Hasta La Ideas

Yesterday, in the comment section to “Downsizing after a divorce” reader Clutter Junkie left an amazing strategy for reducing clutter that I wanted to highlight as its own post. From Clutter Junkie:

I’m rubbish at decluttering, but I had a girlfriend help me do my place.

She brought $20 in coins to start me off, and put everything I owned to one side of the room. If I wanted to keep anything, I had to buy it for a dollar (Just one dollar!) at a time. You soon realise that you wouldn’t pay a dollar for that CD in a junk shop — so why are you keeping it? All the money I paid went to charity, the amount of stuff I didn’t want also went to a charity store. It’s amazing how unappealing that old sweater looks when you have to pay for it.

I think this idea would work amazingly well for some situations — helping kids to minimize their toy collections, reducing the number of clothes in a closet, and deciding which sentimental items to keep and which to toss are a few situations that instantly come to my mind. If you have to “buy” your things again, you will certainly be more selective with what you choose to keep.

I also love the idea of the money and the left over items going to charity (assuming they’re in good condition). It’s nice to know that good things can happen as a result of your uncluttering efforts. Thanks, Clutter Junkie, for sharing your uncluttering strategy with us.