This time, we focus on how to keep track of your belongings and not to fill your house again. The idea is that you keep your home in a decluttered state. In addition, we take a look at impulse buying and different methods that prevent it.
How to keep track of your belongings – home inventory
Whether you are a minimalist, have recently decluttered or have maintained your lifestyle, you will buy things. The new stuff will again, one item after another, fill up your home gradually.
Often, we don’t see the impact because the changes are not noticeable.
That’s why I have compiled a list with ideas that help to maintain a clean and tidy home.
Narrow down your storing space
This first method is actually quite simple to implement if you have recently decluttered your home. The idea is that you had all this space, these drawers and furniture that was necessary to store all your clutter.
Now, try to get rid of these empty spaces and constraint yourself in this way.
Get one, remove one
Another method that can be combined with the preceding one is get one, remove one.
For this, I have a recent example: I bought two new pairs of trousers. That’s why I donated my older ones.
This idea should work with clothing, utilities and even furniture. This is also a way to stop yourself from buying another drawer or a storage box.
Home inventory
The last method is to actually make a whole home inventory. This normally includes everything from clothing to furniture to tupperware.
The benefit is that not only you set up a list and see what you actually own, but also it is a future benefit. If you have the whole inventory, you can check it if you want to buy something new. Or, you can plan on the list what you want to throw away next.
I admit that this last idea is quite impossible if you live in a house with tens of thousands of items. However, in that case you should first take a look at
Facts and Fiction: The 300’000 items for the average American household
Here or in my article Extreme minimalism – What is it?, I talk about the average number of household items which is apparently 300’000.
“ I found an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times “Consider these statistics cited by professional organizer Regina Lark: The average U.S. household has 300,000 things, from paper clips to ironing boards. “
Where does this number come from?
However, I took a closer look at it and found on Skeptics the answer to: How do we know if it really is 300’000?.
A brilliant user named Weather Vane investigated this claim and concluded that this number doesn’t have any proof. Furthermore, he/she actually shows that the possible amount of items is very difficult to count. Is a photo book one item or are the pictures inside multiple items?In my opinion, this is an arbitrary high number that just stands for ‘there is a lot of stuff.’ If I say 300k, 200k or 10k, it doesn’t matter. The message is still that you should declutter a lot, cope with consumerism and live a more minimalist lifestyle.