What is Your Clutter Costing You? – Facts On Clutter You Can’t Ignore

We all know that clutter easily takes over, is overwhelming, frustrating, and causes stress, but are you aware that there is a hidden cost of clutter? So what is your clutter costing you? Keep reading to learn some facts on clutter you can’t afford to ignore. 

I hear stories all the time who struggle and battle with their clutter. Heck, I struggled with clutter and wasn’t even fully aware of how bad it was. As a result, I can tell you for certain that the cost of clutter isn’t just about money.

Let’s look at some statistics that will show just how costly a clutter problem can be. These statistics on clutter are very sobering!

Sobering Clutter Statistics

The average American household stores 300,000 items. (Reference) 

The U.S. has 3.1% of the world’s population of children, and yet American children are consuming 40% of the toys in the world (Reference).

While the United States makes up only 4% of the world’s population, we produce more than 30% of the planet’s total waste (Reference).

The average person spends two and a half days searching for misplaced items, such as the remote control, keys, or glasses) each year (Reference).

Nearly 25% of us are late to school or work at least twice a week as a result of searching for lost items. (Reference)

American households spend more than $2.7 billion each year replacing lost items (Reference) Pixie Technology Inc., 2017).

With 48,500 storage facilities, the U.S. has nearly five times the storage facilities as the rest of
the world. (Reference) 

One-third of storage customers already have a basement, two-thirds own a garage, and almost half have an attic. (Reference). 

Lack of space is not the cause of clutter. Disorganization results in 80% of clutter in most homes. (Reference).

In the average home getting rid of clutter eliminates 40% of the housework. (Reference) 

US demand for home organization products is projected to increase 3.8% per year to $12.7 billion in 2023. (Reference). 

Sales of home organization books have risen by 78 % from 2014 to 2018. They are also up an additional 94% in the past year. (Reference). 

Most people use 20% of what they own, the other 80% is made up of items we don’t use, think we should use, or think we might need someday. (Reference)

25% of adults say they pay bills late because they lose them. (Reference)

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention statistics show 80% of our medical expenditures are related to stress. (Reference)

Consumerism and Clutter

While many of these statistics focus on the United States, this is not just an American problem. The global economy is driven by material consumption and the world as a whole defines an individual’s success based on the number of things they have acquired.

This is becoming more and more ingrained in our culture with the growth of technology making consumption available at the push of a button 24/7. In fact, online shopping grew a whopping 40% last year alone.

When we add the fact that the worldwide growth of technology combined with the massive use of social media, advertisers now have that same 24/7 access to us, and making it easier for them to target our specific interests and shopping trends. This makes us all more susceptible to consumerism and unnecessary consumption than ever before. 

Is it really any wonder our homes are overflowing with clutter and our stress levels are increasing?

Interestingly, the 2020 World Happiness Report found the U.S. to be only 18th on the global rankings of national happiness. And research shows that experiences over purchases of material goods create more happiness.

Clearly, the consumption of more and more is not satisfying us or making us happier, all it is doing is increasing the clutter in our homes and lives.

What is Clutter?

We’ve looked at some sobering statistics on clutter. We’ve also looked at the connection between increased consumerism and clutter and the lack of satisfaction it brings into our life.

Now it’s important to get clear on what clutter is in order to help us reduce our clutter.

Clutter is defined as:

A collection of things lying about in an untidy mass. (Oxford Languages)
and; 
A crowded or confused mass or collection. In its verb form to fill or cover with scattered or disordered things that impede movement or reduce the effectiveness (Webster) 

In other words, anything you own, possess or do that does not add value to your life on a regular basis is clutter!

The True Cost of Clutter

So what is your clutter costing you?

Research has shown that clutter has a wide variety of consequences impacting your health and general well-being. Embarrassment results from living in a disorganized home, and soon everything begins to feel chaotic. We work more hours, to buy more stuff to spend more time and money managing all that stuff. The end result is less happiness and contentment with our lives. 

Here’s what so easily happens to us when we are overcome by clutter:

Clutter Causes Enormous Amounts of Stress and Anxiety

Clutter makes us feel anxious. Messy, disorganized, or chaotic naturally leave us feeling anxious, and overwhelmed. Clutter robs us of our focus and makes us feel like we’re surrounded by a never-ending to-do list.

For the vast majority of us, it’s virtually impossible to sit down and fully relax in a cluttered home. The constant stress it creates takes a toll on us emotionally and physically

Depression Sets In

When we feel overwhelmed and like things are out of our control, it can make us feel downright depressed. The longer we live with this type of clutter, the more likely it is for depression to set in.

In other words, clutter impacts our sense of calm and happiness. This means, what clutter is costing you is your sense of happiness and contentment. 

Family Tension Increases

Unless you live alone, clutter affects every member of your household. With everyone living in a stressful and chaotic environment tensions rise.

Because clutter is a stressor in and of itself, it intensifies the frustration and exhaustion that a family member may already be feeling. With everyone feeling this level of stress it’s not long before family tensions set in. In a short time, no one feels at ease with their environment or with each other.

This has been backed up by a recent study where it was found that background clutter resulted in participants being less able to correctly interpret the emotional expressions on faces. This means when someone is feeling anxious or stress everyone will be less likely to correctly interpret that which creates more tension.

Clutter is Costing Your Large Amounts of Time

As the statistics on clutter above show, people living in cluttered homes spend a significant amount of time looking for lost items, such as keys, glasses, remotes, etc. Even when we’re looking right at the lost item, it becomes difficult to see when it’s surrounded by clutter.

In addition, constantly looking for things, going around things, and moving things around creates a lack of motivation to do anything which results in clutter stealing even more of our time.

Time is the most precious commodity we have, when it is stolen from us it compounds the negative effects of clutter.

We Feel a Sense of Embarrassment

A messy home causes us to feel ashamed of who we are and our inability to get control of the clutter. This is especially true for women, we feel our home is a reflection of who we are and we should be able to manage our homes.

However, when our homes are filled with clutter we don’t want anyone to see the state of our clutter issue. This has us withdrawing from relationships because we don’t want to have people over into our homes.

If guests do come over, the clutter in our homes becomes an embarrassment, or having guests is an event that takes all-day preparation.

We Lose Sleep

Any type of stress we are under will often make us lose sleep. But people who sleep in cluttered rooms, are even more likely to have sleep problems. This includes both difficulties falling asleep and having your sleep disturbed during the night.

Of course, a lack of sleep impacts all aspects of our life, which makes this is a hefty cost of clutter!

Our Health Declines

Our clutter is costing us our health in many ways. We know that stress is a leading cause of many health issues.

In addition to the stress related health issues, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 70% of the U.S. adult population is overweight or Obese. When the Center for Sustainable Systems investigated eating behaviors in cluttered environments, it was predicted that people would eat more food in the cluttered environment when they felt “out of control” due to their environment.

Poor Self-Image

We view our homes as a reflection of who we are as individuals. When our homes are overrun with clutter, we end up feeling like a failure because we can’t get control over this simple thing. Only, it’s not so simple. Day after day the clutter beats us down and impacts how we see view ourselves.

Clutter is Expensive

Because we spend so much time looking for lost items, it leads to spending money on replacing items simply because we can’t find them.

Many of us pay for extra storage space. We encounter late fees or overdue fines. We spend money on storage bins and organizing supplies trying desperately to win the losing battle of organizing clutter.

All of this adds up to a significant financial cost each year.

Realizing the cost of clutter should motivate you to start dealing with it. You don’t have to deal with your clutter all at once. Taking little steps, one at a time you will create a home you love!

Check out these resources to get you started!

How to Get Started on a Clutter-Free Home

How to Stay Clutter-Free For Good

HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR MOTIVATION TO DECLUTTER

How To Find Time And Energy To Declutter Your Home

How To Keep Going When Decluttering Gets Hard