The $239 Piece of Clutter

About two years ago, I was at my client which has a number of consumer catalogs. A manufacturer had delivered a shipment of merchandise, including a woman's purse, which was not ordered. When they called the company, they were told to just keep the purse rather than returning it.

I think it was easier to give me the purse, since I was there, than to figure out which employee would get it. I insisted that an employee get it, and they insisted that I keep it. We looked up the purse's label on the Internet and found that this purse retailed for $239.

Wow, I thought. I just got a free $239 purse. My lucky day. However, the fly in the ointment is that I don't like this purse, I really don't like this purse -- it's not my taste,I typically use a shoulder bag, but I was starry eyed over its retail price.

Over the years of decluttering, and spreading the gospel of decluttering, I've rid myself of a number of myths about hanging on to things. One such myth is the "just in case" reason -- like "just in case, I'm invited to a baby shower on a boat, on St. Patrick's Day, this dress would be perfect" or "just in case, my toaster breaks and I can't go to a store to buy a new one, I could toast bread in this" -- you know, all the dumb rationalizations we use to keep things.

One of them (obviously) I'm still struggling with is "But it's a good one." If this purse retailed for $39, instead of $239, it would be long gone.

But there's another myth at work here. That's the "maybe some day..." theory as in I hate this purse, it's not my taste, but if I stick it in a drawer MAYBE SOME DAY I'll open the drawer and decide that I must have been crazy -- this purse is perfect! I love it!

"Some day" never comes and so this purse has sat in a drawer for two years. Anticipating a visit from Marilyn, my helper,this coming week, I've decided that this purse is being evicted and finding a new home via the thrift store where it will be loved. Maybe someone will see it and shriek, "Oh my God, I got a $239 purse for $10 in the thrift store! And it's brand new, with tags, as if it's just been sitting in a drawer!"