Dejunk Your House to Save Money
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One of the best ways to save money is to realize how stupid you’ve been about money and then to make some changes in your habits. Last weekend I shared with you how we are “staging for living” and rearranging, cleaning, and dejunking to make life be more of what we want and less of what it will be someday. We want to enjoy the now — and so downsizing is necessary.
Over the last week I’ve touched every school book and supply we own — it was like cryptonite. It took me four days to complete the job. And I’ve carried box after box of “stuff” out to the van so that we can donate it. I’ve sold over 20 books online and donated another 20.
And I’ve paid a stupid tax. Major. big. time.
Not only have I realized how I’ve become a slave to stuff, but I’ve also had to come face to face with the fact that I wasted money to buy that stuff in the first place.
Will I do it again? Probably. But, I think, hope, pray, that I will get better at saying no to superfluous stuff.
Notice that I say superfluous stuff. Stuff, in and of itself, is not bad. But owning and maintaining things that you don’t use or need is not the best way to live your life.
I’m going to be 40…. someday.
Actually, next year. I even have my first mammogram next week. And I don’t want extra junk to waste my time and money. Amen?
Here’s my office, shown off for no other reason than for you to know that I am not a fictional person, but rather a very messy, distracted one. Please note that all those boxes of stuff have been sold or donated! (And I did clean my room this week, too.)
So, let’s make a deal, K? Next time one of us wants to go shopping, let’s first fill a box full of stuff to get rid of. Either we will:
- Make room for new purchases and maybe earn some cash to pay for them.
- Realize that we’ve wasted money on past purchases and we can probably live without the X, Y, or Z that we are so desperate to go buy.
Really important reminder. I’m striving to be better about this as well. I recently organized my gift wrap supplies which revealed a lot of excess. Another area in which I over purchase is kids clothing. I’m getting better about it but I still have plenty to sell at consignment sales. My kids wardrobes are much better than mine.
I was at a Borders bookstore last night, getting excited about all the 40% and 60% off stuff…”I could get this for my niece for Christmas!” … “I think my daughter wants one of these!” … “Oh, another planner for 2012…could I possibly use it?” … and then I went back outside, sat by my husband and listened to another hour of live jazz (which is why we went to the mall in the first place), and when we left I didn’t give all that “stuff” another thought. Well, except for the handmade Christmas cards that, even at 75% off are still over a buck each in a package of 6. Hmmmm…. 😉
Awesome second photo! LOL! Thanks for keepin’ it real!:) We’re moving to the other side of the US (Indiana to LA area) next week, and I think that I have purged out just about everything we don’t use…I’ll see how the organization half of the purging process goes when we are in our new space. I’m sure that I’ll find myself purging more and/or swapping out items for others that roll with the function of our new home better. I’m an organization nut, so at least I’ll enjoy the process.:)
I have to chuckle, because my post this week is called “Sometimes it’s OK to be a Packrat,” and it’s all about the benefits of holding onto stuff. 🙂 But, of course, there’s value in both decluttering and in saving things for future use – so long as you strike a healthy balance between the two!
Thank you for hosting this link up! So glad to have found your blog!
Jessica,
Great tips. Thanks for showing your pictures. Now, I don’t feel so bad about the kitchen…and living room…and my bedroom. I once heard a Joyce Meyer sermon about our stuff. About how we pray for it, then get it, then complain that we have to clean and maintain it. She was preaching to this choir (me).
I love the picture of your office! Mine looked like that a few weeks ago, and then we had guests that needed to stay in it, so I had to clean. Now my husband comes in sometimes just to say how he likes to come and see me in my clean office. Sheesh- I didn’t think it was THAT bad! 🙂
This and your post on staging for living are so timely for us! We just moved to a home that’s double the size of out old place, (our last place was only 600 sq feet…) We’ve been daydreaming, musing about how much easier life would be with more space and storage. It has been great, buy I’m already surprised at how fast every nook and cranny is filling up! These posts are good reminders that less is more.
Just did some closet cleaning and toy thinning this week. Like to do it before the holidays.
Thank you for hosting!