Money and Clutter

"If you have debt I'm willing to bet that general clutter is a problem for you too."

~Suze Orman

Do you have too much clutter? This is an issue that I've recently started tackling. And as I've been clearing my house of clutter, I've been realizing the connection between clutter and money.

For Feng Shui practitioners clutter in any area of your home represents stuck, stagnant 'chi' or energy.The more clutter you have or accumulate over the years, the more sluggish the flow of energy. This stagnation of energy often results in money issues.

This is more than just ethereal talk about energy. Clutter has a very real effect on your finances. For example, a bill/library book/or movie rental can get lost in clutter, resulting in a late fees. You can purchase something you already own because you can't find the item in question. You can injure yourself tripping over stuff cluttering your walkway. Clearing clutter helps to prevent these problems. It also resolves the energy stagnation and allows more money to flow into your experience. It works indirectly (allowing more opportunities for making money), but it also works directly (you can turn your clutter into cash).

I've been having fun with the latter practice -- turning my clutter into cash. When I married my husband we merged our two households and ended up with too much furniture. This clutter was stressing me out. I decided to get rid of some stuff. I put some extra furniture up on Craig's List. To my happy surprise, I sold the furniture for a nice little sum. I cleared out the house, made some extra money to put into the Christmas coffers, and the furniture ended up with people who could use and appreciate it. What a win/win situation! So, especially in this economy, clearing your clutter pays. You can sell your extra stuff online (Craig's List, eBay, etc.) or in a garage sale. You can also help yourself financially by donating items. If you donate to a charitable organization you can take a deduction on your taxes for the fair market value of the items. This is another win/win situation. Your "trash" becomes treasure for some people who really need it and you can keep some extra money in your pocket come tax time. Are you convinced yet that it pays to clear clutter?

What is clutter?

So what exactly is clutter? A great definition of clutter comes from Karen Kingston's book Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui. Here are her four categories of clutter:

• Things you do not use or love
• Things that are untidy or disorganized
• Too many things in too small a place
• Anything unfinished

If items in your house fall into any of these four categories you could use some clutter clearing.

How do you clear your house of clutter?

Most people have no problem recognizing clutter or deciding that clutter needs to be cleared. Clearing clutter, however is often a very difficult and emotional process. The biggest hurdle if often just beginning. Here are some steps for clearing clutter in your home.

1. Start Small- When people decide that they want to clear their entire house of clutter, they're often so daunted by the enormity of the task that they can't even begin. The best way to clear clutter is to start small. Instead of tackling the entire house or even an entire room, start with one corner, one shelf or one drawer. Alternatively, limit the time. Set an egg timer and decide that you'll only clean for 5-10 minutes. When the timer goes off you can stop (or you can continue if you feel the momentum). Five to ten minutes is enough time to make a dent in the clutter, and the progress will inspire you to do more. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Start small.
   
2. Sort items into categories- When you go through the items sort them quickly and divide them into four categories: keep, maybe/undecided, sell, and trash. When deciding whether to keep an item (either on the initial go around or when you're sorting through your "maybe" pile) ask yourself these three questions - Do I love it? Do I use it? (When was the last time I used it?) and Does it raise my energy? If you can answer yes to two out of three of those questions, you can keep the item. If you can't, the item should probably be sold, donated, or trashed. Don't be afraid to let items go. Letting go of things that you don't love or use makes space for things that you'll really love to come into your experience.
   
3. Organize and store what's left- Once you've finalized the items that you're going to keep, the next step is to organize them in a way that's useful, attractive, and easy to use. Investing in inexpensive storage containers/shelves will be useful for this. IKEA and the Container Store are good places for such things. It's worth the investment in items that will help keep you organized, and with all the money you'll have, make, and/or keep from this process these items will pay for themselves.