If you’ve got clutter you’re losing cash baby! You don’t want to lose cash do you? So you have some boxes and piles-how’s that really costing you money? There are a variety of ways that clutter could be costing you and they’re coming right up!
Care and upkeep of clutter: Your time is valuable and some may even say that time is money. When you’ve got stuff, you’ve got to keep up with it. You have to care for it by dusting it, repairing it and giving it a home by storing it. Walking by piles and stacks of clutter that need to be dealt with can even take a toll on your energy and your emotions.
Cost of storage: When you have clutter, it has to either live with you or without you, but you’re still footing the bill. If you’re storing your excess stuff at home, according to an article on Yahoo, the average cost of clutter storage is $10/square foot. Now, if you just have a teeny tiny pile of clutter on the edge of one counter, maybe that’s not so bad. But when you start thinking about stuffed closets, full garages and cupboards brimming with stuff, that bad boy starts adding up.
Now, let’s say you decide to rent a storage unit because you want it out of your house and you’re determined that you will bring one box home per week to go through. I don’t want to be a negative Nelly, but that probably won’t happen. Typically, once it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind because I know you’re a very busy person with lots of other stuff to do.
According to the CostHelper, July 7, 2017, the national average for a 10′ x 15′ storage unit is $75-$140/month. So, let’s run some numbers, shall we?
- $75 x 12 months = $900/year
- $140 x 12 months = $1,680/year
Now, let’s just say you rent that unit for 5 years. That’s seriously not out of the realm of possibility.
- $900 x 5 years = $4,500
- $1,680/year = $8,400
What vacation would you like to take for that price versus paying to store boxes of stuff that you haven’t looked at for years? You picking up what I’m putting down?
Purchasing Duplicates: It’s very common for people to purchase duplicate items because they can’t find something amongst the clutter and chaos. They just know that they have several rolls of tape, but they can’t find any of them. So, they go out and purchase a few new rolls and bring them home. Now, they’ve just spent money that they didn’t need to spend and they’ve added more clutter to the home because those original rolls of tape are still somewhere to be found.
Cold, hard cash: When I’m working with clients, I feel like the hero when I come across a stack of cash, gift cards or checks that have gotten lost in a drawer, a pile or even in a laundry room cupboard-yes, that has happened. As fun as it is for me to hand over, the downside is my client didn’t have access to the money for shopping, saving or investing. And sometimes the checks are expired and then that’s a big hassle to fix. And if the checks are really old, I’ve had clients choose not to pursue getting them reissued which is a big bummer. No one likes to throw away money.
Don’t throw away money.
Tackle your clutter today so you can be the boss in your own home, feel more relaxed and feel a bit richer too!
