Can Decluttering My Home Actually Free Up My Finances?

Ralph00:01:47

Does your home feel just a little too cluttered? Are your drawers packed? Are your closets overflowing? Hey, maybe even you got a storage unit that you haven't touched in months.But what if I told you letting go of that stuff wasn't just about organizing but actually unlocking peace and surprising financial freedom. Stick with me today because I'm going to share how decluttering can change your money and more importantly, change your mindset.That's what we're going to cover on today's show.

Ralph00:02:15

This is Financially Confident Christian, your daily dose of gospel, grounded insight and faith driven tips to help you break the cycle of financial shame with confidence.

Ralph00:02:26

Hey friend. Welcome back to your daily Financially Confident Christian.I'm Ralph and it's a joy to walk this journey again together with you today because this show exists to help you answer that one core question. How can I become a financially confident Christian? And we continue our series today, beyond the Budget.Finding financial freedom through intentional living. That's the whole point of this series. Now if you missed yesterday's show, we looked at giving with purpose instead of pressure.We talked about those birthdays and those holidays and those anniversaries and how to take that pressure off and give with purpose instead of feeling like you're compelled to do so. And if you missed it, I going to encourage you to check it out. And today we're asking another great question about intentionality and that's this.Can decluttering your home actually free up your finances? Let's talk about that today.I don't know about you, but you ever walk around, you open up that drawer, you know that that drawer nobody wants to go into and instantly you just feel overwhelmed. There's piles of paper, there's tangled chargers, mystery keys. I remember when I was a kid, my mom used to call this the junk drawer.And I don't know about you, but it seems like everything just kind of ended up there. I'd ask my mom, hey, where's it? Oh, it's in the junk drawer. Or it's in the junk drawer.Maybe as you're listening right now, your garage is packed so tight you haven't parked your car in it in years. And let's be real, I mentioned this a few minutes ago. Those storage units, they're not free. They cost a lot of money.Now that's a whole different discussion for another day. But that clutter, that clutter I'm talking about in those drawers, in those closets, in those cabinets, it's costing you.Now you might be thinking Ralph, that's great. Yes, it's costing me. I'm paying for a storage unit. It's costing you more than that. Think about just the financial impact of that.It's costing you in storage fees. It's costing you the opportunity to maybe sell some of this stuff. And if you're like me, and it's costing you because you have duplicate stuff.How many times have I been looking for a charging cable? And my wife will say, ralph, it's in the junk drawer. I go in the junk drawer, and there's a half dozen of them in there.So it's definitely costing us financially, but it's also costing us mentally. That junk drawer is stress. It's decision fatigue. Ah, you know, I don't know what to do with it. I'm just going to throw it in the junk drawer.But bigger than that, that's why I do this show every day. It's costing us spiritually. And you're thinking, ralph, wait a minute. Now, I can understand financially, I can understand mentally.But spiritually, yes, here's why. Because it's leading to distraction and it's leading to overwhelm. See, because here's the truth. Clutter doesn't just crowd your house.It certainly does that. It certainly does it in your closet and your drawers, but it also clouds your peace. Here's the thing I want you to understand.Clutter often reflects what's going on inside of us. Now, that's a pretty deep thing. You're like Ralph, you lost me again. See, scripture doesn't call us to be hoarders.If you ever watched the episode of Hoarders, man, you know what I'm talking about. But that's not what scripture calls us to do. It calls us to steward. It's a much different word.And by stewarding, it calls us to sometimes let go of things. Let go right to the word. Let's look at the book of Luke, chapter 12, verses 16 to 21. This is where Jesus shares a powerful parable.And this is what it says. It says, the ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. And he thought to himself, what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.Then he said, oh, this is what I'll do. I'll tear down my barns and I'll build bigger ones, and there I'll store my surplus grain.And I'll say to myself, hey, you've got plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy. Eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, you fool, this very Night, your life will be demanded from you.Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.I tell you what, as I was preparing for today's show, I read that I was like, man, that is harsh. But the last sentence of that is what is really key to this.This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich towards God. Well, let's look at the book of Matthew and chapter six, verses 19 to 21. And I use this on the show quite frequently. Chapter Jesus says this.He says, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroyed, where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Let's just let that sink in for a minute. See, decluttering isn't just a home project.A lot of times you go, oh, that's great, Ralph. Yeah, we're going to declutter in a spring cleaning. Whatever you want to call it, it's deeper than that. When you really think about it.It's a spiritual invitation. It's inviting us to live freer. It's inviting us to live lighter.And more importantly than all of those things, it's inviting us to be more focused on what truly matters. So now you're saying, great, Ralph. Yeah, I get it. That's perfect. So what do I do, Ralph? How do I make this happen? How do I transform all this stuff?I'm going to give you the big answer, and then we're going to drill down a little deeper. But the big answer is, we start small. And most importantly, we start now. Pick one tiny area and declutter with this mindset.Here's the mindset that's the most important takeaway from today's show. I want you to commit this to memory. I'm making space for peace, for clarity, and for freedom. See, that's the key.Well, now let me tell you how to do it. Here's your one action step for today. I want you to choose just one tiny area. Hey, maybe for you, it's just that one junk drawer.I can hear my mom now. You know, eventually, kids, we got to clean out this junk drawer. Or maybe for you, it's that one box that's been sitting on that shelf.You're like, yeah, I've been putting it off, Ralph. I got to get to that or that one shelf in your home office. Hey, maybe it's in your car. It's that glove compartment.You don't even dare open up that glove compartment. You're afraid of what's going to fall out. Or maybe, like a lot of people, it's that basket just kind of sits in the hallway.Just kind of collects the mail, and it collects the. I don't know where to put stuff, but just choose one tiny area, just one. And then I want you to do a sorting routine. Just want you to sort.I want you to hold up each and every item. Let's just pick a drawer as an example. Go to that junk drawer again. I could hear my mom, clean out that junk drawer.And I want you to ask yourself these questions as you sort this. Number one, do I use this? Number two, do I need this? Number three, do I love this? And finally, does this reflect my value? So do I use it?Do I need it? Do I love it? And does it, more importantly, reflect my values? So pick that item.We're going to say it's a drawer, and then sort everything in that drawer and ask those questions. And then the next step. This is the fun step. I want you to make three piles.There's going to be a pile called keep, a pile called donate or sell, and a pile called trash or recycle. So, Ralph, what do you put in the keep? 1. Useful stuff, necessary stuff, or meaningful stuff. That's what stays in the keep.The donate and sell is stuff that's in good condition, but you just don't need it anymore. And then clearly, the trash and recycle. Hey, if it's broken, if it's outdated or it's expired, it's time to trash it or recycle it.As my wife says to me all the time, Ralph, do you ever use this? Listen, honestly, my wife's a bit of a minimalist, but she's right on point.And then the final step to this, the most crucial point of this is act immediately. See, it's real easy to close that drawer again. I can just picture that junk drawer in my kitchen right now.Now, I don't have that because my wife keeps it pretty well cleaned out. But as a kid, we had a junk drawer was, like, overflowing with stuff.And it's real easy to just push that drawer closed again and put it off for another day. But I'm gonna encourage you right now to act immediately. List one item for sale, whether it's on Facebook, Marketplace or Poshmark, or eBay.Here's an even better idea. Go get one of those big trash cans and fill it up with all the stuff that you can donate and then put it in your car. Don't leave it in your house.Put it in your car and drop it off today or your next time. You're out this week. And now you're thinking, ralph, that sounds like fun, but why does this help? Well, here's what it does. It does two things.It clears mental and physical space. Hey, you can use that drawer again. It's not teeming with junk. It's going to reduce your stress. It's going to reduce that weight.You feel stuff all around you. Hey, if you sell stuff, it might give you a little extra cash as well. And it helps you avoid unnecessary future purchases.The next time you say to your husband or wife, hey, do you got a car charger? You go, yes, I have one. In fact, I have five of them, and they're in the drawer. They're in a nice plastic bag, and I know where exactly to find them.And all of those things. It leads you closer to what we really have focused in on this series, intentional and. And peaceful living. Let's pray together.Father God, we just thank you for the homes, for the spaces and the resources that you've entrusted to us, Lord. And forgive us for holding on to too much, Lord, and for letting clutter take over our lives and really honestly steal our peace.So, Lord, we just ask you for wisdom today. We ask you for clarity, Lord, as we sort. Help us to release what we no longer need.Give us joy in that simplicity, Lord, and help us become better stewards of our space and. And of our time and of our possessions. Lord, we ask that our homes be filled not with excess, but with purpose, with peace, and with love.And we ask this in confidence in Jesus name. Amen, friend. Decluttering isn't just about cleaning up. It's so much bigger than that. Think about it like this. It's a doorway.It's that doorway that you open up to financial clarity, to mental peace, and as I talked about today, to true spiritual renewal. So today, here's what I'm charging you with.Pick one spot, take one step, and trust that God is with you even in the middle of that messy junk drawer. And I'm going to encourage you right now, share this episode and share the show with somebody that could use it.Hey, just open up your phone right now. Send them a text, send them an email. Point them to financiallyconfidentchristian.com tell them, hey, I listen to this guy Ralph every day.He gives me one little tip and today he talked about how to declutter my life and he's going to give me financial, spiritual and mental peace. So there's a lot of value there. And while you're there, I want to encourage you to get a free copy of my book. It's called Mastering Your Finances.It's a short read, but it is super impactful. And you get that by going to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/master. Now. Tomorrow, get ready.We're going to explore how to make every single dollar you spend serve a greater mission. So hey, it's going to be a great show tomorrow.So until then, I want you to stay faithful, stay focused, and let's all go out there and be Financially confident Christians. You can do this. I have confidence in you. Have confidence in yourself. Stay financially savvy. God bless you and you have a great day today.

Ralph00:14:13

Thank you for joining us today on the Financially Confident Christian show, where we're breaking the cycle of financial shame with confidence and faith. If you found value in this episode, a simple click to subscribe means you'll be invited right back for our next conversation.And remember, financial challenges don't have to be overwhelming. Just Ask Ralph. This show is a production of Ask Ralph Media and is supported by Saggio Accounting Plus.The information shared in this episode is based on data available as of the date of release. Saggio Accounting plus and Ask Ralph Media, Inc. Are under no obligation to update this content if circumstances change.Please note that applying this information to your personal situation requires careful consideration. This episode is not intended to serve as financial, tax or legal advice. Always consult your trusted tax advisor or attorney before taking action based on anything we've discussed.