Time for another quick organizing tip! This one comes courtesy of Lifehack.org. In this post called "How to Get Rid of Things After You Declutter", Lori Thayer commends people for decluttering, but recognizes that sometimes we don't actually get the items we've purged out of our homes. Boxes and bags can sit in garages or entryways or corners of a room, waiting until we do something with them. But, today's tip is to just get rid of them!
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| Source: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/money/how-to-get-rid-of-things-after-you-declutter.html |
I'm sure none of you have any piles of decluttered things right? You dropped them off somewhere as soon as you purged them right? :)
Well, you're doing better than me then! I'm guilty. I've had several boxes and bins in various places in my home for months. "Why?" you ask? Good question!
Some of it was legitimate. I had clothes that I wanted to sell at Once Upon A Child but they were the wrong season so I held onto them.
But mostly, I just allowed obstacles to get in my way, and in the end several boxes have been sitting in my dining room for months, just reminding me every time I walk past them that I still have to bring them somewhere. Shameful I know. Just keeping it real here folks :)
I have dropped off a few loads over the last few months to Value Village. So it's not like I've been hanging on to everything I've decluttered. But I wanted to try to sell some things instead of donate them. Good idea, but I never actually did it. So those boxes sat. For months.
Well, this week I've been on a "getting completely rid of things mission"! You haven't heard of that? It's new... really new... actually I just made it up. I felt like I needed to call it something since I spent a lot of time doing it :)
Here's why you haven't seen me blogging this week. I sold 2 large Rubbermaid bins of clothing, toys, and games at Once Upon A Child. And I have 1 garbage bag of clothes to hand down to relatives. Plus, I've got 4 boxes and 2 garbage bags on my front porch, waiting to be picked up by the Diabetes truck!
It feels SO good to finally get these things out of my house! And to see my dining room floor again :)
I'm so happy, even though I'm not going to make money from trying to sell some of those items. Those boxes sucked emotional energy out of me the whole time they sat there, and I just couldn't let that go on any more.
I'm not saying you should never sell some of the things you decide to purge. Just make sure you do it right away. Or set a reasonable time limit, and if you haven't sold them by then, give yourself permission to donate them and be rid of them. You'll be glad you did. Trust me!
So, if you've got items that you've decluttered, but you haven't donated or sold them yet, then do it this weekend! If you need ideas on where you can donate or sell things, the article mentioned above lists several options.
And if you haven't got anything to donate or sell right now, then spend a bit of time decluttering this weekend first :) It's a great time to go through your clothes or your kids' clothes with the change of seasons. Or go through your shoes and coats. Just a few ideas... you choose what you think you need to declutter the most.
Do you get things out of your house right away after decluttering or do you tend to hang on to them for awhile before you get around to it? Where are your favourite places to donate or sell used items?
Happy organizing and have a great weekend!
