7: Why You Keep Decluttering (But It Keeps Coming Back) | Overconsumption Habits

If you feel like you’re always decluttering but things keep filling back up again, this episode will show you why.

Because clutter doesn’t actually start in the drawer—it starts with what’s coming into your home.

As I’ve been working through my own 30-day decluttering journey, I’ve been noticing a few common patterns that quietly lead to overconsumption and more to manage than we actually have the space or capacity for.

In this episode, we’re shifting the focus from what to get rid of to what keeps coming in.

And one simple question that can change everything:

“What is this going to cost me to manage?”

IN THIS EPISODE:

•  Why decluttering alone doesn’t solve the problem long-term 
•  The “it’s only a few dollars” trap 
•  The duplicate trap and how buying in bulk creates more to manage 
•  The “someday” trap—buying for a version of life that doesn’t match your reality 
•  How overconsumption leads to decision fatigue and mental clutter 
•  A simple shift to help you become more intentional with what you bring in 
•  How this connects to your values and being more mindful of waste over time 

A QUESTION TO TAKE WITH YOU:

Before you add something to your cart, try asking:

“What is this going to cost me to manage?”

If this episode resonated with you and you’re ready to take the next step, grab the One Space Reset Kit. It’s a short guided reset to help you clear one space at a time — whether that’s a space in your home or one of the open loops we talked about today.

→ Grab the One Space Reset Kit here!

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the show so you don’t miss your Monday reset.

Connect with Jackie:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/makingthespacewithjackie
• Email: hello@jackiepicchi.com

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Disclaimer:

© 2026 Making the Space, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this podcast may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission.

This podcast is for educational and coaching purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, medical, or mental health care.

Transcript

0:00

so I'm about a week and a half into decluttering my home. I'm doing this 30 day journey of decluttering all of the nagging spaces in my house, and I keep noticing the same thing. Some of these spaces, they're actually not that hard to organize at all. They only take me 10, 15, maybe 20 minutes. I'm just noticing that there's too much and it's made me start asking a different question. One I didn't always have the language for, but something I've been noticing for a very long time. How much is this going to cost me to manage? And honestly, even last week, I had to do this in real time. So at the time of this podcast recording, we're coming off of spring Break and I had planned to record a weekly episode, but I had to pause and ask myself what actually matters this week? Just because I want to do it, does it mean that I have the space and the capacity for it? And if I'm talking about prioritizing my values and what I really wanted to do was be present with my family, the answer was so clear. I wanted to be right in it with them, and so I put it on hold and we're right back at it today. And I think that same idea shows up in our homes too, because the more I've been going space by space, the more I'm realizing that a lot of clutter doesn't actually start in the drawer. It starts way earlier when we're bringing things into our home, and I think this is why so many of us feel like we declutter and then things slowly fill back up again. Right? I think we've all been there. So today I wanna walk you through a few over consumption traps. I've been noticing, not just so we can have less stuff, but so we're not constantly managing more than we need to. And as we go through these, I want you to keep coming back to one simple question. What is this going to cost me to manage? Because that's the piece I think we don't always think about. Welcome back to Making the Space Monday. I'm Jackie, a values-based decluttering coach, helping overwhelm women make space for what matters, starting in their homes, but not ending there. This is your Monday reset where we simplify what's been building up so you can feel more clear, more present, and more aligned in your home, your head, and your life. So let's talk about something I don't think we talk about enough when it comes to clutter. Not that we just need to get rid of it, but what keeps coming in. as I've been going through this, I've started noticing a few patterns. Just really normal ways that we end up bringing more in than we actually have the space or capacity to manage. So the first one I've really been noticing is what I'd call, it's only a few dollars trap. And for me, this shows up so clearly at Target. Do you guys remember when it used to be called the dollar spot and now it's like the bullseye section, and it used to truly be like $1, and then the items slowly went up and I think $3 was the peak. And now I go over there and it's like $5 each. Every time I go to that section, I'm totally drawn in. You know, they've done some amazing marketing, right? It's the first thing you see when you walk in the store, no matter what store you go to, and usually it's very seasonal. They're really cute items. They're super on trend. They're fun and they're inexpensive, right? They're inexpensive enough that it doesn't feel like a big decision. Like, oh, do I really need this little tchotchke? It goes right into the cart. You know, it's like, oh, it's only a dollar, $3, $5. I could use this. This would be nice to have. This would look so cute with my spring decor. But here's the thing I've noticed, at least for myself, these are the very items that just end up not fitting in my seasonal bins. They are the ones that I end up. Not feeling excited about the very next year, or they were so trendy that I don't love them anymore, and more often than not, I'm finding that those are the items that I'm putting in my donation box. So it's become very clear that that section is a huge trap. Just because it's inexpensive doesn't mean it needs to be in the cart because really these items end up. Costing us so much in terms of management, whether it is the bins that we need to put them in, the guilt of buying it. Sometimes I'm like, gosh, why did I buy this? Why did I spend money on this little thing that I'm clearly not going to use again? And of course there's some exceptions. I mean, I'll be the first one to tell you. I think they got some great stuff over there and I love getting them as little gifts or things when we're traveling. There's some good stuff over there. But do I need to overconsume in that section? The answer is probably not. And this is where that question comes in for me. What is this going to cost me to manage? Because even though it's a small purchase, it's still something I now have to take care of. It needs a place to live, a way to be organized, something to contain it, and eventually a decision about whether I actually use it or not. And I will tell you through this process of decluttering my home. That's the one that pops up a lot. These decisions, many multiply to what feels like millions of decisions that I have to make each day. And this is just another one that adds to it, right? So it's low cost to buy, but higher cost to manage later. And I think this is where a lot of. Clutter. It quietly builds not from big purchases, but from small constant ones that don't feel like they matter in the moment. So something I've been asking myself is what small purchases keep adding up in my home? And are they actually adding value or just adding more to manage? And once I started noticing that, I started seeing another pattern right alongside it. And that's the duplicate trap. This is when we're not necessarily buying bad things or even random things. We're just buying more of the same thing that we actually need. And for me, this shows up so clearly at places like Costco. Okay? Because when you walk in and everything feels so practical, especially when you first walk in the door and scan your card, right? All of this stuff is just lined up there. It's on sale. Seasonal it is calling at you and it feels responsible. It feels like this is a good decision. I should buy this now. It's so cheap. It's on sale. And look how many I can get. Four boxes of toothpaste. It's like, I'll use this. This will last. We might as well stock up. And sometimes that does make perfect sense. But what I've been noticing is I go through my home. Is that at a certain point, I'm not just using these things anymore. I am literally managing them Now. I've got backups, I have overflow extras, shoved behind extras, things I forgot I already had because there was already just so much of it. And that's really what the duplicate trap is. Not necessarily owning the wrong thing, but owning too many versions, too many backups, too much quantity. For what your real life can actually support or what you're actually even consuming. And I don't know if this happens for you, but there's times when I'll go to Costco and I'll buy the gigantic, you know, million pack of something and I'm like, oh man, this is a good deal. We'll definitely use this. We bring it home and we don't actually like the product. And yes, I know we can go return it, but. It. That's another thing that I have to manage, right? So I'm being really intentional when I shop at a place like Costco is that really think about, is this something that we will consume? Does it make sense and do I feel like I have to manage it? What is it going to cost me to manage it? Because it really isn't just the price of buying it, it's where it's going to go, whether I have room for it, whether I'll remember that I have it, and whether it actually makes my life easier or just gives me more to keep track of. Because more doesn't always create ease, right? Sometimes it just creates more. So something I've been asking myself here is, does my life actually support having this. Much of this thing, or am I bringing in more than I realistically have space or capacity to manage? And once I started noticing that, it made me realize that there's another layer to this too. And this one feels a little different because it's not just about buying too much, it's about buying for someday. And this is what I call the Someday Trap. I notice this so clearly now, when I walk into places like Lowe's or Home Depot around the holidays, do you guys notice this? When you go there, there's all the decor, all the lights, these massive setups. I'm talking like 15 foot characters and all sorts of extravagant things that you can use now to decorate for the holidays. And I catch myself thinking. How do people store all of this? How do they manage all of this? The other 11 months of the year? And what's interesting is we were totally in that season at one point. We have evolved since then how we did have a lot of decor. At some point we had more things, but where we are now and what we value now, it's just different. I can remember the days when, you know, my husband was like totally Clark Griswold. We'd have. Tons of lights and all sorts of things, and it was a whole production, it's like an entire day or a couple days to get everything out. And it was really exciting. Our kids were younger and it was you know, larger than life. It was just the most exciting thing for them. But my kids are a bit older now. We have shifted. We're in a different season. It just feels different now. It's so much more about ease and more about those experiences and less about having those things. And that's really the trap here, right? Buying for a version of life that doesn't fully match where you are right now, or maybe hasn't even happened yet. And when I step back, that's exactly what this looks like in real life. It's not just the big holiday setups, it's all the smaller ways. This shows up too, is when we buy something. Not necessarily because if it's our life right now, but because we imagine the version of life where we're finally going to use it. So someday I'll get more organized. Someday I'll start meal prepping. Someday I'll use this system. Someday I'll get into this routine. Someday I'll become the kind of person who does X, Y, Z activity. This can look like buying more bins, baskets, organizing products, because we think this is finally gonna be the thing that makes it all come together, i've been there before. It could be even kitchen gadgets. I'm going through a lot of drawers in my kitchen right now with this decluttering journey that I'm doing over on Instagram, and I am finding kitchen gadgets, containers, meal prep stuff, because someday we're going to be the people who actually have all of this dialed in and it's. Stuff that just sits there. I'm like, why the heck did I buy this? And seasonal definitely pops up as I'm going through bins every holiday. It can even be things from seasonal decor when you're thinking you're gonna host larger groups,? So it could be like serving pieces, little extras, because someday we're gonna have this giant group of 75 people over. So I need this huge container to serve everyone. It could even be routines or planners. Oh my goodness, you guys, last week I did the desk clean out is one of my decluttering days, and I opened up my desk drawer and I was like, why do I have so many planners, notebooks, these systems trackers and lists? Because I feel like that's the thing that's gonna keep me organized and not forget all of the things that I need to remember. All the mental tabs, right? And I start opening them up and they're just. Full of one or two pages filled out and then the rest is blank. And I, I mean, I had to laugh at myself for a moment. Like, who do I think I am over here? Right? So I did get rid of some, but I kept the ones that are most important. And I did do a brain dump with one of my lists and it was really helpful, but. It was just another reminder of wow, this was a different version of me that I was hoping would be more organized or would be better at keeping lists and keeping track and systems in place. And it, you know, this is another area too. It could be like activity kits, craft things. Well, this was another big one. I did a craft supply reorg and it's so funny the things that I find, and I'll tell you, some of these came from the bullseye dollar spot at Target, where I'm like. Oh, this cute little gem art deal thing would be so fun to do in the evening, or this little paint by number, this fun little thing. And before you know it, you're missing pieces. It's incomplete. You don't have everything you need there. And it's just more to manage. And I say all of this, you guys with zero judgment because I really get it, and it has become very apparent in the last 10 days or so since I've been doing this decluttering journey. A lot of these purchases, they really do come from good intentions. I know for me they do. They come from hope. They come from wanting things to feel easier. They come from wanting to be more on top of things. But what I've been noticing as I declutter, it's that if something doesn't fit my life right now, it often turns into one more thing I have to store, sort, move around and eventually decide about later. So now I'm not just managing the item, I'm managing the idea of the person I thought I was gonna be using that item. And this is where that big question comes back in again today. What is this going to cost me to manage? Not just where is it going to go, but does it actually fit my life right now? Because if it doesn't, then it usually becomes something I have to carry mentally too. And I think that's the part that doesn't always get talked about. It's not just the physical clutter, it's the mental load that comes with it. It's all those little decisions, those micro decisions, all the things that we have to keep track of. All the stuff that's quietly sitting there waiting for our attention. And when I step back and I look at all of this, you guys, I've really been noticing it's. Not really about being more organized, it's about being more intentional with what's coming into our lives in the first place, because every single thing we bring into our home becomes something that we have to manage and making space for what matters doesn't just happen when we declutter.

Speaker 14 13:48

And something else I've been noticing through all of this. Is how much this connects to my values too, because for me, part of this is just not wanting to keep bringing things into my home only for them to eventually end up in a landfill. All the packaging, the plastics, the things that felt like a good idea in the moment, but it didn't really have a place long term. And again, it's not about being perfect, it's just something I'm a lot more aware of now that when I bring in less. I naturally have less to manage and less that eventually needs to be let go of. So it's been a bit of a shift for me, not just asking, do I need this, but also what happens to this item later?

14:26

It starts with what we choose to bring in. So maybe this week, instead of just asking, what should I get rid of? Try asking what keeps coming in. And is this adding to my life or just giving me more to manage? I know I'm really putting this into practice for myself as I'm going through this decluttering journey and as I'm shopping, whether it's on Amazon or at the local grocery store, going to Costco or Target, I'm really thinking about what is going in my cart and is this something that is adding value right now that I don't need to manage long term? And if this episode resonated with you, come on over. You can join me on Instagram. You can find me at Making the Space with Jackie, and I am sharing my very humbling 30 day decluttering journey there in real time. Working through all of those little nagging nooks and crannies in the house that I never seem to get to. And you can follow along and see exactly how I'm thinking through these spaces. And if you're ready to dive into your own reset, you can grab the One Space Reset Kit. I have it linked below in the show notes. It's a simple guided way to start making progress without feeling overwhelmed. and if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the show so you don't miss your weekly Monday reset. Thanks for being here. You guys make it a great week.

Speaker 15 15:45

A quick note before we close. This podcast is for education and inspiration. It's not a substitute for therapy or medical care. If you are needing mental health support, please reach out to a licensed provider in your area.