I read and old (8year) thread asking this and enjoyed reading the answers, so I thought a fresh one would be fun.

(I'll answer later, as I don't want to influence anyones answer.)

I grew up in a house where everything was a mess; I've never seen my home clean. But someone is coming to visit, and my mom is insisting that we clean the entire place to avoid embarrassment.

The visitor will see the whole house, and I don't want to have a messy room. I have many things from my childhood to now that I could donate, and others I could organize in my closet. However, my mom has it filled with wedding gifts like various dishes, pans, gadgets, and other keepsakes she hasn't touched in over 15 years. There's also clothes and costumes from my childhood that she can't bear to throw away. She keeps all this because "she might need it someday."

She doesn't want to get rid of anything, but we're talking about MY room, MY closet, and I can't even put my clothes or things there. I could organize all the mess in my room if I had the closet at my disposal, but she won't let me.

Today, while she was at work, I took several of her things out of the closet, but I couldn't finish before she came back and started yelling at me, calling me crazy. The things in my closet are hers, and I told her that if she wanted them so much, she should make space for them elsewhere or donate them because she doesn't even use them. This is my room, and I need to have my own space, but she keeps calling me crazy. She doesn't listen to me and wants me to put everything I took out back into the closet, but I don't want to. Tomorrow, I plan to take out everything that's left and put it in the living room. Then she'll have two options: find a place for it or donate it. Of course, I plan to leave her photo albums in my closet, but I don't want dishes and a thousand kitchen items there.

Moreover, her real goal isn't to clean the whole house for the visit; she just wants to hide the mess wherever she can and make it look presentable at first glance. But if she does that, I won't have anywhere to put my things and it will ashamed me in front of the visitor for having a dirty room. Its SERIOUSLY a mess, i have piles and piles of things everywhere and around the floor.

I do want to thoroughly clean my room, but she calls me crazy for wanting to do it. Ever since I was little, she's been like this, always getting angry whenever I wanted to organize something, like a shelf, just because "it would raise too much dust and I could get sick" or that "I always chose the worst moment to do it." She never helped me solve anything; she could have given me a mask, and that would have been that. She always picks fights over everything, and this is no exception. Ever since i was a child i was "The bad one" or "The crazy one". So i know this shoulnt be like this and that i deserve to have a clean space for myself.

So, tomorrow when I take her things out of my closet, she's going to come home hysterical, and I don't know how to face her. What can I do? Because of my age, I can't move out of my house, and I haven't even finished school. At least for now, I'd like to keep my room clean.

Does anyone have any advice on what to do with heavily worn bras? I know a lot of organizations will take lightly worn bras, but we’re talking daily wear of the same 2 bras for about a year

Update: thanks y’all. I’m getting rid of the bras and not making them someone else’s problem

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/residents-call-for-action-over-los-angeles-trash-house/

I have my own issues with clutter. I'm nowhere near the level of the house in the above article, but I do have problems.

I would, however, be able to tackle the above. It would involved renting a dumpster and tossing everything. I'd have a hazmat suit, gloves, mask, etc.

So why could I do the above place, yet have problems of my own?

Because I have no emotional attachment to anything at the above location. I have nothing invested in it.

I wish I could switch off that emotional attachment, because then I could get rid of stuff here.

Anyone else have the same problem?

I have some coats/jackets I bought many years ago and the thought of them hanging around while I can’t fit in them comfortably anymore was haunting me, but they’re using up space so I tried them on one last time and if they were uncomfortable in any way I said I wasn’t keeping them, now I like and feel comfortable in the clothes I have left and I feel lighter, got rid of some other clothes while I was at it and sorted out some stuff, will post some progress pics when I empty the space completely Edit: just wanted to clarify I did not throw the clothes away! They were put in donation boxes

Hi, r/declutter!

I am about to move out of my parents house for college into a nice rental house. I am not stranger to small-level decluttering; I have had a spending problem since I got my first job and numerous high-school phases, so I know all too well cleaning out a closet or some odds-ends decor.

However, I do not want to bring my entire life with me but I am such a sentimental person. How do you all propose going through and decluttering things with history or emotional attachment? Tossing and donating stuff like old room decor, papers, and the like is so hard for me to get rid of! I have tried the Marie Kondo method but that only worked so well.. (everything sparked a weird nostalgia-joy)

​

Thank you all in advance.

Also, if anyone knows how I can donate things like decor, clothes, books etc to places that will make sure people in need get it, please let me know! I live in a rural area so there are not many charities besides some that suprisingly are not taking donations and the local thrift store but they just throw out so much!

I'm going to move soon and seeing all of the stuff that I will have to take with me makes me sick. I'm feeling completely overwhelmed and would like to declutter a lot of those things, especially old high school books. But I can't bring myself to just give that stuff away. I think it has a bit to do with how my dad kinda forced me to give away stuff as a kid. He is a hoarder himself and won't throw anything away, so he made me throw my stuff away. Some of the stuff I regretted and missed. I still miss some of the sentimental items now. So when I myself want to throw stuff out I kinda get catapulted back to those moments and I have no Idea how to actually deal with that.

Does someone have any advice?

My mother passed away in February and I am trying to get rid of her rather large collection of costume jewelry I am completely overwhelmed. I already have my own small collection and don't want to absorb anymore of hers. I've already taken a few pieces. My grown daughters and nieces all went through and picked out some for themselves. Now I am tasked with the rest and I am stalled out. How do I do this? Where do I take these things? Some are decent pieces and I don't want to just throw them away. I also don't want to have a garage sale. I need advice.

I (24F) currently live with my mom and grandpa and they definitely struggle with clutter (hoarding in general). One of their issues is mail. I’m not sure if my grandmother never taught mom how to properly dispose of it or what, but she keeps ALL of the mail she receives. When I try to throw my mail away that I know I don’t need (credit card company offers for example), she tells me I can’t do that because someone could steal my information. While I was cleaning one day I got all of our mail that was piled up on the kitchen table (grandpa’s doing that collected over time) and put it in a garbage bag to shred. I asked her if she wanted to help me and she got annoyed that I wanted to do it at all and told me to leave her mail alone. As a result, we have several garbage bags full of mail that she has never opened but won’t throw away because “she might need it someday”. What do I do?? It’s rubbing off on me and I don’t know what to keep or throw away when it comes to mail.

I have put myself in a bit of a pickle. Due to necessity I had to purchase multiple phone numbers, use different bank cards, many emails, and a couple phones and laptops.

I've created countless accounts, signed up to multiple applications, newsletters, etc..  to these emails and numbers and passwords but now I have no way of tracking these. It was mainly for referral bonuses for groceries but by doing so I ended up making a clutter that stretched to my personal accounts that has overwhelmed my life to the point that I'm not wanting to move on and just procrastinate with tiktok, work, sleep, repeat.

How does one start, is there even an easy way to go about this or a template of sorts. How do I even begin to handle this?

Hi guys! I wanted to share something I picked up on this community that has been a huge success for me! Someone mentioned keeping a box in their closet or room that they would toss things in to donate. I have made it a habit to throw something in the box on most days and then once every two weeks I donate the box and start another. It is so easy and SO satisfying!!! Thanks for the tip! Happy decluttering!

The nicer weather has me motivated once again to take on the next phase of decluttering and spring cleaning projects. In the next 2-3 weeks I am hoping to make major headway on my balcony and backyard space so we can enjoy those spaces all summer.

I plan to go to the dump this week to start the process by getting rid of:

2 decrepit outdoor tables, pile of raw materials for an old hobby of my husband's, a camping stove not in good condition, and some random odds and ends taking up space.

I am also planning to get rid of 3 out of 4 planters. 2 of them my friend is taking, the other I will offer to my mom. I need to figure out how to get rid of the dirt so I can transport them.

The harder part will be going through all the kids outdoor stuff, but I truly don't need 12 buckets.

What spaces are you hoping to tackle in the coming weeks?

I have many elementary and middle school yearbooks, how do I let them go? It feels wrong to toss them but I suppose I really don't want them anymore either.

I spent time sorting all of it by age and making sure it was all stain free and in good condition, but now I have nowhere to take it. I know I could just throw them all away, but I feel sentimental about all the baby stuff, so I really don't want to do that. I've tried joining the Buy Nothing group on Facebook, but I apparently live in a gap between two groups (I'm outside of city limits, but I visit one of the cities where there is a group almost daily), but after 2 weeks I've still heard nothing back for the approval request. There is a thrift store in that city as well, but I don't see much in the way of baby stuff there so it doesn't seem like a good place for it. I'd honestly rather just give it away to a person, and I've considered just parking on the side of a road with a sign "free baby stuff" but that seems kind of nerve wracking. My property is far too remote to attempt a yard sale.

I'm just at a loss how to get rid of this stuff without selling or trashing it, and neither option is appealing to me. I think at this point I'm just frustrated and shouting into the void, but if anyone has any suggestions on how to give away baby stuff in a very remote/rural area, I would definitely be open to them! I was feeling really good about my decluttering progress until I hit this wall.

Today I tackled a cabinet full of water bottles. I don’t need a crappy bottle from a company I worked at 20 years ago! 🥳

Hi! I've (43 F) been lurking for a little while but felt the desire to share this after a week spent decluttering.

I have finally released so many dresses and shoes that no longer fit or were bought for a future non-existent special occasion and never worn. Gifts that I had no connection to nor need for. Those things that you keep "just in case" but then forget you have or can't find if you ever did have the need. After years of bypassing them in weak decluttering episodes, they are finally gone! And I didn't have much fear in doing so (finally)!

However... when I was little, I used to look forward to "big" birthdays and had this idea that I would forever keep things that had my milestone age on them. I used to buy others gifts with "Happy 18th" and "Finally 21" and all that. I thought I would love to have them as tokens to look back on as I grew older.

Sadly (at least at the time) I never did once get anything with my age on it BUT I would get lovely gifts FOR those birthdays, mainly costume jewellery/watches.

Guess what I found through this thorough decluttering episode? A bunch of tarnished, sad, unworn jewellery. These trinkets to remember my milestone ages, all in their various boxes, set aside to keep them "in pristine condition" for when I would "look at them when I get old".

It has made me realise that I no longer want "milestone" gifts just for the sake of having them. What a sad waste they were! I will clean them up but probably not to keep, and allow someone else to enjoy them as they should be.

And funnily enough, I'm no longer interested in getting anything with my milestone age on it any more now that my next one will be 50 lol!

Hello! Has anyone had issues donating cat toys to shelters? A lot don't list them as a priority but if I brought some with a bag of food do you think they'd take them? I had a habit of buying anything I found cute and my cats just aren't playing with them (they prefer the ones from the dollar store, of course 🙄). A few kickers and just balls that don't play well on my carpet anyway. I kept ones that they like and consolidated into a smaller bin, but I'm still hit with this urge of, like, what if I have a cat in the future that likes these ones?!?

Also just any advice on getting rid of toys generally? This makes me glad I'm figuring this out before I have human children and try to hold onto everything.

Good riddance to...

1. those pilly socks, regardless of their cute pattern (and the give away tees)

2. those weird synthetic fabric remnants, because you're never going to sew doll clothes and they smell weird anyway (and the crappy yarn)

3. the leaky travel cups and cracked mugs

4. all the books, text or otherwise, that represent places and times you don't want to go back to anytime soon, even if you were grateful to be there then

5. feeling the need to parent the parent who said they regret having kids (okay, I'm still working on it)

Good bye and good luck.

Note from the author: I'm in a place where I'm trying to make a new start for myself which will require leaving a RBN/RBB type parent who's big on the the emeshment.

I'm aiming for the end of the year, barring a lotto win, and one of my processes to go through stuff was, if I only had the little uhaul (the tiny van or the trailer), what would go in it (assuming I would have kitchen appliances, etc where I ended up since I don't own them now anyway)?

It's both a question of practicality and an as of yet unrealized self and it's weird.

I'd like to take my photos off my phone (photos stored on phone only) and put them on PCs or thumb drives, stored different places.

But the idea of trying to keep each of them updated is overwhelming.

I'm searching for a simple way to store photos that doesn't require worrying about an email breach/google whimsically locking me out, etc.

Think about all the times you've carried one item through the door. Maybe it's a little decor piece. Could have been a sweater that your MIL gave you. A new frying pan was a good price. It doesn't feel so bad carrying just one item.

Now there's too many things and you want them out! But often it's too big, too heavy, and too much to drag them all out at once. Think about the source. They all came from different stores, people, and events. A spread of items that came from all over can be impossible to get out as a massive single unit. So break down the task into something easier: one item.

Don't be discouraged if the one item is in your hands but headed out the door this time around instead!

Get rid of that book you haven't read. Donate the guitar you never learned to play. Toss the seeds you haven't planted. You aren't admitting defeat, you have just decided that you don't want to do this right now. You can buy them again later.

Buying things is so trivial these days that you have to make tossing it just as trivial.

Impulse buying a set of dumbells is not a commitment to use them every day. It's just an impulse buy. You aren't letting anyone down by not using. At worst you wasted a few bucks.

Tossing stuff that you have plans for isn't admitting defeat. Plans should be allowed to change.

I’m helping my senior mom who’s a collector/hoarder sell off her items for a move. Her hoarding isn’t as bad as the TV show, but she’s acquired a lot of possessions from making garage/estate sales her hobby. She even has teapots and msc crap in the garage cabinets.

She knows she has a lot and has offered me the money on most of the items, but honestly, I’m not sure it’s worth it anymore. I am encouraging her to have a garage sale and just donate anything further that doesn’t sell. However, she doesn’t like having them.

She has hundreds of items ranging from fake plants, side tables, desks, paintings, stuffed animals, knick-knacks and wants them each posted online. I’ve acquiesced to her wishes, but am getting burnt out dealing with the frustratingly idiotic messages and time wasters on Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, and NextDoor for low-cost items.

For example, I just spent several conversations trying to sell a $10 suitcase from a nasty, demanding man, only for him to tell me he has no car to meet up with and I don’t do deliveries.

Another time I met up to sell this hideous, morbid collectible for $15. He first asked if I would drive an hour to meet him halfway. Who the heck drives an hour for this thing?! When he arrives the guy locks his keys in the car with his phone. He admits it’s his second time doing this.

My mom was with me and proceeded to use her AAA to help him out. What was supposed to be a quick drop-off, turned into a 1.5-hour ordeal with him leaning into my car, and getting into my face for an uncomfortable hug. He tipped the AAA driver with some stupid cans of energy drinks.

My mom told this guy a story about the collectible he was purchasing and he asked her if she would type out that entire story and message it to him! WTF?!

When selling the $5 cooler, I get asked if I’ll take $3 and if I’ll deliver?!

Another time I was stood up 45 minutes, despite the creep telling me he was on his way. I ended up needing to threaten him that if he didn’t answer by a specific time I was canceling the deal - $20 for suitcases.

Then there was the yuppy, Range Rover driving soccer mom wanting change for $100 on $50 worth of picture frames.

Three other times I've been blown off completely, even after confirmation to the public meet-up spot.

This isn’t my first time helping my mom with a move. She does this every time. Collects so much that it doesn’t fit in the POD or needs to rent an additional trailer.

I’m so jaded with material possessions and dealing with all this that I have no attachment to anything anymore.

I've even told her to decide what she wants to do with all of it while she's alive because I will donate it.

If anyone has other suggestions, please let me know.

So a few months ago me and my cousin was cleaning up the mobile home I live in 3 bedroom 2 bathroom. So far so good we stopped after cleaning the living room and kitchen and front bedroom and middle bedroom. But here is the issue: I was using the front bedroom as a catch all and then the middle bedroom/computer room has always been messy since that is where I spend most of my time.

​

Long story short here is what happened:

Everything that I kept from the front bedroom went into either the middle bedroom or the living room. I wanted to take the computer stuff from the front bedroom and place it in the middle bedroom once I had a space cleaned out for it and then I could get rid of the extras and just random stuff that was broken or not what I wanted any longer. But I didn't have time to sort because we had planned on finishing up the front bedroom and tossing the bad stuff and sorting the stuff from room to room and placing the stuff in the rooms they needed to be kept into. But we didn't really finish all of that so I have a mess in the middle bedroom and a pile of stuff in the front bedroom that still needs to be sorted and then tossed or moved. So long story short things are getting a bit heck-tick again. I did notice something though from the last time I had cleaned up the home with my cousin Caitlin I had lost about 4 LBS in about 3 in a half days. And as of right now I have not been on a scale since we last try to declutter and clean up the mobile home. So I ordered a bathroom scale from amazon yesterday and it should be here today that's what the order shows anyways. So the plan is to place batteries in it once I get it today and then take my weight and start cleaning up the kitchen and front bedroom since those (2) room will be the easiest since there the less dirty. And then on the 3rd I plan to purchase some trash bags from town and a second trash can and I plan to stop buying the over sized trash bags since they are great for filling with trash but don't fit the normal sized cans. So I plan to get some trash bags and a second trash can and some cleaning supplies and scrubbing down the kitchen and cleaning up the front bedroom. I hope it takes me like 2 days or 2 and a half days. The reason why I hope it takes me that long for the 2 rooms is because if I take that long there will be less filling my face and more moving around. Plus while I'm cleaning I like to move the stuff from the one room to another if there smaller items and sort them while watching a video on my laptop and then its like "Why do I have dried out play-doh? Toss it! Why do I have (5) cellphone charging cables 6" long? Toss them since I have (4) red at 4' long for USB-C and (4) multi-color pack for Micro-USB 6' long!" If I know what I already have since I use them daily there is no need to keep the short ones for charging "Phones, Running Small Desk Fans, Charging Wireless Earbuds,Etc." So if I know that most of my devices will run on these (8) cables there is no need for these multiple lengths that are slow to charge the devices sitting in a box or a tool box drawer.

​

I plan to sort every little thing and only keep things that are related to the computers or cellphones and tablets inside the middle bedroom. I plan to also down size the middle bedroom by getting rid of the extra desk that I gave to my older brother. And I also plan to wall mount my 32" TV on the wall above the desk to watch movies and listen to music and such. This way I can take the TV from the living room since I don't sit out there and use it where I sit most of the time. And I can get things to be a bit more organized and less cluttered. I hope this works because if it dose I will be losing a few pounds as well as getting my home less cluttered and more organized and easier to move around in my home.

​

Good morning!

We live in a 2550 sq foot 4 bed/2.5 bath with a basement. We have 4 kids.

We moved here in Nov 2021. Our house is feeling like it’s going to burst at the seams and it’s so overwhelming to me.

I have an entire week off while my kids will be in school in May and husband should be back at work.

I need all the tips, tricks, websites, printable etc. to help me stay motivated and not get so overwhelmed.

Any organizational tools I should get etc. would also be helpful.

I know we need to focus on the kitchen area, office, entire basement, entire garage, and the entire upstairs (all bedrooms, laundry room, loft area etc.)

Kids are ages 14, 9, 8 and 3.

I need to make sure it’s done in sufficient enough time so when my little one comes home she doesn’t undo what I’ve already done (aka pull all the stuff from donation piles, garbage etc. out).

My kids are like my husband they like to hoard EVERYTHING. I’ve been purging slowly but this needs to be done like 5 years ago 😂🤣

We aren’t having anymore kids lol so some of the stuff won’t be an issue getting rid of!

I was fooling myself that I was decluttering for the right reasons. It's like the multiple times I "quit" drinking when all along I knew I would start again. I was deceiving the public, but all along I knew I'd go back & hadn't really changed.

My recent decluttering is the same, needing to do it cos I will move into a smaller space soon. Tick. But not really getting the point, when the point is to let go of materialism and clinging on to things for emotional support.

Well, today, after a sudden health issue, I was forced to reevaluate my life and where I'm at. The penny dropped and I realized it is not about the things as such. Well, it is to a certain extent, on a practical level, but I realized that purging is about "letting go" and not just minimizing possessions but not taking risks by staying in your comfort zone, but actually making the emotional journey and taking chances.

Anyway, just had to share. I think I get it, I feel like I've crossed over the line from being minimally addicted to "things", and realizing that the true joy in life should come from experiences.

Hi! Just wondering if anyone in this community has experience with the Kayleen Kelly de clutter core kits?

Thoughts? Reviews?

I’ve always considered myself to be great at declutterring but over the past few years one area I’ve struggled is with clothing. I have a bin under my bed of clothes that are in pretty great shape but that I decided don’t fit my current style. Fortunately I have never struggled with significant weight gain or loss so it’s not like they don’t fit.

Part of me wonders if they’d be worth keeping for when I’m older or maybe I’ll decide one day that I like them again. There are certain clothes I have no problem donating or selling on Poshmark, but this bin of clothes has grown full now and I’m wondering if it’s even worth it to save them. I think I’m telling myself that maybe one day I might like them, they’ll be in style, or they’ll suit me better at an older age.

Are these clothes worth holding on to? Is it better to just got rid of them now, freeing up the space (both physically and in my mind)?

So, another week has passed by on my decluttering journey!

On the advice of many of you, I did a bit of research on Dana K White and her decluttering strategies and have started to put them into practice when I find them applicable. It has helped to reduce some of the mess and made it a bit easier to keep decluttering. I'm ashamed to admit, but I left my Christmas tree up until Easter Sunday. However, because the tree and the decorations had a home, I was able to take them there now, declutter and organise everything before I put it all away.

That gave me a bit of space to start unpacking the two wardrobes in my spare room. I tried to be ruthless in terms of linen. I disposed of all of the towels/sheets that were worn out, and have started washing the towels/linen that I will donate so that they smell fresh. I also whittled down the toiletries, sorted my shoes and multiples to donate, and got rid of two bags of trash.

This has left quite a bit of vacant real estate, so I have started to put some things together by category in the empty spaces where I think that they may live in the future. However, I'm a bit fluid around this at the moment as I can't make definite decisions until I declutter the upper shelves of both wardrobes - only then I will I know how much space I have.

I must admit that I feel efficient when I see things around my house and taking them to where they live straight away. It's a feeling that I used to have long ago, but haven't experienced for a long time.

Both the recycling and garbage bins go out tonight, and they are full. I have some things that I need to donate, so I will pack those in my car and get rid of them today.

I now accept that this house is so messed up that I am going to have to be in this for the long haul. There are days that I feel so ashamed of what I have (unwittingly) done to my poor house. It's been so neglected. I never invite anyone in because I don't want them to see what I've done.

I hope that showing it a bit of love will eventually make it back into a home. There is progress happening (albeit not as fast as I would like) but I can recognise that I am a bit better off than I was before I started.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions, it's helped get things moving along a bit more smoothly.

There’s just too much stuff. I have two young kids and every time I turn around, it’s another holiday or birthday or they’ve gotten something from the “treasure box” at school, and the sheer volume of stuff they accumulate makes me feel like I’m drowning. I physically and mentally cannot go through it all at the rate it comes in. They love LEGOs and each have giant cities set up in their rooms, making it impossible to dust. Floors are always scattered with tripping hazards. Every room is wall to wall stuff. I have worked hard to declutter my own things but theirs are much harder. How can you get rid of as much as is coming in; and so quickly? And then there’s the gross mess too. They are very messy eaters, there’s always a smell of pee in the bathroom, they’ve ground silly putty into the carpet… it’s making me resent my own kids because I cannot live with their mess and their stuff without causing real depression. I’m at my wits end. How do I either get rid of things (that they like and want) or just live the next 10 years of life this way? I want to move out of my own home.

Craft, hobby, and art supplies are the April challenge! This is not an April Fool’s joke: it’s time to tackle one of the most challenging issues for creative people. Since most of us don’t have unlimited space, Dana K. White’s container concept is especially applicable here. (If you’re not familiar with it, here’s a podcast – containers start at 17:30.)

Go ahead and get rid of, without guilt:

• Gear for hobbies that used to be important to you, but now no longer resonate.
• Unfinished (or unstarted) projects that you dread.
• Supplies you won’t use because you don’t actually like them that much.
• Supplies you bought mostly because they were on sale.
• Scraps too small to do anything with.

The Donation Guide has a ton of ideas on how to get unwanted craft, hobby, and art supplies into the hands of people who’ll enjoy using them. If you want perspective, this thread talks about feeling overwhelmed by the stash, this one talks about enjoying a lighter load, and this one covers ideas on how to decide what to keep and how to organize it. When you organize, consider what kind of layout makes it easy for you to put things away!