Have you ever considered the cost of the things you buy and own in comparison to the value they actually realise for you. Which example below represents good value for money to you?

1. You bought a new dress to go to an event and it cost you $100. Yes, you had plenty of other dresses you could wear but you wanted a new one. The dress has now been sitting in your closet for six months and you have only worn it on that one occasion.
2. You bought a secondhand bicycle in order to cut down on using the car for short trips. You only paid $50 for it but use it all the time and the added bonus is your fitness levels have improved incredibly.

It is plain to see that the value, to you, of the $50 bicycle far out weighs to more expensive dress that is rarely used.

The above examples raise yet more cost v value issues as there is more to cost and value than meets the eye. The monetary cost of the dress was $100 but the value so far in return has been very little. The dress is actually costing you more than just the money you spent on it. Knowing you should not have wasted your money on it in the first place is costing you emotionally. Guilt is causing you to keep the item in the hope that you will get more value out of it and that is costing you wasted space in your closet.

Do you see where I am going with this.

Now how about the bicycle. It cost you $50 and over time it will pay itself off in fuel savings which means it is of more value in dollars than it actually cost. But not only that, you are getting fit riding it so it has an added health value. Plus all of these things make you feel good about yourself which raises your self-esteem adding more value to the bike. Yes, it also takes up space in your garage but it is worth every inch it occupies.

Here is one more example for you. Say you own two beautiful dinner sets. You display one set because you love it visually and you use it whenever you have company over for dinner. The other one you aren’t so enamoured with and it is taking up valuable space in the back of a cupboard where you never look at it or use it for that matter. Even though they both cost much the same to buy one is obviously of more value to you than the other. Perhaps if you are keen to declutter you should keep your favourite and sell or give away the other.

As you can see the cost of an object means nothing if it is of no value to you. While at the same time something of relatively little cost may be of infinite value if it is useful to you in some way. The more useful and/or the more enjoyed the item is the more value it is to you.

This is a good way to evaluate your clutter. It is also a good way to look at items before you decide to purchase them. If you can be honest with yourself about how much value you are likely get out of an item before buying it you could save yourself a whole lot of money. You can also avoid a whole lot of grief, effort and waste of space in the long term.

Today’s Declutter Item

These rubber stamps are of no value to me. They probably cost me very little but I never use them so now they are just wasting valuable space in my already cluttered craft area. 

Rubber Stamps

Something I Am Grateful For Today

In keeping with today’s theme I must say I am grateful for my laptop. I bought a new one earlier this year because my old one really wasn’t keeping up with technology. Although it was an expensive outlay it realises it’s worth everyday when I write my posts and answer all my readers comments. My old one also served me well and was worth every cent I spent on it some six or more years ago. 

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Yesterday at about 10:40pm I was finally getting around to reading the new comments on my blog when I found one from Gogol who hadn’t commented before. I enjoyed it so much and I thought you would to. It is an interesting approach to declutter decision making that I don’t think I had heard of before. It runs along the same line as putting all your stuff out in the garage and only bring items back into the house if you really feel they are worthy but with a different twist.

Gogol if  you are out there reading this  leave a commet and tell us a little about yourself. Here is what Gogol wrote…

There is one thing that I would like to share with you all.  While decluttering, it can be a really difficult task to identify which things you need to keep and which you can donate/throw away.
Here’s my tip: Imagine all your possessions have been sold to a pawn shop (by a junkie friend or an evil in-law, whatever).
Now ask yourself, which of them would you buy back? The price doesn’t matter. I bet there will be a lot of items that you don’t wanna spend money for,  however small. These are the things that need to go!
Let me know if this works for you.

Now that is a novel approach isn’t it.  And I was very thankful for the suggestion because like I said it was 10:40pm and I hadn’t settled on a topic for todays post. See what a symbiotic relationship blogs can be.  I help you, you help me and we all learn something new and sometimes are amused along the way.

ITEM 197 OF 365 LESS THINGS

These drink coolers are a blast from the past. A time that will never be forgotten that I can assure you my husband doesn’t need any visual reminders of. He and his best mate talk so often about those good old days that I am starting to feel like I was there myself which would have been great because it sure sounds like it was fun.