When you win a number of lottery prizes, you can buy a lot of stuff.

And for years I did just that. As a result our five bed, two-lounge house was filled with the best clutter money could buy!

If a new electronic product came out, I bought it. The old one got stored somewhere. I had three video projectors in boxes somewhere in the cupboards of our three-level house.

Every product came with a few extra cords. I now had multiple boxes of cords. Two bedrooms were piled with outdated equipment. My entertainment center contained an old computer I hadn’t seen for five years, and never used since.

Then one day about 10 years ago I was looking at a home featured in Architectural Digest. That’s it in the pictures on this page.

And I was blown away.

The contemporary house in Beverly Hills was outstandingly gorgeous. With its large white living areas and stylish layout, this was the home I ultimately wanted.

And as I looked at the dozen photos which showed it in detail, one thing struck me.

It was clutter-free.

Of course, I know many showpiece homes don't look like this in real life. Before the magazine photographer arrives they are primped and polished. Whole sections of the furniture are removed or added until it looks the ultimate in glamorous living.

But somehow this modernistic marvel didn’t look like one of those places. Everything seemed well placed, well styled... the look was complete.

And the home became my goal. Not to own, but to use as a guide to living well.

Just looking at the photos I knew that the owner of this place, a health food entrepreneur, didn’t have a mountain of boxes under his house that he hadn’t opened for nine years.

Nor did he have cupboards full of stuff that had never seen the light of day since his last move. And he most certainly didn’t have computers and TVs trailing a spaghetti tangle of cords behind his cabinets.

But I did. And I didn’t want to live that way any longer. My home looked clean and sleek to guests and visitors, but behind every door and cupboard the storage was fast running out.

So I resolved to reduce my mountain of clutter, to become as minimalist as possible while still living a great lifestyle.

It is an interesting journey that still continues.

My handyman carted away the second enormous trailer load of our unused possessions. Our house was now 90% clear in the basement.

And earlier in the morning, I had received a signed declaration from a mobile shredding service. It stated that the 240-liter bin I had spent the weekend stuffing full of bank statements, old invoices, recipes, paper records, old checkbooks - and goodness knows what else - was satisfactorily shredded to a Level 3 security standard.

So over two weeks I had systematically gone through kitchen cupboards, storage areas and drawers, ruthlessly tossing out anything we hadn’t used for years.

As I woke one morning to the sound of the rubbish truck on the street outside, I heard the satisfying crash of old crockery I had put out earlier being dumped in the bin.

Our old stuff all went one way or another., donated or dumped.

As I relaxed that night in my easy chair, do you know the best thing to come out of this? The feeling of unburdening, lightness, and relief that at last my life was getting under control.

When you win a large lottery prize, the temptation is to buy more. You have the resources to get anything you want. But think first - do you really need it?

I’m the first person to acknowledge that material goods will make you happy. I get a tremendous kick from everything I’ve bought.

But too much overwhelms you, keeps you a prisoner of the polishing and dusting cloths, and requires constant maintenance.

So make sure you only buy what you can treasure.

That’s the true usefulness of lottery money!

ALL PHOTOS: Architectural Digest

Ken, I was a non believer until i looked through all your material, it took weeks you have written a lot! Anyway, I think i have found out how it works so I bought some tickets last week and it got me $37,000!!!! Thats not much according to some of youre winners, but to me its a years work and very welcome too. Thanks a million!  
Will.