10 Tough Questions About Your Stuff

It’s time to declutter, but how? Use these questions to walk yourself through the decisions about what to toss:

1. Do I still enjoy it? Often, we get so used to certain items that we don’t think of getting rid of them, even if we don’t truly like them. Knickknacks given by people you love, but whose taste you don’t love. Art or photos that your eyes never linger on anymore. Books that sit and collect dust. And so on. Look with fresh eyes and decide what no longer gives you pleasure.
2. Do I know what I have? Surely you have at least a few drawers and closets and boxes quietly storing things in your home, and there will likely be surprises if you review their contents — things you thought were long gone, things you don’t remember at all, and things that are duplicates of items in actual use elsewhere in the home. Needless to say, if you don’t even know you own it, it is completely useless to you.
3. Is it relevant? Manuals for appliances that died long ago. Papers and receipts dating back years and years. Lids for pots and Tupperware that no longer live in your house. Parts and pieces of retired toys. This is the low-hanging fruit in decluttering. Gone.
4. Does it belong to someone else? Consider whether you have overdue library books, borrowed tools or books, hand-me-downs you haven’t yet handed down, things left behind by guests, and so on. Empty-nesters anxious to truly empty their nests often have volumes of stuff belonging to adult children. And those items you are collecting to donate? Donate them. Your house is not a storage facility.
5. Am I afraid of wasting it? Many frugal folks hang on to things because they have been well-taught to value what they have. So they might keep every old dish and freebie plastic cup, hobby supplies that have been unused for years, or piles of board games or books, because they are still perfectly sound items. But keeping these items and never using them is the very definition of waste, when they could be donated or sold for someone else to enjoy right now.
6. Will I use it? Really? If you truly think you are going to use that guitar or crock pot or sports equipment, don’t just think: plan. Give yourself a grace period of another few months to put those items into real action. Mark it on the calendar. At the end of that time, if the item hasn’t moved, or it has but you’ve discovered you don’t miss inline skating after all, let it go.
7. What’s the cost of replacing it? If you’re agonizing over whether to let an item go, consider how likely you are to need the item again and what it would cost. A seldom-worn dress coat might be a good keep, since it is expensive and is required once in a while (maybe for a funeral, or a dressy winter event). On the other hand, plastic sippy cups that somebody’s visiting children might someday need are cheaply and easily replaced if the need should actually arise.
8. Where is it? No one wants to play scavenger hunt when he’s trying to get out the door. Eliminate that drain on your mental energy and time by designating a home for everything. It’s simple, but if there’s no set place to put something away, there’s no set place to find it.
9. Is there a better place for it? Be strategic about where things are stored. Maybe the Christmas placemats should be packed away with decorations instead of taking up valuable everyday dining room space. And maybe the reason you never hang your keys on the hook is because the hook is too far from the door.
10. Do I have room for it? With a smaller home, you’ll likely have to do some heavy editing to keep from having overflowing counters, closets, and floors. And that can actually be a good thing: you will be forced to be intentional about each of your belongings, and ultimately everything in your home will be something you actually use and love.

Originally published at sharonholbrook.com on April 10, 2014.