DeCluttering Your Home FASTER | How to Get Rid of Your Stuff

I'm a 78 year old man, and I'd add this advice to much younger people, such as those that are just starting out and don't really own anything. First thing to understand is that everything you buy or acquire somehow will require some level of your time and space; the obvious thing is not to buy it in the first place. Live very frugally and carefully. All those shiny things come out of your income. Why buy a book when you can go to the library and get it for free and you aren't looking after it, lugging around for the rest of your born days, only at some point having to figure out how to get rid of it. Things used to cost a lot more, relatively speaking, than they do now. 'Cheap' is a drug: don't take it. Mini -storage businesses never used to exist; now they are everywhere and well used. They are full of 'stuff' cluttering people lives and that is one way to get it out of sight. Don't buy it in the first place!

Clutter is a deadbeat roommate that never leaves the house and pays no rent.

I recently saw a comment on a channel by a woman who said that people are only decluttering because the books and media told them too. That they should keep their stuff. Spoken like a person who has not had to clear out a relatives home after they passed/had to move. I had to clear out my Grandmothers home as we needed to sell her home for her care. She led a spartan lifestyle (thank goodness), but it was still a lot of work. My FIL house had to be put up for sale for his care, he had more stuff than my Grandma. Not to mention the times I have helped friends clear out their relatives places. My Father passed and he had two storage lockers full of sports memorabilia plus a room at my parents house that was full. It took my sister and I around two years off and on to sell that stuff for our Mom. This put me over the edge. I do not want someone to have to go through what we went through on my behalf. I am not a hoarder, but had a lot of stuff. I am not, nor will I be, a minimalist by any means. However, I have managed to get rid of around 50% of our stuff. It is an ongoing process. Good luck everyone!

To get rid of my stuff I had a yard sale. Everything was $1 Clothes, table, chair, skis, books……… Everything! I made $600 and got rid of 90% of my stuff. People were buying stuff they didn’t really need or want but it was only a dollar so they bought it anyway.

We bought our home in June of last year. We downsized our stuff considerably. We have nothing in storage, nothing in boxes, not even a junk drawer. Our garage only has our two cars and nothing else. It feels good that we have a very organized and clean home. I don't want to leave our son with a bunch of our stuff when we pass.

Have been married twice. Both of my husbands felt entitled to "help" me purge unnecessary stuff when we moved. I noticed that they both removed things of great memories or sentimental value to me. All of their keepsakes remained. My adult son has done the same thing. I refuse to let anyone else touch my things anymore. If they want to toss my stuff, I'll be dead soon enough.

Before I moved from a 2000 sq ft house to a condo in another state, I had to seriously downsize. I had 4 garage sales, listed stuff on fb and OfferUp, had Salvation Army pick up some furniture and took a ton to goodwill in many trips. I narrowed it down to a U-Haul pod and what would fit in my minivan.

I donate to a thrift store where proceeds go to rescue and foster animals. Makes it easier to let go of things knowing it will save a kitten 🤷‍♀️

I did it several years ago. My house is easy to clean now and I stay on top of it. The feeling is so good

Sometimes it’s just best to give away your SELL pile, especially when you know damn well it will sit around sabotaging your goals for a year and a day.

Start minimizing as early as possible before a move. It'll take longer, be harder than you think. I was moving cross country, already a minimalist, and I assessed every item asking myself if It fits with the new life I want for myself. Too many of us haul baggage around most of our life because we think we should. I was able to get all worldly possessions in my suv, turn the key and head out to the new life.

Hurricane Katrina was a major help in getting rid of "stuff/everything" for me and my family. One of the best/worst things in my life. Recovery is a marathon, not a sprint.

I was watching a YouTuber that was answering her viewer’s questions about why she didn’t save the clothes that her kids outgrew as hand me downs being that she had 9 or 10 kids . They lived in a very small 3 bedroom house ,she said she didn’t have the room or time or energy to be maintaining a bunch of old clothes. She also said everything we have will eventually be trash . I find that I need to just let it go ,and stop trying to find the ‘perfect’ place for it to go. When I donate clothes I don’t agonize over if a garment is good enough and would people want it .I trash socks,underwear,torn or stained items and donate the rest and let them decide if it is OK to keep. I don’t want to burden myself babysitting a bunch of ‘trash’.

The swirling is making me ill. I'll listen, but I will not watch!

I couldn't DISAGREE more! I ONLY buy used stuff these days, for about 15 years now. I have found the most amazing treasures for a fraction of the cost of retail, and it is FUN! I found at Goodwill for example a beautiful, ornate, gold fireplace screen locally at Goodwill and paid about $35, later finding it in a Frontage catalogue for like $350! My whole house is full of pre-owned stuff. Why should I buy new crap made in China?!

Guilt is clutter. We keep things out of guilt. And it becomes a huge burden.

I’m using “Swedish Death Cleaning”. My husband and his brothers and spouses had to clean out his Mom’s house after she died. It took a couple of days to remove all the “stuff”. After that, I swore my kids would never have to do that for me. I think with all the decluttering I’ve done it should only take a few hours to clean out our house. I enjoy the lack of “baggage”.

My mom was a hoarder and I watched people's mouths drop with disgust as they entered our house and saw stuff was stacking on top of everything else, including the chairs so guests could not even sit down. It was embarrassing, but my mom thought all of her items were worth something, even the $1 beanie babies and the ceramic angels. It just kept getting worse and worse. My brother and I live very simple with little because we have trauma from our childhood.

I am age 81 and " trying " to get the wife to let go. She has 20 year old clothes all neatly stacked in the walk in closet, neatly because I did it. She grew up very poor in the Philippines so I often think perhaps it is harder to get rid of something because she had so little. I personally am going to sell or donate some old Disney comics, reprints because the originals went 50 years ago. Western dvd's, a set of ten Silver western medals that took me 10 years to complete the set. Old memories are the hardest to let go but like you said, can I or will I ever use it again. Will I ever watch the movies again, No. Gone, Big items are not a problem, it is the STUFF in drawers, closets, shelves that are the hardest to get rid of. YOUR KIDS ' DO NOT ' WANT YOUR STUFF, unless it has a President's picture on it.

If you ever hate getting rid of things just imagine that if you died tonight what would happen to that stuff anyway.