DECLUTTERING & THE SUNK COST THEORY

How many times have you hemmed and hawed about throwing an item out? What thoughts go through your mind as you weigh this decision? Undoubtedly, at some point, you think about the cost. Everything in our lives had a cost and an assigned value that we determine; emotional value, financial value, some type of investment value that we subconsciously place on said thing. This applies to relationships, our jobs, our homes, our investments, and our stuff.

“The best predictor of the future or future behavior is the past. If until this point the relationships, hobby, friendship, job, etc. has not served you in any positive regard, it likely won’t in the future.”

— YALDA SAFAI, MD, MPH

The Sunk Cost Fallacy

Oxford Languages defines the sunk cost fallacy as “the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.” (google)

The Struggle of Letting Go of Stuff

When I decided to overhaul my life and get rid of many of my possessions and accumulated crap (ahem, I mean treasured belongings), I would often run into this roadblock. I had to ask myself why I was holding onto that item. Sometimes I would say, “Well, it cost $100 a few years ago when I bought it and I’ve only worn it once. I invested in it. I should hold onto it. But…….it really doesn’t flatter me at all.” And, then I’d convince myself in a few split seconds that I should hold onto said item. Thinking that one day, a very special day when the sun will shine brightly on a 75 degree day with a warm breeze that everything will be exactly that: PERFECT! Then, only then, will I be able to wear this item. Does this sound insane to you? It does to me. Yet, we all do it. We justify, we bargain and negotiate with ourselves, we make unspoken agreements about that item, that relationship, that job, etc. Our brains are so dang good at talking us into buying something because we NEED it, it will never be on sale like this again, this brand is never going to offer this ‘thing’ at this price EVER again. We need to remember that our brains are also exceedingly good at talking us into keeping those items whether they have served their purpose or never been put to use at all (I’m looking at you, pestle and mortar). That unwanted article of clothing, hanging in the back of the closet with tags still attached, desperate to be washed and worn and be given that chance to serve its’ purpose is still waiting for you. Why are you holding onto it if you haven’t worn it yet?

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH) the sunk cost theory leads to irrational, emotion-based decision making, causing you to spend additional resources on a dead end instead of walking away from the situation that’s no longer serving you. See here, for reference: https://oitecareersblog.od.nih.gov/2021/11/22/sunk-cost-fallacy-how-it-affects-career-decision-making/

Sunk cost is a cognitive bias that shows up in our lives across multiple fronts, as noted above. For the sake of today’s article, let’s focus on stuff. Our investment in things, items, clothing, housewares, gadgets, doodads, and other consumables are primarily bought to make our lives more livable, more comfortable, and even easier. All good things, of course. So, why do we have so much of it and why does it overwhelm us to the point of stuffed closets, garages, and every nook and cranny of our homes? At some point, many of us become buried in our own accumulation of things and we feel trapped or just plain old overwhelmed. Decluttering and letting go may be exactly where to start. Giving some basis to the sunk cost theory and allowing yourself to remove that emotional attachment to an item that no longer serves you.

EXPANDING THE DECLUTTERING MINDSET

In order for me to let go of my precious stuff, I had to determine its’ value first. I had to become objective and remove emotion from the equation. I had to ask multiple questions of myself depending on the article in question. And, I’m not intending to get into Marie Kondo’s, “Does it Bring me Joy” because that right there brings in emotion and I’m trying to remove emotion from the decision making, unfortunately. While I enjoy Marie Kondo’s take on things, it didn’t work for me because I found I would still justify the joy that ‘thing’ brought to my life and I’d reorganize and fold things nicely but I didn’t let that crap go. I just had more organized and folded crap, but the quantity never diminished. I had to be intuitive and thoughtful while keeping things balanced as I learned to embrace simplicity through this decluttering process. I asked these questions and they are in no particular order:

1.Do I use this item today? Fine. So keep it.

2. Will I use it in the near future? Be honest. Do you really think you will?

3. Does this have sentimental value? If so, is it worth keeping or no? Can you set aside a box for sentimental items and shelve it somewhere special so you can look at those things once a year or so?

4. Does it fit? If so, do I see myself wearing this at any time in the next year? If not, maybe put it in rotation soon to make sure you really like it and that the style and functionality fit your present lifestyle.

5. Can I use this up before it expires? Do I actually want to use it up?

6. Have I read this book? Am I actually going to read this book or is it going to sit here for another year waiting to be read?

7. Am I keeping this ‘just because’ or do I really see value in this item?

Let the Purging Begin

Any items I chose to declutter because they no longer serve me, I set them aside and review the pile(s). Then, when it comes time to remove these items from my home I ask the following questions and break it down to four new piles or boxes exclusive of the keep piles.

1. Sell on a resale website like Poshmark, Ebay, or on Facebook Marketplace.
2. Donate to a second hand store that benefits local charities or to Goodwill.
3. Gift to a freecycle or Buy Nothing group on Facebook.
4. Throw away. It either has holes, is ripped, is damaged, or expired (be sure to check local resources about tossing expired meds or electronics as there are places you can drop them off for proper handling and refuse)

All of that sounds oversimplified, doesn’t it? It sounds so easy, right? Why is it so hard for us to get rid of stuff and declutter? There is a psychology behind all of this and the emotions that propel us. Guilt, commitment bias, loss aversion, or just a general bent to not be wasteful contribute to our decision making around our investments in stuff. In some cases, it’s a combination of those factors.

For example, let’s say you purchase a staycation at a local hotel where you and your partner have dinner reservations and your partner has been looking forward to it for weeks. The hotel is non-refundable, the dinner reservations can be cancelled. The cost was $200 for the hotel but you come down with a bad cold a few days prior. You have a decision to make. The money is gone whether you go or not, so do you choose to go or do you choose to stay home and get much needed rest? If you go, you could set back your recovery and might not even be able to taste your food. You also risk passing your germs to others. You know you should stay home, but decide otherwise. What makes you commit to the hotel stay in the end? In this case, it might be guilt because you think your partner deserves this nice weekend, it might be loss aversion since you spent the money and don’t want to feel like you threw money down the drain. Whatever the reasoning, we all do this multiple times per day in relation to so many facets of our lives that we probably don’t give the psychology behind it a thought.

For us to declutter intuitively, we need to consider the fact that the money has been spent. You can’t get it back. I have used a few resale websites to sell my used shoes, purses, and clothing but I’m only getting back about 20-40% of the original cost, if I’m lucky. Obviously, there are outlying situations but, in general, I only resell things I think someone could use or find value in said item. Most of my stuff winds up gifted or donated and a few items do make their way into the trash. I had to let go of what the original cost was and then move on. I’ll be honest, sometimes it’s really hard to part with a nice handbag you spent a bunch of money on but eventually it became an impractical piece in your closet and only got used a handful of times. I have held onto things due to lack mentality thinking I may never have the money for this item in the future or because I didn’t have the money for it in the past. I have held onto things for the ‘just in case I need it someday’ even if I hadn’t touched it for years. We all do it. And, sometimes we just are too busy to notice the stuff accumulating around us. It just blurs into the background, the things we get so used to seeing to the point we don’t even notice them. We go about our lives buying and buying almost as if we are on autopilot.

Next time you are caught having to make a decision about whether you have lost an investment in your time, energy, money, or emotional expenditure stop yourself and think about the sunk cost fallacy. What can you learn about how you make decisions and how you navigate the thinking process around the situation? Can you let things go and relieve yourself from the burden of the past and move forward since you can’t get back what was spent in the first place? And, can you apply that lesson to a bit of decluttering in just one small part of your home?