The hidden cost of holding on
It’s more than you might think
Four years ago, we moved to Spain with a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old. Now we’re planning our move back to our home in Oregon with two proper little people. It’s kind of wild how much our family has changed in what feels like no time at all.
Unlike our move here, which involved selling, donating, storing, or shipping just about everything we owned, this one feels like a bit of a gift. We’ll be keeping this house as an Airbnb and coming back for summers, so moving is a much lighter lift this time around.
Besides what will be in our suitcases, the list of what we’re bringing is surprisingly short: our good knives, my photography equipment, some winter clothes, a guitar, and a couple of bikes. The kids each get one box for toys and personal items. That’s it. The rest—furniture, dishes, appliances, tools, and most of the toys and books—will stay.
Even with so much staying behind, I’m using this move to inventory everything we own and what we’ve accumulated these last four years. What’s actually useful for renters? What still fits our life? What will we want for our future summers here?
These decisions take time, and they’re not always easy. It’s tempting to hang onto things just in case. Because we have the space. Or because we don’t want to deal with them right now.
But everything we hold onto comes with a cost.
It’s one more thing to care for, clean, move, store, or keep on a mental list for later—and all of that requires our time, space, attention, and money. Over time, those quiet costs add up and can become a kind of clutter all their own.
Many things are worth keeping, but not everything is. As I sort through our stuff, I keep coming back to two questions: Does this need to stay here for renters or future summers, or will we need it back in Oregon? It’s a privilege to have these choices—to decide what comes with us, what stays behind, and to call two beautiful places home. But if something doesn’t serve either space, I’m letting it go. Because the fewer things we carry forward, the lighter life will feel on both sides of the ocean.
Letting go of what you no longer need isn’t always easy, but it’s space well worth making.
P.S. If you tend to get bogged down in emotions or overthink every little thing, this one question can help make decluttering feel a whole lot easier.
Yes, there are so many hidden costs of waiting to deal with clutter later. And if the thing we hold onto that no longer serves us has an emotional connection, it can become even harder with time to address it. Sometimes an emotional charge connected to something dissipates with time, and sometimes it can magnify.