Less Clutter Project Part 2

by Marie Vonow (follow)

Clutter (22)      Christmas (19)      Sales (2)      Storage (2)     

It is easy to accumulate many things associated with Christmas that can end up as clutter. Rather than just buying all sorts of Christmas specific things without careful consideration I have started to give each purchase careful thought.

Picture this. It's just after Christmas and all sorts of Christmas items are on sale for a fraction of their pre-Christmas price. There are boxes of cards, packs of wrapping paper, gift tags, gift bags of various sizes, gift boxes, Christmas stockings, decorations, serviettes, paper plates, china mugs, crockery, plastic tablecloths, cutlery, bonbons, lights, Santa suits, t-shirts and hats all begging to be bought. You could save so much money and have all the trimmings next Christmas, more trimmings than you have ever had before.

A little voice in your head says that you don't need most of this stuff. You only send cards to a few people now and don't need much wrapping paper because you give money, gift cards or 'experiences'. Perhaps you buy most presents online and get the item shipped directly to the recipient.

You don't know what size gift bags or boxes you will need because you have no idea what presents you will be giving.

You vaguely question the wisdom of buying items like Christmas mugs and crockery which will only be used for a short time and then need to be stored until the following Christmas.

You already have more decorations than you need. Now that the kids have left home you have bought a smaller tree so half the decorations don't get used. But, those decorations on the shelf are brand new and so shiny.

When you leave the store you have bags of 'bargains' and you have 'saved' so much money. However, you are only going to use a few of the things you bought and it all has to be stored. Does this sound familiar?

In the past I have had numerous Christmas themed items like glasses, mugs, trays, plates, fabric tablecloths, (yes, more than one) and hand towels. They have taken up valuable cupboard space all year to be used a couple of times at Christmas.

I have stocked up on enough wrapping paper and cards so I didn't need to buy any for three years. And I have muttered to myself as the paper has fallen out of the cupboard or started to get tatty looking when the plastic wrapping has peeled away from being stored too long.

These days I see all this extra stuff as clutter. I do see the value in buying some things at sales after Christmas but buying stuff just because it's cheap and has a Christmas motif, not because you are going to put it to good use seems unwise.

Some people will have a different viewpoint and that is fine. If you have thought about something and decided it will bring you and your family joy, that's great. Buying something frivolous that you will enjoy sounds like fun. However, I aim to avoid making the mindless purchases I have sometimes done in the past.


# Christmas
# Clutter
# Sales
# Storage

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