Rediscover Your Home

Loving the home you live in is going to save you money!

A Hierarchy of Getting Rid of Clutter - 4 Choices

Note from Cindy: this page is long. And it certainly does not list every way of getting rid of clutter. If we have forgotten something or you have a great tip that you would like to share, please feel free to send it in to us at cindy@cindysporch.net. We'd love to hear from you!

All of us have clutter. It breeds in our homes. I read that the average home has nearly $3000 worth of unwanted clutter. YIKES!

I am not about to go on and on about getting rid of clutter. There are TV shows you can watch for inspiration, magazines and books you can read, and more. Decluttering and home organization are big business. Look in your yellow pages, you will find a long list of "professional organizers" and "junk haulers" who will take care of this for you (for a fee). I prefer to save the cash and get rid of my own clutter.

Getting rid of clutter is a personal and sometimes very emotional activity. You never know what memories you will unearth when you open that long-forgotten box stashed in the back of the attic. You never know what critters will jump out at you when you head into the basement! And it takes time. Sometimes, you will have the energy to tackle the entire garage and sometimes simply going through one box or one drawer will be a major achievement. Celebrate both!

I am not going to teach you how to declutter. This is something you learn on your own. Over time, you realize that de-cluttering is like peeling an onion. Once you remove one layer of clutter, your eyes and mind are open to discovering new layers of clutter. It has taken me several years to get rid of all the junk I accumulated during our "BUYing" and "Garage-Sale-ing" years. Now, our home is such a pleasure for our family. We can move around without tripping, we can find what we are looking for, and best of all, I can get it cleaned, vacuumed, swept, and shined in hardly any time at all. I love it!

Go to the library and search under "organization". Don Aslett has written some of the best books for straight forward cleaning and decluttering that I have ever seen. They got me started so many years ago. Also look for books by Karen Kingston. She talks about the emotional side of clutter. She also talks about Feng Shui. If you are not into Feng Shui, ignore that part and learn from the rest. These books have been around for a while, so you should be able to find them in the library and it won't cost a dime!

Watch out for books and home organizing systems that tell you that you have to BUY something before you can clean, declutter, and organize. If you are decluttering, why do you need more shelving units, linen lined baskets, or plastic storage containers? Do your decluttering first. Enjoy the space. Then decide if you need to BUY. SHOP at home FIRST!

OK, onto what I DO want to share with you - the four ways of disposing of clutter: You have just decluttered the first layer from your home. Now what do you do with this stuff?

1. Try to Sell It

Selling your clutter is so tempting. All of us have paid so much for our clutter that we would like to recoup some of those costs. Nearly everyone has tried a garage sale at one time or another. Some of us have held several LOL! Ebay has made a multi-billion dollar business out of people selling their clutter. Just don't get too excited. Remember, most stuff is only worth about 10% of what you paid for it. The rest is worth nothing. What are some of your options for selling clutter?

1. Classified Ads in the local paper: this works really well for large pieces of furniture, kid articles, music instruments, health equipment (you know, the treadmill you have been hanging the ironing on for the past year LOL), wedding paraphernalia, and vehicles. The ad is going to cost you between $10 and $20. Read some of the other ads before you place yours. See what catches your eye. Remember to include a description of what you are selling, the price, and your phone number.
   
   
2. Consignment Shops: Look in the yellow pages. You will find consignment shops for used books, children's clothing and other stuff, women's clothing (especially high-end business type clothing), sports equipment (I got rid of old skis this way), and more. All of our children's car seats were sold in a consignment shop. They checked first to ensure that the seat was not on a recall list or was too old. I was paid over $25 for each of them (that's better than I would have received from a garage sale). The best part about consignment shops is that you are helping other SMART shoppers find gently used items that they can use in their own homes.
   
   
3. Antique Shops: One person's junk is another person's antique. If you have "old stuff" taking up space in your home, check with a local antique dealer. I don't know anything about antiques, and I don't know anything about the proper pricing of antiques. So, be prepared to let it go at whatever the dealer wants, or check with a few dealers. Also, check on the Internet. You may be able to find out an approximate value for your "antique". We have an old black and white TV in the garage that saw the original lunar landing. Before we haul it off to the dump, I am going to check with the antique shop.
   
   
4. Sports Equipment Swaps: If you have kids, you have outgrown sports equipment. Everything from hockey pads, to figure skates, to downhill skies, to baseball mitts, to soccer cleats. These things breed. They also breed odor - blech! A sports swap is a great way to trade in some of the smaller equipment and find some "new-to-you" equipment for the upcoming season. We have saved a bundle on used skates! DO you have adult gear? Raquetball raquets? Cross Country Skis (and you live in Florida?). Bring them to the swap as well.
   
   
5. Garage Sales: I am ducking here. We have held very successful garage sales, and "I'll- never-do-this-again" garage sales. There are three rules to any garage sale. 1) Pick a date and advertise your sale so people will show up, 2) Be prepared to sell your stuff for whatever people are asking (remember, you are trying to get rid of this stuff), and 3) Donate or trash ALL the stuff that didn't sell. Don't bring it back into your home. A successful garage sale is not the one that made you the most money (that is a side bonus). The successful garage sale is the one that got rid of the most clutter from your home! Check out our tips at Cindy's Porch for Garage and Yard Sales.
   
   
6. Ebay: Honestly, I don't know anything about buying and selling on Ebay. I am scared that if I sign up, I will spend more time (and money) buying than I would selling LOL! However, it must work for many people. If you have had success getting rid of clutter on Ebay, let me know so I can post your tips here. Thanks!
   
   
7. Half.Com: One of our readers recommended this site if you have a lot of books, CDs, DVDs, or computer items to get rid of. I have never used this myself.
   
   

2. Donate It

This is the fastest way to get rid of clutter. Where we live, I can package it all up in plastic bags or cardboard boxes, call up the local charity and they will pick it up directly from my driveway. I love it! And it helps out families and non-profit groups who need a bit of a break. Be careful about what you donate. If it really is trash, then trash it! Don't make charities pay to haul your trash off to the dump!

1. Charities: Goodwill, Salvation Army, and other charities often welcome your clutter. Keep your eyes open for a local church or sports team that is holding a "flea market" as a fundraiser. Often, they will come right to your home to pick up the stuff.
   
   
2. Old Books, Magazines, Videos, CDs, and DVDs: Libraries and Friends of Libraries will often accept your used books and CDs. They will either add them to their catalog, or they will sell them during a fundraiser. Most libraries however do not want your used magazines (especially Reader's Digest and National Geographic). Pass them onto a friend, or find a more creative ways of donating these. Waiting rooms, laundromats, and nursing homes may welcome some of the more popular magazines. I have cancelled our magazine subscriptions. I never had time to read them, and they just kept piling up and piling up. Occasionally I get suckered in by one of the headlines at the check out stand. Recently, I have discovered that I can sign out my favorites from the library. It doesn't cost a dime!
   
   
3. Wedding Dresses: Do a search in Google for "wedding dress donate" and a pile of places where you can donate your wedding dress will pop up. One of my favorites is Making Memories in Support of Breast Cancer Research. My own wedding dress is rolled up in a cardboard box. I know I should have "preserved" it, but then we would have missed out on one of the most memorable "fancy dinners" we ever had. A few years ago, my kids insisted that we all dress up in our most fancy clothes for a fancy dinner. One of my kids decided that my wedding dress was my fanciest dress. So there we were: my husband in summer shorts, suit jacket, T-shirt, and Santa Claus tie, the kids in their fancy clothes, and me in my wedding dress (buttons in the back undone and bra-strap showing, I guess I grew LOL) sitting around the kitchen table enjoying our meal and making memories. Oops - I digress. Back to more donations...
   
   
4. Craft Supplies: Do you have yards of material you will never use? Consider donating it to the local drama club. How about colored papers, odd balls of yarn, ribbons, and other crafting materials? Call up the local pre-school or kindergarten. The teacher may be thrilled at such a donation.
   
   
5. Linens, towels, flannel sheets, and more: Your local SPCA or humane society is always looking for bedding that they can use in their cages. They also welcome kennels, pet food, leashes, and pet toys. A word of warning LOL!! When you drop off your old towels, do NOT go look at the puppies, unless you are prepared to fall in love with a cute white bundle of wiggling fur. That's how we ended up with Charlie!
   
   
6. Food Banks: If you clean out your pantry and find an excess of food that you will never use, consider donating it to your local food bank. Now, I am not talking about the stuff that is spoiled or expired. That is trash. Out it goes. I am talking about the extra bags of pasta, cans of soup, and boxes of cereal that you may have stashed. If you have a garden with excess fruit, vegetables, or potatoes, the food bank may take it. Sometimes there is so much fresh food that they will have to say no.
   
   
7. Christmas Decorations: Most of us have too many Christmas decorations. We leave them in the Christmas box year after year and no one gets to enjoy them. This year, as the holiday season approaches, go through your decoration stash. There are many families who can barely afford a Christmas dinner, let alone gifts. Our local Salvation Army welcomes decorations. They deliver these along with free Christmas trees.
   
   
8. Old vehicles: check with your local charities. Some of them will welcome cars, trucks, boats, and campers as a donation. Be sure to collect a tax receipt for the donation.
   
   
9. Tax Receipts: In the United States, you can get a tax receipt for many item donations. I've included a link from the IRS to help you calculate what your stuff is worth. This may take a little time to prepare (let the kids help LOL), but it will help you keep a little more of your earnings come tax time. This is a neat (hee hee) 11-page article from the IRS. It's a PDF file so you will need Acrobat Reader to view it.
   
   

3. Recycle It

Paper, beverage containers, tin, glass, used tires, and batteries are amongst some of the items that are recyclable. Call up your local waste management people. They will have a contact list of where you can bring some of this stuff. Most garden stores welcome the return of flowerpots and plant containers.

Also, you have told me about a couple new ways to "recycle" your stuff. They are worth mentioning here.

1. Used Books: Check out www.bookcrossing.com. This is a free and private service that allows you to "release" books that you have read out into the public, and then track where they end up. A fun way to get rid of clutter!
   
   
2. Other Stuff: Check out www.freecycle.org. Their slogan is "Changing the world one gift at a time". There are freecycle clubs popping up all over the world. They have free mailing lists and you can sign up to get rid of stuff that you don't want and ask for stuff you do want. The catch? The items must be FREE! I haven't tried this yet. If you have, let us know how it worked. Also, always be very careful when sharing personal information about yourself on the Internet.
   
   

4. Trash It

Let's face it. Some of your clutter is just plain old-fashioned trash. No one wants it, it can't be sold, and it can't be recycled. To the dump we go. Hopefully, your local dump has some options for separating out things like compost, metal, drywall, wood products, tires, etc. Otherwise, it's off to that great mound in the ground. Kind of makes you wish you didn't buy it in the first place eh? Don't worry. The more you declutter, the less you will buy and the more you will enjoy the things that you have. Take care of you! - Cindy

Return to "Rediscover Your Home" Main Page