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Enroll in Clothes Decluttering 101 here
Enroll in Decluttering Simplified here
I’m just going to get right to it
There is a lot of unpacking we need to do with these most common decluttering beliefs, and if someone would have told me these back in 2012 I would have believed them all. I know better now!
1. Decluttering the means you'll do more laundry.
I held onto way more clothes than we could realistically even use. I told myself it was because my kids were messy. They grew too quickly and unpredictably. They ruined clothes. Among other things, but the biggest reason I told myself we needed the excessive amounts of clothes…
If I had less clothes, I would be doing laundry ALL the time. Even though I was already doing way too much laundry just trying to maintain what we had.
Here’s the thing. You need an amount of clothes you can comfortably manage. If you can manage doing 2-3 loads a day - go for it! But if you’re drowning and living out of laundry baskets or piles, without enough room in closets or drawers, you probably need to declutter.
2. Only rich people can declutter.
I definitely would have believed this. When we ditched all of our stuff other than what fit into one suitcase each, we had no money to our names and were flying 4500 miles away from the only place we had ever called home. I was worried sick each night about money and how we would replace all of our stuff.
The craziest thing happened though. My husband and I got resourceful as heck, and were able to generate all the resources we needed. I don’t have an exact number but about 80% of the stuff we parted ways with when we moved from Alaska to Florida we NEVER repurchased - it was clutter, so why would we?
Even better, because of this our money situation as a whole massively improved. We learned to be stewards of our money and to spend it on things that aligned with our values and budget.
We need much less than we think we do, and we confuse essential with modern convenience.
More importantly we forget that the world is a benevolent place and we are always provided for and we are more resourceful than we give ourselves credit. We can generate money and resources when we need it.
3. If you’re going to declutter you have to be a minimalist.
I don’t identify as a minimalist, though I am sure many put that label onto me. I have five kids and want a big home that we don’t ever have to leave if we don’t want to. I like to have nice things, and I have fun giving my kids gifts on Christmas and birthdays. That doesn’t fit into the mainstream definition of minimalism usually.
I want to have a home that is easy to maintain and allows me to be present with my family and pursue all of my creatives dreams and goals.
What do you think? Do you relate to any of these myths on either end? I want to hear your thoughts!
And remember that in just a few short weeks I will be opening up Decluttering Simplified for one final sale this year for $60 off!
You can learn more about this course here
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