Over the summer, I moved cities for a new job. It's a three-room (bedroom, living room, kitchen) apartment. I have mostly unpacked, but when work got busy — after most of the stuff I needed on a regular basis was unpacked — the remaining moving boxes remain half-unpacked in the corners of each of those three rooms. Each room has enough stuff that it feels overwhelming.

I am not a particularly tidy person, but the clutter is starting to get to me. Not only does it make me feel messy and like my life isn't totally together, but it also makes this feel like a transient space when I plan to be here for the foreseeable future.

What is the best method to go through this stuff? I think the issue with some of it is that I don't have a ton of storage space in this apartment (small closets, limited number of drawers) so stuff has started living in boxes. I want this place to feel like it's mine!!

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(Bonus question for those who read this far: For those of you who wear clothes more than once before washing, how do you handle that? We all know the infamous "not dirty but not clean" clothes chair... I've been putting my clothes on the floor next to my dresser. It doesn't make me feel great about myself.)

Found my "someday box" while cleaning yesterday. You know the one - full of things you'll "definitely use someday." Craft supplies for hobbies I'll start. Books I "should" read. Clothes for when I become that perfect version of myself.

Started unpacking it. But instead of asking "will I use this?" asked "what am I really keeping here?"

The unused yoga mat? Fear of not being disciplined enough. The language textbooks? Guilt about not being "productive" enough. The size-small clothes? An old promise to be different.

Realized my someday box wasn't storing items. It was storing expectations. Pressures. Future versions of myself I was afraid of never becoming.

Started letting go. Not just of items, but of the shoulds and somedays they represented.

Turns out decluttering isn't just about making space in your house. Sometimes it's about making space for who you actually are.

Decluttering has changed my life in a way that it doesn't really take more than 30 minutes to clean a bathroom or more than 10 minutes to wipe counters and mirrors. It doesn't take more than 20 minutes to tidy toys in order to get ready for a robot vacuum pass. I feel like despite all of the efforts decluttering and organizing I still can't catch my breath on weekends. I still clean, do laundry, try to catch up on dishes and do very light cooking. I used to cook all meals from scratch (before kids), well, not anymore. I have a feeling that if I had cleaners I would spend more time cooking and connecting with kids but at the same time I don't see a reason why I need to spend $200-350 per clean (US dollars) when it doesn't take much time. I spent $800 on a deep clean as a reward for completing decluttering of all areas but I don't see spending that much money being sustainable. What do you all do to stay on top of a clean house with kids but also don't fall behind on work commitments (my husband and I work full-time corporate jobs) and spending time with family? We don't have parents to watch kids within 4000 miles distance (they live across the ocean) or a babysitter. Kids are almost 6 and almost 2 years old.

TL;DR: Having mom guilt over not spending time with family while I declutter, clean and organize all weekend long and thinking if hiring cleaners is worth it.

A month ago you may have heard lots of folks going on about the New Year and how excited they were for a fresh start. Annnnd most people have abandoned their resolutions already 😂

BUT what if we took that concept into each and every new month (or week)?

Tomorrow is February and a fresh start, 4 perfect weeks to try a new habit, work on consistency or restart a goal. Instead of waiting 334 days to start new, do it now!

If it’s easier, consider each week or day a fresh start, for me monthly works well because I always overestimate what I can do in a day and underestimate what I can accomplish in a month.

There’s a quote I really love that goes, “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

It’s from Ralph Waldo Emerson and I found a copy of it in my grandad’s AA Bible after he died. He was sober 47 years so it helped me reset each and every day and stay sober for over 17,000 of them.

I've been trying to declutter for a while, but one place I keep running into issues is actually getting stuff out of my house.

I have an extremely steep driveway, and a few years ago I broke my leg and tore up my ankle and had a bunch of surgeries. My level of function varies, but sometimes I can't get my trash bins down to the street on trash days. Perishable kitchen garbage gets priority for obvious reasons, but then there's no room for throwing away other clutter. Stuff I know I want to throw away, but for which I don't have trash can space.

Two potential solutions occur to me -- hiring a trash removal company to bring a truck, or renting a dumpster. The latter appeals more because I'd be able to work more slowly over time, and add more stuff once the obvious trash is out and I can see better, and not actually have to interact with people seeing the layers of junk I'm getting rid of.

Basically, I'm wondering if anyone has experience with either of those, or other advice for me on this issue! This seems like the best place.

Also, related -- with items people might be able to use, is there any way of donating where I just dump a bunch of boxes on the establishment's doorstep and run away without having to talk to anyone or explain myself? 😅

First of all thanks to this sub, I know I'm not alone, I'm clearing out my deceased parents' memories. They were by no means hoarders, in that their house is uncluttered and spotless, yet in the closets are boxes and boxes of paper memories. News clippings, cards, brochures from Fraternity dances, Red Cross Cards from 1948 to 2015. Expired licenses, draft cards, letters about Honor Society induction, programs. It's just a lot! Not only that, my mother was a champion runner and scrapbooked EVERY SINGLE 5K RACE SHE RAN FROM AGE 45 TO AGE 77. Every race number and her time and the race flier. There are 16 books. There are many news articles about her breaking State Age Group records. I've made one scrapbook from all of those articles. My dad was no slouch either he compeyed in Masters swimming and also coached for 50 years- he saved logs of handwritten swim times for his swim teams from every team he ever coached from 1952 to 2012. We donatedo 350 sports trophies and plaques! If I could I'll show you a photo of part of it.

I came upon this website that accepts donations of old photos and paper memorabilia. I read the most recent locked thread on this, about throwing out old photos where you don't know who the people are, and see no mention of it. I guess I have hoarding tendencies cause it's been killing me to toss old stuff. I understand they retain the rights to the photos. Is this company legit? Should I do it? I've already collected a box of stuff I'm downright giddy that I found somewhere to send it besides the landfill.

https://the-photo-vault.my.canva.site/

I used to have mess bedroom to last year I give 8 bag of stuff and unwanted clothes to charity but nowI want to go even more is but I don't know where to start and got no motivation to but I willing to let more stuff go

Is any top to help me start and any advice in getting it done I normally pull everything out but struggling to complete it or run out of time

This week, we're anticipating the February clothing challenge by tackling your sock drawer! This is your opportunity to practice the Seven F's of clothing decluttering in a low-stakes project. Go through your socks and keep only items that fit all seven F's. (If this leaves you with no socks, keep a few of the least-bad and schedule some shopping.)

1. Fits now or will in the future. Those socks you hate because they're tight in the calf? They need to go.
2. Fixes are not needed. Tights won't spontaneously unladder.
3. Feels good to wear. You are encouraged to be picky. Make your feet happy!
4. Flatters in cut and color. If it makes your feet or legs look weird, it can go!
5. Functions for situations that actually happen in your life. If you have a vast cache of thin, sheer dress socks that you used to wear to an office, but a life where you only wear jeans with athletic socks, it's time to cut back on the dressy socks.
6. Flexible to combine with other items into multiple outfits. If you are intentionally collecting fancy socks, you can waive this criterion. However, for ordinary sock-wearing, your socks should be colors that go with things in your wardrobe.
7. Favorites if you have a large number of similar items. For socks, this is mostly about ditching the pairs that you actively avoid wearing because they just annoy you for some reason not covered in the first six F's.

You can pursue various trash-to-treasure projects for unwanted socks, but don't transfer your sock-drawer clutter to cleaning-rag clutter, craft-fabric clutter, or random-household-item clutter. It is probably simpler to donate unwanted socks in good condition and trash (or send to fabric recycling) damaged socks.

As always, share your insights and liveliest finds!

I have a lot of old journals, index cards, planners and torn sheets of paper on which I’ve scribbled ideas for the future, things I am interested in or just random things that inspired me. I want to sort through all these and consolidate them into a scrapbook or binder for an inspiring reference book but when I look at the sheer volume of the project I become overwhelmed. I pulled out a basket of loose papers and index cards last night and after a minute just set it back on the shelf because there is so much of it! Sometimes I wonder if I’d be better off just tossing it all and starting again but those are my memories and past ideas. It’s like I’m afraid of losing ideas or maybe I’m afraid I won’t have any new good ones. I don’t know. I suppose I’m also afraid of forgetting my past. Have any of you guys struggled with this and how did you handle it?

I have an oversized ottoman that came from Costco. It was vacuumed sealed and by the time it expanded we realized it’s too big for our house. It won’t fit through the doors now and it will not fit in a sedan. I don’t know what to do with it. The kids like jumping on it, but it needs to go. Any ideas on what to do with it? I would love to vacuum seal it and put it in storage but we don’t have a vacuum seal bag that’s large enough to put it in.

Its about 4 feet diameter and 2 feet tall

Long story short, I have really bad anxiety that I think is exacerbated by my cluttered room. If you have the same problem, did you notice a difference when you decluttered? I'd like to hear personal stories or experiences of this tbh

My family is looking at moving internationally soon-ish and I have gotten the green light to start downsizing. I have a bunch of baby clothes that were given to me by my sister. I already went through them once when I was doing a garage sale. We still want more kids, so I’m reluctant to let them go. I’m not sure how to approach this area because they are sentimental ish items.

Tl;dr how to downsize my baby clothes collection

I’m almost embarrassed to admit this, but here goes.

I was watching a decluttering expert on YT recently, and she said: “No one wants your shit.” I felt very liberated by that.

And yet… I still hesitate to get rid of things because I think I can get money for them. In my experience, if something doesn’t sell in the first week or two, it’s probably hopeless. (Exception: I once sold a super niche item after years of on-again off-again trying but that was a fluke.)

It’s not that I’m hoarding junk—I have no problem tossing dented kitchenware or giving used clothing away. But what about those barely worn Wilson tennis shoes that I paid $99 for? Surely someone would pay $25, right? And those pants from H&M with the tags still on?

That’s it. That’s my big confession. I'm mostly rational, but held back by this one quirk.

Today someone from my Buy Nothing group took home a large Home Depot moving box filled with 17 pairs of shoes. That was definitely one of those "but what if I need them for xyz occasion" moments. Except my feet have changed since having kids so I can't even wear most of them anyway. Now I'm down to a much more manageable amount (5 pairs) and all of which will get equal wear depending on the season/weather. Shoes and purses have always been my weakness. I'm so glad to be rid of the stuff I don't or can't use anymore.

So I didn't set out today to declutter. Our current bathroom has little storage, and the new house will have room under each sink. I bought storage drawers to keep medicines, first aid, shampoo, etc in under the cabinets and they came in today, so I was putting them together, and labeling them for the move.

Then went through our current cabinet where we keep all that kinds of stuff to sort it out and put it in the correct bins.

Right before the pandemic, I had done a declutter and stocked up on medicines, and apparently we have been very healthy for the last 5 years, because I had almost a 1/3 of a trash can full of expired medications! Now I have empty bins. :)

I will stock up on a few common medications I like to keep around, but I was totally surprised at how much medication we had that was over 2 years old!

Hey guys! Yesterday I brought an extremely heavy blue ikea bag full to the brim of special occasion clothes and shoes that I knew I wouldn't wear again but was holding on to... wait for it... just in case (shudder). Many of the clothes were gifted to me but did not flatter me, plus I had already done the mandatory wear-to-an-event-and-make-sure-to-get-a-picture-in-it ordeal. The shoes were beautiful platforms but man did they HURT! I found myself not even wanting to try them on for the last time before making the decision to keep or not, so obviously that was a sign that it was time for them to go.

When I say the bag was heavy I mean HEAVY. 20-25 pounds for sure. Would have probably dislocated my shoulder carrying it in if I wasn't a gymrat and didn't know how to properly support carried weight lol. The thrift took about 2.5 hours to make their buying estimate (this is important), plus there were more buyback hauls before me in line, so by the time I got the call to come review their offer, I had forgotten most of what was in that bag. Or, rather, I had already mentally parted with the items.

So here's the biggest success of this story: I did not look through the pile of what they decided to take (everything, yay!) unlike every other time I had sold to them. In the 2.5 hours it took them to review my things, I accepted the fact that they were no longer going to be mine. I did not pick anything out that I thought I was being offered too little for to try to continue selling online on my own. I did not set any expectations on the amount I would get back from them and walked away happy as a clam with -25lbs of clothing and shoes and +$52 cash and some change!

I have a big cabinet in the bathroom full of medications/beauty products/the usual, and for some reason, I’m having the hardest time decluttering it. It’s really helpful to me to have “rules” to follow to take out the decision making/attachment.

Expired medications - toss, right? Can they just go straight in the trash?

Makeup - does it really expire? Should I just toss it all? Most are barely used. Can lipstick be kept if I sanitize it? Eyeshadow? Pressed powder? I don’t wear makeup daily (SAHM) but like to have options for special events.

Skin care - toss it all if it’s outside the “open jar” recommendation? Or give it a try? A lot of these are things I wanted to try (got as gifts) but had too many at once. It’s hard to get rid of because they’re nice/expensive products that I really wanted to try! But many are at least 3 years old :(

Travel sized things - I travel maybe once a year. But when I do, I need it. Have they all just gone bad? Do you all just buy new travel sizes each time you travel?

Hair care - do these things expire? Hair sprays, volumizers, mousses, etc?

Clearly expirations help me 🤣 or I do I just toss them if I haven’t used them lately (but what if I need them later?! You know how it is).

I hate knowing that unused products will just go to a landfill. But I don’t want to give friends expired products. So I’m hoarding trash essentially. Ugh. Help.

Definitely had to detox. I blocked a few sites for the first few weeks, and then had to stop myself from splurging on a sale item. I added it to my cart and removed it / lost interest.

Aside from groceries / rent / bills, so far I've only bought:
- movie ticket to A Complete Unknown (worth it and allowed)
- dishwashing liquid, because I'm about done with my current bottle
- underwear - because it's cold and I'm lazy about lugging my laundry to the mat
- nail polish remover - I'm counting this as a hygiene item, only because I have a ton of nail polish I haven't used and want to start painting my nails again
- second hand sneakers - One of the two pairs I own is getting a hole in the bottom and will need to be replaced soon. They were in my size so I couldn't pass them up. I was good and didn't look at anything else in the store :D
- reusable shopping bag - I was basically forced into buying this because of the shoes, but I donated two bags this month so it's technically a replacement item

I make junk journals as a hobby so I often collect/ find interesting papers I can use in my books. The whole point of this hobby is to stop junk going to landfill and it’s worked but I’m now “gifted” vintage papers too. Some of which I will use and the rest I have no problem getting rid of. I’m still left with so much usable stuff. I currently resist the urge to bring in anything new (to me) How do you get rid of things that so much life in them and most people won’t want (unless I turn them into something else!)? Landfill seems like such a waste

We have 3 upper cabinets in our kitchen that we use for opened food, snacks, cereal, etc. it’s usually packed solid. 9 times out of 10 items are thrown in and the door slammed shut. The poor fool who opens it next is usually knocked out with a cabinet full of food falling on your head. It’s not a fun experience. We have what we call the kids syrup and parents syrup because the kids can never close the dang bottle of syrup or get half a bottle of syrup all over the shelves when they put theirs away. I got sick of the stuff sticking to the shelves and pulled out everything from the 3 cabinets, washed it down and went through everything.

I ended up with a garbage bag full of trash, mainly opened snacks that went stale or no one really likes but don’t bother to trash it. I found 3 opened and at least half gone big bottles of honey, a ten pound bag of sugar, which I knew I just bought, but found two 5 pound bags I had no clue we had. We have 2 opened bottles of chunky peanut butter and I found 2 mason jars full of raisins! I wouldn’t have just bought one if I knew that, especially since I’m the only one that eats them in my house. Found 2 partial opened bags of powder sugar and bottle upon bottles of the decorating sugars for cookie frosting. I bought those sugars fresh when I baked cookies with my nephews, the date on the bottles was from 4 years ago. They were tossed, moisture must have got to them since they clumped together.

For such a small space in my kitchen, it sure had a lot of stuff shoved in there and I’m glad I went through it. It’s still crowed as hell in there, but I see more space and hopefully can save some money on snacks while I eat up my raisins!

Former thrift shop junkie, gonna move and downsize this summer so we are doing a big ol' purge. Going thru my entire wardrobe piece by piece and that was the first load I bagged up.

I knew it was a lot but good golly, I still have half my clothes to go through! So probably will have 8 more bags to donate soon. maybe more, i'm being pretty strict with what I keep. And I've started a nobuy this year and so far so good! But dang shopping is a hard habit to break.

I donated them to a local recovery centre, I like the thought of people getting stuff for free because they actually need vs just adding to the giant pile at the local goodwill.

I started decluttering about a month ago, it’s been a challenge as I work 2 jobs and I’m in school but I’ve reached a really big milestone and I’m so proud of myself. I managed to declutter and donate 75% of my wardrobe, throwing out anything damaged or what not and donating the rest to charity. Not only that, I’ve been able to donate more than half of my books and magazines to the local library. I still have a long way to go, however there is significantly more space in my room. It already feels lighter and I look forward to what space I will have soon! Just thought I’d share. :)

My boyfriend (23) and I (22) have been together for 6 years, not living together, no plans to live together in the next year as we want to save up first. I have a history of keeping things people have given me because I feel bad getting rid of them, and bf has given me several gifts throughout the years. A lot of them are fandom related items, for shows and hobbies I’m just not into anymore. I also have a lot of stress built up from just overall having way too much stuff.

Now bf and I almost never get into fights, more or less serious talks or light bickering. One day, I was getting rid of a bunch of clothing and bringing it to a local consignment shop, and I asked him for a ride. He of course said yes as he loves this shop, and off we went. As I opened the trunk to get the boxes of clothes and shoes I was bringing, he asked to look through them. Not seeing the harm I said sure, I assumed he was looking for something his sister might like, and her and I have given each other clothes before. He pulls out a pair of anime themed shoes out of the box and says “You’re not getting rid of these.” And confused, I asked him why? He got me those shoes one year for Christmas, and I hadn’t worn them in over a year since they just weren’t my style anymore. He very sternly told me that he spent a lot of money on them, and that he didn’t care that I didn’t wear them but that he still wanted me to keep them anyways. This went back and forth for about 10 minutes, nearly developing into a screaming match. It ended with him saying that if I’m not going to keep them, he will until I “ultimately want them again.”

6 months later, I’m still stuck with these damn shoes, and now I’m worried about giving away more things he’s given me, in fear of starting an argument. It almost feels like he is hoarding my stuff, and it’s very much stopping me from moving forward. Now to be clear I don’t want to get rid of everything he has gotten me, there are gifts I’ve gotten from him that I still adore. However I’ve outgrown many of said things, as we were in our late teens when we started dating, and now we are both adults. Do you guys have any thoughts on this? I would love some insight.

TLDR: My boyfriend and I got in a fight about a pair of shoes he gave me that I wanted to give away, and now I’m having trouble getting rid of more stuff. Thoughts?

I saw this this weekend and thought wow that's inspirational. Need to share.

"When you are decluttering, and can't let go of an item, ask yourself.

Am I holding onto this for the life I thought I'd have, or the life I am creating."

Makes it easier to let go if we are saving it because we thought we'd be thinner, or we thought we'd be a seamstress, or we thought we'd be a musician. But if we realize, we are happy the weight we are or we'll buy nice clothes if we do lose weight, or we frankly hated sewing, or would rather watch a concert than be in one, then we no longer need that item for the life we are creating.

Recently I thought about all the posts and comments with some variation of “what if I need it, I could use it, but I spent money on it” and had a personal realization.

If I bought a bag of spinach because I wanted it for a recipe and then it went bad in the fridge, I would not hold onto it forever because I “could have” used it or meant to or spent money on it.

I’d say that’s $3 wasted and toss it, or add to my compost bin to recycle it. I don’t worry about giving bad spinach to someone else or feel tons of guilt about what could have been (a chickpea, sweet potato and spinach curry I was too tired to make).

That feels easy. So why would I hold onto the make up item I hated and don’t use or the piece of clothing that didn’t fit right or the terrible notebook?

This came up because about 2 years ago I bought a $4 dresser at an online auction and its condition was a lot worse than expected. It’s been in my garage so I could strip off the veneer and… do something with it. But I’ve come around to accepting that I don’t want to invest time in this $4 junky dresser. I could just toss it.

So I’m offering that thought for anyone who struggles to let go. If you wouldn’t hang onto bad food just because you paid money for it, why are you holding onto ______ when it’s not serving your needs?

ETA: it’s not about the physical condition of the spinach y’all. It’s the process of acknowledging that I had good intentions, spent the money and the time for using that thing has passed. It may be easier to see in wilty, slimy lettuce but the process of letting go is very similar.

I feel like self-discipline with decluttering comes more easily to some people than others. For some people it’s more of a practical thing, finding the time and the space and then they can do it. But for others it’s more of an emotional thing, being sentimental, or having stuff from loss. Or for some, it’s a cognitive thing, like trouble organizing, or starting, or categorizing, etc. maybe there are other ones too that I’m not thinking of.

I’m wondering what you guys do when you feel stuck in any of those categories to push through the blockage! It’s not enough to just tell myself that I want to get it done and I need to get it done and I should do it because that’s all true but that doesn’t change anything.

I know that part of it is these are the things where I have trouble making decisions or I don’t know where to put them. So I hesitate because like not wanting to “enter the stuck zone.” Things where the decision is more clear is so much easier!

Hey all. First post here, sorry if this isn't the right place. Delete it if I've screwed up, with apologies. I'll jump to it:

Late-60s family member married a lovely lady a couple years back of about the same age. He has acquired many things over decades with raising children and then primarily raising his grandchildren, so for many years his house has largely been considered "full of stuff". No hoarding, Just lots of, y'know, stuff. Livable but almost no extra space.

Cut to the wife's house which is the same, only her clutter is also extremely unorganized. (There was no rush to sell her place after the wedding, so they slept on it until this year.) I'd call her place not-quite hoarding, the house is still technically livable, but the stuff-level is very stress inducing.

They are in the process of "merging" the two houses. I'm stressed even thinking about it. Beyond the fact that it's mathematically impossible to put the stuff from one into the other, never mind the fact that 3 people will live there (her son is on the spectrum). I don't think they understand the gravity of the situation about how much stuff there really is and how unhealthy it's going to be turning the house into a no-space storage facility.

I'm just a nobody freelancer family member so I have no weight to pull and I'm a giant nobody. I want to help, but I have almost nothing to offer. This situation is going to get extremely messy as they could probably lose at least a couple tons of stuff and they wouldn't notice. There's no way a stager would do anything with the house except look at it and say "call me when this place is empty." I have no idea how to approach this situation as I know the wife "doesn't want anyone going through my stuff" and "I'll need to go through it myself before I get rid of anything."

Any suggestions? How to talk to family? Where can they go? Things to suggest to them? Anyone been in a situation like this?

My 2 kids have danced for years. We have tons of old dance costumes. We've recycled some as Halloween costumes here and there when we could, but have so many that we can not re-use because they're either too small or just not practical for Halloween. Are these something that can be donated to Goodwill/Amvets/etc? Do I just toss these?

I'm really good with getting rid of objects but paper is hard for me.

Does anyone have any good tips for doing a major paper decluttering?

For an old high school newspaper where I am featured (i.e. a photo of me, artwork of mine that was included)- would you suggest digitizing it? If so, the whole thing or just the page where my artwork or photo was featured?

Any suggestions to quelle the 'I can do this with that' mentality would be so appreciated. I'm one of those - If I see something my brain says 'Oh Cool, I could make/do/create' with this whatever widget! I get a flurry of creative ideas when I see objects or artsy supplies, so I'm finding it frustrating to just get rid of stuff. I have an entire 30'x30' of space with way too many cool objects and art supplies. But, I don't do anything creative because I can't find whatever I'm looking for at the time i do get some focus. I have too many options for what to do. I see a potential project in everything, so I get nothing accomplished. I'm overwhelmed. I have donated everything viable and extra from other rooms of my home to a Concerned Citizens For Animals Consignment shop, but this room is overwhelming! I'm going in circles and getting nowhere. So, that's what brought me here. Any magical words? 🌿

Additionally, thanks to all of you for your suggestions, your stories about cool odd objects, and your interactions. I'm attempting to respond to you as I take little breaks. I'm crazy overwhelmed, but with your help, the task is getting successfully accomplished (so far). I know I could NOT have gotten thru this without you guys. I have to keep going when the Energizer Bunny Mode kicks in. Otherwise, I'll lose it as fast as I get it! A lovely day to everyone. 🌿