Last Sunday, I was watching CBS Sunday Morning, and the first segment was about stuff, clutter, and junk. This is one of my favorite topics. As I sit at my messy desk writing this column, once again I have been thinking about getting rid of some stuff. Do I want to take 10 hours out of my life and have a yard sale or just pack up some boxes and drop off the stuff at the nearest thrift store? I have been thinking of hiring someone to come in and assist with the excess. That is called getting professional help. According to the TV show, people with clutter don’t know how to manage their money and are insecure. Yipes! I really want to call you now that you have insulted me.
A man who authored “Unstuff Your Life” says to set yourself free! And that clutter is nothing but deferred decisions. He lives in a 630 square foot living space and all of his shirts are color-coded. I met a young lady recently who says she can do this. I want to see before-and-after pictures before I hire her or I may just try to manage this on my own. I’m sure I can figure out how to put together piles of keep, donate and throw away.
I don’t think the major cause of too much stuff is lack of money management. I think there is too much cheap stuff available to buy. Shopping for low cost merchandise has become a recreational sport. I am one who knows this all too well. I recently paid a visit to a thrift store with another experienced shopper and you would have thought we were winning at the Kentucky Derby. We walked out with bags of great fashion for the price of one pair of pants. Did we need it? No we didn’t, but it sure was fun and we had fun wearing our “new stuff” two-dollar jackets and ten-dollar dollar fur coats.
The episode also talked about that show where people go and bid on unpaid storage units. A Black man was featured who bid on a unit and won. Come to find out he owns a thrift store and he says people come to his store in good weather and in bad, people come who have a lot of money or little money. The bottom line, the “stuff’ sells.
Since all this clutter is about insecurity I guess you could call storage units “monuments to insecurity” and new ones are going up everywhere. That is where I draw the line. I am not going to pay to store stuff and I will not allow my car to sit outside when I have a garage. The declutter is going to begin and yes I think there will be a yard sale or maybe a yard give away; who doesn’t like free stuff?
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