Day 7: Recession Decluttering

I somehow find that I am best at budgeting and keeping my finances in order when my living spaces are tidy. Part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle is ensuring that finance blues aren't dragging you down. I find the following to be a positive boost to improving my daily life:

1. Do a thorough clean of your home. Go through and make sure that you are only keeping what needs to be in your space. What you remove can usually be given to charity or can be recycled (the goal of this exercise is not to fill up landfills). Be aggressive at this stage; if you haven't used it in the past year, there's a good chance you won't be needing it. There may even be a few things you can sell for money; something that is additionally helpful in the time of a recession.

2. Once you've gotten rid of excess, organize your living spaces. If you have room, try and divide your home into sections; work, entertainment, sleep. This will help to clarify what all you have in your place and where everything fits. I realize that feng shui isn't for everyone, but understanding what you need and where in your living space is important.

3. Once everything has a place, you will no longer want to go out and spend money to clutter your space. When your living areas are cluttered, it's easy to continue to spend money on things you don't need, because as long as there is room you can continue to fill the space. Once you have everything in order, you'll be disinclined to add new things you don't need.

Hopefully by clearing out parts of your home and selling items you don't need, you'll have some extra money and a comfortable living space. This isn't just about making a few dollars and penny pinching for a few weeks; it's about changing your lifestyle. Too often in our society people self-soothe by purchasing small items in the wake of a recession (one reason why movies do so well in a recession). It's time to adjust your mindset that living with what you have can be rewarding and adjusting your mindset now will pay off in the future.