New year, new you, right? Get started by cleaning up, and gather together these things to toss out now, have less clutter in your homeschool, feel great about making some donations, and maybe have a little extra cash in your pocket from things you might sell.
Clutter: 130+ Things to Toss Out Now
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Clean out your purse and your vehicle:
- Receipts you no longer need
- Old nail files
- Hair ties that are too stretched out to use
- Old sunglasses that you don’t wear or are scratched
- Old business cards
- Expired coupons
- Junk mail
- Old name tags or badges
- Ticket stubs from movies or concerts
- Old lip balm
- Store reward cards you don’t use
- Key chains you don’t use
- Gift cards with a $0 balance
Clean out your closet:
- Broken jewelry
- Bridesmaid dresses
- Wire hangers and/or bags from the dry cleaner
- Worn out flip flops
- Unmatched gloves
- Clothes that haven’t fit you in years
- Unmatched socks
- Cosmetic bags you got for free but don’t use
- Anything you hate to wear
- Old sneakers
- Extra shoelaces
- Worn out underwear and bras
- Belts that are worn out or no longer fit
- Accessories you never wear
- Broken hangers
- Old blankets that haven’t been removed from your linen closet in 5 years – consider donating to a local animal shelter
- Hats, scarves, or gloves you don’t wear – consider donating
- Stockings with runs in them
- An orphan earring that you can’t find the mate to
- Old sheets that are past their prime – consider donating to a local animal shelter
- Old and flattened pillows
- Suitcases you haven’t used in 10 years
Clean out the bathroom:
- Hair products you never use – old hair sprays or products you bought to try once but never liked
- Curling irons or hair straighteners that you don’t use
- Old makeup – you should only use mascara for 6 months
- Dried up nail polish
- Expired sunscreen
- Old teeth whitening trays or strips
- Expired medication
- Stretched out bobby pins
- Frayed or stained towels and washcloths – consider donating to a local animal shelter
- Old perfume
- Old lotions and moisturizers
- Hotel soap you brought home from a trip 5 years ago
Clean out the homeschool cupboard:
- Puzzles with missing pieces
- Dictionaries – when was the last time you looked at a dictionary?
- Incomplete decks of playing cards
- Filled coloring books
- Old textbooks from school
- Old papers or notebooks that you won’t need again
- Anything your kids have outgrown that you don’t intend to save for your grandkids
- Excess pens and pencils – if they are are low on ink, toss them!
- Pieces of chalk that are so small you can barely use them
- Books you’ll never read again – consider donating to a library!
- Markers that are dried out or no longer have caps
- Bookmarks – the paper ones that often come in books and never use them
- Extra organizers that you don’t use
- CDs you’ll never listen to again – consider donating to your local library
- Board games with missing pieces that make it impossible to play
- DVDs you’ll never watch again – consider donating to your local library
- Any kind of craft project you’ve never finished – sewing, scrapbooking, etc.
- Broken or unused pet toys
- Dried up glue
- Used ink cartridges
- Old calendars and personal planners
- Wall posters you’ll never display again
- Old greeting cards
- Musical instruments you no longer play
- Old party supplies you won’t use again
- Crafting supplies you haven’t used in a year or more – consider donating to daycare or school
Declutter the Kitchen:
- Phone books – if you have them, we don’t get them here
- Cookbooks you’ve never used
- Take out menus (these are all online now)
- Magnets (unless you currently use them)
- Chopsticks and sauce packets from take-out food
- Scratched nonstick pans
- Umbrellas that are bent or broken
- Old cleaning supplies
- Travel mugs that leak or you never use
- Cookie cutters that you haven’t used in 3+ years
- Unexpired food you don’t intend to eat – consider donating non-expired pantry items to your local food pantry
- Plastic cutlery
- Old hard candy (if you don’t even know where it came from, it probably won’t be that yummy anymore)
- Tupperware with lost lids
- Expired food
- Broken appliances
- Duplicate kitchen utensils
- Extra cups or mugs when your cabinets are always busting full with them
- Extra twisty ties in your kitchen drawers
Minimize Household Items:
- Vacuum cleaner attachments that you don’t even know what purpose they serve
- Old remote controls that you don’t think control anything in your house anymore
- Free promotional items you’ll never use (t-shirts, pens, random knick-knacks)
- Allen wrenches from assembling furniture
- Prescription eyeglasses that are no longer your prescription
- Broken Christmas lights
- Carpet remnants
- Duplicate or bad photos
- Product samples you won’t use
- Exercise equipment you don’t use
- Furniture you never use
- Gifts you don’t want or need
- Fabric scraps you haven’t used
- Empty boxes
- Old magazines
- Extra measuring tapes
- Extra buttons when you don’t even know how to sew
- Flower vases you never use
- Random knick-knacks
- Old bills or paperwork that you no longer need
- Combination locks that you can’t remember the combo to
- Anything that no longer works
- Unloved stuffed animals – consider donating
- Miscellaneous ribbons or strings
- Wrapping paper scraps that have been sitting with your gift wrapping supplies for years now
- Used candles or new candles that you won’t burn
- Any decorative item you don’t love
- Anything that you are keeping because you feel guilty about spending money on it
- Memorabilia items that don’t really mean much to you
- Old information packets you no longer need
- Broken or unused kids’ toys
- Candle holders you don’t love or use
Declutter Old Electronics
- Old computers – wipe the data first
- Old cell phones and their accessories
- Chargers for old electronics
- Broken earbuds or headphones
- Flashlights that don’t properly work anymore
- Video games you’ll never play again – consider donating to your library
- Old stereos or boom boxes
- Old batteries
- Outdated electronics
- Old phone covers or screen protectors
What is the one thing you need to get rid of to reduce the clutter?
Remember, one persons clutter can be another treasure, such as non-profit organizations.
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8 Mom Hacks for Keeping A Clean Home