Decluttering: When to Hold ’em and When to Toss ’em

Is it possible to be a hoarder and a minimalist?

I hope so, because that is me.

I act on both ends of the spectrum, and watch out! — it changes fast. Suddenly, a post-it note that reads Soup’s on the counter and remote’s on the couch. Feel better babe! becomes a piece of history I want to save and document forever. In the next moment, I look at the box of my wedding planning stuff and want to chuck it all in the garbage in the name of Simplification.

The frugal and resourceful side of me struggles with throwing things away. I ask, What if I need this later? I will have to buy it again! The minimalist in me says, Oh forget about it! If you haven’t used it in a month, be gone! Depending on my mood, I am bound to make some rash decisions and keep things that need to be tossed and toss things that really should be saved.

To help my bipolar tendencies, I decided to put together a comprehensive list of everything I want to keep and toss. My rules for decluttering, if you will. At first this was just a small little list of things I was on the fence about, but I just kept writing and it got a little out of control (or under control, depending on how you look at it.)

In the next few weeks I am going to do some serious Spring Cleaning (J and Leia, you’ve been warned), and these rules will help guide me when my hoarder or minimalist tendencies start to drive me crazy. An important piece I will need to keep in mind is having a designated spot for everything. This is going to take some serious organizing. A lot of things in the keep pile, I will have to donate in order to fit in its designated spot. For example, I will be donating a lot of office supplies. It’s good to have on hand, but two shoeboxes full of pens is a little much. If it doesn’t fit in our desk drawer… off it goes!

In addition, if you’re in the same situation like me, after you’ve organized everything you want to keep, get rid of the things you don’t need. You can sell electronics/furniture online, have a garage sale, refurbish items that can be reused, take recyclable items to the recycling center instead of putting them in the trash and donate the rest to charity or throw it away, you can find out more about this if you read below:

CLOSET & BATHROOM | clothes & beauty

KEEP:

• Buttons, in a jar
• Hair ties and bobby pins
• Old towels (to use for cleaning or Leia), so long as they fit in my designated bag (otherwise donate)
• Clothes, shoes and bags I’ve worn in the last year

TOSS or DONATE:

• Any clothes that are damaged or have pit stains
• Dresses or skirts that require a slip (I never wear slips, and probably won’t start anytime soon)
• Summer dresses and shirts that are low-cut and require a camisole underneath (this is a personal preference… I wear light-weight clothes in the summer to avoid extra clothing, so when if it requires an undershirt for modesty’s sake, it feels uncomfortable and never gets worn)
• Clothes that are see-through or too tight
• Clothes too big, even if I think I will may wear it if I’m pregnant
• Wool sweaters or socks (I never wear them)
• Hats that look funny on me
• Shoes that are uncomfortable to walk in or worn down
• Bags I don’t like or never use anymore
• Old make-up, lotions or hair products I don’t use
• Missing socks or earrings

KITCHEN & LAUNDRY ROOM | entertaining & cleaning

KEEP:

• Grocery bags that can fit in my pantry bag-holder (otherwise toss)
• White fast food napkins
• Vases, pitchers, outdoor pots, etc.
• Platters
• Paper plates, unless they are ugly or flimsy

TOSS or DONATE:

• Recipes that weren’t good from my recipe binder
• Expired food
• Expired medication or old prescriptions
• Grocery bags that don’t fit in my pantry bag-holder
• Cleaning products with chemicals
• Cookbooks that are too complicated or require expensive ingredients I’ve never heard of
• Ugly or outdated mugs I never use
• Any kitchen spatulas, etc. that are broken or have too many duplicates

GUEST ROOM & OFFICE | organization, decor & hobbies 

KEEP:

• Pens, paper and post-it notes that can fit in my desk drawer; all others get donated
• Arts and craft supplies that fit in my designated drawer
• Baskets and storage items, unless broken or ugly
• Yearbooks
• Fabric, ribbon, wreaths and seasonal decorations, unless it’s ugly or never used
• Paperclips and clothes pins
• Financial documents from the past 5 years in an organized folder
• Unused plain picture frames for future gallery walls
• Magazines from the past 4 months (put all recipes I want to make in a recipe binder)
• Half or full marathon medals
• Manuals or programming directions for technologies or electronics we own and use, saved in a file folder
• College diplomas

TOSS or DONATE:

• Magazines older than 5 months
• Books I will never read, don’t care to display or have duplicate copies
• All bulletins, wedding invitations, or announcements after the date from acquaintances or extended family.
• Unused ugly picture frames
• Financial documents older than 5 years old (shred)
• Scrapbooking stuff (at this point in my life I won’t be doing any)
• CDs or DVDs that skip or never watch/listen to
• College notebooks (if it has a lot of great content, store it in my office at work)
• Empty notebooks (at this point I’ve created a notebook for everything I need, and if I need to buy one they’re like $1)
• Manuals or programming directions for technologies or electronics we don’t use, would never consider returning, selling or having a question about
• Expired coupons or giftcards
• Trophies, medals or certificates that aren’t important
• Retail receipts we don’t need
• High school or earlier diplomas
• Pens or markers that don’t work
• Old calendars and planners
• Wrapping paper or gift bags I would never use
• Used tissue paper

MEMORIES | miscellaneous

KEEP:

• Bulletins, wedding invitations or announcements only from my immediate family or closest friends in a designated box
• Anything from my wedding or early dating of significance
• Photo albums (for now until I can create a digital version)
• Tickets that have significance (this list is small)
• Childhood journals

TOSS or DONATE:

• All tickets that have no significance (which is most — such as plane, bus, concert, game tickets)
• Old photos that are unflattering or poor quality
• Church study guides (unless it was a really good one I wrote a lot in)
• Post it notes, birthday cards, letters that don’t have any significance

Whew! I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me. I know these rules are a bit over-kill and most of the stuff is intuitive, but having it written down is going to help me immensely. I’ll let you know how it goes in the next few weeks. :)

What would you do differently?
Do you tend to tend to be a minimalist or hoarder?
How do you decide whether something is worth saving for later?