4 Ways to Ask, “Do I Actually Want This Item?”

This is part of Stewie's Guide to Ruthlessly Declutter Your Clothes Today.

My wife and I are both the oldest children and between the two of us, we have 11 siblings. As a result, we’ve been to numerous weddings for younger siblings, and over the years, I have acquired lots of slacks, ties, and other formal wear that I never wore again.

In addition, both of our families like to have family photos. (You know, the kind where everyone has coordinating attire that makes you itch all over?) Consequently, I accumulated sweaters, vests, etc.

Now, objectively speaking, getting rid of these items should be easy. But alas, I hail from a long line of packrats and hesitate to get rid of anything.

So here are four questions I asked myself when decluttering my clothes.

Question 1: Would I pay $1 to keep this item?

I’m a sucker for good deals because my little brain loves saving money. Unfortunately, this causes me to hang onto stuff I don’t wear, like those button-down shirts that technically still fit my body.

So, I took my desire to save money and turned it on its head. I imagined each shirt in my closet would cost $1 to keep this year. This made it clear what clothes I actually wanted. Then, I found it easy to drop unwanted shirts into the donation pile. Same story with unwanted slacks.

This question works well for decluttering things hanging in your closet but not for small things like socks and underwear.

Question 2: What clothes would I pack if I had 3 hours to evacuate (due to wildfires surrounding my city)?

Or instead of giving yourself only three hours to pack, give yourself only three suitcases for clothes. What would make the cut?

Here’s another version of this question: if I had to pay movers to box up and move all my crap across the country, which clothes would I keep? Which would I donate?

These questions helped me let go of duplicates and unnecessary extras (at one point, I had too many socks). It also helped me realize that I had less sentimental attachment to certain items than I had previously thought. (Sometimes, I feel like I’m supposed to have more sentimental attachment than I actually do.)

Question 3: Will I commit to wearing this next week?

I used to have many clothes I’d never wear again, like those red sweaters I purchased for family pictures. (I dislike sweaters because they make me hot.)

Asking, “Will I commit to wearing this next week?” helps us adopt a utilitarian perspective. (If we won’t wear it, why keep it?) This question also helps us let go of unnecessary duplicates. For example, one friend had 64 exercise shirts but never wore most of them.

In some cases, you might extend your timeframe. Example question: will I commit to wearing each piece of winterwear by May 1?

Question 4: Would I buy this again?

If I saw this item in the store today at full price, would I purchase it? Would I race home and wear it? If not, get rid of it.

The question works well to declutter clothes that are easily replaceable. But it won’t work for sentimental items.

So there you have it, the four questions I asked when decluttering my closet.

Truth be told, the first one works best for me because I’m motivated by money. (Yes, this probably says something about my childhood, but let’s not go down that rabbit hole.)

But that’s me. Try out all the questions as you declutter your closet and figure out what works best for you.

Next steps…