The Money Clutter Connections
Surrounded by my things, knee deep in clutter I could no longer shut out the thoughts that all this STUFF used to be MONEY. For years I continued on in patterns of behavior that created both clutter and debt. There is a strong connection between money and clutter, my friend. While there are many connections between money and clutter I will start with these three concepts to get the discussion going. By using my own personal tidying journey to highlight some of the connections that came up I hope that these stories will bridge the ideas between money and clutter for you. These stories will guide you to a deeper understanding of how money and clutter show up in your own life.
My Debt was in the Details
On my journey to tidying up, I dutifully created piles of clothes by subcategory, many with tags intact. Sound familiar? As I pulled out article upon article of clothing out of my closet and dresser drawers, it was in fact worse than I had thought. These piles reminded me that the emotional instant gratification I got from making the purchase was short lived, yet the financial impact of those decisions still lingered with me to that day. You see, I wasn’t just living with a mound of unwanted clothes, I was also living with a mound of financial debt. I don’t know what was worse, looking at the pile of unworn and brand-new clothes or facing the fact that in that moment I did not know the true state of my finances.
Creating the mound of clothes showed me that I had far more clothes than I thought I had. The same was true with the amount of debt I had. Until I took inventory of my things, I could not make the connection between my clutter and my debt. This was the first time that I had a real awareness of the money and clutter connection.
My Home is a Storage Unit
My second big “aha” moment took place when I realized that my tagged clothes were never worn and I merely shifted them from the retail store to my closet. My home was a storage unit. Not only did I spend money on things I did not use, I spent money (rent/mortgage) to store these items. This was a double whammy of truth that I was not prepared to learn. This felt like double taxation and no one wants to pay more tax than they are required to pay. The absolute worst part of this is that I did not make the connection of my behaviors. I was buying things I did not need (clearly because I didn’t use them as they still had tags) and I was storing them in my closet taking up precious real estate. None of this made sense to waste money in this way, but it was a familiar pattern that I repeated year after year.
Before working with many of my clients, they often pay extra money for external storage units separate from their homes. These storage units eat up too much money especially when most clients don’t really access the items in the units. They hold on to these storage units for years and years, rarely visiting the units and rarely using the items within. To illustrate a simple point, the average climate controlled storage unit costs $150 per month. The annual cost is $1,800.00. If someone keeps that unit for 10 years (which is not uncommon), you would spend upwards of $18K to store items that you do not use. Anyone else mind blown by these figures?!
Sunk Cost Has An Emotional Cost
After making these two big connections, I now had to grapple with the ugly truth that I could not recoup any amount close to what I paid originally for the items even though they were unworn and unused. It was like throwing money down the drain and I was still having to pay for the past decisions with the interest on my credit cards! I was faced with making a decision on whether to keep the items or continue to store them in my home. You would think that the decision-making process would be easy especially since I did not use or even really know about these items, but that was not the case. This decision of decluttering was gut wrenching. I attached a value to the clothes that simply did not exist. The amount of money I paid for the item is called a sunk cost. The amount does not factor into any future decision related to that item, but I allowed it to create an emotional block that made me stuck in the decluttering process. The truth is I was in no better or worse financial shape by letting go of the item. The money had already been spent and the act of discarding did not change my financial picture.
Final Thoughts
Okay, I laid out some pretty heavy stuff. These personal examples highlight the connection between money and our clutter. It is absolutely clear that understanding this connection allowed me to start on the path to changing my behaviors to finally journey towards true freedom from clutter and financial debt. My personal understanding of this connection directly caused a shift in my habits with spending and my habits with money. I am certain that without these multiple “aha” moments that the process of decluttering would not have had a huge impact on my life. Truthfully, I could still be on the cycle of spend, purge, spend, purge and the hamster wheel of consumption would have continued on. That is why this money clutter connection is KEY to the FULL transformation of getting organized in our homes.
Sadly, this picture I painted for you is not unique. My own experience mirrors the experiences of many I know. Within my story, I want you to see your story. Through looking at your own story, you can see the patterns of behavior that got you to the clutter in your life. I invite you to see your story in mine and start the journey to better understand the role that clutter and money has in your own life. This awareness is the start to clearing clutter from your life once and for all.
Share with me in the comments if any of these examples sound familiar to you. I’d also like to know if this subject and connection interests you. It will help me know to dive deeper into these topics in future posts.
Tidy on and tidy strong, my friends!
yes this is so true, thank you for sharing your story, i have been inspired to try stop the impulse buying
Thank you! I appreciate you taking the time to read. Impulse buying is definitely a challenge even today. I try to ask myself a series of mindfulness questions before buying. Even if something is low cost this habit has served me well.