I was running late to work this morning and couldn’t find anything to wear. Not that I didn’t have anything clean, just…I have TOO much. Too many options. Too many shoes. Too many pants. Too many dresses. My closet looks like a scene out of Hoarders. Tragic times indeed.
I tried to clean out my closet a few months ago and could only force myself to get rid of 3 pairs of shoes. Out of the at LEAST 50+ pairs I have, that’s a pretty low number. I couldn’t part with my sky high YELLOW platform pumps, because well…sky high yellow platform pumps are awesome. But have I worn them since? Of course not.
I discovered jeans with tags still on them, shirts I haven’t worn in forever and more purses than I know what to do with. But I can’t seem to really part with anything. Since I’m slowly getting ready for this trip, I need to minimize the amount of stuff I own. By a lot. But it’s terribly overwhelming. I look at my closet and see the utter destruction and get a ton of anxiety and vow I’ll get to get another day. Of course that day hasn’t come yet.
But the time has come where the clutter and the disorganization is taking slowly over my life and I need to do something about it. I don’t want Dr. Zazio from Hoarders knocking on my door.
How do you get rid of stuff? Do you just throw it in a bag and give it to goodwill? Sell it? I need help! I want to slowly get rid of as much stuff as possible before I leave for Thailand.
Does anyone have any tips for getting rid of things?
*ps: The above picture is NOT my closet…but it’s pretty close 
*pss: Hoarders is one of my favorite shows. But I almost died watching the episode with the rats. 2500 rats?!?!? ahhh!!!!
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Haha love the title of this post! It’s great that you’re decluttering now, we moved out of our apartment a month ago and left everything too late…
Our outlook is that if you can sell it for more than $10, go for it! Anything that’s not worth that much is not worth the effort that goes into selling it and should be donated to goodwill.
Good luck!
Thanks for the advice! I never thought about it that way…I have a LOT of sorting to go through! lol!
Sheryll, I guess you just have to take a deep breath and do it. The beginning is always painful, but as you start getting rid of stuff you discover your life is equally happy as it was with the huge amount of clothes. Selling a few things could be motivational – it’s quite easy way to get some cash. Some people implement the rule according to which anything that wasn’t used in the last 6 months has to go. I think it’s a great rule and could be a starting point to the whole process.
Are you familiar with 80/20 rule? According to this rule 80% of results come from 20% of effort. This rule can be applied to all aspects of life – also clothing. Apparently most of us wears about 20% of our clothes for about 80% of time. It definitely used to be my case
Thanks Magda! I’ve heard of the 80/0 rule..just never thought to implement it. I know for a fact I only wear about 20% of my clothes. Especially with a 9-5, I haven’t really branched out of the typical work wear. I’m just really going to have to jump in head first!
The hardest thing I had to get rid of were my books. I couldn’t do it and had to have Jack do the packing. Having a friend to help you sort out your stuff would probably help. And don’t be tempted to go through the pile and return them to the closet
I just got rid of about half of my clothes two weeks ago and its been coming for years. I sat there with a glass of wine, picked up each item and asked myself if I’ve worn this in the past year and if I really needed it. Some things I don’t need made it through but most of it is gone…and I’m so much happier for it. I have space in my room finally!
oooh wine! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! hahahahaha!
I go through my closet about twice a year. Ive actually got a big bag of clothes to give away sitting outside of
my closet right now. Usually I go through and if i havent worn something in the past 3 or 4 months (except for “summer” and “winter” stuff) it goes in the giveaway bag. Sometimes i take it to Goodwill, sometimes to a local church, Dress for Success or United Way. You could always sell some of the nice shoes online!
Hahaha. When I saw that picture I was like, “Wha????”
I went through my wardrobe and donated all the clothes that I don’t wear anymore, don’t fit me anymore or I just couldn’t see wearing ever again. I have a huuuuuge pile of books and DVDs and I’m just going to sell the majority of them on Amazon or to friends for really cheap prices. I realised that if I’m moving out, it wouldn’t be fair to dump my excess stuff in my parents house for god knows how long when they only have a small place themselves.
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