Could You Stop Shopping if It Meant Less Clutter in Your Home?

by Susan McCarthy

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

When I give presentations about decluttering, I often get asked the logical question – How do I prevent the clutter from coming back?

My answer has some people push back in their chairs while others give a bit of a head shake/shoulder shrug combo that says, “I suppose so, but I don’t think this would work for me.”
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Stop the Cycle of Clutter

Tell people to tidy up at the end of the day – sure, no protests. They might not do it, but it makes sense.

Suggest keeping a box available to fill with donations so you can declutter unwanted items as you find them – great idea.

Recommend letting go of one item for every item you bring into the house. Hmmm, there’s a bit of a pushback with this one. It makes sense but it seems extreme…until I tell them to stop shopping.
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Prevent the Clutter from Returning

Don’t buy anything new.

Arms cross, eyes roll, words of protest tumble from tongues.

I go on to explain to participants that I don’t mean consumable items like food, cleaning supplies, or personal care products like shampoo. I mean those gadgets that tempt us with promises of saving time.

Or that item of clothing on the clearance rack marked at a price that you can’t ignore even though you aren’t certain if the color will match anything in your closet. Or the new holiday decoration that will brighten up the house.

Nothing new.

Someone will speak up and tell me that if there’s a gadget out there that’s going to save them five minutes, they’re going to get it because it will be a worthwhile purchase. But then I mention watching a virtual cooking class on the topic of saving time when prepping and cooking meals.

The presenter used all sorts of gadgets that would help her prepare items faster than simply using a knife. As she went from item to item, all I could think of was how much time it would take to wash those time-saving gadgets. Sure, dinner might get on the table five minutes sooner…but then it would take more time to clean and put away everything after the meal.

New items have a cost.

• We pay for it with the time we give at work.
• We need to find a space for it in our home.
• We need to remember to use it to justify the purchase.
• We need to clean it.
• And at some point, we may need to declutter it because it didn’t live up to expectations.

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By not making a purchase, we aren’t bringing items into our home as quickly as we unclutter them. We aren’t left wondering why decluttering is a never-ending process.

Remember, almost every item that you are decluttering is something that you had to buy because you were convinced it would help you in some way. And if you never or rarely used it, it could have stayed at the store.
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​Create Space in Your Home and Life

Not buying anything new is particularly important while you’re decluttering. You want to see clear space, not new stuff.

This doesn’t mean that you can never buy anything new. Things wear out and sometimes you realize that you need to buy something to solve a problem.

But telling yourself that you aren’t buying anything new can create a new mindset. It can make you pause before you hit “buy now” and question your options – Can you use something you already own?

​Will this item really make your life simpler in the way you want it to? Is there any harm in waiting until later? (And if you’re thinking, the price could go up, question if the only reason for buying the item is the price. If something would truly meet a need, then chances are a few dollars wouldn’t really make a difference.
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Make Not Shopping a Palatable Option

If you had the money, what would you really like to do? Renovate an area of your home? Take a vacation? Take a class related to your personal or professional development?

• Think of not shopping as a way to save money toward this goal.
• Not shopping saves you from incurring new expenses and allows you to pay down debt and reduce your stress.
• Buying fewer things encourages you to use what you have – wear the clothing, read the books, use the hobby supplies, burn the candles, and so on. You won’t feel deprived because you’ll be rediscovering what you already own.

Limiting shopping is just one way to simplify. Subscribe to emails and you can get the free guide, Simplify Your Home, which offers practical steps for clearing the clutter that lingers in your home.

Learn more about the benefits of limiting shopping in the downloadable guide The No-Spend Experience. And if you’re ready to go deeper into the process clearing clutter and distractions from your life, you can purchase The Less Clutter, More Life Kit which takes you through the process of clarifying what you want from your life, clearing and curating your things, and then creating the life you want by developing the goals and habits that will support you in the life you are designing.

(And, yes, I realize it’s ironic to mention buying something that can help you simplify your life which is why I curated the downloadable guides in the kit to make certain they offered a well-rounded approach to creating your best life.)
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Get my free guide, Live a Less Cluttered Life, and start clearing clutter and distractions from your life, today.
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