The other day I was shopping for some new athletic shoes. I walked into a discount warehouse shoe store. Rows and rows of shoes were displayed on waist high shelves with boxes underneath. It was a large square store with a high ceiling. As I looked around I began to feel overwhelmed. With so many shoes where do I start looking?
I found the rows of athletic shoes. There were only two long rows so that wasn’t too bad. After not finding anything I liked in my size I thought I would look for some summer shoes. As I stood there looking at the vast rows in front of me I decided to walk out.
I don’t like shoe shopping because I have hard to fit feet. In my mind that store had way to many choices to even start looking up and down the rows. Of course, many people may love shoes and like having a large selection to choose from.
The question is, will you buy only what you need or will you buy more because you saw several pairs you liked and couldn’t decide which one you liked better? If you aren’t a discipline shopper then these kind of stores could spell trouble for you. Only you can decide that.
Having too many choices with anything we buy could be the main cause of our clutter. Some choice of products is a good thing. Everyone is an individual and has different tastes. But when there are too many choices it makes it a lot harder to make a decision. We’re afraid if we buy one over the other we might be sorry later. Nobody wants to make a wrong decision. So we buy both.
If you have a 100 pairs of shoes (we all know someone like that) how many are worn more than once a year? Of course with that many shoes you need lots of different outfits to wear them with. You can see where this is going.
Since we live in a materialist society we will continue to be bombarded with thousands of choices of products. With the economy the way it is many companies are discounting their products to survive. Great bargains can be found. Just remember, it’s not a bargain if it sits in the closet and is rarely, if ever worn.
I’ll admit, I’m not a shopper. But when I do need to buy clothes or shoes I prefer a smaller selection to choose from because it is easier to make a decision.
If you have a hard time knowing what styles look good on you check out this website: http://www.missussmartypants.com/. I was a member a couple of years ago and it really helped me find the styles that looked best on me. Going to the store with that kind of knowledge helped narrow the choices of clothes that I would even try on. It made shopping easier and more fun. I have joined the site again this spring because I need some new clothes. The old ones are looking a little worn out.
Ok, I know this was a rant and if you’ve read this far, thank you. The only way I know how to control clutter is to prevent it from coming into your home to begin with. I’ve learned to be selective with my shopping and that has helped a lot.
Let me know how you feel about too many choices and clutter build up. Please leave a comment.
Janice
https://cutclutterwithscissors.com