De-Cluttering for the New Year: What to Get Rid Of

By Danielle Wirsansky on January 2, 2017

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New Year, new beginning: isn’t that how the common phrase usually goes? As the year is coming to an end and a new year is beginning, it can be time for you to make a new beginning for yourself as well. And as with all changes that you want to make (and make permanent), it all starts at home.

A great way to do so is taking the time you never seem to have in order to de-clutter your home. That leads to the ultimate question: what do you get rid of? Read on for our suggestions on how to de-clutter for the New Year and what you can get rid of.

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Clothes You Do Not Wear

You can get clothes so easily and cheaply nowadays. On top of that, fashion is constantly changing and in flux. It is easy to keep up with the trends but you often end up with a lot of clothing and accessories that you do not wear and then not enough room to store it all.

Why hang onto clothes that you never wear or use? What is the point of holding onto it for years and years on the off chance that it might come back into style? It is taking up a lot of space in your home and allowing you to feel stressed out by the clutter. Do not let it! Make a new beginning and get rid of that kind of stuff.

One of the most useful tactics in figuring out which clothes to get rid of is simple. Place all the hangers in your closet the opposite way than you would, with the hanger hook facing you. When you return clothes to your closet after that, place the hanger back facing the way you usually would have it. At the end of the year, those hanger hooks that you never took off and the clothes you never wore — which you can tell because the hanger hook will still be facing the wrong way — you can get rid of! There are many shelters and donation centers you can bring your clothes to where they can really make a difference in someone else’s life.

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Books You Do Not Read

College students have lots of books, am I right? Sometimes we are too lazy to bring our class books and textbooks back to the bookstore or to sell them online. Sometimes our taste in books just changes as we change and grow ourselves. Maybe you just love books so much you have too many of them and not enough place to put them.

Getting rid of books you do not read, do not want, or do not have space for is a great way to de-clutter your home for the New Year. Go through all of your books and keep the ones that are most important to you, that you need, or that you definitely want to read.

The ones you do not want you can re-gift to your friends, donate to your local thrift store, or give to a charity that will use your books to improve literacy. Just as you are starting anew in the New Year, give your books a chance at a second life where they will be used, read and appreciated!

Unimportant Papers

Students can end up with a buildup of papers. As we are new to handling important paperwork and are consumed with classes, sometimes papers just get thrown into disordered piles in inopportune spaces until we have time to deal with it. Make the New Year a new beginning, and finally handle that paperwork!

Go through the pile, then organize and sort it. Shred the papers you do not need but that have important information on them that you do not want getting out. Throw out unimportant mail or pieces of homework you will never again need or handouts from a class that ended a couple of semesters ago. Keep important paperwork or handouts from a class that you might find useful. Even just organizing it can help you feel a lot less stressed out because you at least know what papers you do or do not have in your possession.

Food You Do Not Eat

If you are making a fresh start, make sure all your food is fresh too. It is easy for food to get buried in your fridge, your freezer, your cupboards, even your pantry. Take the time to throw out food that has expired or that you bought forever and a lifetime ago and still never ate. Any food you do not want that you can get rid of (and is non-perishable) can be donated to help those in need make a fresh start too.

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