Today I had a sudden inspiration. I was trying on a sweater that I have that's a bit too big and thinking about whether or not I should get rid of it.

I remembered something I read about research on behavioral finance: investors often don't want to sell investments that aren't doing well, because this means acknowledging a bad decision and that's difficult to do - people prefer to hold on to the hope that the investment might rebound and do well again. The advice usually given to counteract this tendency is to evaluate the investment as if it were new: would I buy this today?

I realized that thinking this way could really help me pare down my closet. I've learned how to be selective about new clothing. In the case of today's sweater, there is absolutely no way I would buy it if I were shopping today - it doesn't fit! Now it's much easier to see that I should get rid of this sweater.

Now I have a new mantra for closet cleanout: would I buy it today?