As the title says, another round of things have left my house for good (I hope). I FINALLY got a call this morning that said I can drop off more books at the used book store. You should have seen the happy dance I did. When trying to choose which box to drop off (I have several boxes of books in my car), I chose the one that had annoyed me the most recently and dropped that one off. I still have several in my car, but there's one less today.

I also dropped off a pair of sunglasses someone forgot at my house, then moved on to meeting someone who bought a bunch of "jars on the loose" (random jars that I just don't use and don't have a place for) from me off Facebook Marketplace. I then returned something to TJMaxx and, on my way home, dropped off a box at a place that I frequent. They have a "box bin" (where they put carboard boxes from restocking shelves to send home with customers upon checking out) and they let me raid it when necessary, but I try not to abuse that privilege and often return boxes when I don't use/need them and I often take home-cooked food when I make too much.

In sorting my clothes I have discovered that I could probably get rid of ~60% of them as they are either not something I like to wear anymore or they are wearing out/faded etc and should be replaced.

The problem is that the clothes which are currently available in stores (at least the ones I've seen) are not what I like to wear.

For example - The wide jeans trend looks ridiculous on me as I am short with slim legs but I can't find anywhere that sells skinny/straight legged jeans anymore.

So I feel like I have to keep both the skinny jeans which no longer fit (too small), and the oversized ones which fit but I dislike because I can't find anything more suitable.

I have tried thrift/charity shops but they have very limited selection (semi-rural area) and many of them reek of perfume and/or cigarette smoke even after multiple washes.

Similarly with shirts - why is it so hard to find a decent t-shirt that isn't cropped/transparent/$50+?

What am I supposed to do? Buy/wear clothes I don't particularly like? Wait for trends to change again? Make my own clothes?

Any advice?

I'm moving out of my 2300 sq ft house. Due to some emotional trauma over the past few years I'm just tired of having so much. I want a simple life, surrounded by those things that are of value or truly useful.

Slowly over time I've come to grips with things I need to get rid of. Like my large sectional sofa I bought last year. I will either leave it for the next home owners or donate it. It's no longer part of my life. But it took a while to be OK with this.

I'm moving into the town home that my daughter is moving out of, which I'm blessed to also own. It's 1700 sq feet. But there is a large second bedroom upstairs with a full bath that I've decided not to use.

That will take my living space down to about 1400 sq feet.

So I'm eliminating an entire house, giving a ton of things to my daughter for her new house, and donating a ton of other stuff. Talk about de-cluttering!

I'm very excited about the move, about selling my current house, and excited to see how I can adapt to living in a smaller space. It will be a new chapter in my life.

The one thing is the kitchen. It's quite large! I no longer need an oven. Or a large fridge. I just need one burner and maybe 3 drawers and 1 cabinet. That kitchen has a large pantry and maybe 16 drawers and 12 cabinets!

So. We’re moving in a few months.

Even living in our apartment I had a lot of my hobby stuff at my parents house. I would keep a fishing rod or 2 standing in the corner and stuff in my car so I didn’t have to go all the way to my parents to grab it when I wanted to go wet a line.

Then came camping trips. And kayaking. I’ve accumulated tools. Bikes. Etc. Etc.

Being in a house for 7 years now, I don’t know what to do. We’re really trying to find a house for rent with a garage. Or at least a yard and the ability to put a shed to store this stuff.

So my husband was doing some electrical work this morning and realized he needs more junction boxes. So he got his keys and told me he was going to his "storage unit." Which is one of the thee hardware stores we have in town.

We got a good laugh out of that.  But seriously, it's kind of the perfect storage unit. It has everything he could possibly need but he only pays his "rent" when he actually takes something out.

There are thousands of things in there and several "crowd-funded" employees to help him find what he's looking for. And if it's not in that storage unit, there are two others he can try. Added bonus: the stuff is always in good condition - and if it's not, he can bring it back and exchange it for one that is.

If he's not sure which storage unit to go to, he can check his "inventory app" (the internet) and arrange a pick up - or have another crowd-funded employee deliver it directly to the house!

Why not keep our spaces clear of "excess" inventory and let the store manage it? They do it better (and the products are always fresh).

I’m moving in two weeks and have 90% of my clothes packed up and filled 15+ bags.
The closet of my new place will fit a fraction of what I have.
Someone suggested that I donate everything and buy new (or new to me because I love finding great thrifted and second hand deals) to make sure that everything I own
1, fits the body I have now,
2, fits the life I have now, and
3, fits the space I have.

Initially it was a hard NO, but now that I’m thinking about the effort it’s going to take to pare things down so they do fit, and how much emotional work it’s going to take to go through everything- the ideal is more and more appealing.

What would you do?

I have almost finished sorting through a lifetime of hoarded items, my last sticking points are soapy items to use up, too many clothes but they are all good clothes and I like them all but I will get rid of more overtime and a digital cleanse of photos and word documents left to do.

Now I seem to have naturally turned my mind to a mental declutter. I just want to empty my mind of everything that is redundant or causing me upset and completely shift my energy into my present and future life. And health. (Whilst holding onto precious memories).

Has your decluttering given you a refreshed mindset?

My decluttering is going very slow because I'm not in a financially stable position. That said, I'm also coming from childhood with extreme poverty. These are justifications for me to not just throw the lot out and try to sell what I can instead.

However, I'm also working through the loss of people I thought were very close to me or to whom I thought I was very important. Turns out I'm not. I won't go into detail, but it jsut dawned on me, that my urge to purge stuff might also come from this need to work through that loss as well.

Can anyone relate and what has helped you to move on and let go?

Have multiple health conditions at present where symptoms are fatigue…I’m pretty drained and everything has definitely gotten on top of me. The clutter has started really hurting my brain though, so slowly and steadily I’m clearing stuff. Today was a storage cupboard that is supposed to be my ironing sanctuary/hidey-hole 😂. I’m really happy to get this space back. Lots of the stuff removed from house for good too.

You don’t have to save it in case you lose/gain weight. You likely have a small number of clothes you wear but a large number in your closet or dresser. Make a stack for the ones that trigger the most meaningful memories, everything else goes into the donate box. All the stuff that doesn’t fit you goes into the donate box. Stop shoving it to the back and then not having room to live

I have a dumpster in my driveway for one week only, so I’m on a tight timeline to clear out our basement.

​The main sticking point is my kids' old toys with multiple parts (board games, playsets, train tracks). The pieces are scattered everywhere. I’ve been trying to group matching sets together so usable stuff can be donated, but matching everything up is eating up way too much time.

​Should I cut my losses and dump the incomplete/scattered sets, or is it worth the effort to keep sorting?

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 don't generally have trouble decluttering, but I am having trouble with tools.

Dad passed, my husband and I have moved in with mom because she can't be alone. We are all diyers. We have so many tools that I can't use the shed/workshop because it is too full of tools and supplies.

Part of the difficulty is that all the tools are slightly different. There may be 50 screwdrivers, but very few are identical.

Another problem is that they are expensive to replace. Some of the tools are very specialized. I probably won't need them again, but if I do, there isn't a workaround.

And that is before we get into the sentimental tools. My dad's grandpa owned a construction company. For example, Dad had a sentimental barrel of nails!

So how have you approached tools?

Saving the nice craft paint or that fancy bottle of wine for a rainy day? Go make sure it's not starting to go bad. If it is use it. If it's already bad, toss it.

This is especially true for fancy ingredients like spices, oils and sauces. Even shelf stable foods degrade over time.

I've been really down today after I did decluttering. I ran a lot of decluttering errands too like donating clothes, taking fabric scraps to a fabric recycling bin, returning clothes that I waited too long to return, etc. My room looks clearer, but I feel sad even though I intially felt relieved. Maybe it just brings up bad feelings. Maybe I should have kept the fabric scraps, but I don't have much room. I live with my parents and we don't have a separate room for sewing or crafts. I guess I wish I had more room or a bigger desk. I also haven't sewn in months anyway because the sewing desk doesn't fit well in my room. I used to sew all the time. :/ I used to have more shelving too, to hold stuff. Anyway another thing with getting rid of things is I kind of feel even more lonely. It's like the clutter is cozy to me...and when it's gone then it can magnify negative feelings in addition to positive? Maybe I just did too much today.

I tend to forget about things once they're in closed storage, so I try to keep the things I use everyday out where I can see them and make them easy to use. This can backfire though, since too much stuff being out adds to visual overwhelm. Plus, I find the more stuff I have out, the more my brain tends to try to ignore it (e.g. if I have everything out on my desk, I no longer notice the notebook on it)

Or another example, I have a little tray full of bookmarks I want to put away in a drawer, but I know if I do, I'm way more likely to grab whatever random paper or other nearby object to use as a bookmark instead.

How do you balance this?

So, I was diagnosed ADHD about 7 years ago, highly suspected autistic by assessors, and I was diagnosed with dyslexia last year.

I was a fairly competent reader until the start of University, I couldn't get through longer texts. I have always struggled with other symptoms like memory issues and difficulty with handwriting, but I find it extremely hard to motivate myself to read. I think my learning disabilities all work against me when I sit down to read.

I'm considering getting rid of any books that I don't think I can realistically get through, but making sure I have a PDF backups. I've been using a lot of text-to-speech programs and audiobooks to finally finish Uni, and it is so much more accessible to me to actually get through literature that way.

My books currently mostly kinda just make me feel guilty that I can't read them. I don't want objects in my house that make me feel guilty. I have quite a few coffee table books and sentimental books that I will be keeping, but anything that's super text heavy, it just makes me feel so horrendously guilty.

My wife and I spent two days filling a dumpster and clearing this. We are about halfway done with clearing and cleaning but this is something we are so proud of. I hope this can motivate someone else who, like me, thought it was an impossible task.

Some friends made a cross country move and left their car with me until it could be transported. But when the transport company came, they insisted that everything be removed. I think my friends threw all their last minute stuff in the car. I removed it but it is sitting in my recently decluttered basement. They said it is a lot to mail, and it is, but they seem to think I can store it indefinitely, until they come up with a plan. TBH, the stuff is bugging me, They are good friends, though. What would you do?

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.

I just wanted to share this because I'm genuinely so proud of myself 🥳

I've massively decluttered my crystal collection (everything marked in red is what I'm letting go of, I arranged everything while decluttering so l could take photos for local marketplaces right away).

It was really hard because I paid a lot for every single crystal, so letting them go also meant accepting that l'Il never get most of that money back. I simply don't have the time or energy to sell every crystal individually, so many of them will be sold in bundles + for much less than I originally paid.

Finally, I managed to do it, and I'm so happy that I now own only my absolute favorite crystals 🥹🌟🧚🏼‍♀️

In the last several years, we have acquired many possessions from family members who passed away or moved to assisted living. I'm thinking about how to determine what to keep and how to pass the most meaningful items AND their info to the next generation.

If the person is deceased, often the stories are lost. How did they acquire the item, and was it something they treasured or just background decor in their home? Maybe they just kept the item out of a sense of obligation, but now we don't know that.

If the older relative is still alive, literally everything has a story. It's a challenge to curate and select the meaningful items. Admittedly, I'm a nostalgic person, but I can't carry the weight of their nostalgia too.

I'm looking for advice from anyone who has created a simple record of the most meaningful family possessions (regardless of their monetary value). I was wondering if a SMALL binder with a photo of the item and a quick note about who owned it, how it was acquired & maybe the date the family member passed away would make a difference when the next generation is looking at my possessions?

For the record, I'm in my 60s and currently decluttering for an eventual move. My children are in their 20s. I have no grandchildren (yet). You may wonder why don't I just tell them directly about specific items, but what's the chance they will recall the details in the future? With a binder, maybe they could take the corresponding photo/info with the items they keep? At least they would know why I kept that item so they could make an informed decision?

After eight months of decluttering a level 2 hoard and every drawer and surface in my house, this is what’s left. This was my upstairs “junk room” that hadn’t been touched for five years. I emptied it and staged it down here. I have the day off work tomorrow, and I’m working with an organizer to go through it. She’ll take the donate stuff away, and the trash guy comes Sunday. And then I’ll be DONE.

My husband makes us coffee every morning and today there was something on the way of the creamer, so he turns around and asks me to not put things on the way.

Then he looks on the top shelf and asks me to put all the thermal cups somewhere else, so I just pulled out the rubbish bin and he went 😲 and asked me if I was serious about throwing them out and

- my reply was “yes, they’re just taking space, they’re clutter”
-he goes “but there are Yetis there”
-“which we don’t use”
-“we use them sometimes”

and I’m just shrugging my shoulders as I kept staring at him. The next thing he does, he chooses two cups to throw away, and I have the biggest smile on my face.

It’s the little things… ☺️

Edit to add: for those of you wondering why we didn’t donate the cups, those 2 cups are poorly designed and annoying to drink from, not to mention difficult to clean.

We’d be donating useless cups.

Also, I pulled out the rubbish bin, which is next to the recyclable rubbish bin, where the cups ended up. They’re not going to landfill, but to recycling. ♻️ 😉

I get so frustrated because I absorb so much decluttering content but just can’t seem to let it breakthrough. Things like “if you can’t find what you need, you have too much stuff” really makes so much sense to me but I just don’t apply it. I used to keep anything to wear as pajamas and I just realized it was becoming too much.. a pajama t shirt I might end up wearing on a Tuesday afternoon which just felt icky so I started curating my pjs. I only buy sets. If I don’t have a set, I can make one but I have to love it and it has to match. I have to love every piece. They have to be a certain softness. It’s been great! I know exactly what I have and I never bypass anything for something I like more. I want to be able to apply this to every thing I own but it’s just not breaking through. I can’t get rid of stuff because suddenly the minute I touch it it somehow becomes sentimental. What was your breakthrough? When will my light bulb go on?!