This is part of my series on Decluttering Mental Models.

Long-term, the best way to control the clutter is to slow your consumption. Stop buying stuff that you don’t truly want or really need.

Now, this is easier said than done. But there’s a trick you can use to get in the right mindset. And the trick is to ask yourself a few essential questions:

Assess your motivations

  1. Is this item you want to buy a need? Or a want? Is it a necessity, amenity, or luxury?
  2. Have you wanted it for a long time? Or would it be an impulse buy?
  3. Has it been on a “wish list” for seven days?
  4. Are you shopping because buying stuff makes you feel better?
  5. Does it feel weird to leave a store without buying anything?
  6. If I gave you $5 to not buy this item, would you choose the $5?

Dealing with sales

  1. Would you still want this item if it were full price?
  2. Do you absolutely love it? (If it’s not a “Hell yes,” then it’s a “Hell no.”)
  3. Do you already have one of these?
  4. Is this the best quality you can afford?

Get specific

  1. Where will this item live in your house?
  2. What will you discard to make room for this?
  3. Are you ready to maintain and store it long-term?
  4. Will you commit to using it in the next seven days?

Future-thinking

  1. In a week, will you be glad you bought this item?
  2. In a month, will you stash it in a closet or bury it in the basement? Will you forget about it?
  3. If you had to move to a smaller place and discard 50% of your belongings, would this item be discarded?

Traveling

  1. If you saw this item in a store at home, would you still buy it?
  2. Do you feel you need to buy something to remember your trip?
  3. Is everyone else in your group buying stuff?
  4. Do people at home expect you to bring stuff home for them?

More Decluttering Mental Models:

Top 10 Favorites

  1. How I answer the question: “What if I need this later?”
  2. “The Container strategy” will simplify your decluttering
  3. Selling clothes is for suckers (unless you earn $15/hour)
  4. Wait 48 hours before buying stuff
  5. 21 questions to ask before you buy
  6. The radical way to measure wealth, part 1 and part 2
  7. We’re trained to be dissatisfied with what we have (and how to fix this)
  8. Clear clutter by zoning your home
  9. How screen time kills your motivation to declutter
  10. Dear car dealers: I don't want a "free" T-shirt with your logo

Get started

  1. Clear clutter by zoning your home
  2. How I answer the question: “What if I need this later?”
  3. “The Container strategy” will simplify your decluttering
  4. Hold each item and ask, “Does this spark joy?”
  5. When the “Does this Spark Joy?” fails you, ask these 6 questions
  6. Create your “Discard by Feb. 2022” box
  7. Decluttering yearbooks? Ask these 8 questions first

Shopping

  1. 21 questions to ask before you buy
  2. Wait 48 hours before buying stuff - version 1 and version 2
  3. How a grocery shopping list saves me time, money, and pounds

Manage your clothes

  1. Selling clothes is for suckers (unless you can earn $15/hour)
  2. Dear Dude with too many T-shirts: no one wants to buy them—just recycle/trash them
  3. Don't be like my friend Giorgio with his 400 Hawaiian shirts
  4. None of my clothes "spark joy"—so what do i get rid of?

Happiness & satisfaction

  1. Limit pleasurable things so they don’t lose their novelty
  2. We’re trained to be dissatisfied with what we have (and how to fix this)
  3. Craving never stops and my potato chip addiction
  4. Reminder: happiness levels stay consistent

Get motivated

  1. Want to boost your motivation to declutter? Immerse yourself in decluttering videos, podcasts, & books!
  2. How screen time kills your motivation to declutter
  3. Imagine your ideal home… Imagine all the clutter is gone…
  4. Feeling unmotivated? Declutter with a 5-minute time box

Manage your money

  1. The radical way to measure wealth, part 1 and part 2
  2. Save money by controlling aspirational identities
  3. I wasted so much money starting projects (and how I fixed it)

Manage consumption spirals

  1. How consumption spirals work
  2. Buying a house led to an enormous consumption spiral
  3. How craving completeness drives my consumption

Shift your Paradigm

  1. Change your environment, change your consumption
  2. 3 thought experiments to adopt a decluttering mindset
  3. Your home is not a storage unit for other people's crap!
  4. Before you buy stuff, do this little mental exercise
  5. Less space, less stuff
  6. That’s right, you and I pay for the privilege of seeing viagra ads
  7. Your home is an expensive container for your stuff. What’s your cost per sqft?

Manage your emotions

  1. Can you tolerate boredom?
  2. Fill the void with a long term goal

Control the Clutter

  1. Dear car dealers: I don't want a "free" T-shirt with your logo