14 Easy Things To Start Decluttering When You Feel Overwhelmed With All The Stuff

Unless you’re really good at staying on top of the things that you allow in your home, chances are you’ve struggled with getting rid of stuff you don’t need and how to get rid of the clutter in your home. Today I’m sharing 14 easy categories to start decluttering even when you feel paralyzed with all of the stuff!

How Do I Get Rid Of Clutter In My House?

If you’ve ever asked yourself, “How do I get rid of clutter in my house?” or struggled with how to get rid of stuff that you don’t need, you’re most definitely not alone! I and so many people out there struggle with the same exact thing! Fortunately, there are some easy things that you can start with that will make a real difference and you won’t even miss them!

The Dirty Truth Of Clutter

So here’s the thing about clutter. Not only does clutter lead to stress and anxiety for most people, it makes your house sooooo much harder to clean. You can’t just clean the dirt and messes because you first have to figure out what to do with all of the junk laying around.

That was the biggest motivation for me to work on decluttering my home and simplifying our belongings: how difficult clutter makes it to actually clean. I mean, by the time I get everything picked up and moved to a less cluttered area or put away if it has a place, I’m worn out. I know I can’t be the only one with this clutter vs cleaning battle!

The Mindset Behind Clutter

I’m sure there are many reasons people struggle with clutter and getting rid of stuff. I’m no psychologist but the one that makes the most sense to me is the poverty mindset. What is that? 

In basic, easy to understand terms, the poverty mindset comes from a place of lacking. You don’t have much so you want to hold on to what you do have in case you need it. Or maybe it was even from way back in your childhood. Those early learned behaviors can be so hard to break from!

Poverty Mindset Leads To Hoarding

Whether you grew up poor and barely had enough to survive or now as an adult live your life paycheck to paycheck hoping the bills will be covered, it’s hard to let go of things when you know what it feels like to do without. 

A good example of this are people who lived during the depression. After living in and through such scarcity, they never got rid of anything especially if it was something they could possibly use in the future. From small pieces of string to empty chip bags, they made use of everything and intentionally lived without wasting commodities even if it meant piling up clutter and what we would think of as garbage. 

I’m not bashing people who live this struggle at all as I’m all to familiar with the paycheck to paycheck life. That’s actually my biggest motivation for making this blog work and why I so appreciate every single person who visits the blog and shares or comments!

Start With The Easy Stuff

If you’re just starting out with decluttering your home and feeling overwhelmed with all of the stuff, this list is for you! These are the things that made it easy for me to start decluttering my home because they’re things that we’re not typically emotionally attached to so they’re easier to get rid of. So let’s dive in!

1. Koozies

This may seem like a strange thing to have as the first item on a list of things to declutter, but hear me out. When I got married, my husband had an entire kitchen drawer full of koozies. You know how often he used them? Never.

We had a whole entire kitchen drawer taken up by something that never got used. I got rid of all but a couple and they’ve never even been missed. As a matter of fact, the few I had kept never got used so we got rid of them too!

It may not be koozies for you. Maybe you’ve got a cabinet full of plastic cups from parades or a drawer full of pens and only half of them work. Whatever it may be for you, if it NEVER gets used, you don’t need it taking up space in your home!

2. More Dishes Than Your Family Needs

This goes along the same lines as the koozies. Dishes aren’t typically what I would consider clutter but in some circumstances having an excess of dishes just makes life much more difficult and leads to unnecessary mess.

If you’re like me, washing dishes and folding laundry are two of your least favorite and most never ending tasks. If I have plenty to keep using, I’ll just let the dirty dishes pile up for a few days and then wash them when I have no other choice. I’m not proud of that and I’m working on getting better about it, but it’s just the way us procrastinators work.

One thing I’ve found to help with this is to only have enough dishes for what we need. Before “decluttering” my dishes, I had stacks of plates and bowls in my cabinets even though it was just the two of us. Their accessibility made it super easy to just grab another one and procrastinate with the washing and putting away.

Only having 2 or 3 settings makes it necessary to keep them washed and makes it so much easier and quicker. Instead of having 30 minutes to an hour worth of dishes to wash, it’s about 15 minutes at the most to get them all clean now.

I didn’t actually get rid of all of my dishes. I got a large rubbermaid container, wrapped them all in paper and stuck them in the attic. That way if any get broken or as our family grows I can just grab what I need from the attic. It’s worked out really well!

3. Tupperware 

Another kitchen item that quickly gets out of hand. If you don’t have tupperware without lids then kudos to you because you’re doing way better than me! I don’t know how we lose so many lids. It’s like the kitchen equivalent to losing socks in the dryer. 

I actually got rid of almost all of my tupperware and store leftovers predominantly in glass mason jars now. It’s working way better for us for a few reasons: it’s easy to actually see the food in the jars, the lids are universal for all the jars, they wash up easy and don’t absorb yucky odors if you lose something in the back of the fridge for a while. 

If you’ve got that tupperware drawer…overloaded, with containers and lids and random yogurt containers all thrown in helter skelter, it’s time to declutter! First get rid of all the lid-less containers and container-less lids. If you have any that have soaked up nasty odors, throw them out too. You might consider switching to something like jars. It really has simplified the left-over game for us.

4. Magazines

Magazines are really fun to look at. They can be a great resource for inspiration especially if you’re a very visual person. The problem comes when you have subscriptions to a few magazines that are coming in every month. Those things pile up quick if you keep getting them in the mail but don’t get rid of them.

One solution could be to tear out any recipes or pictures that you want to save and keep them in a large binder then throw the magazines away. Just be careful that it doesn’t just change from magazine clutter to paper clutter!

5. Kids Toys That Never Get Played With

In general, kids these days get so many more toys than they can even play with. They pile up quickly and before you know it, the kids room is overflowing with toys that they don’t even like. It’s so overwhelming for them that they hardly play with any. 

I personally think it’s more beneficial to have fewer toys that they’ll actually play with and toys that lead to creativity than to amass hoards of toys to clutter a space. 

I haven’t done much research yet, but I really love the idea of “free toys” that can be played with in so many creative ways. An example of these types of toys is a wooden block set. It encourages imagination and creativity that is often an untapped area for many kids these days.

6. Broken Toys And Toys Missing Parts

This is another no brainer but so often overlooked. When you’re looking through the toys just go ahead and grab a trash can and toss any that are broken or missing parts.

7. Broken Things That You’re “Going To Fix”

It’s like I’m preaching to the choir on this one. I’m one of the worst for thinking I’ll fix something but somehow never get around to it. If something breaks and it’s not something you need at the moment or you can replace it fairly inexpensively, you’re better off tossing it rather than adding broken stuff to your clutter. 

If it’s a more expensive item that can easily be repaired, by all means fix it. Just go ahead and do the job instead of leaving it laying around for months. I feel so called out by what I just wrote.

8. Clothes That You Don’t Wear/Haven’t Worn

This is another one that’s really difficult for me. I admit, I haven’t fully decluttered my closet yet. I went through and got rid of a lot of clothes I no longer like but I had a really hard time trying to let go of the ones I still really like but never wear. Maybe I don’t even really like them anymore but they were my favorites for a while. 

In reality, I need to bag them up and pass them on to someone who may be able to get some use and enjoyment out of them. 

Why do I keep stepping on my own toes with this stuff?

 9. Shoes

I don’t know if you fit the typical female stereotype of having 50 pairs of shoes but I bet you have at least a pair or 3 that you never wear. I don’t have very many shoes but I still have some that I don’t wear. 

Unworn shoes is a really easy way to clear out some place in your closet! For some reason I don’t feel as attached to them as my “favorite” clothes so I rank them as an easy first step to decluttering.

10. Books That You’ve Read And Will Never Read Again

I know books can be a touchy topic when it comes to things you can declutter. Honestly, I love books and used to read all the time when I wasn’t so busy with all the adult things that tend to distract us from leisurely activities. 

Typically you either love them or hate them. And book lovers tend to turn into book hoarders. Of course there are some books that you love so much that you’ll read them over and over and relish every time. Keep those. But there are some books that are just so-so and after the first read, chances are you’ll never pick it up again. They’re just taking up valuable space and making good hiding places for dust bunnies!

Another good option for book lovers is something like a Kindle where you can purchase digital versions of your favorite reads. But I admit, it’s just not the same as a good old fashioned paper book in your hand. 

If you love having a real book in your hand, consider checking out your local library! They literally have an endless supply of books for you to read and can even get books from other library branches for you! You get the benefit of an infinite number of books without having to buy or store them! 

11. Movies That You Don’t Like Enough To Watch Again

Along the same lines as books, I’m sure we all have movies that we bought and then were disappointed with them. You can either try to sell your extra movies if they’re in good condition or box them up and take them to the thrift store. You’ll never miss them if you didn’t even really like them in the first place!

Movies are also another way you can go more digital if you’re into that kind of thing. They have so many options these days with smart TV’s and options like Amazon Prime, Roku, and Netflix. The options are endless and they don’t take up space in your home yet you can have them on demand whenever you’re ready to watch.

12. Old Tech That’s Outdated

If you’re more on the hoarder side of the spectrum rather than the minimalist side, chances are that you may have some outdated tech laying around or shoved up on a high shelf in the closet. 

Let me be clear, when I say outdated tech I’m not talking about something like a Super Nintendo. Those are cool and still so much fun! 

I’m talking about stuff that’s really not useful anymore. Case in point, since we got married, there’s been a 90’s computer monitor in the closet of our “spare bedroom”. I asked my husband about it and he said that it doesn’t even work. Why keep something outdated that doesn’t even work??? Needless to say, it’s gone!

13. Cleaning Supplies

When I really started being more aware of the ingredients in our food and everyday products and the impact they have on our health, I immediately started switching to less toxic options. I personally use Thieves cleaner for all of my cleaning from kitchen counters to toilets. It’s a great all purpose cleaner that even my daughter can use without me giving it a second thought! 

Plus it’s a concentrate that you mix with water so it lasts a long time and is very economical…win-win!

If you’ve started switching over to less toxic cleaners or even if you haven’t, I’d be willing to bet that you’ve got a lot of cleaners that you don’t ever use and that could be chunked. Start by throwing out anything you don’t use. If you have multiples of the same thing, combine them to save space.

14. Toiletries

This is going to be almost the same as with the cleaning supplies. In my journey to switching over to non toxic products, I had a ton of bathroom items that I didn’t use anymore. If you are slowly using up what you have as you switch then it won’t be such a big deal but if you’ve switched a few things you’ll likely end up with leftovers of the old items the get shoved in the bottom drawer. 

Even if you’re not changing out your products, I’d be willing to bet there are things sitting in your bathroom right now that you NEVER use. Bodywash, facial scrubs, perfume, body spray. How do we end up with so much? I was seriously shocked when I cleaned out my bathroom and it gave me an immense amount of satisfaction to throw those things out!

Not All Clutter Is Created Equal

I’m on the decluttering journey myself and still have a long way to go before my house is “finished”. Some of us have a really hard time getting rid of stuff whereas others don’t find it hard at all. I’m in the first camp so it can be a struggle to part with things even though I really want to have less stuff.

That’s why this list of items is a great place to start. There aren’t any sentimental or emotionally attached things on the list and you’ll be able to feel good about all of the things that you’ve cleared out! Once you’ve started and know the satisfaction of decluttering, it’s easier to move on the more difficult things. 

The Freedom Of Less Stuff

Go ahead and start clearing some of this stuff out and feel the clutter cloud lift from your shoulders. I really couldn’t believe how good it felt to get rid of some of this stuff that was just taking up space and not adding any value to my life AT ALL! 

After you declutter a lot of the junk you can start working on organizing and finding a place for the things that you need. That’s the backbone of an easy cleaning routine…a place for everything and everything in it’s place!

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