Reading biographies and other books from the 1800s and early 1900s, I became astonished at how many things I own.

Did you know that people used to own one pen?

Did you know that not even 100 years ago (in 1930), the average American woman owned just 9 outfits?

There are different kinds of clutter.  Some things do belong in your home but need to be put in their proper places, such as clean dishes, clean laundry, and your vacuum cleaner (it does not belong in the middle of your living room, unless you just got it out to vacuum).

Other things we have in excess.  Do you really need 25 t-shirts when you do laundry weekly?  Do you need 15 vases when you hardly ever have fresh flowers at home?  Do you need 10 frying pans?

Other things you may considering throwing away or recycling.  Do you need the pen that no longer works and has no refills?  Do you need the markers that are dried out?  Do you need empty pasta boxes or bags?

1. You will have less stress. 

Even when you begin to declutter your home, you will feel less stress.  You won’t be stressed out about piles of papers that need to be sorted or boxes of old clothes that need to be sorted.  You won’t be stressed out from having so much work to do before you can begin to clean your home.

2.  You will have more hope. 

You won’t think of yourself as a person who is hopeless and can never have a tidy home.  

3.  You will save time cleaning. 

Instead of having to move 15 items as you vacuum, you may need to move only the couches and coffee table and perhaps a bag or two.

When I used to clean missions apartments, I was amazed at how quickly I could clean them.  Why is that?  There was no clutter.  Of course, there were more reasons such as no one lived there.  There were no dirty clothes and usually no dirty dishes with which to deal, but the fact is that there was no clutter in that apartment.

4.  You will create a peaceful environment in your home.  

Decluttering will reduce your stress levels and those of your family members.  It will create a peaceful, orderly environment where you can sit and enjoy some good music, a home cooked meal, or an excellent book.

The peaceful environment will save you money because you won’t always be looking for ways to escape the clutter and chaos of your home (usually by an activity that costs money).

5. You will save money. 

How can you save money?  Before I began to declutter my home, I had a mental list of things we needed.  Can you imagine my surprise when I found those items while I was decluttering?

6.  You won’t be embarrassed to have a friend to your home unexpectedly. 

When your home is decluttered and a friend asks to come over, you can quickly clean your restroom and kitchen and be happy to receive youur friend.  However, if clutter is everywhere, you will be frantically decluttering before you can clean anything.  Worse yet, you may have to decide which would take priority, cleaning or decluttering.

7.  You will feel as though your home is larger. 

Decluttering is very economical because it can save you tens of thousands of dolllars to purchase a new home.  You can have a “new” home by decluttering and surprising yourself with how much room you actually have.

Bonus #1:  You will have more confidence.  You know that you could declutter your home.  Now you may have confidence that you can do something else you never thought you could do.  Since you decluttered your home, you may have the confidence that you can keep it declutterd too!

Bonus #2:  You will have more energy for things that matter.  Instead of stressing out about the clutter in your home, you can have a baking day with your children, take your children to a park, or have a family game night.

Here are the books that helped me declutter my home:

Decluttering at the Speed of Life by Dana K. White

The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker

The Minimalist Way by Erica Lane

Madame Chic at Home by Jennifer L Scott.

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