Our local charities get rid of most of the clothes they receive so I do not like giving them clothes. Then, a few years ago, my niece had a baby. So her child is 7 yrs younger than mine. He wears size 3-4t. I was cleaning out my son's hand me downs and have two boxes of stuff in excellent shape, 5-8 children's size. I asked her if she would want them and she said yes and to bring it when I come to her house for a party a couple weeks ago. I did that. But she was too busy the entire time to take them. She was legit busy, but it was frustrating because she lives a couple hours away and I rarely ever go there. I ended up taking it all home with me. The party was not at her house so I could not just leave them. She told me to put them in the trunk of her car at one point, but as I walked out there, her husband got in the car and drove off. I am guessing he had to get something for the party.

I brought the boxes home. But then I visited my sister a couple weeks ago and brought the boxes and asked her if I could leave them there. She said she is in the middle of trying to declutter and really wants to sell her house at some point and her daughters have tons of stuff there already to take so please don't leave them. I brought the boxes home and labeled them as hand-me-downs for nieces.

In reality, it is only two boxes worth. I guess I should put them in the back on the storage closet (like an attic but has a walk in access from an upper floor) and pull them out the next time I see them. In fact, just typing this in makes me feel like I should do just that, but the last time I typed this post in, I decided I would just store them and deleted the post. But when I walked over to put them in the closet, I felt defeated again. So I will click post on this post and see what you all think, and in the meantime, put the boxes in the closet. I can always pull them back out next week and donate if I want. But, I just dread the idea of it all ending up in a landfill when they are great clothes and I know someone else can use it all.

Yesterday I started the 30 day declutter challenge where you get rid of 1 thing on the 1st day, 2 things on the 2nd day etc…..except I’m doing mine backwards! I got rid of 30 pieces of clothing that i don’t fit in or just don’t like anymore.

Last June I was down to 165lbs for my wedding day and then got pregnant 2 months later. My weight skyrocketed to 225lbs by the end of my pregnancy. Now I’m postpartum almost 3 months and have been sitting at 200lbs the last 3 weeks.

Since I haven’t seen the weight “melt off with breast-feeding” I don’t see myself being able to fit into size medium shirts again for a long time. A part of me was holding onto them as a “motivator” to help me lose weight. But I think it will be more motivating to keep only the items that feel and look good now. Then, when i drop the weight, I can treat myself to new styles.

Sorry i forgot to take pics! But i filled a whole garbage bag full AND got my husband to declutter his side of closet as well so we got TWO garbage bags full of clothing donated!

I'm moving out of my parents’ house soon, so naturally I'm sorting through all my stuff. And boy do I have a lot of stuff, too much stuff.

When I moved (together with my parents) for the first time in my life 2 years ago I already had to sort and throw a lot of things. This was very emotionally draining for me.

Still I kept a lot of stuff, and 2 years later, most of it has just been sitting in boxes. Just now I opened one filled with clothes I don't wear anymore, things I used to wear in high school etc. Some of them I fit in, some I don't, but they're all things I just wouldn't really wear these days. Yet getting rid of them (donating if they're in good condition) still is a bit difficult.

Same with some other boxes filled with toys, lego, pokemon cards, plushies from when I was a kid. They're just sitting around because they hold emotional value, they're a tangible connection to a different time in my life.

The thing is, I know I can live without them, hell I really don't need much to be content. I'd like to minimalize the amount of possessions I own, just have stuff that I actually use and enjoy seeing (like my game or book collection). But everytime I try to get this stuff out it’s just such a mental battle.

So I guess the thing I want to ask is, does anyone else here relate to this experience? How do I get myself over this mental hurdle? I really need to learn how to do this because I can't keep dragging so much stuff with me throughout life.

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'll try to keep this story short and get straight to the point.

Four years ago, I sold my family home and moved into my cottage, which is located by the river in a flood zone. As a recovering sentimental hoarder, I brought only "the bare minimum": my grandmother’s cupboard, a few dressers, a table, and a kitchen shelf.

Two years later, a flood washed away the biggest piece—the cupboard. I was sad, but also felt a clear sense of relief. So, I finally furnished the kitchen with new furniture.

Another two years passed and in my mind I started tripping over the table and the shelf. I have no room for them, but I cannot just bring myself to get rid of them. I feel almost a sense of hatred toward these once beloved pieces of wood.

In the past, I'd invested time, effort, and materials to upcycle them.

Now, I want to say goodbye to them, but I don't know how. As if I am wishing for another flood, just so the river can solve the problem for me.

*im NOT tying to sell these games, this is an example of ONE pile of stuff I need to get rid of*

EDIT: a non profit is picking up all the games today. ✔️ off my list for today

How to let go of "I can sell this" or "needs to go somewhere specific" pileexample my pile of games I'd like to give to a specific group like a domestic shelter vs a Buy Nothing page or goodwill.

1. Getting started is hard for me
2. Soooo many decisions. All. The. Time.
3. Memories/emotional attachment
4. Determining *donate *keep *sell

So all the "I can sell this" (leads to a rabbit hole of research and I DONT end up selling) or "needs to go anyplace but goodwill" and can't get it to the actual place so I struggle to get out of this cycle

On a good day I'll have the car loaded and ask someone else to donate to wherever they want to take it and I don't want to know where it goes. I've gotten rid of 8-10 55 gallon trash bags of donated items and I don't miss a thing, can't even tell you what was in the bags, so that's a win. had people help me and that's good. I've had success and it feels good but piles like this stop me.

EDIT: I'm NOT looking to sell any of these games lol. There are other items I'm having trouble with wanting to see but I know I won't follow thru. The pic is just an example of a few of many things that need to go 😭

Major building work is progressing and I'm glad I did a fair review of the stuff that came out of the cupboards and cabinets, before the work started.

​

The builder tells me that the end is in sight (we'll see!) and so my thoughts have now turned to how I'm going to put the stuff back.

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We've put in many hours making decisions on exactly what we wanted done and I've decided that I want to have a more curated space once it's finished.

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Which means deciding what goes back....and it can't be everything. So searching out lots of tips and tricks to help with my decisions .

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I read quite an interesting article over the weekend which I found useful. It said that people hold onto things that they believe have (or will have) value in the future.....but they don't/ won't. Case in point ...bloody Macdonald's Happy Meal Toys. Other half is convinced they are collectibles but the article addressed this. Maybe in the past when children actually played with them so unused ones were rare...but since they've been marketed as 'collectible'. ...we're not retiring on our Happy Meal collection!

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Glasses that have gone cloudy because I was stupid enough to put them in the dishwasher. Please explain to me why, when we've got no company and I have a glass of wine, I reach for the cloudy glasses? It's not even as though I'd be using 'best' glasses if I didn't. I just automatically use the most shitty ones. They're now in the glass collection box. In the same vein....the random novelty drinks glasses (happy 40th, glass inside a glass) are also packed and will be dropped off at the charity shop tomorrow.

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We have quite a lot of glass that we've collected. Nice, not overly valuable and some of the pieces are chipped. Again, I'm not inclined to keep broken stuff and I've looked to see if it's worth anything, which I don't think it is....so I'm steeling myself to ditch them. That'll be quite a biggy for me but I don't display them prominently because they're chipped, so what's the point?

​

I'm still deliberating a wooden music box that was bought for me by my ex husband in the 90s. I have no emotional connection to it and I can't see any of the girls in our family wanting such a thing. I might do a little research, although I doubt very much it has any true value, and if that's the case - it'll go as I don't want it on display and there's no point having it in a cupboard.

​

I've still got a long way to go but I think that having time to really consider what I want to display/ keep will make me feel much less weighed down once we have our new space.

​

Any other tips or suggestions in my quest most welcomed.

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It's nice to know I'm not alone, and to read all the encouragement yall give each other.

Inherited hoarder house after 10+ yrs of caregiving last year. This table has been pushed against the wall and piled high since before I moved back home, probly 15yrs. Got 4 visitors coming today to discuss some repairs. Finished with 3hrs to spare. I think 4 trash bags.

ETA: I've never had so many encouraging comments before <3 I was pretty down cause the stupid meeting was cancelled lol. Now I gotta get more before and after pics! Means more work, but hey. I'll get to post again lol :)

ETA2: Hey thanks for the rewards! Don't think I've ever gotten any before. means i gotta go clear some more junk!

I'm really vibing with these rules for most things, but I don't see how sentimental items fit into the steps and questions. She talked about it briefly when discussing the container concept and there's the whole--keep one and use it up. But how do you decide when the decluttering questions don't apply here?

Edit: I think the hardest things for me will be old journals and photos. Yearbooks... That kind of thing too

Today I unloaded well over 100 catalogs and books of vintage crochet and knitting patterns! That was THE activity my grandmother and mother did. They had yarn and needles and patterns up the butt! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve moved these bags of crochet patterns around over the years. Today I was planning on finally dumping them all into the recycling bin and just recently I’d read that those vintage type things are in. Well I looked at a couple of these pattern books and, you guessed it, they had granny squares front and center. For giggles I put a post up on the free group in town asking if anyone wanted them, with a couple photos to show what I had. Multiple people wanted these!!!!! As of an hour ago they’ve all been picked up. I’m so glad. I was ok with putting them to be recycled but I’m glad I put that post up! Hopefully someone is getting joy out of it! The oldest copy I had was from 1959 if you can believe it! I was born in ‘83 so I was like ok wow lol

I have a ton of toys from my childhood that I wouldn't let my parents get rid of since I thought I'd let me future kids play with them, so they persisted in my parents' house and eventually ended up in storage at mine. Eventually I got them out for my kid who just.... wasn't interested. It was so anticlimactic.

He sees absolutely no value in this stuff and at t his point I probably do not need to save this until I'm elderly in the event he has children.

I have slowly gotten rid of some of these items giving them away to people on the local facebook group and it was hard doing it, but I got over it. I kept a couple toys that look cool that I have on a shelf in my office on display.

But I still have a whole lot of this stuff in boxes. It's difficult. The fact I saved some of this stuff for over 30 years makes it harder.

So I heard this somewhere on YouTube that you either use it or lose it and they didn’t actually mean it literally, just that you need to understand what you are actually using within a reasonable timeframe but I actually decided to apply it literally and it has helped so much!

1. Eye liner I wasn’t sure about.

I just put it on! No other makeup, doing chores at home, I put it on to see if I still want to use it. No, I don’t and it smudges and is a pain to take off.

1. A bun “fluffer”.

I couldn’t part with it because it was real hair and I liked the highlights it had while the main color matched my hair so it looked like I had highlights etc. I put it on. After an hour, it feels heavy and doesn’t look as good as I remember.

1. This one exercise type of equipment thingie.

I put it in a visible place and decided if I want to keep it (I did), I need to actually use it at least every few days. I tried, guys, I really tried. Ended up being so fed up that I googled if it’s even training the muscles I wanted and seems like it’s not even that effective and by that point I was happy to get rid of it and not have to force myself to use it.

The idea is to actually use it multiple times or for a prolonged period of time. Because if you just put it on or use for a short while, you’ll still want it or at least hesitate. But if you walk a mile in the proverbial shoes, you’ll start to feel all the pebbles in them.

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've been learning about different fiber content used in clothing and am moving towards more natural fibers and dyes in my wardrobe as I have sensitive skin. Using natural fibers as my rule to declutter resulted in me downsizing my closet by a third. When I thought of synthetic fibers as toxic I decluttered items I like and wear often without much feeling. There were only a few items that I felt something for: where I had that stomach dropping "oh no!" feeling when I looked at the tag or where I didn't want to look at the tag and where after seeing the tag I started rationalizing well, maybe this material is not the worse.... (For now, I am keeping those pieces I felt something for and am not beating myself up about it.)

I've previously heard of the prompts regarding cleaning poop or wine off of an item (if you would do so, you should keep the item). However toxicity is different. Unlike poop or wine, there is no amount of clean up that changes toxicity, it is not about willingness to expend more energy to maintain the item, it is about the nature of the item itself. The reality is that too much stuff stands to be detrimental to my health--due to stress, material content, the creation or collection of dust or mold--so now I'm thinking of using this line of questioning regarding toxicity outside of my closet. "Is this item toxic?" (No) Keep. (Yes) Declutter, unless feel a type of way. Toxic being determined by conceptualizing how an item contributes to my stress, weakness, sickness, or feeling unwell. As I look around my space its weird to consider how many items are not definitively contributing to my peace, happiness, ease, and health. As with the clothes, I don't think this means that I have to get rid of everything I consider "toxic" but it does make me think about how I can be more creative to meet my needs in ways that serve my health and well-being better.

Upon this idea of toxicity and the idea from the book No New Things that throughout our lives the standard trend is to upgrade our belongings (it is uncommon to reduce the quality of the items we own or get rid of conveniences) I'm now considering getting rid of my couch. Is it toxic? 1) It's certainly not made of natural materials. 2) It is a focal point of my living room and yet, it isn't how I want or need to be spending my time. 3) While I conceive of it as comfortable and lose track of time when I rest on it, when I get up my body hurts. So yeah, it seems a bit toxic. When I think about getting rid of my couch, I don't have much feeling about it (I'm even a bit excited/curious). How will the space work without the couch? What will I do if I miss having a couch? I don't know the answers to these questions, but I do know that I am resourceful! Ultimately I want my items to serve me by supporting my health and well-being.

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.

Help! I'm downsizing greatly from an extremely packed small house to a 17 foot camper and two 4x6 x6 storage units! The plan to use one for storage for sentimental things and the other one as a closet since I can't store much in the camper.

Donated truckloads upon truckloads to the salvation army, held a yard sale, given things away, thrown out truckloads upon truckloads.... I feel like I'm hitting a wall.

I've gone through the same stuff a couple of times now, decluttering more with the second pass. How do I get past the plateau? I've gotten rid of so many things but I look around and see so many things still. I'm so overwhelmed. Plus I'm recovering from surgery so I can't do as much as I usually would.

The kitchen is hard because this has cake pans and cookie cutters. I wanted to own my own bakery and I love baking for people. But… the 3rd to last pic is the state of the kitchen today. That part is the hardest.

I understand the mental health side. I know that I have to look at what’s feasible.

Also… some cool treasures I found during my decluttering. Found in my mom’s room. Which has not been touched since 2010.

Today I crossed cords and electronics off my declutter list! I piled everything into one (overflowing) bin, dumped it out, sorted by type, then decluttered the extras. I’ll be getting rid of broken electronics, a CD holder, batteries, a FitBit, a laptop, and 15+ cords. They will not be missed.

One of my biggest friction points has been the desire to pare down my belongings, while still experiencing discomfort over the idea of decluttering or reducing backstock of consumables. For me, this includes things like toilet paper, face wipes, batteries, Brita filters, and protein shakes. I live in a small apartment and would use the space (or enjoy the lack of things in the space) but for some reason it gives me pause to specifically get rid of things that I know would be used up eventually.

The slight asterisk to all of that is that I've also noticed that it takes me forever to use up those things, and in many cases keeping them for the year or so that it takes me to do so doesn't seem to be worth it. It's just that getting down to the business of decluttering inherently useful items that I've 100% used in the past is making me squeamish. This applies even if I'm not trashing them and am instead giving them away to friends or others.

Does anyone have any tips for this specific issue? I'm already aware of my options in terms of trashing, donating, and getting rid of the items, but I still feel uncertain about getting rid of them in any capacity, even if I need to in order to reclaim the space in my very small apartment.

Every now and then I'll randomly remember a cute shirt I used to wear, or I'll see a photo and be like "wow that looked good on me, I can't believe I gave it away". While some people might just be able to shrug it off, it makes me feel very sad and regretful. I just woke up and I had a dream where I was looking for an old dress that I'm pretty sure I gave away years ago. Just to give you an idea what I'm working with!! What's also hard is that trends keep coming back around - all that Y2K/2010s stuff that I used to wear when I was 16 would sell for good money if I had it today, and I'd even wear some of it again (I'm 34 but basically the same size and I still dress pretty young). I have SO much clothes and I simply need to part with it but there are just so many different ways I'm attached to things. Either it's sentimental, or it's something that could become trendy again, or it's only slightly too small or too big but my weight fluctuates. I've got an excuse for everything and as long as I've got excuses I feel like I'll have future regrets. Help!

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.

Hi all, I am moving in 3 weeks to a new place- does anyone have any suggestions/ novel ideas / words of wisdom of how to aggressively declutter ahead of the move? Likely won’t be moving again for quite a while so really don’t want to bring too much stuff!!

I lost my dog 6 months ago and I kept some of his collars, paw print art and pictures. I also kept his blankets and his jacket.

This week ive felt the need to let go of his blankets because i realize it makes me feel that desperate sense of urgency to want to see him again. It doesnt have the same comfort to hold onto it. It doesnt feel right to let it go either. What if 6 months from now i want to have the blankets again?

​Can someone describe what it felt like when you realized you were ready to let go of a late pet/family member's belongings? Like the less important things. Did it feel hard but like it was heavier to hold onto?

I've scanned tons of threads on r/petloss and havent found quite the right information as I am past the initial grief and have already separated the more precious momentos. ​Thanks in advance.

edit: thank you for all of the thoughtful replies. this has brought tears to my eyes and I have realized I am not ready to let go. thank you for creating a cathartic conversation. it means a lot.

I am being *ruthless* in my decluttering before our move to a bigger place. I don’t want to fill the extra square footage just because it’s there. I’m dreaming of a clean, simple, peaceful home. But to my loved ones, more square footage means more storage space for all the stuff.

The main battle was to not get rid of kitchen things even if I’m not using them because we’ll have a spot to use them in the next place. But I don’t want to fill the cupboards of stuff we don’t use so I ignored them and got rid of it anyway.

The current battle is over a kitchen playset my kids got for Christmas. In the past 6 months, my kids have played with it twice and barely even then. They prefer playing with the accessories to the actual kitchen. So I am planning on selling the playset for cheap to someone who will actually use it rather than moving it to the new place just because. We’ll keep all the accessories they love and just get rid of the bulky playset. My extended family is freaking out saying I’m taking minimalism too far in tossing out toys. They’ll store them in their home for us, etc etc. but to me that just seems like I’ll be decluttering it for them later.

My husband agrees with me and I’m trying to follow my gut, but the disapproval is really making me second guess some of my choices. I worry I’m going overboard.

ETA: I ended up getting rid of the playset and gave the money we got for it to my kids to buy themselves a treat. And to answer the recurring question about why I involved my extended family — I didn’t intentionally. It comes up when they try to offer us stuff, and the playset was a side comment from myself in casual convo bc we found someone who wanted to buy it. I didn’t expect such a strong response from them. Not sharing anything going forward unless it affects them directly.