Saving Money & Wasting Less

Lesson 4: Around the house

Reducing the clutter, and false economies

Many homes, cars, and garages, are cluttered with useless junk. Kitchens are often cluttered with gadgets that are never used. People who suffer from 'retail therapy' are particularly likely to have a lot of useless stuff.

It costs you money to have a cluttered house! How so? Because you have to buy the clutter in the first place, and buying clutter can be addictive. Remember about the bargain hunts in Lesson 2? If you're buying bargains for no reason other than they're bargains, what you're really buying is clutter.

If you want to make money now, have a sale and sell off every gadget you never use, and every object in the house you don't actually love, or which has no meaning for you. If you don't want a sale, or you're feeling philanthropic, give them away.

An uncluttered house is easier to clean and keep clean, and you will use fewer cleaning products and spend less time on housework. You will also have lower heating/cooling bills because it takes energy to heat or cool all the clutter. Once you get rid of the clutter, you will also start to lose the desire to buy more junk, and that will save you a lot of money over time.

Clutter causes stress and can make your home look messy, untidy and smaller than it really is.

If you feel your house is cluttered, and you're overwhelmed by it, or by housework, a good resource is the Fly Lady website by Marla Cilley, author of 'Sink Reflections', Bantam Books.

Starting with a shiny kitchen sink, and working outwards in bursts of no longer than 15 minutes, the Fly Lady's suggestions can help you get rid of your clutter, reduce the stress, and even transform your life.

You can save money (and the Earth) by getting rid of the useless clutter and not replacing it, and by taking charge of your own household instead of hiring a cleaner to look after your home. It really does take dedicated sessions of just fifteen minutes to begin to bring your home back into order.

An uncluttered, tidy home, has benefits other than the obvious ones mentioned above, and they are the psychological benefits. Waking up to a kitchen sink empty, shiny and welcoming has a vastly different effect on the psyche to waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes. You start the day with a smile instead of a groan. As your home is freed of the clutter it will look bigger and more inviting, and be less stressful. You might find added benefits such as saving money on anti-depressants, and finding more quality time to spend with the family.

False economies
While we all want to live in a less toxic environment, and also one that is not infested with insects, some infestations need to be dealt with by professionals. If you have, or suspect you have, a termite (white ants) problem for example, it is false economy to try to deal with it yourself. There are professional pest exterminators who use natural, less toxic products than the rest, but it is important to spend the money on professional help because you'll save money and stress in expensive repairs.

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