5 Unexpected Financial Wins From a Simple Decluttering

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By decluttering, you can make some extra cash and even invest more. Find out how it could put you on a better financial footing. 

I saw my neighbor cleaning out his garage recently, and it reminded me that I’m overdue for taking inventory of what I have in my home and what I could easily live without.

I get a little boost when I declutter. I like to have a relatively simple life without a lot of stuff — except for the excessive amount of Legos my kids have. But sifting through all your belongings can also bring benefits to your personal finances. Here are just a few.

1. You can sell things you don’t want

If you need extra cash, decluttering can be an excellent way to make some money with little effort. Sure, you may have to climb into a cobweb-filled attic or make a trip to your storage unit, but you’ll likely come across a few things you can sell.

I’ve seen plenty of couches, bikes, workout equipment, and clothes listed online by people who are clearly just getting rid of stuff they don’t use anymore. Even a quick look through your closets could help you find a few things you could put up for sale.

2. You can cancel your expensive storage unit

Have you ever seen someone list a sofa for sale online? You’ll often see they’ve taken it right from their storage unit and set it outside to take a picture.

There are more individual storage units in the U.S. than fast food restaurants, creating a massive $29 billion industry. Do we need all that stuff? Probably not.

And we’re paying a lot of money per month to store it. The average storage unit costs $180 per month. Are you looking to save extra cash each month? One Saturday of cleaning may do it.

3. You can keep tabs on what you own

I recently had to buy a pair of dress shoes because I couldn’t find my old pair. It’s possible I got rid of them in my last move, but I’m partly convinced that they still may surface the next time I sort through some of my old boxes (I don’t dress up often, clearly).

If I were more organized, I would have known for sure if I still owned my old dress shoes before buying new ones. The point is that decluttering can save you money by helping you know exactly what you already own.

4. You can boost your savings

When talking about ways to make some money by decluttering, it’s easy to skim over what you can do with the money you make from selling your stuff. One significant benefit is to build up your emergency savings.

Americans’ savings accounts have dwindled over the past few years, and the average amount now has $1,200 in it, according to a survey by The Ascent. With inflation still elevated and credit card debt reaching $1 trillion recently, American savings accounts could undoubtedly benefit from a boost.

5. You can invest the decluttering money

Keeping with the theme of what you can do with the money you make from decluttering, making a little extra cash from selling the stuff in your attic or clearing out your storage unit could boost your available cash for investing.

Let’s say you have a storage unit and pay the average $180 per month to rent it. If you clean out the unit and put that money in a brokerage account each month, owning an index fund that earns an average rate of return of 8% per year, you’d have about $12,936 at the end of the five years.

That’s just an estimate, of course, and there’s no guarantee you’ll earn that much, but it’s an example of how putting that $180 to work differently could bring a significant financial win.

The holiday season can be a great time to start decluttering, helping you clear out some things you don’t need while earning extra cash for shopping. If you need additional help tracking your spending, using a budgeting app is a good idea.

And remember, even if you don’t make any money decluttering your home, you’ll likely feel better that you’ve gotten rid of some stuff you’re not using. And if you find an old pair of black dress shoes, they’re mine.

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