How to De-Clutter in 10 Easy Steps

You may be familiar with those hoarding programmes on television where we sit back and watch someone else's misery and hopefully watch their recovery too. How many of us sit there and gloat thinking we are polar opposites of that unfortunate person?
Well I always thought that. I don't hoard. I'm not minimalist either. I just don't like to run out of things so I like to have a supply of stuff we regularly use.
That's my excuse anyway.

We moved from UK some years ago and I sorted through boxes in the attic then. Ok, so some of the things I wanted to keep may seem a bit obscure, but I bought every national newspaper the day Princess Diana died and kept them in a box. I'm not sure why, but I still have them all. Other stuff like a Royal Doulton dinner service that has been used perhaps 4 times in 20 years - that takes up at least 5 boxes. When my daughter was at nursery school in UK, there were a few outbreaks of nits, so in anticipation, I bought a Boots electronic nit comb - it's still in the box, unused.


My point is that we paid a company to come to our house and pack all this unused stuff carefully into boxes. This unused stuff was then shipped, at great expense across the Atlantic. This unused stuff was then unpacked in our new home where it has sat, still unused for 6 years.
Stupidly, I then packed it all up again and we have just driven hundreds of miles with it across the country, packed it into a heated storage unit, unloaded it in to our garage a month later and now I'm mulling over whether or not to keep it!

I have set aside a section of our basement for garage sale stuff. I'm very enthusiastic about it and intend to get the whole street on board to ensure maximum footfall.
Some stuff just isn't saleable though. How about all those masterpieces my daughter painted when she was 3 years old? How could I be so heartless and throw those out? I know the experts say take photos of your treasured possessions. Do you know how many boxes I have of photo albums? Literally over 30 and they each weigh a ton!


So my advice to you is this;


Step 1 - You've got to be in the right frame of mind to de-clutter. If you don't feel like purging, then try it tomorrow.


Step 2 - Start with one box, or one room and one corner of that room. Think small and you'll achieve more than if you try and tackle too much at once.


Step 3 - Toss, keep, sell or donate? If you know you'll use it in the next year, keep it. If it's broken or outdated (like VHS videos or worse, Betamax) toss it out. If you can sell it, box it up for a garage sale, car boot sale or advertise it online or in the paper. If none of the above apply, donate it.


Step 4 - Get rid of duplicates. If your best deluxe stapler should misfire, then new ones really don't cost a lot. You don't need a back-up!


Step 5 - Do you keep unread magazines or worse, ones you have read? Get rid of them straight away! I have boxes of DIY Handyman that I would need if we still lived in a fixer upper. We don't, so they're going.


Step 6 - Think about the energy it takes to keep all this stuff dust-free. If you love nick-nacks and don't mind dusting them every week, then keep them. Don't hang on to them as it looks bare without them. Space is good!


Step 7 - Do you think, 'but great aunt Maud gave me that', feeling guilty as she died long ago? Well she won't mind if you decide to sell or donate it. She'll be grateful you loved it for as long as you did and respect your decision to move on. Do you need those old pieces to remember your loved one? Does a piece of china really bring back hundreds of fond memories? If not, get rid.


Step 8 - If decision-making really isn't your strong point and you can't part with anything, look at 3 or 4 items and decide to get rid of one. If you do this on a regular basis, then after a year you may be on your way to living clutter-free.


Step 9 - Are you ever planning on moving house? If so, you might as well save yourself a ton of money and get rid of anything you have stashed in your shed, attic or basement. The cost of packing it, storing it and moving it prove that it makes financial sense to sell it now.


Step 10 - If you are, shall we say, a senior citizen. I know it can be a comfort to have all things familiar around you. How about that cute little doll your grandchild made from a cardboard toilet-roll, wool and scraps of material? You don't need a keepsake to think fondly of your family/friends do you? Pick up the phone and talk to them or grab the photo album and take a trip down memory lane (assuming you haven't thrown out all your photos!)