You’re attempting to get ready and leave the house for work. You trip over toys and laundry on the floor as you round-up the kids and get them dressed.

Then, it’s time for you to get ready. You grab a shirt off the back of the chair in your bedroom. Is this dirty or clean? Doesn’t matter, you’re about to be late for the fourth time this week. Your boss won’t be happy. Wait! This blouse is missing a button so you rummage around for another.

Finally, everyone is through the door with you screaming at them to hurry up and get in the car. But, where are your keys? You stop and dump out the contents of your purse in a mad scramble to find them. Of course, they’re not there…

Does that sound like a typical morning in your home?

Disorganization affects your life in so many ways. You waste time, money and you’re constantly stressed about things that could easily be avoided if you could just get organized.

Let’s explore some of the ways you pay for disorganization and solutions for each.

7 Ways Disorganization Affects Your Life

Paying Bills Late

Paper clutter is something we all battle. No matter how hard you try to get rid of it, it slowly creeps back in if you don’t have a good system to manage it.

So, it’s quite easy to lose or forget bills in the mounds of paper that enter your door daily. The problem is when this happens, you have to pay late fees or even reconnection charges.

You could have spent that money on something much more important. So how do you avoid it happening again?

Make sure to organize your household bills. Put a folder or tray right by the front door and place all of the unpaid bills there. Schedule a time once a week to open each bill and check the due date.

If you’re not going to pay the bill right away, add a reminder to your calendar or planner to do so. I prefer the digital route because you can set an alarm which decreases the risk of forgetting.

Buying Duplicates

How many pairs of sunglasses have you bought because you lost the old ones? Do you have two of the same gadget in your kitchen because you didn’t remember you already owned a similar item?

When you’re disorganized, it’s hard to find things around your home. Inevitably, you end up buying duplicates to replace the item you can’t find.

Solution: Make sure everything has a home. You’ll know exactly where to look for something and more importantly, where to put it back. This is a sure-fire way to eliminate buying more of the same things and saves you money.

Paying For Storage

If you’re paying for storage because you don’t have enough space in your home for all your stuff, you may just be disorganized. Stop making the storage facility owner rich and keep that money in your pocket. Clutter takes up valuable space and doesn’t allow you to store things that really matter—things you actually use.

Go from room to room and purge. Sift through every drawer, under the bed and in the garage. Clean out every closet and pare down your wardrobe. Remove anything you don’t use and love. I bet you’ll find things like expired food, clothes that don’t fit, broken items, cables for electronics you no longer own and a whole lot more. Get rid of it all!

When you’re done, you’ll probably have enough room to store everything in the storage space. But, before you skip off and bring it all home, purge that as well. The fact that it was in storage probably means you don’t use that stuff very often. Do you really need it?

Wasted Food = Wasted Money

For most people, what’s in the back of the refrigerator and pantry is somewhat of a mystery and who knows what the freezer holds? Cleaning and organizing your refrigerator and pantry often is a good way to prevent food from being thrown out after it has sat unused for too long. Create freezer and pantry inventories to keep track of the contents and expiration dates.

Knowing what you have at home also stops you from buying more unnecessarily. Every organized kitchen should have a notepad where you keep a running shopping list. That way, when something runs out, you or anyone else in the family can easily add it to the list.

Eating Out

You’re crazy busy but in that hustle do you often forget to plan for dinner?

When this happens, you end up in the drive-thru line more often than you care to admit. The food you buy from restaurants can be unhealthy and it’s also expensive! Even fast food, adds up over time.

Meal planning and prep can solve this problem for you. Every week, take a little time out to plan what you will cook for the next few days. Utilize those freezer and pantry inventories and use food you already have at home. Then, write a grocery list for anything else you need.

Eating more home-cooked food usually means you consume healthier meals and you can enjoy those savings.

Missed Opportunities

As you saw in the last four examples, disorganization causes you to waste money but you can also miss out on opportunities. Maybe there was an invitation to an event that you didn’t RSVP or you forgot about the deadline for an application. Those are lost chances to do things that could have a big impact on your life.

Once again, this is where a calendar comes in really handy. Be sure to make a note of the deadlines or due dates for anything important and schedule a time to get to it.

Lost Time

Time is one of your most precious resources and once it’s gone you can’t get it back. Don’t waste your time searching for lost items. Don’t be known as the person who’s always late.

Create a morning routine to help you stay on track and get ready on time. Make sure your home is clean and tidy so you never have to run around looking for things you need.

Disorganization Stresses You Out

One of the biggest problems with disorganization is it stresses you out. Constantly being late isn’t fun. Neither is losing things you love and having to spend money purchasing replacements. It can also take a toll on your relationships if you fight a lot about clutter or you’re too embarrassed to have guests over.

A clean house can completely remove the emotional toll that being disorganized causes. Here’s how to motivate yourself to clean if you’re overwhelmed by clutter.

There you have it—seven ways that disorganization impacts your life. You may have been aware of some of these but never known what to do about them.

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