How To Start Getting Rid of Stuff – Get Rid of “Maybe” Items
March 23, 2008 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Home & Living
Previously, we were discussing organizing by simplifying. This means clearing your space of stuff which will reduce clutter and allow you to be able to live a little more lightly.
The biggest issue surrounding clutter build-up is honestly that people simply buy too many things. However, we’ll discuss tactics for avoiding bad purchases later on. Today, we’re going to look at how you can start clearing out the clutter you’ve already accumulated.
For some people this is an easy task. Some find it harder, and still others find it near impossible. I actually know someone who finds it almost gut wrenching to get rid of anything. She’s a true pack rat – but to her this stuff is necessary. She recently moved and she asked me to help her clear out her back rooms. Three rooms full of boxes of stuff, rooms that no one ever goes in, and stuff that no one ever sees, yet she can’t just let it go. It took us three days to sort through about 10 boxes because we’d go back and fourth – me saying, “When are you ever going to use this?” And her saying, “You never know.”
That said, the very first tip to getting rid of stuff and reducing clutter is…
“You never know” or “Maybe one day I’ll use them” items are things you need to let go. I know so many people with boxes, and spaces full of “You never know” stuff.
Here’s the problem. While you own these maybe items, you still need to store them, sort them, clean them, and think about them. Maybe items are items that do nothing more than waste space and time. Here are some items like this that you may have laying around:
- Baby clothing for when you maybe have that next baby.
- The exercise bike you might use to get into shape – plus the drawer full of exercise clothes.
- Magazines from 2002 that you might go through and pull the interesting articles from.
- A monkey shaped cake pan, because you never know when someone might want a monkey shaped cake.
- 8 pairs of jeans that fit you five years ago. BUT they might fit you if you rode the darn exercise bike!
- Notebooks full of college assignments. What if you decided to go back to school and needed those note?
- 10 cans of organic tomatoes that were on sale. The big fatty ones, for when you eventually learn to make homemade spaghetti sauce.
- A shed full of gardening items; seeds, pots, bags of soil, and more. But really, don’t you always buy your veggies at the store?
- Craft supplies you’ve been saving in case you need to make something crafty spur of the moment.
- Romantic candles you never light.
- 30 sets of coasters – your family doesn’t use coasters – but they are kind of cool to collect. At least you have the biggest, coolest coaster collection on the block!
This is all stuff I know people have. There are hundreds of other maybe items that people own. I even own a few – which is annoying. Among my own maybe items are some baby girl dresses (you know, for when I get that daughter) and extra photo albums (for when I finally get them filled up). On the plus side I recently realized that they are just maybe items and so they’re on the way out.
This week your goal is to get rid of 5 maybe items.
Trust me, you have 5 maybe items.
If that’s too hard then write down 5 maybe items you own on a piece of paper. Think about it all week. Are you honestly, really, 100% sure, that the golf clubs, the camping gear, the old books will come in handy. If you’re not sure pack them up and put the items somewhere where you can’t see them for a month. If you don’t miss them at the end of the month, if no one in the house said, “Hey, where did the golf clubs go?” then get rid of them.
If you can get rid of 5 maybe items each week, that’s a really big step toward decluttering your world. It will become a huge deal. As you clear stuff out, space will appear, your dusting load will lighten, and you’ll feel a lot better. This is only one step on the road to a more simple, more organized, and easier way of life – but it’s the most important step.
Why is this step so hard? Because it forces you to look at what really matters. It means you have to be sickeningly honest with yourself and admit who you are.
It might feel a little sad to get rid of that gardening stuff, because that really does prove that you aren’t going to be a gardener, no matter how cool it sounded. It’s depressing to get rid of the jeans that you wish you still fit into, but maybe once you clear out the clutter of your life, you’ll have time to workout, and then, guess what, you can buy new skinny jeans.
Are there any maybe items you should have around?:
Yes. Items like safety supplies, first aid kits, extra water in case of an emergency, etc. Stuff like this is all ok to have around. I hope that they stay maybe items, maybe you’ll never have to use them, and that’s perfect. As long as you’re not excessive, emergency items aren’t technically maybe items.
Let me know in the comments which 5 maybe items you’re going to toss this week (or pack up). Next up in the how to organize by simplifying series, we’ll look at how to stop the inflow of new maybe items. We’ll also eventually look at how to handle maybe items that you feel are sentimental. Sentimental maybe items are a whole other ballgame from typical maybe items, but we can deal with it. I’ve got some ideas.
This is a great post. I find that I “know” this information, but need to keep relearning it and it’s great to hear a new spin on it. Reading posts like this helps keep me inspired to declutter.
why is it so dang hard to get rid of the maybe items? i do pretty well with getting rid of baby clothes, even though we MAY have another baby someday, but i do like to hold onto some of the clothes just in case, oh and the exersaucer, baby swing, bouncy seat, etc. hmmm. maybe i will get rid of a couple of those larger items that are just cluttering up the house.
thx for a good post and kick in the pants!
Fabulous! Great spring cleaning post!
For those canned goods? How about planning a week of menus just for those items?
I have about 10,000 middle school books for when I maybe go back to teaching that I know I have to sort through…its on my list.
Thanks guys. It’s always good to review maybe items, it’s easy to forget them.
@Pickel I have some textbooks from college, but since I homeschool, I always say, “Maybe Cedar will use them eventually.” I can’t decide if the books are a smart maybe item to keep for homeschooling, or not. I’m leaning toward not. They’re really heavy, and Cedar can always check out something from the library. But it’s hard. Maybe items, IMO are always hard.
Great post! I’m going to do your challenge and get rid of 5 of my “just in case” items this week!
As for university textbooks, unless Cedar is nearly ready to move out, they’ll likely be hopelessly out of date (depending on the subject matter) by the time he needs them.
I’m going to be getting rid of my own stack of university texts (that I was keeping ‘just in case’, of course) at the next university bookstore buy-back session. If they don’t buy them, I’ll be trying out a site like cash4books.net
Tag, you’re it.
http://www.thriftymommy.com/ive-been-been-playing-tag-and-i-didnt-even-know-it/
Okay, I’ll bite! My 5 “maybe” items are some long underwear (maybe I’ll ride my scooter in sub zero weather…); three non-flattering spaghetti-strap tank tops (maybe it will be really hot AFTER I lose 20 lbs.) and a toaster (maybe we’ll eat toast for breakfast again after 5 years of no toast).
Good post! Thanks for the inspiration.
@Caitlin I know the out-of-date issue is why I’m leaning toward getting rid of them (Cedar’s 7) but he does like my anatomy books – I may keep them.
@Louise too funny. Scooter in sub zero, that’s a good one, although you hear stuff like that a lot. Good deal that you picked some items.
@Crunchy Domestic Goddess The baby clothes are hard for me. My son actually wore old school clothes of my brothers that I had saved from the 70s – so that’s major re-use. I am saving some special pieces for Cedar, when he has kids, but I have to get rid of some. I do want more kids, but it’s just a maybe, and for now it’s just stuff I don’t need.
My fiance and I started doing this a couple weeks ago. I’ve been pretty good about getting rid of stuff but I find myself bitter that he won’t do the same even though I know he is trying. We have already gotten rid of most of our magazines. I forced myself to sit down and bookmark any pages to scan (we still have this stack) but everything else we recycled. I’ve also gotten rid of almost all my craft stuff except for my crocheting stuff which I do use on a regular basis. I clean out my clothes at least twice a year so this one was pretty easy. My mom always made me do this growing up so it’s pretty ingrained now. We have started gardening but we are limiting buying anything new until we know we really need it and will really use it. The harder things to give up are the “collections” I realize I don’t need them, they collect dust etc etc but it’s so hard!
I am working on just this decluttering sort of stuff.
Do you advocate recycling and selling ebay, and other places like that? People who also “collect” differently, things like stuff for their album collection, which with the baby boomers is big, go to places like that. Turntables are being made again. And I plan to get one, not a boomer, but of a close generation. What you say resonates with me, and some of it makes me laugh. Thanks.
I don’t advocate ebay sales because I think it’s more wasteful than anything. IF you already have items and you sell them, that’s one thing. BUT if you’re going to thrift stores, buying stuff and reselling, then I’m not as keen on the idea. That’s a lot of energy in gas form to sell on ebay. There’s car driving, and delivery driving, and it also promotes a general consumerism feeling – why shop more?
I have a record player though. But I use it every single day. I love my records. So long as you use an item, it’s fine to have. It’s the excess that bugs me.
This is a great post. One way to look at an item you are not using is to ask yourself if it is an item that someone else could use if you donated it to a charity. If you are not using it you could be denying someone else the pleasure of using it. Most people don’t want to be selfish and thinking in these terms could help you decide to bless someone else with the item instead of storing it unused.
I have never bought on ebay, so I never thought of anyone buying from a thrift store and selling there. Although I have seen heard those ads on the radio of making money selling on ebay and not even seeing the stuff your selling! Which sounds wrong, since you would be putting your name to who knows what?!! Thanks for enlightening me on this. I am new on this, so I am learning something new every day.
@Jennifer those ebay deals are a little nutty. I know someone who likes to buy and then sell. Basically flip items. I just don’t agree with the energy it takes to do something like that. But it’s pretty popular.
Give away golf clubs because we didn’t use them in a month is ridiculous. Winters in Montana are long….so that seemed a silly suggestion. I will, however, try….and I really mean TRY to rid my clutter of at least 5 maybe items today.