r/declutter

I’ve been trying to declutter for most of my adult life. I’ve finally learned to be okay with donating things that were gifted to me. I don’t struggle with getting rid of things that are sentimental (for the most part). I’m fine with getting rid of old clothing.

But I struggle in two areas:

1. I keep things because I’m certain I’m going to use them someday, and therefore it would be a waste of money to get rid of them. This can be things like hobby supplies, jewelry, candles, essential oils, etc. They are useful items that I do use from time to time - but I never use ALL of them, and some things even remain unopened or unused for years. Yet I still feel like it would be a waste of money to get rid of them, especially because they’d be tough to sell and I’d need to just donate them. Which leads me to struggle #2….

2. For things that I know I don’t need, if there is a financial value to them (in my mind), I really struggle to donate or throw them away. I think to myself, “I could sell this for $….”. And in many cases, I have sold stuff, and it’s a fantastic feeling. But the problem is that now I have bins and bins of stuff that I’m “going to try to sell”, but I never get around to taking pictures or creating listings. Other times, I’m motivated to declutter, but I stop to take pics and create listings for each item I want to purge as I go along - which is great for actually getting the items listed, but bad for making any real declutterring progress. And while I have had success with selling my stuff, I’m only getting rid of one thing at a time that way.

I have no interest in a yard sale - getting 50 cents for an item is a waste of my time.

Even though I KNOW it would be good for me to just let the stuff go, to have clear spaces, etc - I just struggle so much with knowing I’m donating things I could sell.

One of the areas I struggle with the most is high-fashion jewelry. Jewelry style is so specific to each person that I know I’m not going to find someone that wants to buy my whole collection, but even if it’s a whole bin of jewelry I’ll never wear again, the thought of donating jewelry that I spent $2000 on stops me from donating it every time. (This is not fine jewelry, so I can’t sell it for its value in gold or silver).

I’m aware of the sunk cost fallacy, but it still doesn’t help me overcome this issue. If I’m confident an item is worth $10+, it feels wasteful to me not to try to sell it and get something back from it (I also know that sometimes we perceive an item as having a lot more value than others will because we know what we paid for it, but I am aware of that and price my items accordingly).

Particularly because I have had lots of success selling stuff on FB MP and getting money back while also reducing clutter, it’s so hard for me to justify donating thousands of dollars worth of stuff. I can’t get past the feeling of knowing I’m “losing money” on the items (and I recognize that the money was lost the second I bought the stuff, but by not recouping some of the money by selling it, I feel like I’m somehow losing money unnecessarily).

Has anyone else been in this situation, and if so, how did you get past it? I just absolutely cannot get past that mental roadblock and feel like if I just forced myself to donate it, it would continue to bother me after the fact. I need a way to reframe it so that I don’t think about the money lost or the money I could’ve recouped by selling it.

TL/DR: If I know I can sell my stuff rather than donating it, I have a hard time just donating it and getting it out of my space. But if I don’t take pics and post it in the moment I’m decluttering, it builds up in bins of “stuff I’m going to sell”. If I stop to take pics and list items as I’m declutterring my progress slows to a crawl, which then kills my motivation. How do I get past the mental roadblock of holding onto stuff that I can make some money back on, and just donate it without feeling like I’m throwing money away?

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.

"Take it there now" is one of those practices that changes things.

Big thanks to Dana K White for the way she packaged it, promoted it, shows how to coach to it.

I know it doesn't take much time, and also showing the timer to my partner and kids was genius for changing how they feel about it and reducing resistance to it later.

I anchor "take it there now" to any time I am moving through the house. My partner calls it "doing your loops." What he sees is that I walk from place to place, sometimes taking a few extra seconds (literally seconds) to detour and put something away.

The counterintuitive thing is that I don't even have to put EVERYTHING away EVERY TIME. I just have to do a little bit. But because I'm always doing as much as I feel like (or have time for), by the time I get to the room or task I was heading towards, the house is much better. But I am not burned out. It is the "compound interest" activity of managing a home.

"Take it there now" involves immediately tossing obvious trash (if that's where something goes). It means putting something away. It means doing very fast small chores to square something away and putting up the tasks tools. It means quickly processing the mail, or packages that come in. Putting dishes in the dishwasher. Just very quickly moving a few things to their "reset" location.

I do that every morning and evening while getting up, and while going to bed. While I was walking around this morning I: Set up a load of laundry to start when I toss in my gardening clothes in a couple of hours; folded and put away clean clothes in dryer; opened package; put the item on the project table with the project it is for so I can finish it today; took packaging to recycling bin; put my partners dressing items back in their place for the morning (he had a late night); Put devices on chargers; put receipts in purse for return; put donations in donation bag by door; set out purse by door to go to cobblers; stowed ladder (part of partner's late night); tossed trash; put away hair clips; put shoes away; ... you get the picture. It took 12 minutes, all while I dressing, having coffee, and getting tools out for a little yard work.

It sets me up to drop off donations, get handbag cleaned, do next load of laundry, etc. It sets me up for all of my tasks throughout the day to be easier, faster, require less initiation work.

Every time I feel that "overwhelm" feeling, or that aggravated feeling of "why did we/lthey leave stuff out everywhere" I just put a few things away. It tends to work out.

After over a decade of holding on to “stuff” as “keepsakes”, I finally decided to have a garage sale. But barely made a dent in getting rid of stuff. Now I am supposed to donate all the stuff I was willing to sell but I’m holding back. I have such sentimental attachment to many things and I feel like I’m being “disrespectful” to the memory of those things if I just donate it. Selling it seemed liked the objectively right thing to do but when it comes to giving it away I think, maybe I should keep it. Help! I need to get rid of this clutter!

I have shared in prior posts that I got the idea to hire a NAPO organizer for my partner to help with big declutter and organize projects. This greatly reduced (or entirely eliminated) conflict. I am naturally tidy. My partner is not. Neither are my (now adult) kids.

My kids were raised in a very tidy home. Not a museum. Not an antiseptic hospital wing. Just basically tidy. We picked up entirely at least every 2 weeks for the housekeeper day. We entirely cleaned up the kitchen each night after dinner. We decluttered kids rooms seasonally. They have plenty of practice with decluttering and tidiness. And they have ADHD (like their father). So they care about things being decluttered tidy, because they know how nice it is to live like that, and how much it helps with their ADHD. And also it is harder for them to do.

My son, who is a treasure, came to visit a couple of weeks before his birthday. I was asking him what he wanted for his birthday, as he is a grad student. Cash is very helpful at that age. As are some kinds of presents. But very wisely, he came prepared. He had a list of things he needed to tackle over the summer breaks and semester. Various life admin and tasks that needed doing. "I don't need more things, mom. I live in a house with roommates. And I've got savings. But I really need help with this list." I was blown away. On the list was cleaning and organizing his clothes, his desk, etc. He lives a few hours away. I told him about how I hired an NAPO organizer for my partner. He loved the idea. And as my present to him, I said I would do the legwork to find a good person to help him for a couple of hours.

I don't get anything for repping NAPO. I didn't know anything about them. GPT just recommended the organization when I was considering ways to solve my clutter challenges with my partner. But I am here to say that their directory is great! It has come in clutch a couple of times. I did a short search. And found a perfect person within a short drive of my son. She specialized in decluttering and organizing for ADHD. I provided a budget, and asked my son to provide the priorities. She transformed his room and space in 2 hours with him. He was so excited. "I'm dropping off donations of clothes that no longer fit. Then I'm going to TJ Maxx to get some organizers she recommended. Then my roommate and I are going to finally hang the art I've been wanting to put up for the last year."

He went on and on about tips and coaching she gave that he could keep using after she left. "She said she works with hoarders and stuff and that my room wasn't even that bad and we did it in an hour less than you budgeted." That's what I call value. Thank you Alice Price!

"She said when I start a task I don't have to plan how to do all of it. I just have to think of the first step, do that, then immediately think of the next step and set it up before I stop. Mom that's so easy for me to do. I never thought of it that way."

This was such an inexpensive present, with a huge impact.

People here talk about not wanting more "stuff." I really encourage asking for "services" if someone insists on a gift in those cases. We helped my son with routine annual car maintenance (helping him identify what was needed, helping him set appointments, and paying for it) and 2 hrs of an organizer, instead of giving him "stuff." He was just so effusive about getting the "weight" off his mind, and enjoying his room more minute to minute.

I think everyone generally agrees about needing to declutter. Getting out of "conflict" with family by investing in a NAPO organizer that specializes in what they need help with, and letting that organizer help them with their priorities is how I have moved from conflict to success for everyone.

If there are other orgs or ways of finding support that is easy and accessible, I hope people will share. I love the Dana K White virtual coaches and "1 hr better" work. I also love not being in conflict and not owning the problem of other family members clutter.

Hello everyone! I've been stalking this subreddit for a while getting so much encourage from seeing before and after pictures. Definitely keep posting pictures bc you never know how those pictures help others!

Alright here's my problem. I've lost my motivation to continue decluttering. ☹️

I finally decided to tackle my office and electronic clutter these past two days and tbh I'm over it now. Yesterday it was going through Google photos and deleting hundreds of screenshots I have taken over the years. I swear I have like 200-400 screenshots of random things. I have no idea what the hell is wrong with me and why I saved so many screenshots! Lol! Thankfully I made what I hope is a significant dent in that electronic clutter. My office is another story. I have a 5-6 inch pile of paper like old bills, tax records, receipts, etc etc. Started going through today, got overwhelmed, and stopped. Like I said earlier, I'm over it but I don't want to leave things unfinished. Looking for tips/advice to stay motivated. My long term goal is to eventually clear out this room in order to rent it out in the future to help pay bills and whatnot. So the paperwork and all the other stuff needs to go ASAP!

TL;DR- Started declutter electronic files and office paperwork and now feeling overwhelmed. Need some tips/advice to keep going.

I have had my mother’s wedding dress since I got married close to 30 years ago. My grandmother handmade it for her. I’ve moved this treasure and hung on to it because it’s beautiful, meaningful and I’ve felt responsible for it. It’s truly a lovely gown in a unique style, but of course showing its age—never properly cleaned nor really properly stored. So, today I packed it up and donated it to a thrift store with a mission I care about, along with a copy of a photograph of my mom in the dress. I am hopeful a happy bride can bring it new life. I honor my grandmother whose vision and talent created it and I honor the excellent taste and beauty of my mother. My grandmother was never one to waste anything so I think she would be proud that it’s no longer wasting away in my closet. She’d probably ask me why I’ve waited so damned long to move it out!

I’m at the point in decluttering where a lot of the really useless/broken/outgrown stuff is all gone and there is still way too much stuff, but I’m also getting into “this may actually be worth keeping” territory.

have been daydreaming about putting a ton of stuff in bins in the basement and then bringing up item by item that I need when I need it and then after a period of time (6 months? year?) going through the remaining basement items and seeing what we actually used with fresh eyes, etc. I thought if I kept the bins labeled with where the stuff is (like a bin for “lower pantry corner cabinet” i know what stuff is in there so when I need somethkng I could find it that way.

is this. a bad idea? part of me thinks to not do this because I’ll have a bunch of bins in my basement and also since I will still have to go through it (like am I just going through things twice at that point?) but like I said, a lot of the obvious stuff is gone now so I’m being more cautious with donating/discarding.

One of my friends (mid-30s) recently said she thinks the only way adults can keep their homes presentable is if they have a spare room for all the extra stuff they feel they need to keep but that there's no sensible home for.

This got me wondering how many of you in this sub feel the same? I live in a small modern condo, and I feel lucky to have a spare bedroom. But, on some level, I want to convert this current catch-all room into something more functional and social -- maybe a place where I can invite friends over to watch TV since I don't currently have a place in my home for that. The only TV in my home now is in my bedroom. There's no place for a TV setup in my small common area space. Only problem is if I convert the room, I'm going to have to make a lot of decisions on many different categories of useful stuff that really has no place to be re-homed. :/

No pantry, and I can't use the small garage chain-walled storage room that is assigned to each unit because there's a huge problem with thieves that break in and cut the wire walls to get to people's stuff despite people knowing not to keep valuables there, ugh. They steal bikes, too, so can't even keep my bikes there.

Part of how I'm decluttering without feeling tremendous guilt about waste is trying to use up all my makeup products instead of just tossing them. I had my first big win today. I used my pressed powder low enough that it shattered, then used the shattered bit for a while, and now it is finally ready to toss. This is the first time I've ever used make-up up in my entire life. I've tossed makeup before that was like expired or I didn't like, but never because I used it all.

I kept so many journals and filled them completely. I had dozens from 1996-2020. I traveled a lot and had a job that I thought was interesting and would make for good reading for my kids.

I just found the box of them while doing some decluttering. I read them all, ripped out a few entries (9/11 and other historic moments), took a few pics of funny things for me but not worth saving for the kids, and then burned the rest in a fire pit. So cathartic.

It was an interesting trip down memory lane, but 99% of it I would be mortified if my kids read it. Especially the middle school crushes 😂

was heading to be a caregiver for a relative’s surgery plus still recovering from my own, so I got a dozen puzzle and coloring books, some with their own markers and crayons.

The font on some you’d need a scanning electron microscope to read, or kids eyes. The print was smeared on others. I returned what I could and some, the store just issued a refund, no need to return.

$200 worth and 20 pounds of activity and coloring books donated to the hospital volunteer staff. Hopefully, patients and families will get a break from the stress. Win for me, win for them.

I have a ton of bag clothes. They are all in bins/totes with each one marked with their size etc.

I have two boys and I don’t think we will have any more kids (long story but part of why I think it’s hard to get rid of - it’s not a decision I am sure about but logically and practically I know it’s the decision we need).

I know I eventually want to make a baby clothing quilt but I also know that there’s probably more than half of not more of clothes that I wouldn’t make into a baby quilt (like black leggings etc).

So I guess I’m wondering why should I keep and what should I get rid of? And how can I do it because I look at their tiny little clothes and think I wanna keep the to remember it but I don’t want to keep them in boxes for no reason and why would a pair of black leggings mean anything to me???

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.

I have a lot of stuff that the only reason I seem to have it is because I kept it. This means there is a big backlog to sort through and it is honestly hard.

But I've at least taught myself to start getting rid of stuff as fast as possible that has no value so I at least don't fall into this trap in the future.

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.

Being a print graphic designer who never had a website, I have tons of physical samples of work I designed: books, letterhead, business cards, t-shirts with branding that I created, ads, etc. etc. I have digital images of a lot of work but certainly not all. Some projects I loved, some I didn’t.

While I am not yet retired from working, I am pretty old and don’t see myself showing any of this work to gain future employment. Freelancing may still be on the table in the future if I should need the income. I might, at that point, have to create a website. That is the only scenario where I might need any of this work.

The issue: I am struggling with tossing all this evidence of my life’s work. Granted, most of what I’ve created IS inherently disposable. I guess I am feeling as though tossing it all will make me feel like “what have I been doing all my life?” If I destroy the evidence how do I (or anyone) know I contributed? I existed?

I really do understand that what I produce or create is not ME. I want to declutter this work because I do not want to move all these boxes if/when I decide to downsize. I am asking for some outside perspective to help me let go!

As title says I retired yesterday, day 1 here we go. I bullet journal and yes I created a separate bullet journal to start July 1st. I have five years or so of journals, covers supplies etc. It was a clutter mess on a shelf in a book case in our office. This morning, made a latte found my current journal that came home last night, grabbed a box from the old lady box collection (bottom of hall closet down for 4- 5 so that is okay) packed up all the journals covers, stencils supplies etc. I'm not ready to completely purge and the box was not huge. Took down to storage room and it's next to the two totes of my family stuff. When I'm ready I'll cull through that stuff and the box of journals. It will all be a throw out, I'm the last of my family so no one to pass items to. A few things like Dad's WWII year book I want to find a correct home for, but lots of it will be tossed out eventually.

For now Day 1 got up went for a walk, showered dressed actually put on make up, made a latte, and waiting on hubby to get up, he retired yesterday as well. I know me I will want to over plan regiment etc time to go with the flow, this was enough for today. I did also declutter two pencil drawers in the office couldn't help myself!

Edit for Dad's SeeBee yearbook, we actually have a friend who is a retired Army General. When I get a chance I'm going to ask the hubby for a suggestion from him. I'm thinking there must be veterans organizations who would love to have the book. sadly it's not in the best shape cover wise but the pages are in good condition. Dad was the same size as the native girls and they kept stealing his laundry to wear his pants! He enlisted at 16.