How Clutter Accumulates And Shopping Ban Update 2

Shops in Adelaide                                            Image:Marie Vonow

In the days leading up to officially starting this personal shopping ban challenge I must admit I was tempted to do a bit of 'binge shopping' at a couple of op shops. Also, I kept thinking about a salmon pink cardigan I had seen at KMart that I liked. I managed to resist temptation and now, three weeks later, that cardigan doesn't seem important.

How does clutter accumulate?

I have thought a lot about how much stuff one accumulates even when trying to declutter and keep from accumulating new clutter.

It occurred to me it isn't surprising stuff accumulates over the years. I married and moved into my first home (apart from my childhood home) in 1975 which is now 44 years ago. Now, say I acquired and kept just five additional items per year that would now total 220 items and I am sure I buy more than that. Those things could include crockery, lamps, cushions, books, ornaments, pictures, linen, mementos and so on. Some things come as a set so there are a number of pieces.

Growing awareness

For many years I didn't think much about whether an item that sat in the back of a cupboard still had a place in my life. I never asked if it sparked any joy. It is only in recent years I have become aware of how much stuff I own and started decluttering on a regular basis.


The pressure to buy


When I consider the pressure to buy and accumulate, sometimes obvious and sometimes quite subtle, it isn't surprising many battle against accumulating too many things.

Advertising encourages us to buy, be consumers and accumulate. We are told things will save us time or money, make us a master chef or save energy, water or the Planet. And we are supposed to want to keep up with the Joneses or make our neighbours/friends jealous.

We celebrate birthdays, Christmas, Mother's Day, Father's Day etc and that usually means presents. 

Some people are now choosing 'experiences' or a donation to a charity rather than a physical present but sometimes there are still presents. We may love the presents but over the years they accumulate and take up space.

Some items are often sold in packs of three or four. I ended up buying a pack of three vegetable peelers one day when I only needed one. If I had checked out other shops I would have found somewhere that sold them singly but I didn't have time and so ended up with spare peelers.


One reason for doing the shopping ban challenge was to become more aware of unnecessary shopping and to ask why I make purchases.


So how is the shopping ban going?


A couple of weeks after I started the ban the power board I use in the kitchen stopped working. The landline phone, router and when I use it, the slow cooker are all plugged into it. 

No problem, walk to the nearby shops and buy a new one. But it's an electrical item and I wasn't going to buy any for six months. Surely I can justify buying something if it is replacing an item that has broken down. I do think that's a purchase I can justify, I just hadn't considered the possibility and I hadn't made a note of it in allowable purchases.


Before setting off to the shops I thought I would look in the box that houses spare extension cords and the like. Yes, there was one power board in there. However, it didn't have a separate switch for each power point and I needed that sort. After checking around the house I found the sort I wanted in a position where individual switches weren't essential so I swapped the power boards. One purchase avoided.

I love scented geraniums and they are easy to grow            Image:Marie Vonow

A couple of days ago I went to a nursery with my older son who wanted to buy a couple of plants for his garden. Usually I would have bought a flowering plant as I do love gardening.

The thing is I don't really have any spare space for flowers at this stage. Having bought quite a few flowering plants earlier this year I don't need any more and so I put them on my 'not allowed to buy' list. Without the ban I probably would have bought at least one plant and planted it in a container. I haven't counted how many plants I have in pots and hanging baskets but it's quite a few.

A few times I have found myself quite happy to do an alternative activity instead of browsing and probably buying something. 

It's still early days but it's not too bad so far!