I know I’ve talked about decluttering before, but I haven’t been very stringent in deciding what things to toss vs. keep.
This week, I made the cut a little deeper and cleared out another bag of clothing, accessories, and knick-knacks to be dropped off at Goodwill.
This undertaking just reaffirmed what I already know:
(1) I have too much stuff – WAY more than what I need, and even more than what I want.
(2) I wear 25% of my clothes 70% of the time. I can probably cut 50% of my wardrobe without any visible impact.
(3) I’ve spent a lot of money on things that do not bring me lasting joy nor reflect my priorities.
It’s not only about the money. The time I spend wandering the stores can be better spent settling down with a good book, coffee or tea with friends, or taking a dance class.
It’s easy to say, hard to live by. But I should try harder to live by that.
Have you been successful at decluttering your life?
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I’m the SAME way with clothes especially… moving showed me just how much stuff I have that I don’t use.
I’m not very good at this. I also love clothes and shoes (and add bags and books to the list) and have way too much stuff. I should probably clean out my closet every season but I have a tendency to hold on to things and only do a major purging every three to five years. When I purge, however, I get rid of TONS of stuff. I’ll probably do some major decluttering when I move back across the country in a few years.
I hate clutter. I find myself cleaning through my closet every couple of months. However, somehow I still have a lot of stuff.
I have a bunch of stuff still stored at my parents house which I hope to go through when I’m home for the holidays and just get rid of. No more out of sight out of mind.
I pretty much moved the clothes I didn’t wear from my closet to a sack of back and boxes in my hallway. They’re destined for Goodwill… eventually!
I frequently go through my things … its a constant process. Sometimes I’m still attached to something for the first round of clearing, but am able to make a clean break a couple months later. I consign to a cute shop near my house, it feels nice to get a little money back for your clothes, but makes my stomach sink to think of what I paid the first time around.
I absolutely agree in the de-cluttered closet, de-cluttered life philosophy!
I don’t do big declutters, but I frequently go through my closet and pull out stuff I don’t wear and throw it in a donate sack. It is (psychologically) easier for me to just pull out 2-3 shirts at a time, even if I do it once a month or more.
I majorly decluttered my life by moving 1500 miles in my car…However, I’ve already started to acquire new crap!
You should enter to win my book giveaway on “it’s all too much”. http://www.livingalmostlarge.com/2008/08/28/book-review-its-all-too-much How ironic!