Sue Kay

By Sue Kay

19th January 2009

Sorting out your stuff usually has unexpected psychological benefits. Sue Kay, decluttering guru, explains how a clearing out session can also have a positive impact on your financial situation. Follow these seven steps to abundant living.

Sue Kay

By Sue Kay

19th January 2009

Sue Kay

By Sue Kay

19th January 2009

Collect up your change
I’d like you to gather up all the loose change that is lying around in your home – use this as an opportunity to go though all your bags, including half unpacked suitcases, work bags and turn out trouser and jacket pockets too. If you fancy it, check under the sofa too! I bet you’re surprised at the total and at all the other lost bits and pieces that come to light in the process. Put the change aside for a treat to beat the winter blues or set yourself a daily cash budget to give your bank account a short break.

Use Christmas gift vouchers
In decluttering sessions clients often come across expired gift vouchers. If you were given vouchers as Christmas gifts spend them now – before they get stuck in the back of a drawer and lost for years.

Be creative with your stuff
Think of positive ways you can use up things that still have life in them. I recently bought a pot of expensive face cream that was too heavy for my skin. It lay around for a while and I started to feel guilty, then I thought I might as well use it up as body lotion. No waste and my skin is supersmooth. For you it could be using a bag you’d put aside for best or actually wearing your “good” underwear everyday.

Feel rich through giving
I know it’s a cliché but giving unwanted things to a charity shop can give you a real high. Set a realistic goal of filling just one bag or small box today. By accepting you are never going to have a 28” waist again (old jeans can go) or finish half read tomes that have been on your bookshelves for years, you will feel a sense of relief as you say farewell to part of your life that is gone forever.

Sell, sell, sell
If you need to raise some cash I feel it always works best to focus on selling fewer items in decent condition rather than trying to get back money back on every little thing. Start today by identifying 3 items you no longer need to raise some new year cash. Take a look at these sites for some selling ideas.

Revisit old pleasures
If cash is tight – then revisit old possessions that haven’t seen the light of day for a while. For example, reread a novel rather than buy new. Make sure you are wearing all your clothes too as you may well have settled into a rut of only wearing your favourite black items (one of my bad habits!)

Spend consciously
Change your attitude to shopping – become more of a browser and window shopper than a knee-jerk buyer. Aim to think long and hard about purchases before parting with any money. If you’re not 100% sure ask the shop assistant to put the item on hold while you consider it over coffee. I fell in love with a grey silk skirt in the sales last week but it really wasn’t going to work with the rest of my wardrobe. Beautiful, reduced, yet still not a good buy.

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