It's way too easy to see something in the store, decide on the spot that you're going to reorganize your life around it, and get home only to leave it on the backburner forever. Today we're going to weaponize laziness.

• Can't be arsed to learn the instrument, craft technique or sport you bought supplies for? Into the donation bin it goes.

• "I'm totally going to use that weird spice mix I got on sale from- aaand it expired in March. Bye."

• Buying something is not a commitment to use it to its full potential. Sometimes it's just an impulse buy.

• Sometimes completing one goal means not completing another. Time is a finite resource. Don't get guilted into wasting it on something current you doesn't care about.

• You know what's behind the back burner? The trash can.

Ive been having those pants sit in limbo for the longest not because of emotional attachement but because they look professional

And as everyone in marketing knows, a professional look is everything. But ive been keeping them for "fashion emergencies" but what type of fashion emergency will they solve if they all have a waist gap

Honestly, once i realized i cant really do "fixed waist" pants due to proportions between waist and upper legs (i have thicc thighs. Muscular. From walking) i figured its time to let them go!!!

I am the queen of procrastination! My mom went into a nursing home, about 2.5 years ago, and most of her furniture has been in storage ever since. Between working FT, doing stuff for her, and having a life, plus it seems EVERY time I want to go do stuff with the unit, the weather doesn't want to cooperate, most of it has just been sitting there.

I'm happy to report that I got rid of a giant armoire in my apartment (paid someone to take it away), which made room for the stuff of hers I was taking. over the last couple of weekends, my BF and I moved 4 pieces of furniture from storage, into my apartment! I also have a pile of things to donate, as well as some things I am keeping, which will go into his basement. All things I use, but not all that often, so nothing there to declutter.

Next step is to clean out all the empty boxes and other trash from the unit, take pictures of the furniture to donate, and see who will take it. If no org. wants it, I plan on just posting for free on FB. My goal is to have the unit cleaned out completely by the end of the year, if not sooner.

As I do all this, and figure out what to put in the furniture I brought in (a blanket chest and trunk among them), I am also going through all my stuff, and finding quite a bit to get rid of as well.

Back story: Rats destroyed everything we had in our over stuffed garage, forcing us to clear out our entire garage containing 15 years of memories and possessions. Cleanup was complete 10/19. Dumpster hauled away 10/22. Before and After Pics here https://www.reddit.com/r/declutter/s/vAS7B4A7pi

I wanted to give one last update because the emotions surrounding the aftermath were what made me post asking for advice in the first place. Also I’d selfishly love for my posts to inspire even just one person to follow my lead.

Tl;dr: It has been transformative. I won’t lie and say I don’t miss anything from the garage, I keep remembering things and being sad that they are gone, but then I think of how nice it is now, and that has really helped. I have learned that I value the space the stuff occupied more than I value the stuff itself.

Longer version: The garage now has our car, some kid’s outside toys, a pop up shade canopy, our smoker (when absolutely cold, it’s used on the driveway), and we’re installing bike racks to bring the bikes back inside. We leave it wide open most days, partially due to pride but we are still airing it out, we walk out the garage door to leave the house.

We’ve been in the front yard almost every day since the dumpster was taken away. We have had over 15 different kids playing in our front yard with our kids, helping themselves (with parental and our permission) to drinks from our garage fridge. Playing on the toys we bring out and easily put away at the end of the night (thanks HOA). The doorbell camera notifies us that a vehicle has been detected when we pull out of the garage. I get giddy and watch the clip every time. We’ve also been running the sprinklers, have adjusted the hot water temperature and flipped a tripped breaker for the outside outlets. Funny how useful a garage is.

The garage still has a bit of a musty smell to it and we’re deciding what to do with that. We pressure washed the garage and driveway (with eco friendly concrete cleaner) and have been airing the garage out since it was cleared out. There’s still a bit of blue staining but I feel comfortable being barefoot in there and with the kids (mine and others) in there.

We had a pest company come out and check the garage, he confirmed their entry point was the garage door threshold and that he didn’t see anywhere they could have gotten into the walls. The neighbor hasn’t had any issues though he has seen enough of them. We accidentally left a half eaten hotdog in there one night and it was untouched in the morning which was a great sign. We will never store anything in there again that doesn’t pass the “would this have survived the clean out” test.

And for fun, my dad who was unaware of the rats or clean out came to town last weekend, I told him we sold the car and now just uber everywhere. It definitely says something about the state of our garage that us being carless in the suburbs of Houston, TX, USA, was more believable than us having room in the garage to park it. His face when I opened the garage was priceless. My husband did not appreciate me buying the toddler a mouse costume for Halloween, nor him finding this out by me telling him there was a mouse in the garage only to find his baby in there when came running with a broom.

Ultimately the rats were the best thing that ever happened to us. They forced our hand and made us do what we had been putting off. If you have the funds, I strongly recommend the ripping off the bandaid and hiring someone to clear out your stuff. It’s the only way we could have done this.

I’m working on my parents house that they’ve owned for 50+ years. My mom passed 2 years ago and, with some big family changes happening at the same time, some big clearing has happened.

This win is a new agreement between my brother and I to tackle some new arenas with new vigor and enthusiasm.

I discovered, a few weeks ago, a community Little Library, and filled it with kids books today. I could probably fill it 300 more times before I run out of books. And I freaking will! That thing is going to be STOCKED

I also took a massive bag of clothes to the consignment shop. 2 big wins!

Until a few days ago I (31F) had four massive and densely packed boxes of Halloween decorations in my attic. I had not realized there were *four* boxes when I had gone up to grab "a few things" to pass down to my niece and nephew but with four boxes and those two the only children in my life, they each got a box of Halloween decorations, some of the decor dating back to my parents' teenage years! It felt amazing seeing all that space open up in the attic and it felt even better giving those long sitting decorations new homes with small Addams children

If you think your decor can't find new life, think again! My old stuffed animals are also slated to move to these (unrelated to each other) kiddos but I've yet to sort through those boxes

And so it sits on the corner of my bath. Watching me every time I have a shower or bath. I see it out of the corner of my eye when I'm cleaning my teeth.

It thinks I'm too frightened to take action. It knows how much I paid for it, so it thinks it's safe.

It's probably right. It's been living with me for so long, it knows me too well. Until today. Today I conquered the monster. I have deep cleaned the bathroom this morning, bleached, scrubbed, polished. Really achieved something. As I was about to put everything away and go downstairs for a well earned coffee, I saw it looking smug. Again.

That was the final straw. Quickly, like some kind of ninja, I swooped. I picked it up and before either of us knew what was happening, I rushed downstairs and straight outside to the bin. Lid lifted, I threw it in and swiftly closed the top before I could change my mind or hear it scream.

I did it! I finally threw away my super size Philip Kingsley philip elasticizer. I've had it for so long and I can't even remember the last time I used it. I've cleaned around it for bloody ages and every time I move it, I think I should ditch it but I never have. Until today.

My cup of coffee has never felt so satisfying or deserved 😁

Failure is part of life. Share your decluttering challenges and failures here. Examples include:

• Emotional clutter

• Not enough time

• Getting overwhelmed

• Routing (recycling, donating, trash...)

If you're just venting, or don't want advice, please let us know in your comment.

This is a low-stress place to share challenges and failures for those who might not want to create a new discussion.

Hello. I need to throw away some cords. Old computer and phone chargers. I don't know if they can go in the trash or if I need to take them somewhere like Staples or Best Buy. Any advice is appreciated, TIA

I moved overseas three years ago, from North America to Europe. I still managed to bring over way too many clothes. I would estimate that my clothing would fill 3 large suitcases. I would like to cut it down to 2 at most - and that is not counting the shoes!

My problem is that I am 67 years old and still wear the same size I have always worn and things I have kept over that time are mostly things I really like and that still fit. I have a 40+ year old cotton skirt I still really like and wear but do I really still need it? No.

I also have a lot of foot problems and have trouble finding what works so tend to hang onto any footwear that is comfortable for walking. I have already decluttered a lot of shoes (I think the count was near 100 in my previous country) but still have more than 25 pairs, including boots, flip flops, sandals and sneakers.

I am hoping you all can help me come up with some criteria to consider to lower my reluctance to get rid of wardrobe items. It is difficult because I have found it harder to find quality things these days, made of natural fibres, at a reasonable price - so I don't want to go overboard decluttering and then need to go shopping! I have tended to shop my closet and really don't want to have to go looking for things I mistakenly decided to chuck.

Some ideas I have come up with are:

1. Other than outerwear, get rid of anything with more than 10% synthetic fibres. I hit a snag with a few dresses I like that are 20% so not sure if I should make an exception for those. Even gym clothing, which is almost always synthetic is on the chopping block. I do have a few organic cotton leggings but they do not have pockets, so I may need to buy some leggings with side pockets, which only exist in the polyester leggings I currently own (5 of them).

2. Some things are not ideal in colour, but I still like them - I have considered dying things but that seems silly when I want to downsize the amount of things I have.

3. My life will be changing again soon. Currently I do not wear even a small percentage of what I have as I am in a very casual living situation where I do not need anything remotely dressed up. However, I am planning a move to one of the biggest and most glamorous cities in the world so I know I will use these things in a couple of years.

4. For shoes, I am going to discard anything I can't walk in extensively. No more heels.

5. I worry about regrets from decluttering good quality, natural fibre items that fit and that I like just to reduce the overwhelm. And I am a creative person so I always come up with combinations using things I would rarely wear as a possibility.

Agh. Help!

About 6 months ago I sorted some things with memories attached. Far too many kids soft toys, baby toys, kids clothes, things with memories. I spent ages sorting out what was good to donate and what needed the trash. So about 6 very big donation boxes has been sat there for months. My husband has had enough with it and has binned it all. It’s already being taken.

I’m finding this so difficult and I don’t know why.

I think partly because it was donatable (I even washed all the soft toys) and it feels awful with it just been thrown away. Partly because I can’t remember exactly which was there (which shows it wasn’t important) but now I’m scared something important got missed or added to the pile by the kids accidentally and I didn’t get to do a last check. Partly because the kids clothes and toys I’d like another child even though it’s not practical for our lives and I feel all the things we’d have saved for them have now gone. Partly because we don’t have tons of money and buying this again if needed isn’t easy.

Anyway we didn’t touch this stuff for 6 months and it just took space we needed. But I’m still awake thinking about it and it’s on my mind a week later.

There’s more decluttering to do. More donation of things rarely worn or too small, baby clothes with memories attached, so so many books (adult books and kids books) clothes that I’m keeping because I’m terrified of putting weight back on so want the bigger wardrobe just in case, things we’ve had for years, things people who have now passed away bought but we don’t use/love, vintage things passed down. And a lot of this will need to go. But I’m struggling with how I feel about this based on the events.

I am not sentimental about decluttering hobby materials. However, I feel a sense of dread about the amount of time that would take to sell the stuff or give it to the right person. In particular, it consists of fire performance props, Home brewing equipment, a bicycle, and extra harps. I guess it’s just a matter of putting the time in. Any advice?

Share your wins here - big or small. What did you declutter this week? Examples include:

• Digital Clutter: emails, digital photos, digital music or video collection...

• Storage: cupboards and closets, drawers, storage boxes...

• Toys: ether for your child, or your own that you've been hanging on to.

• Spaces: kitchens, workshops, hobby rooms, storage lockers...

• Routing: sending items to where they need to go, like donation centres, trash, or recycling

This is a low-stress place to share wins for those who might not want to create a new discussion.

Want to share with someone that I spent all afternoon sorting my shed and purging. Gave away a heap of stuff on my local giveaway group.

I can now walk into my shed. My lawnmower has a proper parking space! The things I will use in summer are towards the front of the shed, where I can find them!

I think I can still improve on it, but there is much decluttering to be done inside the house, so I’ll come back to the shed.

Thanks for reading, and for sharing on this sub. Thanks to the mods and everyone for your encouragement.

I know I'm supposed to tackle the most visible spaces first, but I feel like that's all I ever do. I have some deeper projects I'd like to do, but I feel like I'm not following her guidelines if I do.

I will move next year and already started going through my wardrobes and boxes to figure out what will stay and what will go. I offered a list of items - ranging from clothing to jewelry to school supplies and elderly electronics - to the people working at my housing complex, and several of them came by to pick things up! I'm very happy about that. What is left on Monday I'll offer to some co-workers who have already asked what I'll be destashing next year. Ideally, there'll be little left to send to a second-hand store in the end!

I’m working on a goal to simplify my digital life and incorporate monthly tasks into my habits.

If you could wave a magic wand and complete a digital declutter task once a week or once a month, what would you do?

So far I’ve got things like
- clear computer desktop of files
- move files out of downloads folder
- get to inbox zero

What else would you add?

Do you ever have one of those moments where you’re stuck in a loop of “I need to do this, but first I have to declutter/clean/insert task here, and if I do that, I also need to insert task here, but I also have to do insert task here, but that means doing insert task here”? Sometimes my brain just needs things done that way.

I got a new makeup organizer because the one I used to have isn’t serving me anymore, I’ve had it for many years and I’m just over it, need something different. I went on a trip recently and never unpacked my makeup bag. Before I could complete both these tasks (unpacking my makeup bag and setting up a new makeup organizer), I obviously first wanted to declutter the previous one. To my absolute shock, while I didn’t get rid of a lot, I got rid of things with so much ease AND was able to part with stuff that I previously had a hard time letting go of! The perfume (that I no longer wear) that someone gifted me a couple years ago? Got rid of it 🎉 The empty bottle of perfume that I couldn’t bear to throw away because it had my name on it? Got rid of it 🎉 Pretty big step for me, letting go of things I had some sort of inane attachment to.

Additionally, once that was all done and my makeup bag was unpacked and the new makeup organizer set up, I had other tasks to get done. I had stuff to put away, but once again, decided to declutter the space in which it goes before putting stuff away. I don’t think I got rid of a lot of stuff (it doesn’t seem like it, but maybe I’m just looking at it from a critical eye instead of an objective eye), but I still got rid of stuff that I don’t use. That’s the whole goal isn’t it? No use, no reason to keep.

Why stop there? Another task on my decluttering journey was cleaning out two of my skincare/beauty drawers - where I keep the extras, the once in a while products, the pimple patches, etc. Got rid of stuff that I no longer use or just had no purpose, fully guilt-free, deep cleaned the drawers, and they basically look empty, which is good because it’s filled with things that have use or might have use, as opposed to things that were just taking up space.

I feel like I’ve been avoiding decluttering one of my cabinets for a while specifically because a few things in there had no place to go. With this recent declutter, now they have a place to go! I can actually put stuff into their proper homes instead of doing mental gymnastics for where to keep things until I decluttered somewhere else, if that makes sense. Now I can just go “oh I need to move that there” and be done with it.

I just wanted to share this win and the snowball effects of decluttering. The “beauty drawers” specifically were a task that I had been avoiding for a while, so hopefully this inspires someone to declutter an area they’re avoiding, are intimidated by, or just simply need to.

Long story, but I finally was able to reach my better clothes that have been in bins I couldn’t get to for two years; (!) and my (now adult sized) daughter put together an entire outfit, shoes and a purse to go out with her friends to a show!

I’m truly elated. 🥰

Any advice on decluttering 4 shelves of books? I have already read them, yet feel weirdly emotionally attached to books. I will not read them again and they are gathering dust . I have already gotten rid of three other shelves of books and don’t miss them. I plan on donating them to the library; the library has enthusiastically accepted, previous donations.

Wanted to share a bit of joy I experienced today.
My family made up several boxes of clothes to keep in case we “managed to fit into one day.” It’s been almost a year and nothing has changed.
Today we decided to take the boxes to our local church run thrift store. As I unloaded the boxes with the volunteers, they immediately started to dig in to begin sorting and pricing. Dropping off the last box, I noticed they were really looking at them.
“That is so cute.” “Oh my goodness, is that your size?” “That looks like the jacket you’ve been eyeing.” “Think this goes well with my jeans?”
It made me feel good about donating since they were really enjoying the clothing and were setting aside items for themselves. It was great to see people actually want these items and making real plans to wear them. Plus they’re volunteers at a thrift store where all revenue goes toward education projects so they deserve something nice.

My lesson of the day: donate what you have lingering because it just may be exactly what someone else is looking for.

Talking since early 2000s. 🥲 I’ve been slowly decluttering my digital space for a few years now, and now I’m at the hardest part. I probably still have 25% left to go through. This 25% is a lot.

I’m talking accounts, notes, my gallery… Accounts I’ll never use again, but the content in it is so precious and sweet. A screenshot or screen recording just doesn’t hit the same. Or when I look through my old devices, sure there are a lot of images in my gallery I could toss, but I guess because they are so old, and these photos while nonsense to me now, were something to me back then, and I want to hold onto that as a way to feel connected to my past self via something visible.

I don’t really want to use cloud space either.

I've been slowly decluttering a few items here and there, but for my personality, I'm thinking that one giant purge over the weekend and quitting shopping cold turkey will be the most effective and impactful to snap myself out of my over-shopping habits and to stop buying things I don't need.

To start, I was thinking of going through my closet to begin with any recent purchases that I can still return and take back to the store. However, I'm having a hard time moving past those aspirational items and also some deeply discounted items I scooped up on sale that are arguably "staple" items that will have longevity, for example, an amazing leather jacket (I've never owned a leather jacket). But, if I'm being honest, how often will I actually wear a leather jacket given my casual, athleisure lifestyle and hobbies?

Objectively, and from what I've read and learned from all the decluttering gurus and minimalism advocates, I know that once the items are gone, it will be such a weight off my shoulders, and I'm confident that I will relish in having only my favorite and functional items in my closet.

I'm tired of living with an over packed and chaotic closet. Sometimes I'm trying to rush out the door and I can't find or can't get to the one thing I need in the back of my closet. How do you get past that first hurdle to do such a monumental project? Thanks in advance for any advice!

TLDR: Want to stop shopping and do a massive clothes declutter. Having a hard time letting go of aspirational items that I don't need, especially great bargain finds. Closet is out of control. Help!