Clutter Control: 10 Things You're Buying Way Too Much Of

1. Cooking gadgets

I know cooking gadgets can be so fun, but they can also cause a lot of clutter in your kitchen. Chances are you have some cooking gadgets that can do double duty.

For example, I could get rid of my box grater because I have a food processor and a mandolin to do all the tasks a box grater can do. 

Also, when you assess your gadgets, you will likely find ones you aren't using, so go ahead and get rid of them so you can finally have space to organize the gadgets you use properly. 

2. Kitchen appliances 

I know kitchen appliances are fun too, but you will likely find some you aren't using that are jumbling up your spaces. Spaces that could be better organized to make the appliances you do use easier to access. 

3. Mugs

I know there are a lot of mug lovers because there are always new cute mugs in the stores all the time. If you don't have the space to store them and they are overrunning your cabinets, the clutter from the overflow of your mugs can make you stressed if they make your cabinets difficult to organize. 

If your cabinets are overflowing with mugs, it's time to take a good look at your spaces and pare down to the ones you love and use. 

4. Travel mugs

Most travel mugs are very similar to mugs as there are always so many cute new ones at the store. What I've noticed in people's homes is that they have way too many. 

So try to pare down to just one hot drink container and one cold drink container. Some containers do both, so you just need one per person. 

5. Pantry food

How often have you looked through your pantry and realized how many things have expired? 

How many times have you gone through your freezer and realized some items have become unrecognizable because of freezer burn because they've been in your freezer for so long? 

To keep from purchasing too much food, always consider the six-week grocery store sales cycle. If you find a fantastic sale on your favorite grocery items, you will buy the amount you will reasonably consume within six weeks. 

You can look at the expiration date and think about how many times you and your family will realistically consume this item until it expires. That way, you won't over-purchase and have to throw out expired foods, which is the same as throwing out money.  

6. Kids' toys

Look at the different types of toys your kids have, as they only need a few from each category of each type of toy. 

The categories I'm referring to are pretend play, active play, and cognitive play.

When you narrow your children's toys down to these categories, you can more easily purge the excess you may have in each category.

Then you can create a rotating system where they have one or two toys from each category that you make accessible to them for a period of time, and you place the rest of their toys out of reach, and then you cycle through all their toys. 

7. Towels

You are buying way too many towels. 

If you have more than two per person, you only need one you are using and one you can grab while you wash the one you were using. 

For kitchen towels, I personally only have two. One that I'm using and one that's available while I wash the one that I was using. 

I understand that you may use decorative hand towels that you like to switch out for different seasons and holidays, but for the towels you use for drying off, you only really need two. 

8. Bedding

The same concept for towels works for bedding as well. You can have one set for each bed that you wash and replace, or you can have two sets available per bed where you have the other set available to replace while the set you are using is being washed.  

9. Bathing suits

Our kids keep growing every year, so they can get away with one swimsuit for the summer, or you can have up to two, especially if your kids are swimming every day and you want a dry one available while you wash the other.

While we were on the Disney Cruise several years ago, I brought two bathing suits for my daughter, and I washed one with Woolite in the bathroom sink and hung it to dry in the shower. By the next day, the one I washed the day before was dry, and I switched the two out every day of our trip. 

10. Dresses

I know this is a tough one because you may have purchased a bunch of pretty dresses that you bought just in case you could use them for a special event. All those just-in-case dresses have accumulated, so I suggest keeping a few classic pieces on hand, like a little black dress, a spring-style dress for a spring wedding, and a slightly more formal one. 

I have cycled through a handful of dresses I've worn to multiple weddings for multiple years, and people don't notice that you've worn the same thing repeatedly. 

You can even change it by changing your heels and clutch if you want to feel like you're wearing something new. 

Assess what you have and merge anything you haven't worn. When you are shopping moving forward, remember what you already have on hand so you aren't tempted to buy a new dress.

Get clutter under control

Clutter can be controlled by cutting back on buying. Do you have additional items that you buy too much of? Share in the comments below.