The Clutter Problem
I know this problem is old as hell but many people across the world face it every single day. It’s not only the wiping, dusting and scrubbing that is involved in the continuous upkeep of our homes. “Strangely” as it may sound, as well as doing regular home cleaning chores such as vacuuming and dusting, we all need to take stock and check on the amount of clutter in our homes. While only a minority of us are full-scale hoarders, there’s a closet pack rat in most of us. We all hang onto things that we don’t need to (top marks to you if you’re perfect in this area – we bet your halo is nice and shiny, too).
8 Things You Can Get Rid Of Right Now
There are some things that we seem to hang onto more than others – even though the trash can or the
recycling crate is the best place for them. Try our checklist of typical junk that gets found stashed away in 
many homes. Do any of the following items sound familiar?
- Clothes you don’t wear anymore. Keeping “when I get skinny again” items is just heartbreaking and creates a storage problem in your closet. If it doesn’t fit or if you hate it, get rid of it. If you lose those extra pounds, treat yourself to something new.
- Obscure kitchen tools. If you tried using that chocolate fountain/pasta maker/blowtorch for crème brulee once or twice and are now fed up with it, pass it on. Organize a swap with your friends, sell it online or donate it to charity. You’ll be surprised at the space in your kitchen cupboards afterward.
- Old medications. If you look at the packet, you’ll see an expiry date. If it’s past this date, out the stuff goes. Ask your doctor about how to dispose of old meds. Some items (e.g. glucagon kits for hypoglycemia) can be used for training and education by first aid organizations.
- Old coupons. Yes, you’ve been meaning to get around to that store for that great deal, but you never did. Check the date of your coupon collection regularly when you’re cleaning your home. If a coupon’s expired, pop it in the paper recycling.
- Guilt items. Guilt items are those things you don’t really like, but they were a present from a relative who might be offended if you got rid of that kitsch statuette or Present From (fill in the blank with any holiday location).
- Old magazines and newspapers. Your local library probably already has an archive of old newspapers, so these can get biffed out into the recycling. Magazines can usually be donated to a library. If your local public library is well supplied, how about a school library? If there’s an article that is special for personal reasons, cut out the clipping and keep that rather than the whole paper.
- Old electronic gadgets. Face it: you are not going to use that old computer running Windows 97 or the old brick mobile phone. Really, you aren’t. Take these down to an e-waste recycling center. It will be quicker to do this than to try to do anything online with a computer past a certain date.
- Old bottles of alcohol (empty, of course). OK, you are allowed to keep a certain number for candlesticks, carafes and flower vases – 10 is a good number. Everything else goes into the glass recycling, no matter how expensive the contents were.
Uncluttered House Feels Great
Once you have emptied a pile of never-to-be-opened-again storage boxes from your attic and basement, you will feel a huge relief. You cannot imagine how stuff can make us feel emotionally weak and stressed. How many times have you worried that you had a bunch of unopened DVDs that you were never going to watch, ever? Unopened gifts, things you bought just because they were super cheap on Black Friday? This is human nature. We protect ourselves from the unknown future and we try to ensure we have everything we need to survive in this world. However, this can very quickly turn into a curse in our modern times.
The Solution To (Many Of) Problems
Only buy what you are going to use, clean and tidy your home, keep everything organized and properly stored. Trust me, you don’t need a ton of things to survive on Earth today.