A neighbor down the street just put their house up for sale. The past few weeks on trash day there have been piles of junk to be picked up. 
My sister-in-law decided to move and has talked about all the trash they are getting rid of in order to put their house up for sale. Every time I’ve been to her house it looks like it could be in a magazine. Apparently she has stored a lot in the basement.
Anyway, this has got me thinking about what I would keep and what I would get rid of when the time comes for me to move. It also has me thinking about why we keep the junk and trash in our current home but are not wanting to move it to our new home.
Why Are We Keeping Garbage In Our Homes?
- Is it because we don’t take the time to go through it until we are forced to by a move?
- Is it because we don’t see it as junk in our current home but see it as junk in our new home?
- Is it really okay to treat our current home like a garbage dump?
Our homes are our biggest investments. Even if you rent usually a large portion of your income goes towards it. Yet we don’t treat our home or ourselves with the respect we deserve.
I’ve been in my home for 21 years and I’m sure there is plenty I wouldn’t want to move to a new home. I bet you have a lot in your home also.
Years ago when I first started with Flylady she wrote about using “pretend” exercises to help get rid of the clutter. I haven’t done the “pretend realtor” or “pretend moving” exercises for a long time.
With “For Sale” signs popping up all over it’s a good time for the “pretend moving” exercise. The best way is to take one room at a time. Then ask yourself the following “Moving Mindset” questions.
Moving Mindset:
- Would I use or display this item in a new home?
- Would I pay movers good money to move it across country?
- Would I be willing to store this item in a new home in case I need it someday?
- If I never really liked this item would I bother to move it?
If a new home doesn’t deserve to house this trash/clutter then why does your current home deserve it? With a change of mindset we can make our current homes worthy of first class treatment instead of treating them like garbage dumps.
Do you use “pretend” exercises to help get you in the right mindset to declutter? Please share your tips in the comment section.
To a lighter load along the way.
Janice