Monday, January 4, 2021
Countdown to Financial Fitness: Resolution: De-clutter
Countdown to Financial Fitness: Resolution: De-clutter: When I retired in 2008, I promised my husband I'd finally get around to cleaning out our "box room." This is a spare bedroom w...
Resolution: De-clutter
When I retired in 2008, I promised my husband I'd finally get around to cleaning out our "box room." This is a spare bedroom where we stashed excess stuff when we first moved to our house in 1994.
The room is filled with electronics now long outdated, including a turntable and vinyl records. Books languish in boxes because our house doesn't have adequate shelf space, and we've given up on finding a contractor to build some. A decade's worth of National Geographic magazines is stacked against a wall. Boxes of photos, still unlabeled, wait to be displayed in albums. Maps and tour brochures are scattered across the floor with no semblance of organization.
Paintings from my mother, grandmother, and an artist friend lean against each other, hidden from view, because my husband and I can't agree on which ones we should hang--and where. Many need new frames, which can get expensive.
It's now 2021, and I've made little progress on cleaning out the box room. If anything, it's gotten worse, as more unable-to-categorize items have been stockpiled there. This includes a growing TBR mountain of books I've bought from author friends or received free at conferences or from giveaways.
Years ago, I wrote a post on this blog about the high financial cost of clutter. People with too much stuff waste money on storage lockers and moving fees. Not knowing what you own or where to find it when you need it can cause you to make unnecessary purchases. And just looking at a sea of junk and wondering how to pare it down can increase stress, which is detrimental to your health.
I never abandoned the goal to de-clutter, but it seems like something else always took priority. Now I realize I've been going about it all wrong. Instead of trying to find time to tackle such a monumental task, I need to approach it in small bites.
Ten minutes a day, do something to de-clutter. That's my New Year's resolution, and I've written it down to hold myself accountable.
Taking small bites, making small, sustainable changes, is really the best way to achieve any larger goal, whether it's losing weight, writing a novel, getting in shape, or saving for retirement.
What
goals have you set for the New Year, and how do you plan to achieve them? I'd
love to hear your comments.
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