#4 How I Decluttered 70% of My Closet with Just 1 Hour of Work (and a Little Bit of Discipline) — Transcript

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1. 0:00I think most decluttering methods fail
2. 0:02because of one simple reason. They are
3. 0:04exhausting.
4. 0:08You're supposed to pull every single
5. 0:10item out of your closet, make hundreds
6. 0:12of decisions,
7. 0:13>> [music]
8. 0:13>> ask yourself if something sparks joy,
9. 0:16and 4 hours later you're sitting in a
10. 0:17pile of clothes wondering why you even
11. 0:20started. I don't know about you, but me
12. 0:23as a full-time mom of two, I simply
13. 0:26don't have the time nor the energy to
14. 0:29declutter for hours and hours and spend
15. 0:31the whole weekend in my closet. And
16. 0:34since I'm northern German, I prefer
17. 0:35things to be simple, fast, rational, and
18. 0:38efficient. When I first moved to South
19. 0:40Carolina, I ended up with two different
20. 0:43closets. One that was suitable for the
21. 0:46northern German weather, so a lot of
22. 0:48sweaters and a lot of pants. [music] And
23. 0:50here in South Carolina, all of that was
24. 0:52not really suitable for the weather, so
25. 0:54I had to buy a lot of summer dresses and
26. 0:56linen pants and stuff like that. So, I
27. 0:59ended up with way too much clothes. I I
28. 1:01was overwhelmed and annoyed by all the
29. 1:03choices I had to make every morning, and
30. 1:05nothing really fit together anymore. So,
31. 1:08this combination of too much clothes and
32. 1:11not enough time made me come up with a
33. 1:14rational and effective method that
34. 1:16pleases my German brain.
35. 1:21This method helps you to identify the
36. 1:23clothes that you really wear and makes
37. 1:25it surprisingly easy to let go of the
38. 1:28rest. And all of that without putting in
39. 1:30a lot of effort and work and time. And
40. 1:32the most important thing is it helps you
41. 1:34to avoid the cycle of decluttering to
42. 1:38make space to buy even more stuff, which
43. 1:41then clutters again, which makes you
44. 1:43want to declutter again. That's not
45. 1:45minimalism, that's basically
46. 1:47reorganizing your shopping habits, aka
47. 1:50playing Tetris. If you're new here, I'm
48. 1:52Uta. I'm a German living in South
49. 1:54Carolina. And on this channel we talk a
50. 1:56lot about escaping consumer culture
51. 1:58through intentional money and
52. 2:00consumption choices. And the end goal is
53. 2:03not like a lot of minimalistic channels
54. 2:05on YouTube have like own as less things
55. 2:08as possible, but rather to be able to
56. 2:11save money and to need less in order to
57. 2:14fund the lifestyle you really want. Hey,
58. 2:16but enough about me, I would say let's
59. 2:18dive into the closet declutter. The
60. 2:21average American spends around $850 per
61. 2:24year on clothing and footwear, even
62. 2:26though they regularly wear only about
63. 2:2810% of their wardrobe. Imagine you could
64. 2:31reduce that amount to just $200 per year
65. 2:34by buying only what you truly need and
66. 2:36purchasing most items [music]
67. 2:38second-hand. That's $650 every year that
68. 2:41could go towards your financial goals
69. 2:43instead. And yes, saving $650 a year
70. 2:47doesn't sound super exciting, but if you
71. 2:50make it a habit and save this over the
72. 2:52next 10 years, that's $6,500.
73. 2:55So that would maybe be a used tractor
74. 2:58for your desired homestead or a part of
75. 3:01down payment, that's several months of
76. 3:03living expenses. That's basically
77. 3:05freedom you gave up for buying clothes.
78. 3:08If you currently wear only 10% of your
79. 3:11closet and after this method you
80. 3:12regularly wear 85%, then that's a huge
81. 3:15win. You probably have favorite shirts,
82. 3:17favorite jeans, favorite sweaters, and
83. 3:19then there are all those pieces you keep
84. 3:21because of maybe I might wear this
85. 3:24someday, oh this was so expensive, I
86. 3:27used to love this, maybe I will wear
87. 3:28this again if I lose weight, or I have
88. 3:31absolutely no idea what to wear this
89. 3:33with and how to combine it. My goal with
90. 3:35this method is not to get you to a point
91. 3:39of owning as few items as possible. It's
92. 3:42rather to increase the amount of clothes
93. 3:45you actually want to wear and to get you
94. 3:49to a point where you don't feel a need
95. 3:51to buy any more clothes because you're
96. 3:53satisfied with what you already have.
97. 3:55And then you will probably stop
98. 3:56purchasing new clothes and have more
99. 3:58money to invest in your dream life. So,
100. 4:01here's what we going to do. First,
101. 4:02divide your wardrobe into two seasons.
102. 4:04[music] That's a pretty classical
103. 4:06approach, spring and summer and fall and
104. 4:08winter. Depending on the season you're
105. 4:10in right now, keep only those clothes
106. 4:13accessible and in reach and all [music]
107. 4:15off-season clothes can go under the bed,
108. 4:17on a shelf, into a storage, wherever.
109. 4:20Next step is going to be to take all
110. 4:21your hanging clothes and push them to
111. 4:24one side of your closet and take all the
112. 4:26folded clothes and put them on the floor
113. 4:29or under the shelf or wherever you have
114. 4:31space in your room.
115. 4:33You can pick a place for the clothes
116. 4:36that feels a little bit uncomfortable
117. 4:38for you to so that you have the feeling
118. 4:40that you have to work through it and
119. 4:42don't just let [music] them sit there
120. 4:43for a couple of months. You can think of
121. 4:46the start of this method like the
122. 4:47reverse hanger method, just a little bit
123. 4:49modified. Every time you wear something
124. 4:52and it ends up in the laundry, you wash
125. 4:54it and then hang it back on the left
126. 4:55side of your closet or put it back into
127. 4:58the shelf. So, you're simply collecting
128. 5:00evidence and if you start from left to
129. 5:02right, your brain feels natural form of
130. 5:05progress. It won't just randomly hang in
131. 5:07your closet like with the reverse hanger
132. 5:09method. So, you'll have the feeling that
133. 5:11something is going forward by like
134. 5:14working through all your clothes.
135. 5:16And after a few weeks, you will clearly
136. 5:18see these are the clothes that I
137. 5:20actually live in and the ones on the
138. 5:21other side are just taking up the space.
139. 5:24I recommend to do this for 60 days and
140. 5:28then see what's left on the right side
141. 5:31or under the shelf, but before you
142. 5:33declutter everything untouched, there's
143. 5:35one thing I want you to try and what
144. 5:38makes this process very successful in my
145. 5:40opinion.
146. 5:41You're not allowed to buy anything new
147. 5:44before you haven't worn all items.
148. 5:47Before buying anything new or declutter
149. 5:50a piece, you must wear everything you
150. 5:51already own at least once.
151. 5:54And yes, that requires a lot of
152. 5:56discipline, and we Germans are known for
153. 5:58discipline, so I love this part. One
154. 6:00thing I noticed growing up in Germany is
155. 6:02that people have a more practical
156. 6:04approach when it comes to their clothes
157. 6:06or their stuff. Not everyone, of course,
158. 6:08but there often is less emphasis on
159. 6:11constantly upgrading things or always
160. 6:13having the best things. It's more an
161. 6:16emphasis on what works for you and your
162. 6:18lifestyle. So for me, when I declutter,
163. 6:21the goal is never to have the perfect
164. 6:23wardrobe or the perfect capsule wardrobe
165. 6:25that is Pinterest-worthy. It's more
166. 6:27about having a perfect wardrobe for me
167. 6:30and my lifestyle, and to get the maximum
168. 6:33value out of what I already own. So
169. 6:35before you declutter anything, get
170. 6:37creative and get more out of what you
171. 6:40already have. After a couple of weeks,
172. 6:42you will see which clothes you've been
173. 6:43avoiding, so take a look at the pieces
174. 6:45you've been avoiding and tackle one
175. 6:47piece every morning, and then ask
176. 6:49yourself, "Do I really dislike it, and
177. 6:52why am I exactly avoiding this, or do I
178. 6:55just not know how to style it?" And then
179. 6:58you can go ahead and look on Pinterest,
180. 7:00search for outfit ideas, and try
181. 7:02combinations you normally wouldn't try,
182. 7:05and then sometimes a forgotten shirt
183. 7:07becomes your favorite piece, and
184. 7:09sometimes you realize that this piece
185. 7:12can really go because you never really
186. 7:14liked it. And both are valuable
187. 7:16discoveries, and while becoming
188. 7:18creative, you might start to feel the
189. 7:19abundance of, "Wow, I really have so
190. 7:21many clothes already," and you learn to
191. 7:23appreciate the combinations you can pull
192. 7:25off already, and the amount of days you
193. 7:28could go even without having to wear the
194. 7:30same And the amount of days you could go
195. 7:32even without having to wear the same
196. 7:34item for 2 months because you got so
197. 7:36much to choose from. By the way, if you
198. 7:38want to live more minimalistic and get
199. 7:40your finances on track, I mean, I guess
200. 7:43so, otherwise you probably wouldn't be
201. 7:44here. Feel free to check out my free
202. 7:47minimalism planner bundle and my budget
203. 7:49planner on my website if you feel like
204. 7:51your finances and your stuff need a
205. 7:53little rearrangement. Okay, so now that
206. 7:55you start to wear more out of your
207. 7:57closet and you're being forced to wear
208. 7:59everything you own and you're starting
209. 8:02to be creative with what's left on the
210. 8:05right side or under the shelf, you will
211. 8:07probably immediately feel for a lot of
212. 8:09items if they are still a good fit for
213. 8:11you and if you can find a good outfit
214. 8:13combination or if they are really just
215. 8:15not your thing. And for those pieces
216. 8:18you're unsure about, I have another rule
217. 8:21for you you can try to apply.
218. 8:23If I wear something and I feel
219. 8:25uncomfortable in it twice this day I'm
220. 8:27wearing it because it's too tight, it's
221. 8:29not my style, too short, then it's gone.
222. 8:33I don't care if it was expensive, I
223. 8:35don't care if it's trendy. If the size
224. 8:37feels wrong and if the material is
225. 8:39itchy, if I constantly adjust it and
226. 8:41just don't feel comfortable in it, then
227. 8:44I let it go because life is too short to
228. 8:46wear clothes that make you feel
229. 8:47uncomfortable. And try to be rational
230. 8:50with your clothes instead of emotional.
231. 8:52If you're a mom living in the rural
232. 8:54countryside, you will probably not be
233. 8:57able to wear all your heels and nice
234. 8:59dresses within the next 3 years. Then
235. 9:01those clothes are probably just taking
236. 9:03up your mental and physical space and
237. 9:05you can probably let them go.
238. 9:07But if you're a lawyer in New York City,
239. 9:10you will probably need something totally
240. 9:11different. Let the fantasy self you had
241. 9:14in mind when you bought clothes or the
242. 9:16fantasy self you still have in mind for
243. 9:18your future if you lose weight or
244. 9:19something. Just let it go. Be realistic
245. 9:22about your actual situation, about what
246. 9:24you are actually need in your daily life
247. 9:27and try to stick to who you really are
248. 9:30even if you won't like the answer at
249. 9:32first. So as I already said, I recommend
250. 9:34doing this for around 60 days or maybe 3
251. 9:38months, and at the end of those two or
252. 9:40three months, you can draw a conclusion
253. 9:41and we'll see, "Okay, there are things
254. 9:43that I haven't moved the whole time and
255. 9:45I really avoided them, and even
256. 9:47Pinterest couldn't help me find a
257. 9:48combination." Then you have your answer.
258. 9:50It can either go or it can be
259. 9:53repurposed. Of course, you can repurpose
260. 9:55items. You can give it to friends, or
261. 9:58you can make a sleep shirt out of it, or
262. 10:00a cleaning rag, or maybe it's just
263. 10:03really time to let it go completely. I
264. 10:05like to repurpose old shirts as pajamas
265. 10:08or garden shirts, or just old pants for
266. 10:10the garden. And at this point, like, can
267. 10:12I ask you something?
268. 10:14Do people actually buy pajamas? I think
269. 10:16I've never bought a single pajama in my
270. 10:19whole life. Because I generally don't
271. 10:22need a pajama. I just wear old leggings,
272. 10:24like, old activewear leggings or
273. 10:27something like that. I still have my old
274. 10:29pregnancy leggings that I'm still
275. 10:32wearing at night because they're super
276. 10:33comfortable. And the same goes for
277. 10:35gardening. And I've always wondered, are
278. 10:38there really people buying clothes for
279. 10:40gardening or for sleeping? Like, let me
280. 10:44know. How do you see that topic? Because
281. 10:46most of us already own a lot of
282. 10:48perfectly good clothes that are just not
283. 10:50in style anymore, or maybe not the
284. 10:52perfect fit for us anymore, but they are
285. 10:54totally fine for using them for another
286. 10:57purpose. So, I'm honestly curious
287. 10:59because I'm wearing those old t-shirts
288. 11:01until they have holes and then I throw
289. 11:02them out. Let me know in the comments if
290. 11:04this something people do, and if yes,
291. 11:07why are you doing it? The best part
292. 11:09about this method is that it doesn't ask
293. 11:11you to become a different person, and
294. 11:13you don't need a capsule wardrobe, and
295. 11:15you definitely don't need to spend an
296. 11:17entire Saturday surrounded by piles of
297. 11:19clothes. You just pay attention and keep
298. 11:21going. You learn how to appreciate what
299. 11:24you have and make more out of what you
300. 11:25already own.
301. 11:27Little by little. It's just a matter of
302. 11:29consistency and discipline and becoming
303. 11:31rational with your clothes instead of
304. 11:33emotional.
305. 11:34>> [music]
306. 11:34>> And the goal isn't to own as few clothes
307. 11:36as possible. The goal is to need less
308. 11:39[music] in the future. And every time
309. 11:41you need less, you get a little bit
310. 11:43closer to freedom.
311. 11:46>> [music]
312. 11:50[music]
313. 11:56[music]
314. 12:11[music]