I am a firm advocate on keeping my stuff. Frugal moms should not give away their “abundance”. Let me explain why I don’t believe in decluttering. First, I feel like it is wasteful. Never, have I ever felt better after I followed someone else’s advice on decluttering. My problem did not come from too much stuff. My “stuff” problems came from my inability to not buy the “stuff”. Getting rid of things I have purchased only means at some point I may have to purchase them again. To me, that is stressful.
Rather, this year I have doubled down on my purchases. I am practicing contentment, and to a point abundance in some areas. I have a lot of shoes. As a blessing, I won’t have to buy any shoes this year. I have a lot of sweaters, so instead of decluttering my sweaters which opens the door for me to need more, I am taking care of my sweaters. I am keeping my stuff. Trying to make my sweaters last more years, saves me money. Because of this my closets look full, and my full closet is what keeps me from buying more clothes.
Decluttering costs more than it helps. Seeing an abundance is a great reminder of blessings received, security, and that I have much to be grateful for in my home.
DeCluttering Wastes Money
Save money and keep your stuff. Many times I have sent something off to a donation site that I ended up needing. In addition to this I bought it the first time, donated it, and ended up buying it again the second time. If in the first place I would have kept my stuff, I wouldn’t have spent double the money on it.
Holding onto clutter is a great way to know your closet space, bookshelf and cds or whatever is full. From there frugal moms move into decision making on the items listed as clutter in their minds. First, how long has it been since the item was used, how can it be rotated back into use, can it be reread or reused somehow? For some, it may be easier to discard items they are bored with seeing everyday. Likewise, will new items become clutter? At what point does clutter turn from stress into thankfulness. For me, it is a reminder to read the book again in case I missed something the first time, or pop in the cd or movie to get another use out of my purchase.
Decluttering is Counterproductive to Saving
Frugal moms cannot possibly save money if they are constantly re-buying toys, books and other items. As frugal moms are working to limit expenses, keeping stuff is the best way to save. Giving a bookshelf new paint and new life is monumental in the scheme of saving.
Decluttering is basically saying that item is leaving so that something else can be purchased in its place. To truly save money, keep your stuff, but re-organize it, re -do the area, find a way to make it work. Appreciate the savings and keep the money in your checking account.
Decluttering Doesn’t Eliminate the Stress
Frugal moms who declutter can actually add stress by decluttering. This simple act is a reminder of too much stuff. The name alone sounds stressful. Instead of eliminating and reducing stress by creating bags of used items to giveaway, be creative with clothing, books and other items. Reduce stress by not thinking about having too much clutter. Decluttering is a time suck that never ends.
As the new year started in January, I always get the feeling of less is more. Especially with silly items that I have a lot of in my cupboards. For instance, we have a lot of cups. I don’t know how we have so many cups, but we do. Instead of discarding these cups I decided to use them. Now each week I have a cup rotation where the kids are using all of the cups even the ones in the back. My full cupboard of cups tells me that I don’t need to add new ones to any list until the old ones are ready to be discarded. They will need to be really worn looking, cracked or just done when I will replace them.
Finally, decluttering doesn’t eliminate stress, but what does eliminate stress is buying stuff that is not needed. Frugal moms have to rethink their purchases and realize true saving comes from using what you have until it doesn’t work anymore. So, I urge you to not declutter your stuff, but declutter the symptom. Declutter the habits that create a cluttered look. Stop before making a purchase and decide if it is an item that is truly needed or will it create more clutter?
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