10 Shocking Statistics That Reveal How Much Stuff We Actually Own

The rise of popularity on Netflix of a show called Tidying Up with Marie Kondo has convinced the majority of its viewers to realise how cluttered their homes are. The series starring Japanese organising consultant and author Marie Kondo goes around homes and help its residents organise and declutter. The show favours a minimalistic aesthetic and is most famous for the line “Does it spark joy?” The main message is that if it does not have utility for you in your everyday life, then you should remove it from your house.

Many of its viewers are realising just how filled to the brim their houses are with unnecessary items. Let’s admit it. We all own a lot of objects that really do not have any value to our everyday life.

However, we cannot just throw them away due to their sentimental or future value. Because of this, residents have to get bigger houses just to accommodate all of their items and extra furniture and display them with fancy up and down blinds. This also means that residents have to pay a higher amount of rent. Studies have proven that most houses have storage rooms inside which costs them a lot more expenses.

While this lifestyle can be okay for some, many will find it harder and harder to pay for their rent. Rent is something that many have found to be a major expense. The crashing economy and rising population numbers have made it sure that rent becomes more expensive than ever before.

For most professionals, their salaries are taken up by basic living expenses, most especially rent. Here are 10 Statistics that reveal how much stuff we actually own. Hopefully, this would make you realize that you have to declutter your house.

• • The average household has over 300, 000 objects. Do you think your house has more or less than 300, 000? This study, published by the LA Times, provides insight on just how materialistic our lives have become. Given that the average area of houses is becoming more and more limited, this is alarming as the number of objects we have just kept on increasing.https://www.uctv.tv/RelatedContent.aspx?RelatedID=301
  • The Telegraph found out that an average 10-year old has over 238 toys. Unfortunately, these kids only play with an average of 12 toys daily — even less if they have electronic gadgets. Doing the math over 200 toys are just essentially clutter and doesn’t have any utility for you our your kid. A house that is filled to the brim with objects is also unsafe for kids.
  • To jump on to this research, the University of California, Los Angeles released a study that though there are only 3.1% of the world’s children in America, these 3.1% own almost half of the toys in the world. Think of how many tonnes of unused toys are just sitting in houses, gathering dust and taking up valuable space.
  • With consumerism taking up the world by storm, many studies and surveys have all come into the conclusion that the entire world buys and consumes more than twice as much material goods than generations did fifty years ago.
  • PsychologyToday responds to this with a study that resulted in researchers finding out that Americans as a whole spend over $100 Billion more on shoes, jewellery, and watches as compared to higher education.
  • The capitalist sector has taken this into heart. John de Graaf and David Wann wrote a book titled Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic which revealed that the number of high schools around the world is lower than the number of shopping malls.
  • Because of the clutter inside our own houses, DailyMail revealed that individuals will spend 3, 680 hours or 153 days of our lives just looking for items that got lost in the mess.
  • Americans spend over $1.2 Trillion annually just on unnecessary items due to impulse buying.
  • This tendency to overbuy has led to 47% of American households being unable to save any money.

If the Marie Kondo effect has hit you, here are Four Things To Do With Your Clutter.

• • • Donate/Give away

If you have extra furniture and appliances that still have a lot of utility, you can give them away to your friends. This will give you space while also giving your items a second life.

Another option is to donate your items to a charity. You will be able to help out while also getting rid of all your clutter. Used clothes and old books will greatly help someone in need.

• • • Throw Away

Some items just need to be thrown away. If you are moving out, throw away all perishables and don’t even think about bringing them into your new place. You do not want rotten food or spillages just when you’ve moved into a new house. A tip is that you shouldn’t buy groceries a week before your move.

• • • Sell your items

What about a Yard Sale? This is a great way to earn money while also getting rid of your items. Your neighbours may also be interested in your items and doing this will give them an opportunity to buy them.

Many of those who move into new houses opt to buy new indian furniture as some kind of a fresh, new theme to start with. Selling your furniture would allow you to not waste money on just throwing away your furniture.

• • • Store in Self-Storage Items

A Storage Space will be one of the best things that you can ever do in your adult life. It is a versatile solution to your storage problems. This is great for items that can’t fit into your house but can’t afford to part with. It could range from extra furniture to personal mementoes.