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Years ago, I heard someone speak about home organization. She casually mentioned how important it is to ask yourself how much money it is costing you to store something.
I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.
At. All.
My house was my house and I didn’t pay “anything” to keep my stuff in it.
I get it now, but I also understand that it’s a somewhat ambiguous concept and I understand why it’s harder for someone like me to grasp it.
Here’s the thing. I’m frugal. Ridiculously frugal. This frugality leads to me focusing more on how much I’m saving by keeping something I’ll maybe use than on how much I’m definitely spending on space that then can’t be used for other things.
Huh?
Well, those Christmas cookie tins.
They are in perfect condition. They are totally reusable. They represent a dream of being the kind of person who makes Christmas cookies (or candy or whatever) and passes them out in tins.
Tins I didn’t even have to buy.
The only issue is that I’d have to store them for a full year. One little ol’ year.
As I moved them from one shelf to another recently, I realized I needed to make a decision. It was time to decide if they were going to stay or go.
Letting them stay would mean:
- Washing them perfectly (because they had food in them).
- Drying them perfectly (because I don’t want them to rust while they sit waiting for next Christmas).
- Finding a cabinet where they could stay for the next eleven months.
- Decluttering that cabinet to make room for them.
- Placing them gently in the cabinet so they don’t get scratched, in a position where they won’t fall out and get dented.
- Remembering to make Christmas cookies/candy/whatever in time to actually make it.
- Remembering to buy the ingredients to make Christmas cookies/candy/whatever.
- Remembering that I have these three tins to use in addition to the ones I’d need to buy.
- Remembering where I decided to store the tins.
- Re-washing them because they’ve been in storage for a year.
- Giving up that cabinet space that I might need for things we definitely use.
Letting them go would mean:
- Wiping them out well.
- Sticking them in an existing Donate Box.
There’s cost in storage. Actual monetary cost that comes in the form of a monthly mortgage payment for a space where our family can live and work and relax.
I put them in the Donate Box. I might have to spring for some containers next December, but I’m okay with that.
For one thing, I might not need to. Most years I don’t.
But even if I do, I’d have to buy a few more anyway.
I looked up how much it would cost if I did buy some. This set of four is $15. That seems like a lot more than I’d actually have to spend, but I’ll still use that number.
Not stressing over all the things on the “letting them stay” list is worth $15 to me.
Especially since I saw this much cheaper (and cuter) option that is $5ish for 12.
And those are single use and wouldn’t cause this dilemma in the receiver’s home*
And Another Example
Did you read my post about the fishing waders that we determined to be clutter after storing them for more than a decade?
Those waders were a relic from my bargain-hunting, clutter-collecting garage sale-ing days. I looked up waders on Amazon, and while there’s a range of prices, it looks like we could have purchased some for less than $100.
I bought the waders for $3. That means I “saved” 97ish dollars on them. Or would have saved 97ish dollars if we’d used them. Or if we’d have ever have purchased them for $100.
Honestly, I paid $3 for the thrill of a bargain and the hassle of storing a not-easily-storable item for more than a decade.
Even if those waders ended up being exactly what we needed after all this time, even if they saved the day and brought joy to my husband on that cold January day in 2018, was it worth $97 dollars to me to store them for all those years?
Would I be willing to pay $97 to not have to shift them around every time I needed something from that space in the garage, year after year after year?
Would I be willing to pay $97 to have that much open space in the garage for ten years?
Would I be willing to pay $97 to not have to pack them in a box, load them into a truck, and drive them across the state and then across town in two different moves?
Like I said in the beginning, it’s an ambiguous concept. That means I get to decide what it’s worth to me. And I’m deciding it’s worth 97 hypothetical dollars to avoid the hassle of those waders that ended up being completely worthless.
How do you talk to yourself about these types of things??
* If you read this post and you gave me cookies for Christmas, don’t NOT make me cookies next year because you don’t want to weigh me down with tins. I love cookies. Sugar cookies with icing are my very favorite. I’m totally fine with sticking the tins in a Donate Box.
After 17 years in our old home, we packed up and moved in 2017. With four teenagers, there was a LOT of accumulated clutter, memories, stuff and junk. It took a long time to go through literally every. single. item (because when you move that’s what you end up doing!). Those Barbie dolls I kept from when I was a girl to play with my girls that they did not ever end up wanting to play with? Did I REALLY want to pack them up just to store for a possible time when my grandchildren (easily 10-20 years away) might want to play? Nope. Nopity nope. Moving crystallizes so many decisions into donations. There’s a little girl somewhere playing with my Barbies from the 70’s/80’s and I’m thrilled for her.
You’ve been posting on FB “What did you declutter today?” and I laugh every time. There’s not a whole lot left at this point–so I’ll start again next January!
Yay, Dana!! I’m finally grasping this concept too. Isn’t weird/wonderful how our brains work??
I live in an apartment, with rent that can go up. so this concept is very real to me. I could always be moving within the year. And when I move the smaller the apartment we could move into, the better our options are. But it’s not just that. What if that dorky item you are storing is covering up that truely useful item that you replace needlessly!
Just last week I accidentally bought some peanut butter that I meant to give back to the cashier at checkout. (I had decided on a different kind). I came home and saw the peanut butter. I said this to my husband and he asked if I can return it. I told him it was only $2. He said it’s not the $2, it’s finding a place for it! Before Dana, I would have thought he was crazy. It was just a small jar of peanut butter. Now I get it!! It feels good to get it!
Please tell me again, what is Dana’s complete definition of clutter?
1. Something you don’t use
2. Something you might use but won’t even know you have
3. Too many of the same item
4. Trash
5. More than your container will hold
What am I forgetting to add please and tky
Probably stuff that’s not in its correct place would qualify as clutter.
Dana says anything you can’t keep under control (meaning, you have too much of) is clutter!
I found your blog just a few months ago and I am constantly surprised by how timely your posts are for me. Just last night I donated Christmas tins I have held onto for two or three years and have put back after numerous cupboard clean-outs.
The first post J read was about putting your towels near where you need them. That very morning I had moved our washcloths for the same reason.
Oh my, I have 12 tins sitting around! Your post has finally convinced me to donate them. I’ve always thought they would be useful…but I know deep down they won’t get re-used. Thank you!
As I sit here and read your post I am staring right now at 2 Christmas cookie tins on the shelf next to me. I have fretted over these because they are adorable and so useful, haha. I have shifted them from one space to another and despite the frustration this causes me, I still believe I “need” to keep them. Ugh. And now, after this timely post, I have taken them to my donatable donate box. Yippee!! Thank you from the bottom of my keep-it-all heart.
I love tins but the only ones I have are ones that have been passed down for whatever reason from my grandma and great grandma. I use them to hold make up sewing stuff and items I use regularly.
When I made cookies (42 doz) at Christmas I gave them out in holiday Ziploc bags in pretty gift bags from the dollar store. Much easier than trying to fit them in tins.
I am getting to the same realization. We have lived in our home for 11 years and are moving into a smaller home this fall. We have been “gifted” a house that was my husband’s grandmothers. I had bins of clothes that I saved. We ended up donating 11 big trash bags of clothes. I had this wonderful idea that I would save clothes that my 13 has grown out of for my 9 year old. Great idea if I remembered that those clothes were in my attic. I saved 3 or 4 baby outfits and got rid of the rest. It was a great feeling.
Wow! Mind blown. Now I get this concept like never before. Thank you. Instead of sitting on a chair in the basement and wondering what to do with the keeps for my in-your-dreams use of many items. Oh dear, I’m already talking out of one item because it stinks of treated grain, so I don’t use it. FIL didn’t save back untreated grain, he used from the bin. Ewww! I’ll have Home Depot cut the wood so I can make a new cabinet. so I’ll use it. Then we can used up those 5 gallon buckets of untreated grain. So for decluttering starters, I’ll limit the canning jars, lids and canners. The many that won’t fit in the cabinet will go to sons for their kimchi projects or donate or recycle the non-specific jars. I’ll be leaving space for the jars currently in use or dump too many years old contents and start over with a few hours of canning instead of days of dreading even the idea.
Reply to myself. We changed out diet mid-year to improve our health (it did and continues) and no longer eat plants/plant products. We now just eat meat.
So, the grain grinder and the canning supplies, ice cream churners, etc. can all go…(not decluttered last year) and four+/- 5 gallon untreated buckets of wheat can go to the barn to help finish fattening of a few head of steer.
Some of the smaller jars (same size-shape) I will use/go get now to store buttons so I can ‘see them’ in the sewing room.
That leaves an entire tall cabinet to contain my personal tools and supplies for household repairs/makes, etc. instead of scattered in this or that, and too long to find.
My husband is talking of heading the direction of donation locations today/tomorrow….so this is my first task for today. And son can get the grain and grinder/mixer upstairs when in for his lunch.
Thank you!
For cookies I put them in plastic bags then go to the dollar store and buy the cute gift bags they have (sometimes 5 for a dollar!) The only tins I have kept were my grandmother’s and I use those for spare change.
My problem is ornaments! I love them so I am always getting them as gifts or finding cute ones. Seriously I have about 8 totes full I could decorate 5 trees at least.
Gonna see if I can Craigslist them next summer. After I go through them.
This post never gets old, however, I still have tins! One is used with a spring theme to hold those plastic easter eggs, another Christmas themed to hold cookie cutters, which are mine, were my mothers or grandmother’s. A third with party theme hold my hoard of sprinkles and jimmies for decorating cakes and cookies. Another one holds my stash of scented votive candles. None hold food.
The rest have gone bye bye. That was after I discovered that they rust! Who knew? Unless you didn’t dry them good enough like me. Those were the tins that held our Christmas lights, deep popcorn type tins. This never gets old and decisions never end. Thanks Dana for reminding the newbies!
When you need those tins again, they are waiting for you at goodwill. There are always tins there. A friend and I also view our goodwill purchases as rentals, which makes it easier to put them back in the donate box.
I like to give Christmas gifts in some kind of container – nice box, Christmas tin, etc. I store nice boxes of different sizes, etc., with the Christmas decorations, which are stored in boxes and put in the rafters of the garage. After Christmas the only tins I have are the ones given to me. Next Christmas they go back out as “boxes” for gifts. (This might work because I have a large family.)
Wow – I’ve never seen a better argument for not keeping things which I don’t want but which I feel guilty about getting rid of. Wish I’d read it years ago (although maybe then I wouldn’t have been as easily convinced).
This is a great reminder. I did this with a great buy on cloth napkins this past year. I stepped back and said that I’d have to wash, dry, store and possibly iron them. Wasn’t worth it to me. I haven’t wished i purchased them once either. I so think like you do about how “useful” things would be since they are “perfectly fine.” It’s the new year and I need to get real that I am just not using some things. “Bless and release” is something I have heard and need to remember it. I also have to trust that great things will still come into my life at just the right time!
I give Christmas cookies on a Christmas themed paper plate wrapped with cling wrap and tied with a ribbon. Cheaper and no guilt-inducing tins for the receiver! 🙂
I got a bunch of tins from a relative last year after Christmas. I think I used three of them this year! Some of them are just old & I am embarrassed to give them–what was I thinking even keeping them??? They are also kind of big to be filling with the types of food gifts I like to make at Christmas–would I really give 2-3 pounds of fudge to any of my friends?? They are going into the donate box. I’m back to the little paper boxes that are easily trashed or recycled! Thanks for the reminder!
Also, we had a set of waders that my in-laws (the ultimate garage-salers) had found & brought to my husband 8-10 years ago. Last year he went to use them for the first time ever, and they were cracked and unusable! They’ve been in my front entry closet for years, taking up space! SMH again and again! Decluttering is a journey….
The bullet points really help lay out the cost- thank you!
This tip was perfect timing- I was in a home improvement store and the Christmas lights were on a deep discount to 57c, 62c, etc.
It was hard to resist something so cheap, but I realized that the “cost” of them was much more- I already had some lights in a box that I hadn’t put out this year. I’d either have to store new lights with them, or find a new space. Then next year I’d feel guilty if I didn’t put out all the lights again. The cost of guilt and clutter is far greater than a measly 57c.
Just as an aside, I use plastic shoe boxes with tight fitting lids, think container store not dollar store. I line with parchment paper, etc.
Recipients love them because the shoe box can be repurposed for cookie cutters, Cookie sugars and sprinkles, small holiday storage, ie winter figurines, etc. or for shoes.
Beths comment hit home : view our goodwill purchases as rentals, which makes it easier to put them back in the donate box.
Thank you for this!!
Jinde,
Your comment was great but I stopped at the punchline- “after I go through them”.
In my experience that’s making too many decisions- hundreds perhaps. It’s easier to decide ahead of opening the boxes- “I’ll keep grandmas ornaments and the fuchsia ones”. Then maybe allow yourself 3-5 exceptions.
It’s so much less taxing- I do that when going through kids toys- they have so many and all these doubts pop up when I decide “what to get rid of” if you change your thinking to “what do I keep” and decide ahead of time it’s less stressful!
Good luck!
There are so many such examples! Good one on the tins. Definitely helps to attach monetary value to your shelf space (like retailers and warehouses must) as well as all the mental and physical cost of angst and time. I think the cost of rent/mortgage in these times also nudges to consider this concept more easily.
I think I have the exact same tins as pictured. In storage. Not being used this year. Hmmm.
I just looked at the 3 or 4 cookie tins I have and was ready to toss them when I realized that since I was organizing my beading I could use them to store some of my loose beads or charms or buttons etc so that’s now what they’re being used for. I don’t go out to buy tins and my aunt who did make cookies has stopped giving them to me in tins (she now uses aluminum throw away) so I won’t be getting any more of them so this has worked for me
LOL!! As I am beginning another massive decluttering I thought about our garage. It holds a sleeping bag, cushions to go under the sleeping bag, a tent, etc. When were they last used? Well over a DECADE ago. We are not a camping family. Well, hubby and kids aren’t, so there you are. But, I kept telling myself, maybe we will go camping? Hmmm, hubby and I have gone camping ZERO times in 33 years of marriage. They were purchased when I put my son in Boy Scouts (he hated it) to go camping ONCE. He was 10 then, 24 now, and not a camping person. Guess what is leaving my home very soon?
Boy, I am SO going to donate my tins, if I can ever find where I put them….
Thank you for showing us packrats that we are not alone. Your posts are inspirational in their understanding and practicality! Takeaways: trash bag, donate box, take-it-there-now, contain-er…
And this:
I read another of your posts yesterday that talked about the cost of keeping/storing things, and now this today. It brings home to me – again – that I REALLY want to clear out the bedroom where we dump things. It is unusable for its intended purpose and I want to put it to better use. Time to get out the trash bag and donate box…
I love this post! While I haven’t done this with tins, I’ve done this with cute mailing envelopes, or even scraps of pretty paper etc. And sometimes I’ll catch myself now, in the “Maybe I can use this—” and then I’ll realize: what are you doing? Throw that out! It’s trash!
It makes me chuckle, but I am grateful for now realizing that and letting things go, or throwing them out. Thank you, Dana!