Re-Thinking Getting Rid of Clutter

If you think you’ll cash-in on your clutter when downsizing, think again. Or if you need motivation to de-clutter your home or empty a storage bin sooner than later, read on.

 U.S. Stats:

• Nearly one in 10 households maintain at least one self-storage unit, a 65% increase since 1995. 
• Households have doubled in size in the last 50 years to nearly 2500 sq. ft.
• 8000 Americans a day will turn 65, doubling our senior population by 2050 and the need to downsize. 

Individually, these facts may not be news to you, but few notice their cumulative impact: the re-sale marketplace swamp. 

According to an April 2011 Smart Money article, downsizing has created a glut of stuff, dropping re-sale value of household items by 50-75%. Jane C.H. Jacob, appraiser and trustee of the nonprofit Appraisal Foundation, asked, “What are people going to do? Dig a ditch and put it (their stuff) in a landfill?” 

The last container is the earth, and fortunately, more Americans realize that the earth (like our houses and storage bins) has it’s limits. Throwing gently or never used clutter in landfills, though, is the height of wasteful thinking. 

ClutterClarity: The truth of the matter is that we don’t “get rid of clutter.” We choose to let it go, and distribute it back into our community: give away, donate, sell, recycle, and re-use. Clutter is not trash. Clutter is what you no longer love or use, but someone else would.   

Clutter-Clearing Tip:  Downsize sooner than later, selling what you can, but know it may not be worth your time and energy. To stay motivated, investigate and decide what the best ways are for you to redistribute your clutter back into your community before you start to de-cluttering. 

Instead of getting pennies on the dollar, be rich knowing that you're unburdening your life, and others, especially during hard economic times, by giving your clutter to people who literally need what you can afford to give away.  

When you think this way, clutter-clearing is not to be dreaded, or a waste, but an opportunity to give to others as you take better care of yourself. You avoid the re-sale swamp and landfill, free to comfortably move into your future.