Realization I have made while decluttering my house.

It is so true that you can't clean a cluttered house! Also true that clutter is NOT soothing. I try to declutter once or twice a year (I'm behind schedule, LOL) because it's just so easy for a house to fill up and the closets to become rat traps!

I think you're right to just donate your stuff--it's so much faster and easier than messing with a yard sale. This way you can fill up the car, drop it all off, re-fill the car, etc. Good luck!

You are making a great start! Just keep plugging away at it and eventually, you will be through! Just 15 mins a day will make a big difference.

It takes one trip to the in-laws to remind me how much I hate clutter. Shhhhhhhh.....don't tell DH and my sister but I also hate having yard sales. My sister has been decluttering and getting ready for a yard sale for weeks. She thinks we are coming over with stuff we need to get rid of too. True, we have stuff to get rid of.   DH has been gathering his stuff for a yard sale stuff too but I don't want to have one at our house. I don't want to have one at all. I would rather donate it all and call it a day. I hate standing in the sun. I hate setting up and asking down. I hate dealing with hagglers. 

This is my inlaws too and my sister is a borderline hoarder. She doesn't have the filth those ppl do, she just can't say no when the girls want "stuff", clothes, toys, books,makeup etc.....and everyone gives her stuff. She's too nice to say no! I'm officially the "Niecy" of the family (remember "Clean House"?) and get called to bail her out when she can't see the table anymore. She literally hadn't eaten at the table for a meal as a family for 3 years until we cleared it off and purged last fall. It's sad but I tell her don't be embarrassed. You can eat a whole elephant.....you just take one bite at a time! in June we cleaned her room of all the off sized clothing she had, things from when she was a teen and the "5pounder" clothes she had and ended up with 18 bags of clothes and shoes to donate!

I got my sons in on decluttering at an early age. We'd have a keep, trash and donate pile. They got to choose what went where with a little help from me at first. But it's second nature to them now. We move a lot so that's what helps keep us in line! My biggest hot spots in the house are the bathroom cabinets, kitchen pantry and hall closet. I am pretty regular about sorting through our clothing every season because my sons are always outgrowing their clothes! And I've always just donated my items to local shelters and churches. I prefer giving than trying to have a garage sale where people want the stuff for free anyway! Oddly enough I love flea markets and thrift stores.

I think it's great that you are decluttering! I need to do more decluttering. It seems since my grandson was born last year more stuff has been coming into the house, not so much going out. Keep up the good work. It really is a good feeling when our lives are less cluttered overall.

To help get the kids on board, we always did clothes before back to school and summer shopping and toys after Christmas. The idea that they had to make room for new belongings seemed to help the pain. We also made the connection that the toys (which they had a harder time with) would be donated for children that didn't have a lot - connecting it to the whole season of giving, and as we also usually participated in toy drives before Christmas where they could pick out new toys - it was on the forefront of their mind. We also have a trunk for toys that really mean a lot to them and even if they've outgrown them, they really, really want to keep them. I figure someday, I'll be ready for grandkids with a trunk of extra special toys.

Great job! I bet you can find time to do a little bit when school starts -- even if it's tossing/donating something when you bring something new into the house. Set up a garbage bag that you continue to fill through the school year, then donate when it's full. Keep it in the garage or wherever it's handy. Once a month, leave it on the front porch for whichever charity cruises your neighborhood (it's BBBS here; first wed. of the month.)

If you can stay on top of the new stuff, you'll be able to eventually catch up with the old stuff. I've been slowly decluttering over the last two years. My house is SOOOO much better. My husband spent about 4 years very very ill, and I couldn't keep up with anything. Since he's been better, I still work but manage a few minutes here and there to keep up.

I also pay my son to declutter and organize for me during summer. He couldn't find a summer job, so he's doing work for me around the house and yard. He's gotten quite a bit accomplished.

When my dad died last summer and my mom sold one of their houses, I've ended up with all their stuff in my basement. DS has at least corralled it onto shelves in labeled bins. I tossed out many moldy shoes and clothes from the 70s and didn't tell my mom.I go through it box by box and toss the junk. She has 20-year old clothes with the tags still on them. My motto is that if I don't wear it for a year (and it isn't for a special occasion, it's out of here.) I don't think my mom has ever donated a piece of clothing in more than 20 years.

I'm just waiting for DS to move out next week, and then I will start again. We moved a bunch of stuff from the guest room into my office and the basement to accommodate him moving back home earlier this year. Now it can go back to where it belongs and I can get back on to decluttering.

It's getting to be that time of year again for me too... When dh goes away on his annual big business trip and I get out the trash bags. I get rid of the stuff eh can't bear to part with, but never notices is gone.