The Observation Unit

Per the Sydney Morning Herald...

Emotional clutter has sentimental meaning but little financial value. It could include children’s toys or drawings, unused or unwanted gifts, school or university notes, or the personal possessions of absent loved ones.

Just-in-case clutter has little or no sentimental value but since it “might come in handy one day” it is kept for some time. Examples include old bills or bank statements, tools or stationery.

Bargain clutter is free or very cheap items acquired at sales, from friends or family or “by the side of the road”. Certain personality types tend to be especially attracted to bargain clutter.

Bought clutter consists of impulse purchases that never end up being used. It commonly includes clothes, fashion accessories and electronic items and is strongly linked to wasteful consumption.

I'm posting this primarily so I have it to refer back to as I continue my quest to remove clutter from my home (bargain clutter, bought clutter, maybe a smidge of just-in-case clutter) and items I have in storage (emotional clutter).

I'm on another round of purging the household, listing things for free on Craigslist, etc. My goal is for my next move (October) to be extremely quick and simple.

Over the weekend I cleared my cupboards of an appalling amount of expired canned and dried foods. I think I may have inherited my grandmother's depression-era mentality that I have to have things in reserve because I might not be able to afford it later. That's definitely a habit I need to break. I was utterly disgusted by the amount of food I threw away. Never mind the expense of it, but had I done this earlier it could have been donated to a food bank and actually helped someone.