If you are ready to declutter your home, this is the place for you! Kick-off your decluttering efforts with 50 things to get rid of right now. This printable checklist will help you focus if you are feeling overwhelmed.
Get ready to fill up tons of bags and clear the clutter from your home. I love a good quick declutter and try to do them regularly around my home.
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 adding things that need to go. You can find my favorite strong trash bags for jobs like this here.
After you are all decluttered, make a list of bins or baskets to reorganize what’s left behind. The Dollar Store is a great place to start!
How to Get Rid of Stuff
We’ve all got our fair share of skeletons, er junk, in the closet. With every item we could ever need readily available for delivery the next day, the clutter can catch up to us fast!
By challenging ourselves to get rid of the stuff that we no longer need or use, we lighten the proverbial load on our minds and conscience. Plus, if you are able to donate some items, you are giving them a second life to someone who could really use it.
I’m sure you’ve heard of Marie Kondo by now. She talks a lot about clearing out the clutter that’s no longer serving us and focusing on the items that “spark joy”. While there’s a fine line in what items are joyful and necessary, you can certainly learn a thing or two from her.
If you are embarking on this decluttering journey and using the Konmari method, make sure you keep these things in mind first:
- It will get messy before it gets tidy.
- It won’t work if you continue to bring in more “stuff”.
- Decluttering is exhausting.
- This is a team effort.
- You may never need to declutter again.
Why is it so hard to get rid of stuff?
I ask myself this all the time! Between the kids’ art projects and other sentimental items, sometimes we can just get too attached to the material items instead of the memories.
Sometimes, it’s difficult to find the time to devote to clearing out closets and baskets. Plus, some of us might feel guilty about hanging on to items that were gifted to us or from someone we lost.
50 Things to Get Rid Of Right Now
It’s always a good idea to have a guide to follow. That’s why I created this list!
As you are purging your home, keep these things in mind and make sure they hit the toss pile or at least get a good once over or reorganization.
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.
50 Things to Throw Out Now
- Makeup – Which products are expired? Dried up? Half gone and never used? If they fall under those questions, toss them!
- Old Magazines – When was the last time you looked at them? Do you really need that issue from 2010?
- Expired Pantry Items – Check the expiration date on each item. If there’s no date and has been neglected over a long period of time, toss it.
- Toiletries – Do you have little bits and tads that could be consolidated into one bottle? Or, corralled and organized into one pantry? Look for things you will never use and also things that have expired, then toss.
- Games with missing pieces – You can’t play a game with missing pieces, so let it go!
- Puzzles with missing pieces – Incomplete puzzles are pointless. Let these go!
- Kitchen gadgets – If you no longer use it or have multiples, toss them!
- Socks with no match – just get rid of them!
- Earrings with no match – They will never find their way back to you, I promise. Toss them!
- Scraps of wrapping paper – Are you ever going to wrap anything that small?
- Old electronics – Especially those that can no longer be updated. And nobody wants your Razr. Wipe them and recycle them properly.
- Plastic grocery bags – Do you really need all of those bags inside of other bags? Pair them down at least, then toss the extras.
- Extra mugs – Donate the ones you never use! No one needs 20 of them.
- Extra glasses – Determine how many your family really needs, then donate the rest.
- Expired refrigerated food – Check the dates on sauces, dressings, and refrigerated ingredients. If they are sprouting fuzzy stuff or out of date, toss them.
- Old Freezer Food – Pull everything out of the freezer and toss what’s expired, and take stock of what you need. Give it a good scrub down while you’re at it!
- Boxes – Why are you keeping old boxes? Toss them!
- Out of date spices – These can really sneak up on you. Check the dates and potency for freshness.
- Reusable grocery bags – How many tote bags do you have? Do you need all of them? Keep the ones you use regularly, then donate or trash the rest.
- Expired medication – Check cough syrups, vitamins, and prescription meds, and toss if they are expired. They won’t do you any good as expired. Be sure to dispose of any scheduled drugs appropriately.
- Socks with holes – Toss them and order a fresh pair! You know the ones!
- Toys – You might want to skip the kids’ input on this one and donate the toys you know they don’t use or have outgrown.
- Trash in your purse – Nobody wants that stick of gum covered in purse dirt! Throw away old receipts and put cash, change, and cards in their respective spots in your wallet.
- DVDs – Most of your movies are on a streaming service these days. Which can you donate? Which are scratched up?
- CDs – When is the last time you actually listened to these? Trade these in at a used music store for a little cash.
- VHS tapes – Do you even have anything to play these on any longer?
- Recipe books – Consider digitizing recipes you love and then ditching the clutter. Most older cookbook cooking times and temperatures are obsolete.
- Junk mail – Sort your mail and then get rid of the junk you don’t need.
- Old 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 dried-up bottles.
- Newspapers – clear out any old copies and clip the sentimental stories for a scrapbook or memory box.
- Candles – Do you have a bunch of half-burnt candles? Toss the ones that are gunky-looking and use the rest.
- Containers with no lids – These are the most irritating! There are always some of these lurking in the cabinet, so toss them!
- 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? Send them to a used media store.
- 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!
More Home Organization Help
Do images on Pinterest stress you out because they seem more like a fairy tale than something you can actually achieve?
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.
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 that it takes only 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. See for yourself with 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
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!