In 2011, my New Year’s Resolution was to get rid of 2011 things. I surpassed that goal. It sounds like a lot, but when you count everything, like old hats, bobby pins, and bags of trash, you can get to that number quickly. This year I’m doing it again, and I’m ready to get rid of 2015 things. I already have a list on my fridge and piles of stuff in the back of my SUV waiting to go to Goodwill. Here are some examples of things you can get rid of if you want to do the same thing.
1. Books
2. Coffee Cups
3. Appliances you use once a year.
4. Broken picture frames.
5. That lamp from your college dorm room.
6. Clothes, clothes, clothes.
7. Your seashell collection.
8. Photos from high school of people you can’t remember.
9. Your second and third jackets that you rarely wear.
10. Old computers.
11. Baby gear.
12. Plastic bags
13. Mismatched plates.
14. Halloween decorations
15. Cardboard boxes.
16. Half finished craft projects.
17. 10 of your 12 table runners
18. Old cell phones.
19. “Paint clothes”
20. The ties or belts you only wear once a year.
Overall, decluttering is about getting rid of everything that you don’t use in your life regularly. We have a few appliances and kitchen items, like our turkey roasting pan, that we keep in the basement and only go get when we use them. I’ve been keeping professional clothing in my dresser just in case I need it to back to work someday, but that’s not in the near future so I don’t think I will do that anymore.
It’s very freeing to get rid of things. Right now, there is a laundry basket full of books at the top of my stairs waiting to go down to the car. We’ve hauled these books all over the country with us during moves. Some of them I’ve read and some I’ve been meaning to read. I’ve decided that if I really want to read something then I’ll just go get it from the library or buy it but there’s no use in keeping them right now.
Here’s some advice if you want to start this today:
1. Go room by room.
It’s too overwhelming to assess your entire house at once. Go room by room. Right now I’m working on the living room in terms of our books, furniture, etc. Then I’m going to work on the babies’ room. I’ve already separated a lot of their clothes as I’m doing laundry, but I need to really get in their closet and clear it out.
2. Create a Maybe Pile
Sometimes it’s too hard to make keep and donate piles. We often keep more than we give away. So, I have a maybe pile. Again, I did this with my books. Some have a slightly sentimental pull based on who gave it to me, so I put it in the maybe pile. After a day or two of working on other areas in the living room, I came back to the maybe pile and was able to split it in half. The rest of the stuff I wasn’t sure of or simply did not have the space for I put in a unit at a Storage Facility London.
3. Bring it to Donate Immediately
The longer the donate piles sit in your house, the more you’re going to want to keep things. Once you made your decision, go ahead and put it in the car and don’t look back.
Are you decluttering this year?
Ohhh! What a fun number to hit. I am about to go on a HUGE, HUGE declutter mission in my house. It’s been put off for way too long now, and every day I see a reminder of something that needs to go. Last night, it was a piece for a blender I don’t own any more, than had fallen behind a box in my kitchen cupboards. Ugh. Onward to decluttering!
I tend to purge a couple of times each year. I don’t like clutter so our home tends to remain clear of it but at times it does start to gather up. I started living with less things a couple of years ago and love the results, both physically and mentally.
Last weekend we actually did a full house de-clutter and we are all feeling better mentally after going through it. For me, I tackle the project one room at a time. It was a great way for us to kick off the new year.
These are excellent tips!! I am all about decluttering and enjoying the most of your space. The start of a new year is a perfect time to get organized.
What an intriguing and slightly terrifying number of things to get rid of. I think I might try this and see what happens.
I’ve started doing this heavily lately and I think I’ve made 6 trips to goodwill to donate in the last couple of months. It feels so good!
I have been working on letting go of a lot of junk I’ve been hanging onto forever. I have also moved unnecessary junk across the country, as well as two more times after that! It’s pretty ridiculous. I particularly like your tip to donate it right away. So often I just let my donations sit around continuing to create clutter. I’ll have to take your advice.
Great tips Cat! I am on a decluttering mission too, but I never thought about counting each item I get rid of. I have used the “maybe pile” because I typically put everything in my garage sale pile until I have the sale each May or in the donate box until it gets full (then I take it to donate). This gives me at least a few days to make sure I’m really okay with getting rid of things I’ve decided to declutter.
I think I can stand to get rid of 2015 things. I think I can try to pick this up!