We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like ~ Tyler Durden.
The quote above, made popular by Brad Pitt’s character in the cult classic movie Fight Club, maybe an extreme outlook on consumerism but still has roots in today’s societal reality.
In recent times, the concept of minimalism has gained increased popularity. Minimalism is a way to put a stop to the gluttony of the world around us. At its core, minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from it.
By decluttering your home and adopting a minimalist lifestyle, you can actually reap multiple benefits. Among them are:
- Reduce anxiety
- Improve sleep
- Boost your productivity and creativity
- Free up your schedule and space
- Rid your home of allergens
- Help address hidden behavioural issues
- Save money
The key to conserving space is organisation and keeping things as streamlined as possible. Furthermore, you should only buy things you really need and get rid of those that you don’t. You can either donate, recycle or sell them off.
There are plenty of preloved stores where you can send these unwanted items.
So, here’s a list of 10 items you should discard from your home for a clutter-free life.
1. Extra toiletries and perfumes
After staying at a hotel, most people like to take home the mini toiletries there. Here’s the thing, unless you plan to go camping often or have lots of house visitors lined up, you don’t need them.
In your own bathroom, identify any old toiletries or toothbrushes and get rid of them. How about unused perfumes in your house? Sure, the bottles may be pretty but you’ll be better served to give them away. Also, perfumes come with expiry dates and don’t smell the same forever. Just saying.
2. Landline phones, old mobile phones, and extra cables
Let’s face it, not many people use landline phones anymore. It’s likely none of your friends know your landline number anyway. In fact, your kids might not even know it! Get rid of it along with old mobile phones. And yes, you don’t need to buy a new mobile phone every year, no matter what “cool” new features it has.
It’s okay to stock up a phone as a backup for your existing phone. But having a backup for a backup for another backup and letting phones gather dust is plain pointless.
There’s also no need to hoard extra cables and cords in your house. In reality, how many do you actually need?
3. Old books
As a book lover myself, I understand it’s hard to give away old books. But the key concept in decluttering is only keeping what you actually need. It’s unlikely that you will reread all those books. Be ruthless and sell or donate any books which you haven’t read in years.
Old cookbooks are definitely something you don’t need. If after all these years you haven’t mastered the recipe already, you definitely don’t need them. If you only need the recipe for special occasions, there are plenty of online resources such as video tutorials.
4. Too many throw pillows
Throw pillows (or toss pillows) are the small, decorative items usually (loosely) placed on sofas or armchairs. They are also frequently used on beds, daybeds, and floors. From an aesthetic perspective, some people do in fact like the look of throw pillows. However, from a functional perspective, they aren’t really something people find comfortable.
Having few for occasional use is fine, but it’s pointless to hoard 20 of them in different shapes, sizes and colours. It’s time to throw the unused throw pillows away!
5. Top sheets
Here’s the truth – you don’t need a top sheet over your mattress sheet. Forgoing them will make zero difference to your sleeping comfort. However, you will notice a difference to your laundry load and morning bed-making time.
6. Clothes you don’t wear
If you have a full wardrobe, it’s likely you no longer wear at least half the stuff in there. Furthermore, some of them are either too old or no longer fit.
7. Old boxes
It’s likely you have a lot of your unwanted stuff stored away in boxes. Or you might have empty ones because you’re anticipating you might use them sometime in the future. Instead, when getting rid of all the unnecessary items in your house, these boxes should go with them because they serve very little purpose.
8. Variety of knives and kitchen utilities
Unless cooking is your passion and you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, you don’t need a large variety of knives and kitchen utilities. Items such as waffle maker, China set, popcorn maker, etc., will only take up valuable space in your house. Also, make sure you check the expiry dates of spices, herbs, and sauces. You definitely don’t need to purchase that much!
9. Unused medicines
10. Surplus USB sticks
With today’s advancement of cloud technology, storing and sharing files is made easier. Make use of services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Mediafire, etc. and get rid of old USB sticks after you’ve backed up important files.