Declutter Your Life. Trade objects for Memories

Yesterday, FrugalDad posted about obsessive hoarders and clutter--the kind where piles of piles and piles of useless stuff fills up a room or displaces living spaces. A-lot of readers commented how much of a universal problem it is. Some of  our observations on why people hoard things are:

• some disasterous event occurred - a war or hurricane - where they lost everything and are now obsessed with saving things just in case they need it one day.
• the ingrain belief that our net worth was somehow increased with more stuff we had. Quantity over quality. We assign way too much valley to the clutter.

The consensus is that obsessive clutter adds more stress as you worry about storing and safeguarding more and more things, spend more money on their upkeep and stress out when you can't find something you need.  It acts as an obstacle course for the mind.  Getting rid of things, makes your life simpler and more enjoyable.

My take on this--try to exchange clutter for memories.  Hold a garage sale and sell your stuff.  SurvivalWoman has an excellent strategy--set a goal, such as selling, giving or donating five things a week.  Now try to maintain it for four weeks in a roll.  When you reach your goal, reward yourself with a short trip or dinner at a favor restaurant hanging out with friends.  The key is to accumalate memories, not objects.

At the end of your life, about the only thing that you can keep, perhaps the only thing that you can take with you are your memories.  In the end, that's all that matters.