Last week I spoke about why women have such a hard time decluttering their closet..I won’t go back into it but if you missed it you can find it here..... https://www.freshstartorganising.com/post/why-is-it-so-hard-to-declutter-our-closets
This week I want to talk more about the reasons we come up with as to why we can’t part with the excess and how to manage our emotions.
Here is a list of reasons I consistently hear.
But it cost money
The money is gone. The money has left the building. Unless it's still got the tags on it, and it's within the 30 day exchange period (or whatever the shops rules are) it's gone. It ain’t coming back. You have a couple of options-
1. Try and sell the item. Go onto an online marketplace, search your item and see what it's going for. I would generally say for an average item, you could list it for half to 1/3 of the purchase price. Now I don’t want you to say yes but this isn’t an average item, unless its vintage, a very well known brand (not sold in the average mall) it is an average item. Don’t argue just do the research. The essential part of this selling business is to make sure you set a time frame. If its not gone in x amount of days it needs to be donated. Remember the whole point of this declutter isn’t to raise money, it is to free up your space, time and create somewhere that is functional.
2. Find someone you love who will fit the item, wear the item and NEEDS the item, then gift it to them. I don’t want you to pass on clutter to anyone. Don’t create a problem for your loved ones, only gift items that really truly will be used and loved by that person. It’s not fair to pass your clutter onto someone else to deal with. I would prefer if you didn’t do this, but if you know it’s right then do it.
3. Donate the item. Have you ever been down? Have you ever had to buy a cheap suit for an interview, or an ugly dress for a wedding because you couldn’t afford a beautiful dress? If you said yes then donating it is a great option. Help out someone less fortunate with your generosity. Gift your good fortune to someone who needs it.
It doesn’t fit right now but it might in the future
I get it, I’ve been pregnant three times, been a size 10 in between pregnancies, up to a size 16, and back down to a 14. Women’s bodies are forever changing, but there is also a bit of fantasy in some of our decision making when it comes to our clothes.
I want you to be honest with yourself and answer these questions. 1. How long has it been since I was that size? 2. Is there a medical reason for it currently not fitting? 3. How long with what I am currently doing about my current size will it take to get back to that size?
In my case I am currently 2 sizes bigger than what I would call my 20’s normal size. So if I was looking at the above questions here are my answers-
-How long has it been since i was in that size? Size 12-5 years, size 14-2 years.
-Is there a medical reason? No
-How long until I could be back in that size, with what I’m currently doing right now? I am not doing anything to lose weight right now, and I love chocolate so probably never.
You can see by my answers I need to release my expectations on keeping the clothes. I am keeping them based on hope not practicality. If I answered yes to medical condition and I had a positive outlook on what I am currently doing then that would be a yes to keeping the clothing. However, if you are working hard to reach the size of clothing you desire, be it bigger or smaller, and you are seeing results keep them. But if you’re like me and either don’t care, or are not doing anything about it, then it's time to release them. We need to stop holding onto things based on what we want our future to look like, and keep them based on what is actually happening in the present.
But I want to get back to that!
This one is a bit more of a “yeah that makes sense”. Are you out of work for family reasons, have you taken on a different role at work? Trying something new or taken a year off to become a soul searcher? These are ok reasons to hold onto items that you're not currently wearing…with limits. Make sure that the items in this category aren’t in the other categories. I want you to only keep the items you were actually wearing while you were in that role. I want you to keep clothing that fit you and you loved. And I only want you to keep them for a year. (Or three if you’re on maternity leave) And make sure they still fit.
How does that all feel? Do you have some more concrete answers to your buuuuuuttttttts? I hope you have some helpful information on tackling some of the reasons we tell ourselves not to release our clothing. Do you have any other other reasons holding you back from releasing them?
Let me know over on Facebook and I can help you tackle that one too!
V
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