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Kick off your decluttering efforts with our list of 50 things to get rid of right now. You will be filling up tons of bags and clearing the clutter from your home. I love a good quick declutter and try to do them regularly around my home. I feel like this list helps me focus when I just don’t know where to start. So, if you are looking for 50 things to throw out now, you came to the right place!
I have a great printable checklist for you below. Be sure to have plenty of boxes or even trash bags on hand before you get started. I like to have some trash bags with handles for these types of tasks. It helps me carry the bag from room to room while tossing things in that need to go. You can find my favorite strong trash bags for jobs like this here.
50 Things to Get Rid Of Right Now
Want to get our full checklist and start working on decluttering your home? Just sign up for our newsletter below and the PDF file will be sent to your email. You can then download and print to have a reference when removing the clutter from your home.
What is on that list you might ask? Well here is a breakdown of the items along with a brief description for those that may be confused by some of them.
50 Things to Throw Out Now
- Makeup – look for things you don’t need any longer and then take a hard look at those expiration dates.
- Old magazines – do you really need those?
- Out of date food in pantry – look at all of the food along with the date.
- Toiletries – look for things you will never use and also things that have expired.
- Games with missing pieces – will you ever be able to play these again?
- Puzzles with missing pieces – you know the ones that are so frustrating when you get to the end.
- Kitchen gadgets – look for ones you really don’t use any longer.
- Socks with no match – just get rid of them!
- Earrings with no match – you really do not need them.
- Scraps of wrapping paper – are you ever going to wrap anything that small?
- Old computers – be sure to take dispose of these properly.
- Plastic grocery bags – how many do you have? How many do you really need?
- Extra mugs – do you really need 20 coffee mugs?
- Extra glasses – determine how many your family really needs.
- Out of date food in refrigerator – take a close look at all expiration dates.
- Out of date food in freezer – pull everything out and take stock.
- Boxes – do you have some that you are keeping for some reason?
- Out of date spices – these can really sneak up on you!
- Reusable grocery bags – how many do you have? Do you need all of them?
- Medication that is out of date – look at everything in your medicine cabinet.
- Socks with holes – you know the ones!
- Toys – I am sure there are some toys that need to be donated around your home.
- Trash in your purse – when is the last time you cleaned it out?
- DVDs – do you have some that you don’t watch?
- CDs – when is the last time you actually listened to these?
- VHS tapes – do you even have anything to play these on any longer?
- Recipe books – think about digitizing recipes you love and then ditching the clutter.
- Junk mail – sort your mail and then get rid of things you don’t need.
- Hair products you won’t use – did you buy something that didn’t work for you? Now is the time to get rid of it.
- Old greeting cards – keeping them for sentimental purposes? Try snapping a picture instead.
- Audio cassettes – do you have anything that even plays these anymore?
- Old nail polish – this does have a shelf life so ditch the old bottles.
- Newspapers – clear out any old copies.
- Candles – do you have a bunch of half-burnt candles?
- Containers with no lids – there are always some of these lurking in the cabinet.
- Sports equipment – when is the last time you used this? Do you still need it?
- Baking trays – how many of these do you have? Have some of them seen better days?
- Pots and pans – got an overflowing cabinet? Take a hard look at what you need and don’t need.
- Old calendars – why are you keeping those?
- Computer games – have some you don’t play any longer?
- Video games – look at ones you no longer play and are also tired of.
- Items in your car – what are you carrying around that could be eliminated?
- Loose change – gather it up and take it to the bank!
- Email inbox – yes you can have digital clutter as well.
- Excess coat hangers – how many hangers are in your closet? Do you need them all?
- Catalogs – do you really need these?
- Your junk drawer – this is a great place to start if you are stuck with your decluttering efforts.
- Expired batteries – yes batteries have dates too!
- Cables and cords – look for cords to things you no longer own.
- Old cell phones – get rid of those old phones and then get some cash for them.
Start Your Declutter Today!
So, what are you waiting for? Grab some trash bags and start decluttering! Our list of 50 things to get rid of NOW will help to jump-start your efforts. That clutter will disappear and you will feel so much better!
Want more help organizing your home?
Do images on Pinterest stress you out because they seem more like a fairy tale?
Don’t fall into that pretty and perfect trap. You can get clutter-free and organized without living a fairy tale life. No one knows this better than my friend Hilary! She has an entire course for sale that is dedicated to real-life organization ideas. I love that her approach works for any family with any budget. You can click here to check out her course and judge for yourself!
My favorite part of this course is that Hilary strives to make your home easier to clean-up, so it takes minutes, instead of hours. Who couldn’t use more time and less cleaning? Plus the system can make your house look fairly put together most times of the day. Just click here for this course!
So, do you love this declutter checklist and want more? Try the links below as well!
- 5 Important Things to Know Before You Konmari Declutter
- Does Konmari Work for Moms?
- 7 Cleaning Supplies to Throw Out Now
- The Best Cleaning and Organizing Books
- Organize Your Whole House with One Trip to the Dollar Store
Want more help organizing your home?
Do images on Pinterest stress you out because they seem more like a fairy tale?
Don’t fall into that pretty and perfect trap. You can get clutter-free and organized without living a fairy tale life. No one knows this better than my friend Hilary! She has an entire course for sale that is dedicated to real-life organization ideas. I love that her approach works for any family with any budget. You can click here to check out her course and judge for yourself!
My favorite part of this course is that Hilary strives to make your home easier to clean-up, so it takes minutes, instead of hours. Who couldn’t use more time and less cleaning? Plus the system can make your house look fairly put together most times of the day. Just click here for this course!
Declutter Your Home in 31 Days!
Clear the clutter and organize your home with our daily emails! Every day for a month we will send you a prompt to declutter! Sign up for our email list below to get started.
Why would you get rid of your grocery bags? Go back to getting plastic from the store? Makes no sense to me. Help me understand.
It is meant to be a list to help you look at things you have too many of. I for one get a ton of reusable shopping bags for free from various sources and occasionally need to get rid of some extras.
Here’s a thought: how about instead of throwing them in a hippo bag that goes to the landfill and clutters up the rest of our world, and kills wildlife. Maybe find another use for them. Use them to organize a closet or garage. Or find someone who doesn’t have any reusable grocery bags , give them to them, and encourage them to recycle reduce and reuse. Also, unless a hippo bag is compostable or biodegradable there’s no way I’m buying/ using one.
You can definitely throw them in a bag and donate them! The point is to get them out of your house.
I’m new to your site and am already loving it!
Great list Angie and thanks for the boost. Lately have been noticing things hanging around which seem to annoy me for taking up room. Think they’re telling me is time to purge, more than. Our small home is bursting at it’s seams, cluttered. EEEEKKKK! Went thru my sewing room again yesterday to ,male room so I can sew in it, what a concept huh? Now what to do with all the “stuff” I took out to be able to declutter?The million $ question. Wish me luck.
Happy week
Senior center, town rec center. They love your craft and sewing items.
Great list Angie…I just want to add that I recently found out that H&M will give you 15% off coupons for every bag of clothing you bring in. I have been looking for a textile recycling place and was so excited to hear that! Thanks for posting at Fantastic Friday!
This is a great list to get started with to dejunk. I don’t know why I keep around some of the stuff that I do, but here’s to something!!! Thank you for sharing at Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make.
This is a good list to use. I am guilty of hanging on to many of these items.
Angie, Thank you for the slap in the face!!! Time to face facts! I don’t want or need this stuff!!!!!
Great list and I have already started cleaning out stuff this year. Sharing! Thank you for sharing on Merry Monday! Hope to see ya next week!
Kim
I love that you made a list. It is a great place to start even if ultimately our lists will be different. Thanks!
If anyone has a lot of plastic grocery bags there are groups out there that use them to crochet sleeping mats for the homeless. They do it here in NOCO and I am sure if you googled it you can find a group in your area.
Great ideas! Lately I’ve been decluttering (little by little). I post things (as I weed them out) on my local “Buy Nothing” Facebook page. It’s a way to give things a new life while helping your neighbors.
Just before the school year started I cleaned out a junk drawer and gave away 2 calculators (a graphing one and a scientific one) to two different kids.
I gave a like new baby bouncer to a new mother.
I’m short and had a bunch of 30″ inseam pants that I could no longer wear. So I split them between a couple fellow short gals.
You end up feeling good not only because you are clearing the clutter in your home, but also because you are helping someone else!
That is a fabulous idea for a Facebook page!