I come from a family who is fond of keeping “stuff.” I’m constantly purging my own household, seeking to free our home from excess and from what I lovingly refer to as junk.
If you’re finding yourself knee-deep in belongings, with horizontal space being suffocated by knickknacks, here are my trusty tips for how NOT to be a hoarder:
The Basics
If you..
- don’t use it
- don’t love it
- don’t wear it
- don’t need it
- don’t have room to store it
Ditch it. Do it fast before you have time to second guess yourself.
Don’t buy two. If you find yourself leaning toward BOGO sales or contemplating the destruction of an item before it’s even purchased, please say a firm “No!” to temptation and don’t buy two of the same thing. Chances are, a newer more efficient/colorful/higher-tech version of said item will crop up in the next year before your edition bites the dust.
If your rationale behind BOGO is to gift one of the purchases to a pal, do it within the month, or ASAP. This way you won’t stash it in the closet waiting for cousin Shelly’s birthday to approach and then forget all about it, buy something else, and leave said BOGO item rotting in the dark recesses of the closet.
Reconsider. If you’re not 100% in love with a potential purchase, wait a day. If you still remember and “need” the item, head right on over and buy with a smile. Otherwise, leave it and forget about it.
Two to One Rule. For every item you purchase, get rid of two others. Though the process takes time, you will eventually downsize your possessions.
Keep a Donation Box at the Door. Place a large box or empty laundry basket near the front door to toss unwanted items into throughout the week. Encourage family members to do the same and follow up with a trip to your local charitable donation center at the end of the week.
Keep the box in place until you’ve met your purging goal. We’re most likely to purge if we’ve got a place to put objects in transition to their new homes. We’re even more likely to cart that box to a donation center if it’s cleverly located right by the door, so we can pick it up and carry it to the car on our way out.
Coupon Reasonably. In 2007 my New Year’s resolution was to spend no more than $5 per week on groceries. I stuck it successfully for 5 months, until I graduated university and made my way to Guatemala.
Couponing mixed with in-store savings accounted for the majority of my savings, so I completely back the coupon rage. However, extreme couponing, buying non-essential items in bulk is certainly the enemy of someone who’s determined not to become a hoarder. Think no further in advance than two months when making supermarket purchases.
Limit Storage. This clever tip came from my husband, who I’m doing my best to train against his inborn hoarding gene. Simple concept: if there’s nowhere to put it, you can’t buy it. Don’t fill your home with shelving, drawered furniture, and space saver bags and your home won’t become littered with junk. Exercise the “less is more” mindset and keep horizontal spaces uncluttered and clean by limiting the number of adornments sitting on top of counters, tables, TV stands, etc.
Bonding Time When your girlfriends invite you to the mall and you know that there’s nothing you need to buy, accompany them. Have a lovely time bonding, but take only $5 or enough to enjoy a cup of coffee with your pals. It’s the company that matters most, right?
How do you keep from accumulating “stuff?”
You gave me a new idea…If I do not know where it will fit in my house…I do not need it…or I need to make space first!
I am continuously purging, too!
I LOVE YOUR LIST!!! It is totally awesome and some things I’m going to do right away. Love the box by the door thing! 🙂
The other thing that I do since my kids are bigger is that it they leave something laying around and don’t pick it up when I’ve asked then it either gets trashed or donated. Don’t know how many toys and other junk as “disappeared” over the years because they didn’t keep track of it. It helps them learn to take care of their stuff. And it usually isn’t something they miss when it’s gone anyway! 🙂
We are neighbors at Denise’s today. Love your blog and this post speaks to me. I am so glad that my eyes and heart spent time. I need to go de-clutter and de-junk NOW. Thanks for inspiring. Thanks for encouraging. Thanks for simple, plain-spoken how-to’s. Awesome. So nice to meet. you
I’ve used the “Where are you going to put it” line on my husband a few times! Thanks for sharing!!
Kristen @ Trial & Error Homemaking
Yep, husbands can be tough to tackle on the issue of keeping things around. My husband began our marriage with a suitcase of (ahem) junk. Since then he’s downsized to a shoe box of memorabilia from his childhood and work life, so I’d say we’re doing pretty well.
Thanks so much for taking the time to share!
Great post – would love for you to share this at Inspire Me Monday at
Create With Joy
http://create-with-joy.com
I am the opposite of you. I came from a home with a mom whose middle name was purge so as a result I tend to “collect” things (I’m into books – lol!) I have to actively practice those tips you share to keep life manageable! 🙂
I think it’s a pendulum “syndrome.” Kids who grow up with packrats want space to breathe and those who grow up in purging homes want to hang onto things.
Great list! I find that my donation box is best kept in the garage (out of sight, out of mind). When it’s full, it’s off to GW or the Habitat store. I also find it best not to look through the stuff before dropping it off so I don’t second guess myself. Thanks for stopping by my blog! I’m hitting the subscribe button on yours right now 🙂
Elisabeth@Simply Parkers
good tips! And, I love the new look of the blog!
Good ideas! I like the donation box idea, I think I am going to start doing that.
So, so true! My mother was a classic hoarder, so I am actively working to NOT hold onto anything I don’t currently use. Thanks for the great, practical tips!
I have been throwing away junk all week! It feels good to neaten up!
Hi, I hopped over from ‘Denise in Bloom’ link-up.
This is a topic that interests me because I, unfortunately, have a tendency to hang on to stuff and so it does accumulate over time. I really do not like this about my home and so I have already begun a purging process but I’m finding it so difficult!
Love your list!! And your blog is just fantastic…I have to catch up on your previous posts. Thanks so much for stopping by our blog and leaving a lovely comment! Have a wonderful day:)
This is a great list! We are constantly trying to get rid of stuff, too. We’ve been doing it by category. Currently we’re working on books. We’ve already eliminated CDs and DVDs, but we just have them on our hard drive now. That might be cheating because we still have them, just in another {not so hard on the eye} form! Thanks for the tips.
Way to go, Betsy! I’m definitely following up this post with a similar “5 minute-purges” list that includes books! Good work with the techie stuff, I’ve still got mine in an organizer with CD sleeves, so you’ve one-upped me there! Thanks for visiting.
I live by these rules! We give stuff to Good Will so quickly, there is never a chance to have a garage sale!
Great post!
Mrs. Delightful
http://www.ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com
Moving 15 times has kept this in check for us without a lot of effort, but we still try to be careful about this. One year when we knew we’d have to itemize our deductions we kept a record of everything we donated to Goodwill (we go quite often) and then used a program called It’s Deductible or It’s Deducted or something…Anyway, long story still long, we ended up with over $900 worth of tax deductions. If someone has no other motivation to get rid of the junk, money in the pocket might help.
Great post, by the way!
Bobi
http://westernwarmth.blogspot.com
P.S. I’m your newest follower!
I moved a lot since I was 18, and each time I threw away a lot of stuff. But after some time, stuff began to accomulate again and I have to throw them away again!
I gave away a lot of my stuff to friends and relatives, it makes me feel better to part with them that way, instead of throwing them away or selling them (I ended up piling them then forgot to sell them anyway).
Visit me:
LeeAnne, Style N Season
http://stylenseason.blogspot.com
Thank you for stopping by my blog and commenting! I love this post. Totally necessary for us right now…we’re packing and moving and I am purging our home of JUNK! It’s so easy to accumulate stuff…so much harder to get rid of it. Great tips here! Have a great weekend. Blessings from Croatia: A Little R & R: http://www.littlerandr.org
I found you through the Blog Hop today (Sunday) and I scrolled down and loved the cartoon being domestically challenged AND a book-a-holic- I was drawn in!
Sigh…Nice to meet you and am hoping to browse around and check all of your place out a bit! I am so trying to de-clutter and prep for Fall- I need to re-read and repost this so I can read repeatedly!
Great list! I especially like the 2 for 1 rule.
This is great! We just moved, we’re in a smaller space, and I’ve been wondering how to downsize it all. These tips will definitely help! Thank you for sharing!
I’m a purger for sure. We have a box to go to the consignment store always ready. It’s nice b/c we get paid for our stuff, so that’s incentive. But we would save even more if I never bought it in the first place!!! We are (hopefully) moving soon, so I started to box stuff up, but of course, now all the shelves are filled again. Great!! How doesn’t that happen?!? Now I have full shelves again and boxes to unpack. Ugh.
Lindsey @ GrowingKidsMinistry.com
I LOVED this title and the post! I am big into decluttering, organization and personal productivity. Found you via the Pincentive Blog Hop 🙂
Great minds, right? Just this past weekend I shipped off about 4 large boxes of household items to a church garage sale and was so happy to see more cleared out space in the closets. If I had it my way, I’d be filling up giveaway boxes every week. Thank you for stopping by, Tara!
I love this post. I am such an anti-hoarder! I am constantly donating things and throwing away stuff that we don’t need anymore. I would give anything to help a friend or family member purge their belongings. Seriously, I find it so therapeutic.
However, sometimes I find myself regretting the purge. Now every time I make a donation pile, I set it aside for a week or two. If there’s nothing that I’m dying to take back, then I donate. I’ve found that I regret getting rid of stuff a little less!
That’s a great tip, Melissa. I myself generally forget about the purged items a week after they’re gone, but for people who have a harder time parting with items or are more sentimental, this is a great idea. Glad you liked the post. Hope to see you again soon!