Are you planning to go shopping this Friday, Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving? Before you do, STOP and mull this thought over for a moment.

We are running out of room for what we don’t want!

It’s not just your home. It’s everywhere!  Charities are much pickier about what they will take because they have a glut of stuff already. Consignment stores are full. Selling items through online sites such as eBay and Craigslist is getting harder to do because everyone is trying to sell the same thing as you are. Even things with real value! And, worst of all, landfills are painfully overfilled causing many to simply dump their stuff on the side of a highway or some dimly lit street, a problem of blight that is growing larger every day.

So before you head out the door to the mall or sign on to your favorite online store because you’ve been bitten by the shopping bug, just this once ask yourself what are you really saving?

You may also want to take a quick inventory of your home by asking yourself these six questions:

1. Are my closets already overstuffed?
2. Do I have items I bought that I haven’t even taken out of their bags or still have tags on them?
3. Is my garage bursting at the seams?
4. Are there items left on my floor because I’ve run out of storage space?
5. Do I already have enough of what I need?
6. Am I using the excuse of Christmas or Holiday shopping to buy more stuff?

If you answered yes to even one of these questions, buying more will only exacerbate the situation.

Instead of shopping, why not spend that time doing other things you like such as:

1. Finish up one of the many creative projects you already started (and never finished) this year
2. Go outside, take a walk, even if its raining or snowing.
3. Take a friend or family member out for a meal or treat them to an experience instead of buying them something.
4. Remind yourself that one less thing now means one less thing to have to decide about when you finally get around to organizing and getting rid of all that stuff you no longer want, that is if there’s still room left.

Posted November 23, 2015 by Lis McKinley, M.A., CPO®