t live in a museum.
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