52 Week Decluttering Challenge 2015

When one thinks about getting their finances in order, the first thing that comes to mind usually isn’t decluttering their residence, but doing so can be one of the best financial decisions you can make this year. If getting more organized and getting rid of unwanted stuff also happens to be one of your New Year’s resolutions, all the better. That’s because there are a number of good financial reasons to declutter your residence.

Most of us have way too much stuff cluttering our apartment, condo or house. One of the most popular threads in the forums for the past few years is the decluttering thread, and the 2015 decluttering thread is already off too a strong start. If this is something that you would like to do this year, it’s a great place to visit to get some excellent ideas and to maintain motivation throughout the year.

A common reason people continue to keep things around when they haven’t been used in years is “just in case” they may need it someday. It’s a habit like any other habit, and once you have a habit, it’s hard to break. The best way to break a habit is to begin a routine to form a new one (that’s one of the hidden benefits of the 52 week money challenge). A good way to get into the habit of staying more organized is with the 52 week decluttering challenge.

One of the best parts of the 52 week decluttering challenge is the amount of stuff you can potentially purge from your house. If you complete the challenge, you will have 1,378 less items in your house than you did the year before (assuming you don’t add any more). While this may seem like a lot, you will likely be surprised at the amount of stuff you find hiding in closets and other storage spaces once you begin.

This is how the challenge works. There are 52 weeks in the year. Each week you must declutter one to fifty-two items from your house. However many items you remove that week, you cross that number off the bottom of the challenge sheet, then add the number to the current week of the year. The next week you need to declutter again, and cross off another number still available. You continue to do this the entire year until all the number have been crossed off and you have 1,378 less things in your house.

52 Week Declutter Challenge Printable Sheet (click on image to print)

If this is one of the things you have been wanting to do, or if you know someone who would greatly benefit from this challenge, I encourage you to give it a try. The challenge gives enough space so during busy weeks you need to only dispose of a few things, while the weeks you have more time you can purge a larger number. Even better, when 2016 arrives you may have a strong habit formed to keep you organized for the years to come.

(Photo courtesy of Sean MacEntee)