“Rebekah, I am so embarrassed by the state of my house. My house is probably the worst house you have ever seen.”
Quiet the statement, I know. But as a professional organizer, I have visited many homes and I have heard this statement many times.
And let me tell you, I have seen some crazy cluttered house and it’s highly unlikely that your home is the worst I have seen. But this statement has made me think about how we, as individuals, view clutter and mess.
Too much stuff is a relative term. A couple of toys scattered around a room is fine by someone’s standard by considered absolute chaos by another’s. It all depends on you and your ‘barometer’ for clutter!
With that in mind, I still think that you can self-diagnose if you have too many things inside of your home. You can do this by determining the level when you start to feel uncomfortable with what you have. The key here is being honest with yourself.
When you are honest with yourself, you know when the stuff you own starts to own you!
When our clothing (especially the ones we don’t wear), kitchen items (especially the ones we never use), and other items start to take over our homes, then it’s high time to take a second a reevaluate.
Think about it this way – stuff begets stuff.
When we buy stuff it actually leads to more purchasing!
How?
All those shoes and nowhere to put them? You need to buy a shoe organizer. No space to put the shoe organizer? You move to a bigger house or rent a storage unit to store said shoes. Yes, this example can seem extreme to some, but it’s to paint a picture of how crazy fast you can accumulate stuff in your life by buying what you don’t need.
So as we approach the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana, I want to make a request of you about how you view all of your future purchasing.
Please think twice about your purchases this year and ask yourself 3 simple questions before you buy:
- Do I need this or do I want this?
- What is the lifespan of this item? (Is the expense worth it for the cost per use? Is the quality of it going to last me a while, or will it be junk after I use it one time?)
- What will happen to this item after I am done using it? (Can it be recycled? Can I donate it? Will it be thrown away and eventually up in a landfill?)
Try going through these 3 questions in your head or out loud with a friend. The answers you come up with can save you space, money, and future stressful clean-ups now and in the future. An added bonus is that for every item you don’t need, thus not buying, will save space in a landfill when the item inevitably reaches the end of its life.
How do you think these 3 questions will affect your monthly spending? Let me know in the comments.
Wishing everyone a great Rosh Hashana!