I believe that the answer to the above question is a definite yes. A messy home can cause all kinds of spending traps. At least, I try to tell myself this when I am just not in the mood to pick things up or purge things that aren’t useful or really wanted. Having a non-messy home can be a great way to save money on the sneak while boosting your mood (assuming that having a non-messy house makes you feel good).
Here are my reasons for believing that a messy house can make you spend more.
The biggest reason, I think, that you spend more in a messy house is because you can never find anything! Need a can opener but misplaced the other two you already have? off to the store to purchase another one. Hey, did we or didn’t we ever buy a stapler? Who knows, but we need it for a school project, so off to the store we go. I helped one person clean up some clutter. We ended up finding six battery rechargers and those three electric can openers in addition to lots of other stuff.
Another common thread to people with messy homes is that they often have tons and tons of clothes. When laundry isn’t kept up or clothes aren’t put away in drawers, it is hard to find anything to wear. Hence you have to make some more trips to the store to add to your wardrobe. While I’ve seen exceptions to this rule (messy homes where the family wore the same clothes for days on end), most of the time people who say they have nothing to wear have enough clothing to open a consignment shop.
If your messy home makes you feel depressed and overwhelmed, then you just may not like spending too much time there. This means that you will find ways to get out. Sometimes this means shopping to get a lift, while other times it means expensive activities that can range from eating out to full vacation, just to get away from your messy home.
With a messy home, you are more likely to bring home new things to the mix, spending good money on them. A neat home that is in order makes the owner think twice before anything new get introduced that might cause a mess. Neat homes almost require that you get rid of something that exists before you bring in anything new.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.
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