How Having Too Much Stuff is Costing You

Many of us struggle with having more stuff than we need or know what to do with. Too many things lying around equals clutter and here's how having too much stuff is costing you in time, energy and money.
Clutter Wastes Time

It's estimated that the average North American wastes 55 minutes a day looking for things they know they own but can't find. That's almost 14 days a year that people spend simply trying to find lost things instead of doing something productive. If you were being paid $15 an hour, missing 14-eight hour days would equal a loss of $1,680.

Clutter Wastes Space

Often, we have no space to store what we need because we have too much of what we don't need and, rather than getting rid of stuff, we put it into storage.

If you're paying for a storage unit for reasons other than for something such as a temporary arrangement until your new house is ready, it may be time to take a good long look at what you're keeping and making an effort to do away with that expense.

Renting a 20 by 20 foot storage unit costs around $225 a month, which means that, over the course of a year you're shelling out $2,700. You could easily have a nice weekend away for that much money.

Ask yourself why you are keeping everything. Try to view these possessions objectively. If you can't give yourself a satisfactory answer, sell or give away what you have in storage. In the case of boxes and boxes of old 35mm photos, save only the ones that mean the most to you, throw out duplicates or anything that came out less than perfect. Keep only four or five pictures from a special event.

Clutter Messes With Your Mind

I'm writing this amid clutter. It's all stuff I need, files, office supplies, etc., but, after moving into this space almost two months ago, it's still a disorganized mess and it's had an impact on my ability to concentrate.

I wasn't surprised then, by the conclusions made in a study published by researchers at the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute confirming that clutter has a definite effect on our brains. They found that disorder blocks your ability to focus and limits your brain's ability to process information. Clutter wears you down mentally so you're more likely to become frustrated and stressed.

Whether you work from home or in an office building, the promise of greater productivity and less stress should be enough to encourage all of us to tidy up.


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Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and Dollar Store Diva. She writes tips and ideas for finding and using the best the dollar store has to offer.