Take Stock of Your Stuff

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By Margaret Poe

48% of Americans say their homes are cluttered with things they no longer use.

While the majority of Americans (72%) think they'd free up space in their house by purging unused items, 41% haven’t decluttered in more than a year

Nearly half of Americans think they have more than $1,000 in unused items in their homes¹.

Pocketbook pain

After filling up their closets and garages, many turn to outside storage to find additional space for their stuff. Currently, 9.4% of American households rent a storage unit. At an average monthly cost of $91, that adds up to more than $1,000 annually².

Sabotage by sweet tooth

Clutter even may encourage unhealthy eating habits. A 2016 study in the journal Environment and Behavior found that students in a chaotic kitchen ate nearly three times as many cookies as those in an organized one³.

Conquer clutter

You know you don’t need all that stuff piled up around your house. But where do you start?

Try the four-box method to sort through your belongings. Pick one room or closet to tackle. As you go through these objects, put them in one of these boxes:

• Keep any objects you use regulary.
• Sell/Donate anything that no longer serves you but could benefit someone else.
• Trash items that are broken or otherwise unusable.
• Store those belongings you don't use on a regular basis but just can't bear to part with. Re-evaluate the contents of this box regularly.