Y’all, worrying about the cost of replacing something can be a real decluttering stumbling block.
I recommend asking yourself if you’d be willing to pay the replacement cost of the item (whether $1 or $100) to have a usable space. For example: “Would I be willing to pay $20 to not be hit by falling clutter every time I open this cabinet?”
For a cheapskate like me, framing these paralyzing money-related decluttering decisions this way helps.
This story one of you emailed me recently is the perfect example of how changing this mindset can really impact your space:
Earlier this year I cleaned out our kitchen cupboards and got rid of a lot of duplicates and items we never use. I ended up taking a couple of totes of perfectly good kitchen housewares to Goodwill and a tote of broken/unusable/random items straight to the dump. Over these past few months, everything has been EASIER in the kitchen. There’s only one wooden spoon to get dirty, I have easy access to my favorite pots, and there’s room so I can tell at a glance where something is. It’s been great.
Over the weekend my husband got a coffee maker for his shop. I went to the kitchen cupboard because I was sure we had some filters for that particular pot. Turns out we didn’t, because I had thrown them out in the purge.
My first thought was ‘On no! I shouldn’t have gotten rid of those!’ My second thought was, ‘Are you crazy? Because you got rid of those, (and everything else) your kitchen is now pleasant and manageable.’
Replacement price? $2.75 for a gigantic stack at our local grocery store. A small price to pay for an uncluttered kitchen.
Thank you.
If you want to start decluttering, but just don’t even know where to start, I have tons of blog posts and podcasts here on the site. Or get the entire process spelled out for you in my book, Decluttering at the Speed of Life.
Your blog is such a blessing and this particular post came right on time. Thank you for all you do and keep them coming. Please don’t stop. We are on a roll here. My husband finally started decluttering his side of the bed, once I decluttered my side.
I am being over ran by things that have belonged to someone else. Our local donation spots are picking and choosing what they will take now. Its really hard to throw away good items. People have started putting items on the street in front of their houses.Thank you for helping us regular people get our homes in line. I watch your videos posts, read your books. I have often looked back to get some motivation. Thanks again. Vanessa
I am proud to say that, since having become a follower of my decluttering guru, Dana, I have actually started thinking the same way. It was hard for me, also a die-hard frugality queen, to donate something that I could get money for, even at a garage sale. But slowly, slowly, I have gotten better at letting go, knowing that if I really needed it, I could replace it. IF I really needed it…that badly…!!!
Thanks, Dana, for all that you do for us, and thanks to all of Dana’s followers, who share their stories to let us know that we are not alone in our journeys!!
Great post! Another important thing to consider when decluttering is “What is the value of the reclaimed space?” In my area, houses sell for over $100 per square foot. This means, when I declutter that ottoman that really doesn’t fit into my current design scheme, but MIGHT again some day….I just got back $400 worth of my house! This helps me not only when considering replacement cost–is it worth it to me to tie up that four hundred dollars worth of space for all that time?–but also it helps when I’m faced with an item that really needs to go, but it hurts because of the money I spent on it. If I remember that when I brought it home I lost the money for the item AND the money for the space it occupies, it helps me to let it go. Even though I may lose the money I spent on the item, letting it leave my house, I basically gain back the price of that valuable floor space.
I’m a frugality queen too! I tend to declutter just a little at a time – but I’ve resolved to keep going even if my progress is slower than it might be. I figure the more I do it, the more I learn – and the wiser about it I become.
Oh my goodness, yes! I totally relate to this … and I’ve had enough times where I got rid of something and then needed it that my experience has reinforced this bad habit of saving way too many things for just in case.
So the concept of replacement cost is the solution! Need to try this out and start some new purging projects ….
Thank you thank you thank you.
I have found my tribe. (And I’m not completely crazy—or if I am, at least I am not alone?)