Before
Remember last weekend I had my Cinco de Mayo house party? Well what I didn’t say about the prep for that party was my house was a complete and utter disaster. My mom helped me do some err clean my whole house before the party so my friends wouldn’t think I was a disgusting mess.
Now, my friends are polite and nobody would have said anything, but I wanted to avoid the whole, “This place is a mess” apology that I usually make when friends come over unexpectedly. What’s funny about living in the NYC area is that nobody ever comes to your house unannounced. Yeah the delivery driver or a repair man, but friends rarely come by your place without an explicit invitation.
It’s almost like an unwritten rule that you shouldn’t, “pop by” someone’s apartment without prior notice. If you’re in the “neighborhood” you might call them and meet up for drinks, but you would never go to their house. In fact, I don’t even know most of my friends’ addresses.
So when I realized I’d have everybody at my place, I frantically began cleaning and organizing. I’m a pretty organized person by nature, but I get busy (excuses excuses, I know) and before I realize it, my clutter has gotten out of control. What’s funny ironic about when my house gets cluttered, is my life also seems to get “cluttered”.
After
This clutter has a trickle down effect on my finances and somehow I seem to blow my budget when I’m not keeping up with housework. I end up buying things I don’t need because I can’t find the things I already bought. The other day bf bought deodorant because he couldn’t find any in our “stockpile”. Why couldn’t he find it? Because I stuck it in the closet and didn’t put it in the container labeled “deodorant” (bf cannot “look” for anything. Is this all men or just mine? Seriously, he “looks” for something, can’t find it. Calls me in and .02 seconds later I’ve “found” it).
The same thing happens with our food and our housewares. I know we have a juice pitcher, but bf looked for it, couldn’t find it in our cluttered cabinets and surmised I must have thrown it away when we moved to the condo. Wrong, I kept it he just couldn’t find it behind all of the crap sitting in front of it. He bought a new one, so now we have two.
So, out of all of this, I’ve learned that I need to keep the house more organized. Not just when people come over, but all the time. Not only does it make me feel better to have a clean and organized home, it also saves us money and helps me stay within my budget.
Does Clutter Make You Crazy? Does it “Cost” You?