Looks like a lot of people are into the idea of decluttering with all the comments on my post about hoarding. I have to admit, my personal decluttering made zero progress this weekend.
Wait, I take that back. I got rid of two shirts that were irreparably stained. They weren’t of a material that would make good rags, and after trying every stain removal remedy in the book, I gave in. But I spent the weekend reading a book and finishing my half-marathon training. (Race is next weekend – eeek!) I also threw the Mr. Coffee Iced Tea maker into the donate pile. Why did I need that thing anyway? It’s not like iced tea is hard to make.
Part of me feels like decluttering is such a big effort. There’s so much to do. X number of items a week seems an easy way to do it. I desperately need to clean out all of my closets – take everything out, look at it, and put it back if it’s worth keeping. I’ve just not found the time to do it yet. Not going to happen this coming weekend, obviously, but maybe sometime after that. I also need to remember that I don’t have to do it all at once. If I have to leave my closet half-tackled, so be it. The idea of taking everything out and not putting it away the same day makes me cringe a little bit though!
Megan is a 30-something government employee in the Washington, DC area. She got interested in Personal Finance when she got out of college and realized that her paycheck wasn’t going to go as far as she had hoped. Since starting this blog, she has managed to buy a house and make a solid start on her retirement goals, and hopes to help others do the same. Here is her story:
In 2007, I was a gainfully employed 20-something with no debt but not a lot of knowledge about personal finance. It was a co-worker’s comment about Roth IRAs that sent me to the internet, searching for information. It was then that I realized that I really didn’t know a whole lot about personal finance and that my current financial situation was due a lot to inherent frugal tendencies, generous family members, a fear of debt, and good luck. While that was working for me, clearly I needed a better plan.
While I had no debt, I was also pretty much living paycheck to paycheck and not worrying about going over budget (I say this as if I had a real budget) because I had an emergency fund set aside to cover any overages.
Except that’s not what an emergency fund is for.
So I did a lot of research, read a lot of blogs, and decided that I needed a plan. I needed to budget. I needed to know what I was spending my money on. I needed to prepare for the future.
I decided to create a blog not only to make myself accountable to others but also to share the knowledge that I gained along the way. I’ve learned so much from my fellow bloggers, and I hope that my readers can find something useful in what I have to share as well.
It can get overwhelming! Don’t even think about it on a closet scale. Shrink that down even more and say, “Ok, today I’ll go through my shoes in closet 1 or my coats in closet 3.” Do little subgroups so that you don’t feel overwhelmed and don’t get burned out on the process. I promise that in the end it’s a very rewarding experience! (I hope to get some decluttering done tonight, in fact!)
If you can’t find the time or are struggling to get rid of stuff, maybe it’s time to call in a professional. When it comes to clutter (especially other people’s clutter) they are heartless bastards. This is something they do day in and day out so they know how to get results. Yeah, it’s gonna cost you, but so is the clutter. Sacrifice two very long days and the deed will be done.
Mmmm….decluttering…..(I’m obsessed with it lately!)