There’s a certain exhilaration that comes with throwing things away and freeing up space in your home. It’s not only an aesthetic task — KonMari-ing your space has proven health benefits, too.
To make it easy on you, we crafted this handy list of things you need to toss, recycle or donate. Make your way through this list for a serene, clutter-free home.
1. GIFT PARAPHERNALIA
Shopping bags, crinkled gift ribbon and ripped wrapping paper: Toss it all. Nothing psychologically prevents you from enjoying a fresh start like trash sticking around and cluttering up your home. Move onward!
2. OLD PRESCRIPTIONS
Take the new year as an opportunity to clean shop in your medicine cabinet. Get rid of prescriptions and over-the-counter pills that have expired or that you haven’t used in months, since it’s also unsafe to keep expired medicine around.
3. OLD TOWELS
Who wants to begin a new year with stained, discolored towels? The start of a new year is the perfect time to upgrade your bathroom with a set of fresh towels. Toss any threadbare ones that have just gotten too much wear.
4. OLD CHARGERS
Gather up any random chargers that are cluttering up your shelves, and try to match them to the technology in your home (wireless speakers, Fitbits, etc.). If you cannot find a single item that you still own and use that can be charged by the charger in question, toss it.
5. RECEIPTS
Most of us have a hodgepodge of old receipts and tags lurking in a myriad of places at home. Unless it’s a receipt for a big purchase (sofa, laptop, refrigerator or television), throw them all away. Make sure to toss receipts and tags for clothing you’ve worn as you won’t be returning it and definitely don’t need the proof of purchase.
6. EVENT TICKETS
This is one of those items you probably don’t even realize you end up accumulating. Unless you plan to frame or scrapbook the special movie night when you got engaged, throw them away.
7. INVITATIONS
If old invitations mark an important memory and you want to save them for posterity, put them somewhere for safekeeping. Otherwise, give your kitchen an instant makeover by recycling the cards and invitations on the fridge.
8. OLD MAGAZINES
If they’re over a year old, they’ve got to go. Every last one of them. Take a look in the mirror and admit it to yourself: You are never going to re-read them.
9. CHIPPED MUGS
It’s time to purge your cabinets of the random, chipped, coffee-stained mugs that not even a college kid would keep around.
10. OLD NAIL POLISH
The colors separate and it gets gross. Say goodbye!
11. SHOE BOXES
Clear out your closet of the packing boxes for things you kept in case you wanted to return, but didn’t end up doing so.
12. OLD BILLS
If you paid ’em, toss ’em, unless you need to keep them for tax purposes. Alternatively, scan important documents and keep a softcopy on an external hard drive for future reference.
13. BROKEN JEWELRY
Did you make it a priority in the last six months to fix it? Then the item is not a priority to you and you don’t really need it because you lived six months without it. Get rid of broken jewelry you haven’t worn or made an effort to fix. While you’re at it, toss earrings that have been missing a match for ages. You need to face the reality that the missing earring won’t be magically walking back into your life.
14. DRIED PENS
No one needs the number of pens they mysteriously accumulate and we bet half of them don’t even work. Streamline your collection.
15. OLD BATH MATS
Bath mats should be replaced once a year. They see a lot of foot traffic and get stained, dirty and worn down. Start the new year with a fresh pad for your feet.
16. OLD WARRANTIES
If they’re expired or you’re never going to need them, get rid of them.
17. BROKEN HEADPHONES
One word: useless.
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