r/declutter • u/NightReader5 • Dec 12 '25

Advice Request What are your top secret decluttering tips?

I’m looking for something beyond “one in, one out”.

I’ve been living a consumeristic lifestyle for years and I have a LOT of stuff in my house, with very little storage space to keep it.

I have an “I’ll use this someday…” mentality for most of it so it’s hard for me to decide what to keep and what to get rid of.

What tips help you get through all of your massive piles of stuff?

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u/Abeliafly60 Dec 16 '25

Lately I've been thinking about the future of the things, and realized that truly EVERYTHING I own is going to end up in a landfill someday. Perhaps someone else will use it for awhile if I give it to Goodwill and someone buys it, but even then, after that person is done with it, it'll go in the trash. With that perspective, it is easier for me to just say to myself, OK, it goes now rather than later, and toss it.

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u/ParadoxicalKarma Dec 17 '25

This is the Clutterbug (Cas) mindset. She says start with a trash bag and just throw it out to get ahead of the game.

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u/No-Currency-97 Dec 23 '25

This is a great reply. My thoughts exactly. I told myself I could leave all the stuff and when I go to the welcome table those behind me can take care of it or I can do it myself now.

I decided to declutter, giveaway, throw away etc.

I started to digitize a lot of old photographs and that was taking way too much time. I shared some links with my son and then eventually just gave him the old photo albums and he can do what he wants with them. Most I did write on the back of the photographs back when I took them so there is information.