Study: With a serious case of ‘affluenza,’ nearly half of us are drowning in stuff!

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This probably won’t come as a surprise, but almost half of Americans surveyed say they’re drowning in stuff at their homes!

Read more: To be or not to be a minimalist?

A repeat case of affluenza

Now that we’re several years past the peak of the minimalist anti-consumer trend, it seems like many of us are back to a mode of mindless spending.

A recent study from online marketplace OfferUp finds that 48% of us say our homes are at least somewhat cluttered with items we never use. The clutter is so intense that 14% of us report having a room dedicated to junk that we can’t use for any other purpose than storage. And there’s no end to the madness in sight because 41% of us haven’t de-cluttered in a year.

At the same time, 46% of respondents said they struggle to meet their bills every month. That struggle leads to anxiety. Around a third of us are stressed over medical bills and a quarter of us don’t think we can can afford the upcoming holiday and other celebrations for our families.

To arrive at these findings, OfferUp worked with ClearVoice Research in June to field a general population survey that include 1,000 random respondents and 300 additional respondents specifically from metro areas including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle.

Here’s the solution!

So what’s going on here? One of the challenges we face in our nation is that everything is available all the time. It’s hard to overcome ‘affluenza’ and ‘want-it is’ when stores are open 24 hours a day.

If the above stats describe you, there’s an easy solution: Sell your old junk!

Whether its collectibles, antiques, designer clothes, wedding dressses or whatever other bric a brac you have around your home, we’ve got advice on how you can sell it.

Just think, you can reclaim some square footage in your house and put more money in your wallet. Now that’s a win/win situation!

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Read more: 39 ways to sell your old stuff for top dollar

Where to buy and sell used electronics

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