As a Ham I have quite a few radios I have collected over the years, but only about 3 see any actual use in the shack these days, this post inspired me to list some on ebay and to donate a few to the local college club to help free up some space, thank for the inspiration.

Also, clutter makes it hard to find things. Sometimes when you can’t find something you have or you forget that you have something you want, you end up buying it again.

Also, clutter takes up space and space costs money. You may be renting or buying a larger place than you need (or a storage unit), and larger places cost more air condition or heat, maintain, pay taxes on, and insure.

Also, getting the mindset you need to get rid of clutter and keep your place clutter-free helps keep you from buying more things you don’t actually want that much, which saves you money for the things you really want.

However, if your place is really cluttered, it is probably a deterrent to thieves, which could save you money. :-)

I’ve been doing a lot of de-cluttering lately. I still have to tackle the garage, but I look forward to the organization and the few extra dollars that result.

Sometimes I think we have lots of clutter because of how we store things. Take DVD’s for instance. I buy all mine used from Blockbuster for like $4-5 per DVD (or less). Most people keep them in the bulky case they come in. Why? So you can display your collection to all your friends? Keep the case cover insert and the DVD and throw out the case. Get a CD/DVD wallet to store it all in. Now it is no longer clutter. One small container for all your movies.

I think Trent’s reply to Connie was right on when it comes to defining clutter and laying out the first steps to getting rid of it. I think he missed on the correlation between uncluttering and financial success.

You rarely see true financial freedom in a cluttered household. People who have trouble dealing with their Stuff almost always have trouble dealing with their money, too. And that’s because the same emotional triggers and environmental pressures that shape our spending also shape our relationship with Stuff.

The point of really getting to the bottom of your Stuff is not to make a few bucks selling it on ebay, or wherever. The point is to find out what is truly important to you. Which is also necessary in order to begin building a sound financial life.

Very trivial example: For some people, having a collection of 1000 DVDs is truly important. For most of us, we watch a movie once and then we’re happy to catch it on cable a few years from now. We don’t need to keep that DVD. We didn’t even need to buy it; renting it would have worked fine.

We’re just in the habit of buying what we want, because it’s so easy to do. The trouble is, we want a lot of things on a very trivial level, and when we indulge those trivial wants, we are drilling little holes in our bottom line.

Just because you have space doesn’t mean you have to fill it up with more stuff.

If you feel that every inch of space has to be fill with material belongings, maybe you need to examine why that is.

I moved from a 1000 square foot condo to a 720 square foot condo with no storage locker. I got rid of a ton of things to Salvation Army, but still have used all my closet space. Sometimes its about lack of space rather than a true problem!

That said, I always feel better giving away things to charity and clothing swaps and seeing more free space!

I’d like to hear more about decluttering relationships. At this point in my life, time is probably the thing I have the shortest supply of. So I can’t maintain every relationship to the extent that some people demand. Yet, I find it extremely painful and awkward to break things off or pare things back when it’s not because I don’t like them but because I don’t have time for them.

@ Pop

Try posing the question at the blog Trent mentioned (unclutterer dot com). They take questions and I haven’t seen this one yet although I may have just missed it in the archives. As Trent said, they’re good.

If you ever watch the show about Hoarding, you will religiously purge anything you don’t use on a regular basis…

Great post Trent! Suggest Don Aslett’s book on conquering clutter, available online used for a dollar or two, WORTH EVERY PENNY! He has some good books on how to clean but they’re not so important or interesting. His blockbuster book on decluttering is provocative, thought provoking, and will save you time and money if you follow his info. If you cut down on clutter (yard sale and use the cash to pay down debt or invest!) you have more time, space, and mental space (uncluttered) to manage money wisely.

Totally agree that clutter and money management go together. I don’t think clutter and earning capacity are necessarily linked. Plenty of top earners have cluttered homes and offices – but then again, those folks probably don’t actively manage their own finances!

flylady.net – if you need to get on track and learn more about decluttering. I’ve realized I’m a packrat, as already mentioned watching Hoarders will naturally make you want to purge everything. I think the financial advantage to less clutter is that you don’t feel the urge to buy more stuff. Or you work on relationships that could potentially earn you more money through promotions and job opportunities. And, as I personally move through stages of more and less clutter, it affects my attitude about life. Waking up every day to piles of stuff is unsettling, waking up to clean, organized living space is calming. I think I read somewhere that your bedroom should be the cleanest place in your home, since it’s the first thing you see in the morning. Unfortunately, I cannot convince my husband that his DVD collection is nothing more than a symbol to me of our descent into debt – all I see is the money spent on many unworthy movies that weren’t good the first time. But he feels proud of the overflowing collection that doesn’t fit the space designated in our home. It’s a sore subject, all I want is to get rid of the ones we rarely watch, but he’s attached. I just hope he sees my way sometime and weeds some out.

“You rarely see true financial freedom in a cluttered household. People who have trouble dealing with their Stuff almost always have trouble dealing with their money, too. And that’s because the same emotional triggers and environmental pressures that shape our spending also shape our relationship with Stuff.”

I find it hard to believe that you can truly claim this with such authority. Have you done a study to verify this? Or could you find one?

Just anecdotal: We have a very cluttered household due to having small children and a small house, and we’re doing great financially. No debt, prepaying our mortgage, strong emergency fund, about to pay cash for a new (to us!) car….What am I missing here? In theory the connection might make logical sense, but I imagine that if you actually did a scientific study, you would not find a strong correlation between household order and finances. They seem to be entirely different things.

#14 Jane–I would agree with the quote you mentioned. I have never seen a cluttered household, office, car, etc. that didn’t have an owner who had financial clutter as well. It’s like they go hand in hand because it’s a mindset (or perhaps a temporary situation like an illness) that sets it all off. When your mind is going in a million directions, and you can’t let go of stuff, when you cannot focus one thing it’s difficult to focus on the money.

When there is less clutter, even my mind is clearer and it makes easier to sit down and tackle the money, even if something is behind or off kilter I can still tackle it because I know when I look around I can say to myself, “I’ve got a handle on the house, the yard, whatever, I can get a handle on the money, too.”

@15 – that’s no better than Trent’s claim. Your anecdotal evidence doesn’t really provide any empirical proof that this connection is there. Point to a study done.

Well everyone is making a big deal about the correlation between clutter and finances but for myself and my own house I feel the connection. I hate clutter and every few weeks I go through my house and get rid of stuff because I just can’t stand it! I do have a room that I never want anyone to go into because it hold wrapping paper, Christmas decorations, winter (or summer) clothes out of season and things like that. I suppose I should probably organize it in a way that doesn’t stress me out since those are pretty necessary items in there but as of now I feel like it’s just clutter.

I personally really enjoyed this post. Thanks!

I think the financial aspect of de-cluttering also depends on the extent of clutter vs a real hoarding issue. Are you buying things because you can’t find the one you have, or it’s been damaged due to lack of care? Are you throwing away expired food because it’s buried in the back of a cabinet? Do you eat out because it’s physically impossible to do anything more than microwave in your kitchen?

I helped a friend do some de-hoarding last month, we filled a 10 yard dumpster and made 4 trips to charity, and that was only 3 rooms of her house. All of the above are examples of the condition of her home. Her disorganization severely affects the ability to run her business efficiently or to do timely maintainence on her home.

#14 and #16, studies don’t get done unless there is money in it. There is no drug in development to treat cluttering.

If you are really interested in some of the science, there is a major new book out called “Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things.” Just searching “stuff” or “clutter” in books on Amazon will give you quite a list.

Of course, if you’re just interested in throwing out the correlation because I didn’t cite ten studies on Clutter Science, go right ahead.

My entire house is a clutter attractor. It’s not affecting my finances as far as I can tell – we don’t have a larger home to store it, a large percentage was bought at thrift stores and yard sales, etc. Maybe it’s only because we have a large income and a willingness to stack things ever slightly higher.

We are getting to the point, though, where a new baby and the resultant acquisitions could lead to a larger home unless we get rid of a big chunk of stuff. Stuff we haven’t used in a while, but my wife is not willing to part with. Any advice for that?

Another factor: house dust, mildew, and dust mites can create low-grade allergic inflammations which impact attention and thought.
Second: one criminal family in this region, with one or more relatives in the mortuary business, will remove cancer tumors, dry and pulverize them, and use them in enemies’ houses or on relatives with property bequests. The fellow who got me the info said they claim a 30% success rate. Keep the clutter down and the dust out, for your own good.

re: #4 Jon – If you take this suggestion, please don’t add the empty cases to the landfill. Donate them to your library instead. The cases wear out long before the DVDs. Seems like we’re always scrounging for intact cases. The landfill won’t be grateful, but we sure will!

Hi Trent,

I recall seeing a advice or a link to advice about decluttering on your blog. Specifically, I remember the suggestion to start with some cash and to require the person to buy back his stuff/clutter …otherwise, it’s taking up spaces/resources/money. We’re planning on moving soon, and I’d like to share that link with my husband. Can you send me that link, please?