To sell or not to sell? How to rid your home of clutter
To sell or not to sell? That is the question many of us often find ourselves asking.
But do we ever get an answer? Because it turns out that we are a nation of hoarders, with a study finding that one in five households have enough clutter to fill a whole room!
Why do we hoard so much stuff? Maybe there are some things we can’t bear to let go of, others we think ‘I’ll use that one day…’ or perhaps we just can’t be bothered to sort through it all. The study also found that 42% of people refuse to part with unwanted items as it is too much hassle.
Whatever your reason for not de-cluttering, it’s time to do something about it. Clutter can cause stress, it demotivates you and it makes the house dirty as well as messy – none of which is good for your health.
So, what are you going to do about it? How are you going to answer that question that has been troubling you for some time – to sell or not to sell?
Well, first take your time. The fact the job appears so big and time-consuming could be among the reason you are putting it off. Take it a room at a time and work your way around it. It’s better to do little and often than not to do it at all.
Now you have started you might want to sort things into four piles. The first one is for the rubbish – those items that don’t belong anywhere except the bin. The next is to give to charity – did you know that each bag you donate to Cancer Research could be worth around £25? This money goes directly to supporting their groundbreaking work – meaning what was once junk lying around your home can become part of vital research to fight this awful disease that affects so many people. Now you have done your good deed for the day it is time for those items that you can sell – you know what they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, so why not sell your gold in exchange for cash.
Finally, you will find yourself with items that you don’t want to get rid of but haven’t really got enough space for. These items can be put in a local storage unit – giving you back the space you need but also access to them as and when you need.
While doing the above you must be ruthless – if you haven’t used it for six months, the likelihood is you will never use it and it will continue to sit and take up much needed space – so get rid of it. If you have used it in the last six months, but perhaps only once or twice, you might want to store it. That way you have the space without having to get rid of something you really want to keep.
It may have been a mammoth task but you will feel a huge sense of relief and satisfaction when it is complete. Plus, you now have the space to buy all those things you didn’t have room for – just make sure it doesn’t get cluttered again.
