Addressing the Cause of your Clutter Problems -- Clutter Free {Book Review}

How have you been doing on your New Years Resolutions? Was decluttering one of your goals? While I had made great strides in decluttering & simplifying during our Florida excursion a few years ago, having kids & homeschooling have caused us to back pedal on our progress a bit. As a result, clearing kid-related clutter has ended up on the radar this year.

I was recently able to review Clutter Free: Quick & Easy Steps to Simplifying Your Space by Kathi Lipp. There are lots of simplifying and decluttering books on the market, but very few go into how the stuff got there in the first place. In addition to covering the cost of clutter, Kathi spends several chapters exploring WHY we buy stuff--primarily because we are trying to fill a God-sized hole. She also spends 8 chapters uncovering why we keep things we don't like, want or need as well as several ways to get rid of the things you finally decide to get rid of.

I really love a lot of things about Clutter Free. First, I love how Kathi approaches the spiritual aspect of stuff. It's gentle enough for new Christians but strong enough for "pro's" to follow God's lead. Her clutter mantra, if you will, is to walk lightly, give what you have, and follow God.

She does such a great job of gently reading your mind and then changing how you think. There are tons of great gems like how the world uses fear, guilt & shame to make us buy things and 8 ways to shift your thinking. That last one is awesome! And the whole chapter on "I'll put it here for now" is priceless. I have to pick things up 16 times because I put it somewhere 'for now' only to be distracted by a little persons needs and completely forget that I was working on it. And then one of my littles finds it and I need to pick it up all over again.

If you are struggling with clutter or keep putting off dealing with it, this book would be a great place to start. If you haven't been able to make your efforts stick, Clutter Free could be the tool to make your efforts at living more simply stick. This would make a great compliment to a Lenten decluttering project, too!

How do you work at overcoming the "stuff" problem?

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