Does price matter when decluttering I was asked at my in-person workshop yesterday.
Have you ever asked yourself the same question?
Have you ever struggled letting go of something you didn't like anymore and knew you would never use again but you remembered how much you had paid for it?
What do you do with stuff that was expensive to buy but turned into clutter in your home?
My short answer is: what you paid for it doesn't matter!
Are you surprised? If yes, let me ask you this:
Since you paid good money for it, why aren't you using it?
Do you see what I am saying? Let's explore
Clutter Clearing doesn't last
Even as a clutter clearing practitioner we have to declutter from time to time. It's not like we are ever done with decluttering.
Why?
It's like bathing, it doesn't last.(adapted from Zig Ziglar's quote: People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily.)
Decluttering doesn't last, not only because there is always new stuff coming into our lives, but also because we evolve every day.
​Every experience (good or bad) makes us a slightly different person that sees things and circumstances in a slightly different way.
That's why you can go through your stuff today and have no problem to purge something that you had a hard time with a few months before.
You are not the same person anymore.
What we thought we couldn't live without a few weeks ago, might look boring and unnecessary to us today.
We change every single day.
Just remember back 20 years ago, or even only 10 years ago, what clothes, items, music, books, activities were you most interested in? Chances are a lot of preferences have changed, you moved on and have different taste and interests now.
Decluttering is updating your environment to reflect who you are NOW, what your priorities are, what your interests are NOW, and what you stand for NOW.
The money is spent either way
Back to the original question,
"what to do with an item that you don't love and use anymore but once paid good money for".
The fact that you once paid good money for it obviously does not make you love the item today and it also does not make you use it.
So why would it keep you from giving the item away then? The money is gone either way. Let that sink in for a bit, the money is gone either way.
If you don't love it and don't use it, why not let someone else love and use it? If it was that much money you could try to sell it on Craigslist, Kijiji or even eBay, or donate it to a charity and get a tax receipt for it.
What you think, does price matter when decluttering? Do you have more trouble letting go of something you paid 'good money' for? I can't wait to read your answers.
Hi Conny,
I agree! We had a sofa that didn’t work after renovations. It wasn’t very old, and made me feel quite guilty about being wasteful with money every time I saw it.
I posted it on kijiji, and sold it to a young couple who had just bought their first home. It was exactly what they wanted, and my feelings of guilt were replaced by feelings of happiness!
That’s awesome and so much better than having to look at a sofa that you don’t like for years.