Declutter Your Life, Sort Out Your Money

 

 

 

 

If in doubt – declutter!!

This is one of the best things I learned from Denise Duffield Thomas when doing her money bootcamp.

Decluttering is a term that can be applied to anything that is causing overwhelm and confusion in your life, especially money. It is a helpful tool that not only has the obvious benefit of being able to sell your unwanted stuff if you declutter your belongings, but in doing so, you feel better about your environment and your life too (so the side effect is you also declutter your brain!).

By decluttering, you allow greater things into it that are more in-line with what you ACTUALLY want.

I did a declutter just prior to moving into my new home with my husband 5 years ago. I decided to just give away everything I didn’t want, which included:

  • Dinner trays
  • Shoes
  • Dresses that I seem to have, er, grown out of
  • An old laptop (wiped of data obviously)
  • Bags
  • Exercise weights

Giving Back

Someone, somewhere is going to need these items. One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure as they say! I know this because I bought a dress once from a charity shop that cost less than £10, and when I wore it with my heels, it made a fab new year outfit in St Paul’s! No one would have known any better. (You don’t have to tell anyone!)

I also get a kick out of knowing that items I no longer need are going to help a charity raise money for their cause. Its my way of giving back I suppose, rather than set-up a boring direct debit every month because someone roped me into it in the street.

Allow better things in

The best bit about decluttering is that you allow space for new things. We have another round of decluttering due when we move again next year. Rather than pack everything up, I’ll be repeating the decluttering cycle all over again to make way for the new.

I also use decluttering when I want to manifest something new into my life. By creating space, I’m letting the universe know that I’m ready for more.

Mental Decluttering

The other side to decluttering is the mental space it gives you. You can declutter everything from your kitchen to your computer and email. I’m sure you can relate to the amazing feeling you get once you’ve had a good clean out of “stuff”.  If your house is untidy and you can never find anything (including important documents related to your money), then decluttering and organising is essential before you do anything else! Simple box files or folders are extremely helpful in this instance. In fact – you’ll probably find a spare one in your house in the process of tidying up, saving you money too!

We should also be mindful of the messages we are seeing everyday; anything you watch on TV about scary things to do with the “tanking economy” will bring about in you a mindset of SCARCITY. The same goes for social media. This is what we need to avoid if we are to make our money go further and/or get out of debt.

In order to do this, I unfollow/delete people on Facebook who are persistently negative or offensive, or make me feel bad about myself, and I unsubscribe from emails that encourage me to spend money unnecessarily. Decluttering extends far beyond just the “stuff” in your home, but to your online space too. 

There is enough

Scarcity mindset is where you think you don’t have enough: not enough money, not enough food, not enough time. Its not a nice feeling. It makes us want to hoard everything from emails to books and DVDs. What if we need it one day?! Our aim is to turn down the negativity impacting our lives, and turn up the fun and excitement. “Yolo” is a favourite acronym of mine (you only live once), and I am very good at taking action using this mantra (just sometimes not so good at making sure I’ve thought it through properly first – hello maverick personality!!).

Who can help?

Why not check out books and blogs that could help? You might find these helpful:

A book on the art of tidying by Marie Kondo. Her mantra – “Does it spark Joy?”. If it doesn’t, the rule is you get rid. See what you think! Especially enjoy the bit where she feels sorry for her socks.

The other thing that you can look at is a blog by “The Queen of Clean” – she has lots of handy articles to help to declutter.

New Year, New You

So go for it – use the New Year as an excuse to declutter (especially if your Christmas tree is still up!). Start 2018 with a fresh and positive outlook on life. I give you permission to buy scatter cushions too if it helps (Just promise me you won’t use your credit card?!).

Come and join me in my private Facebook Group and share your decluttering tips and wins!

Until next time,

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this post – why not try this one:

 

passive income ideas for busy people

 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.