Do you want to #declutter fearlessly — like a lion — this March? Pretend you’re moving, says KCET blogger Linda Ly. One makes tough decisions about what’s worth #packing during a move — and often comes up with big piles of bags and boxes to #donate. “When it comes to deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, ask yourself: If you were making a major move this week, would you spend time or money to move that item?” If you really want to get ruthless, she adds, pretend you’re moving not just across town, but to another city or state. Would you pay good money to ship that dinged-up pan, dusty old #tchotchke or ill-fitting pair of pants across the country?
Tag: keep
Tackle Decluttering Tasks With Gusto
Whether or not March comes in like a lion, this is a great time of year to tackle #decluttering tasks with gusto. If you want to #declutter with intensity, you should dedicate an hour or two at a time to the task as often as possible, says Simple Lionheart Life. But even if your decluttering style is more about consistency (10 minutes per day?) than intensity, you’ll have to be ruthless about those #keep, #trash, #donate decisions to be effective. “The more you get rid of during each decluttering session, the quicker you’ll clear the #clutter now rather than having to go back and do more decluttering later,” the site says.
Ruthless Ways to Declutter a Clothes Closet
If you want to get ruthless in #decluttering your #closet, set a maximum number of hangers or limits on how many of which category of garment you will keep, says Simple Lionheart Life. You can track garment usage to ensure that only your favorites stay in rotation by turning the hangers in your closet around; after you wear an item, put it back hanging the right way. Any garments still hanging backward at the end of the season can likely be #donated. Or for a more immediate #purge, imagine yourself wearing each item of clothing or outfit when you run into an old friend or acquaintance — would you look and feel your best at that moment?
Start Decluttering With a Single Closet
Don’t make #decluttering into an insurmountable task — start with just one #closet. Pull everything out and sort it into #keep, #trash and #donate piles. Clothing you enjoy wearing regularly are easy keepers, while items that are too damaged, stained or stretched-out can go directly in the trash. What goes in the #donate bag is a little more nuanced: Maybe an item doesn’t fit, never worked as part of your personal style, or was part of a too-small “goal” outfit that now only inspires anxiety, CNET says. Send those #garments to ClothingDonations.org immediately, set a new goal and reward yourself with a new outfit when you achieve it.
Garage Sale, Giveaway or Garbage
As peak #garage #sale season begins, it’s time to start thinking about the many things in your home that you don’t really need. Some of those items may be worth money to your neighbors — money you that could spend on an experience such as a #summer #vacation.
Before you decide to host a garage sale, you’ll want to revisit the tried-and-true “Keep, Donate, Trash” strategy for #decluttering, which dictates that you sort your #stuff into three piles and act accordingly.
Once you figure out what you definitely want to keep and put it away neatly, however, The Organizing Blog suggests you try a new strategy that our expert researchers have developed expressly in preparation for a #yard or #tag sale: Garage Sale, Giveaway or Garbage.
This strategy separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, to ensure that any sale you stage doesn’t showcase a lot of #junk that nobody wants. You’ve probably been to yard sales like this — ones where almost everything on offer is cheap, dirty and/or broken.
A successful garage sale has multiple useable items that #thrifty shoppers want, whatever the variety of tchotchkes, household goods, sports equipment, yard tools and clothing is on display. You will sort these items into the Garage Sale pile.
The things you absolutely want to get rid of but just aren’t worth pricing should go into the Giveaway pile. You can attempt to sell them in bulk (used kids’ clothing, 5 pieces/$1, for example) or offer them as freebies to attract attention to your sale.
The Garbage category will include things that are too broken, well-used or incomplete to be of much use to anyone. Appliances that don’t work, chipped dinnerware, stained/worn clothing and puzzles with pieces missing are just a few examples. Don’t even make a pile for these items — put them directly into the bin.
Once you have everything sorted, price the #stuff you’re selling and put up signs directing people to your sale. The Organizing Blog’s Garage Sale, Giveaway or Garbage system will ensure that more of the merchandise you put out actually sells.
Few garage sales sell out of everything, of course, so schedule a free #donation #pickup from ClothingDonations.org for whatever’s left. We’ll make sure that you never have to deal with that stuff again and #donate the proceeds to #veterans.