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Overview
5 Things You Can Declutter Right Now
Decluttering is often seen as an overwhelming organizational task. But, it doesn’t have to be. Doing smaller and regular sessions to get rid of mundane items can help you stay on top of your clutter better than massive but infrequent purges. Much like your finances, it is better to stay on top of it now before it creates a bigger headache later.
Here are five less thought-about things to get rid of in your home that you can quickly and easily declutter yourself – without any help.
- Expired pantry items
When organizing kitchen cabinets, you will inevitably find food close to or past its best-before dates. If an item is past its use-by date, toss it out, making sure to empty containers and recycle it if possible. For things that could still be okay for a while, ask yourself whether or not you will use them soon; if not, remove them from your cabinet. Consider checking your local food bank donation guidelines before getting rid of food still well within its use-by date to see if it could go towards helping somebody else. - Old grocery bags
After years of build-up, most of us have a collection of plastic, paper, and now reusable grocery bags in our pantry. Holding onto them ‘just in case’ doesn’t make sense if you never use them. Unless you need a lot of bathroom trash liners or run a takeout business from your home, consider removing the extra baggage for some much-needed space. - Takeout menus
Let’s face it, all takeout menus are online nowadays – when was the last time you called a restaurant with a paper menu? So clear out that kitchen ‘junk drawer’ and find the most up-to-date menus online. - Old containers
Old plastic takeout containers, lunch boxes, and organizers have a habit of creating a little plastic mountain in your cabinets. Before the inevitable avalanche, separate off the newest and best, throwing everything else into recycling (plastics #1 & #2) or find a way to repurpose the rest before throwing it out. - Old mail
Neglected mail and paperwork can build up very quickly. Take some time to file what you need and shred the rest. If you don’t have a shredder, use scissors to cut up addresses and important details.
- Expired pantry items