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Clutter is overwhelming, and Booth knows that from her own experience. She shares the tips she used to take control back that you can use as you try to make your home more peaceful.
Find more educational material and lifestyle tips on boothparker.com!
Get Booth's financial newsletter by signing up here.
Find more educational material and lifestyle tips on boothparker.com!
Get Booth's financial newsletter by signing up here.
This podcast is produced by Rooster High Productions.
Creators & Guests
What is MOM-enomics with Booth Parker, CPA?
Real moms. Real mom financial issues. Real moms in business. Real stories. I am Booth Parker. A CPA, wife, and mom that loves all things home and family. In this podcast, I talk all things money for moms, families, and small business. From tips to ideas to info you just need to know, I break it down so moms can apply it to their own families and businesses!
S2E21 - Stressful Stuff
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Introduction
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[00:00:00]
We had so much stuff
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The other day, my husband and I were driving down the road, we were, yet again, heading out of town for a baseball game. And we were going a way, that was a road we hadn't been on in probably a few months. And we were coming up on this road. It's basically a field that had just been vacant for years and years and they were clearly building something.
And so we looked to see if there was a sign as to what it was, and there was, and it was going to be yet another storage unit facility, which we have tons of them in our, in our county. So we both got tickled and just started reminiscing about the times in our lives when we were storage unit people.
So we had a time, [00:01:00] gosh, it was at least a decade, that we were storage unit type people because we had so much stuff. And I am not coming from a place of judgment here on this. I'm definitely coming from a place of empathy because I was a overwhelmed by too much stuff for a very, very long time. And it was so overwhelming and stressful.
Didn't even know where to begin to try to rectify the situation. So, I've definitely made some big strides. I am by no means a minimalist, so I'm not going to try to go to that extreme, but I've definitely found a sense of calm and just less stress and overwhelm in our home by having less stuff and clutter everywhere.
Storage Unit Stats
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So here are some interesting statistics about storage units. So in the [00:02:00] U.S., there are over 50,000 storage unit facilities, which equates to about 23 million units. So that is a unit for one in every 14 Americans. Now those more than 50,000 facilities- this, this is mind blowing to me- that is, there are more storage unit facilities in the United States than there are McDonald's and Starbucks combined.
So, if that doesn't tell you that we've got a lot of stuff, then I don't know what would.
So, 54 percent of Gen Xers have a storage unit. 51 percent of Baby Boomers have a storage unit. And only 14 percent of Millennials have one. However, last year, they went from 21 percent to [00:03:00] 25 percent of the market share. As they are becoming older, they are becoming a bigger user of storage units.
This next stat, I fell into it, so 18 percent of storage unit users have a four bedroom or larger home, and 46 percent of storage unit users have it for the long term. So yes, sometimes people will rent them for 30 or 60 days because they're getting ready to move. You know, trying to stage their home or whatever, but 46 percent of storage unit users have it for the long term.
Our storage unit days
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So I'm going to go back and tell you about my as I call them storage unit days. So when I was pregnant, my husband and I moved into a larger home to prepare for, you know, kids. At the time we didn't know how many we would end up having. So we went ahead and we found this great family home with four [00:04:00] bedrooms.
And we moved in shortly before my son was born. And we thought that it had all the space in the world because we came from a pretty small little bungalow, but very, very quickly things changed. So my son was not only, and still is, the only grandchild on either side. So you can imagine the gift overload and kids come with lots of big stuff, right?
And it takes up a lot of space. I also grew up with a dad who didn't like to get rid of things, so I had it kind of instilled in me that I could justify some kind of reason for pretty much keeping everything. It drove my husband crazy, he finally gave up, and the clutter started to build.
And my mom was a huge gift giver. And so when Christmas would roll around I drove a Suburban and my husband drove a pickup truck and we would drive separately [00:05:00] to their house for Christmas. And we still couldn't fit all the stuff in. So all of this stuff just starts accumulating in our home and taking up space.
Somewhere during this time when my son was young, we got a storage unit right down the road to start putting some of this extra stuff in. If I remember correctly, we moved the Christmas decorations to the storage unit and out of the garage because the kid toys and the tricycles and all that kind of stuff were taking over in the garage.
And then when my son was like toddler age, I went and stayed with a cousin of mine. She didn't have children, just she and her husband. And she had two guest rooms upstairs and she told me I was welcome to stay in either one.
But I go up there and not only can you not get to the bed in either room because there's so much stuff you have to climb over, [00:06:00] I had to turn sideways to walk down the hall to get to the bathroom because there was so much stuff stacked in the hallways. And it was during this time that I really realized I did not want to turn into this person that has this much stuff and clutter and overwhelm in their homes.
And so I started to try to do something about it. But it was very, very hard with the constant influx of stuff coming in, mostly for us in the way of gifts, but it also came in other ways, shopping, buying things you don't need, all of that kind of stuff. When my son was, I think he was about four or five, we actually moved to a different house and when we moved, I got everything from the storage unit because the garage space was a little bigger in this new house and I was like, we'll have room for it in the garage.
Well, very quickly, it overtook the garage. I was never able to park in the garage [00:07:00] and all of that stuff was there. So every time I went in the garage, it was total overwhelm, stress, because there was so much stuff, and it was so bad, I didn't see a starting point anywhere, and so it just got ignored, and then it continued to build.
All of this stuff was constantly in my face, it poured over into the house. And it was very, very stressful every time you walked into a room or opened a closet or any of these things. It was just overwhelming, filled with anxiety because there was so much stuff. It's almost like a claustrophobic kind of feel.
The mental effects of clutter
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So according to Psychology Today, too much stuff, clutter, whichever you want to call it, creates a visual stimuli to the brain that work hasn't been completed. And that is what causes that anxiety and that overwhelm and that stress.
And that's exactly how I [00:08:00] felt. And I'm a checklist person. I love to check tasks off my list. And so that really made me realize that my brain was having trouble processing all of the stuff because my brain likes to know things are done. And I was constantly telling my brain that all of this stuff hasn't been done and you have all of this to do and overwhelm, it sets in.
So here are some interesting stats on the mental effects of the clutter. If you declutter, you'll reduce your housework time by 40% because when you have clutter everywhere, you have to move it to clean around it.
Productivity is higher in a clutter free space. So think of your desk space. I have it, you know, being an accountant, there's a lot of paper and so I'll have papers everywhere and then sometimes I'll just get to a point where it's too much and I have to clean up and kind of start fresh with a clean slate and that makes me so [00:09:00] much more productive when I have that less cluttered workspace.
If you have a cluttered bedroom, you are more likely to have problems sleeping. So think back to that stimuli to your brain as you're getting in the bed, your brain is processing all of this work that hasn't been done. And then you're trying to go to sleep. So it makes a ton of sense as to why it would hinder good sleep.
And this one is really interesting. So, a cluttered space makes you more likely to make a poor eating choice. So, you walk in the kitchen, and you have all intentions of making this big, pretty salad, but there's mail and catalogs, and book bags and all these things all over the countertop, and so instead of cleaning that up to make space to take all the food out of the fridge and prep this salad, you just grab some chips or something else.
So it makes sense, but it really is [00:10:00] crazy how much clutter can negatively affect us mentally. In fact, people with a cluttered home are 77 percent negative more likely to be overweight.
And here's some other little interesting stats. So, 80 percent of the items people keep are items they never use. So, go ahead and get rid of that stuff you know you're not going to use. Let someone who could use it have it.
54 percent of Americans are overwhelmed by their clutter. Wouldn't be surprised if that's actually higher, but people really don't want to admit that their clutter is wreaking havoc on their lives. I was in denial for a long time myself. And this one's crazy. 2.7 billion a year is spent on purchasing items that you know you already have, but you can't find.
Because there's so much stuff, you don't know where it [00:11:00] is. So, the screwdriver, the tape measure that's somewhere in the garage, can't find it, off to Lowe's you go to buy a new one. And what's really interesting is that financial issues are the number one stressor of families. And it's interesting to see how as credit card debt and these kinds of things have, have increased over the years so has the use of storage units.
Now, I'm not saying that the increase of storage unit is directly correlated to all credit card debt, but it's interesting to see people are buying more and more things that they actually can't afford, thus the credit card debt increasing and the storage unit, the place to put all that stuff, those are increasing in usage.
So, the stuff is stressful, money is stressful, and then you're kind of commingling them, so to speak. So, a lot of times, that stuff that people are purchasing that is actually stressing [00:12:00] them out, it's also stressing them out from a financial standpoint when the credit card bill comes in.
How I recovered
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So, like I said, I can completely relate to that with all of the mental effects of the clutter overwhelm, and I finally, finally, finally started to get my arms around it when we moved a few years ago. So we had to move, home was damage from hurricanes, long story; we actually ended up being able to move basically next door, and we didn't know that COVID was about to happen, but the move occurred right before COVID, and because of the situation with our house, it was not going to be able to be sold we were able to have, I call it a slow move, and so we just moved the stop, the furniture that had an exact place, and we moved you know, the favorite clothes, the kitchen stuff we used every day. So we moved all the stuff we used daily, and then kind of as we found [00:13:00] things we were missing, we would go and pack up a box and bring it back. But at the end of the day, we got the new home, everything in it we needed. Nothing we didn't. And we went back and there's still so much stuff and I was just overwhelmed.
I'm like, what are we supposed to do with all this stuff? We have everything we need and use in the new home. And so we took the opportunity to actually let a charity come in and take it all themselves. They came multiple truckloads and they got the furniture that we weren't going to use.
They got clothing we weren't going to wear. They got sports equipment that my son had outgrown. All of these things, they were removed from our clutter overwhelm and they went to good use. So that's a total win win. We have a two car garage in the new house and guess what? There are two vehicles comfortably parked in there that you can open the doors [00:14:00] and walk all the way around because there's not stuff everywhere.
And it is a really great feeling when it's 30 degrees outside or pouring down rain or 95 degrees outside to not have to go outside to get in and out of the car. So, just being able to park in the garage now is a huge win from getting rid of all that stuff, because had it come to the new house, it would have gone straight to the garage and I'd be parking outside.
Ways to stay clutter free
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So once I was in the new home, I wanted to make sure that I kept it this way. I'm not going to say it stays perfect all the time, but nowadays when clutter starts to kind of take over, I do something about it immediately. So every little action helps. One thing I do do is I kind of call it the hanger method.
So if I buy a new piece of clothing, when I go to put it in the closet, it has to go on an already used hanger. So something in the closet has to go [00:15:00] for the new piece to go in there.
And I don't know about you, but I get a lot of junk mail catalogs. I've tried to go on every one of those lists or whatever you can sign up to to stop getting them, but they still keep coming. And the allure of them, and it's why they send them, is oh, the cover looks pretty. Maybe I need to look through this and see if I need anything.
But if you don't actively need anything, then don't even look through them. Straight to the recycle bin they go, and so that they don't Take up a ton of space on your countertop. I mean, our old house, we had literally stacks like this tall of catalogs and magazines and all of the stuff that we were never going to go through.
So, go ahead. Don't let them become clutter, clutter overwhelmed. Don't let them entice you to order something that you don't need that then becomes a new form of clutter overwhelm and possibly credit card debt. So go ahead and pitch those right off the kitchen counter.
And this one's [00:16:00] pretty hard for women. I'm gonna just admit it, but just because it's on sale, doesn't mean you need it. So that really applies to the clothes and the shoes and the handbags and that kind of stuff. I guess it also applies to men and some power tools kind of thing, but just because it's on sale doesn't mean you need it.
If you don't have a reason or purpose for purchasing it, don't. It's just going to accumulate dust with the rest of the extra stuff.
And most of y'all know I'm huge into meal planning, but meal planning or shopping with a very specific list of what you need will help keep the overwhelm in the pantry, which it can get out of hand and disorganized really fast. It will keep you from buying items that end up going bad and you throw out because you have duplicates, because the pantry's disorganized, because there's so much in there.
So, being very intentional of the food you purchase and not having too much in the pantry or the [00:17:00] refrigerator.
This is another one us ladies are guilty of is the love of our throw pillows. So if you love to change out your throw pillows seasonally like I do. Now granted I do actually try to make a lot of mine, so it makes this process I do a little easier, but I try to only purchase covers instead of full pillows. So the linen closet doesn't get overwhelmed with a gazillion seasonal pillows that are going to fall out every time you open the door. Instead, I have one shelf with neatly folded pillow covers that I change those out. Throughout the year, and then I don't have all of these throw pillows taking up extra space.
So that's just one example of something that easily takes over closets. Christmas decorations can do the same. I have a closet that's my Christmas decorations, and every year when I pull out my decorations, if there are things in there that I've decided I don't really want to use that anymore, I go [00:18:00] ahead and donate it right then as I'm pulling everything out; it's the start of the Christmas season, somebody else can use it, and I get it out of that closet, so that it's just not sitting there taking up space and never being used.
Just start, it's the hardest part
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So if you are overwhelmed with your stuff like I was, here are some tips for getting started because that starting point, I understand it is a It's so difficult to define a starting point, so if you are one of those that has the stacks of catalogs and everything on your kitchen counter, walk in there right now, pick them up, and take them straight to the recycling bin.
You are making progress if you do that. That one little bitty thing, then you're like, "Oh my gosh, I have my countertops back. This is great." It will motivate you to kind of keep going and do some other things.
Maybe your garage is overloaded with sports equipment you don't use, strollers that you don't use because your kids are too old now, any of those things. And I like to, when I'm especially [00:19:00] with big items that I'm going to get rid of, when I am getting them all together, go ahead and load them in your car.
And I know we've all driven around with the like small bag of some clothes we're going to donate and it rides around for like a year. But big items especially, go ahead and load them in your car because you can't even pick up groceries until you go unload them. Instead of just putting them all in a box or gathering them all together, put it all straight in the car and that way the next time you're out and about you're pretty much forced to go donate them somewhere.
And then you've got big items checked off your list.
And another one is, when you decide to do a declutter task, make sure you stay focused on it. Don't move those catalogs from the kitchen counter to the dining room table. I know it's tempting. The dining room table can be a really great catch all because you never use it, right? [00:20:00] So, don't move things from one room to another and then all of a sudden see something in that room and be like, "Oh, that's what I'm going to do now."
And then you never finish any of the tasks. So decide a task you're going to do, finish it, and it'll motivate you to do another one. But don't start a whole bunch of different ones and leave them unfinished because it will just frustrate you and you won't start making progress on actually decluttering.
And this one's hard to do because when you get in that mood to purge and organize, you're like, "Oh, I'm going to make it look like Pinterest or a catalog or something."
The problem with going and buying bins and baskets before you declutter is, one, you will either end up just filling them up with the clutter and trying to make it look prettier than it did. Or, you'll have a bunch of bins and baskets that don't work for your new organization once all the clutter is gone.
So, it's, it can be hard to do because I love cute baskets too, but wait until [00:21:00] you have the decluttering stuff done and you know your organizational needs before you go spend money on bins and baskets.
And lastly, if you really need help taking action, there are professional organizers out there that will come in and they'll kind of hold your hand and force you to ask hard yourself hard questions and get rid of things. Maybe you don't need quite that much help; given the accountability partner and y'all can hold each other accountable and, you know, go to each other's houses and help each other kind of do.
That's what friends are for, right? So it can be a very, very rewarding journey to get rid of all the extra stuff in your house. Like I said, I am by no means a minimalist now, and my house doesn't always look perfect, but I've really, really been mindful of when I start to see any kind of clutter that I go ahead and address it before it becomes that overwhelm and anxiety [00:22:00] and stress of too much stuff everywhere.
Outro
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So, if you are one of these people that are like I was, and maybe you even have a storage unit really make a plan and start, start with some little things to get you motivated to keep doing more and more. And the amount of stress and overwhelm it will take out of your life to have a home environment and a space that is not cluttered will really change your life.
[00:23:00]