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Last Updated February 7, 2015 By TicoandTina
This entry is part 4 of 31 in the series Exploring Minimalism
It can be daunting to think of trying to go through all your stuff to figure out what you really need, but it’s a lot easier to start with what you really don’t need. I don’t know if we all just get a bunch of extra stuff when we get married or if we buy things we like better over the years and never bother to get rid of the old stuff or what, but I’m willing to bet you have a bunch of duplicates in your life.
Pillows – Do you have decorative pillows that just get in the way? Maybe you have old pillows stashed in a closet somewhere that you never bothered to get rid of. We had a few randoms floating around our house that didn’t really get used at all.
Sheets – How many extra sheets do you really need? Certainly not more than one extra set per bed. Even if you have a child who wets the bed, if they’re wetting it more than once a night, there’s always the lay-down-a-towel trick 
Like my grandma always said, “one to wash, one to wear” – I think it works for sheets, too.
Hangers – Is your closet littered with a messy mix of hangers? We tossed out all but the plastic hangers, mostly with the no-slip grooves in them, about four years ago and haven’t looked back.
Glasses/Mugs – Why do people have so many glasses? I suppose using a different one for each beverage might make you feel more sophisticated, but you probably still have one or two favorites that you always gravitate toward like your comfy sweater. There are probably quite a few that mostly collect dust.
Tupperware/Containers – First of all, this is just personal preference, but glass is so much better for storing leftovers – sooo much easier to wash, doesn’t stain, doesn’t put toxins in your food if you microwave in it, etc. If you’re into your plastic, though, it’s likely that you have stuff with missing lids or that’s been damaged in some way, or just plain way more than you can use at once.
Vases – I haven’t gotten a ton of flowers in my life, but I still managed to collect quite a few vases. The reality is, I’m only going to use one at a time, and I actually can’t remember the last time I used a vase.
Knives – You might be a gourmet chef, in which case I understand why you have so many knives. But six paring knives, really? Are you planning to sprout five more sets of hands, or does your whole family all stuff themselves into the kitchen every night to help you do stuff with paring knives all at the same time? Then there are those silly knife blocks – when you buy a knife block with a set of knives, how many of those do you regularly use, and then you still have a bunch of knives in a drawer? My goal is to get rid of our knife block and keep just a few knives on a magnetic strip on the wall.
Ladles/Serving Spoons – We used to have at least three ladles and I have no idea why. Since we’re not running a soup kitchen, we never ate more than one soup at a time. All it did was encourage us to be more lazy with doing the dishes. Same with serving spoons – are you a Norman Rockwell family sitting down to a 6-course meal every night? I’m coming over if so.
Spatulas – How many can you really use at once? What joy does it give you to store the rest?
Scrapers – Again, how many can you really use at once? You really only need two – a big one for scraping bowls and a smaller one that fits in jars – I would just use the smaller one for scraping bowls also, but David likes having the bigger one, so I conceded. Probably the reason that you have so many is that they came in a pack. I’ll probably just get this one someday if he’ll agree.
Pitchers – It’s nice to have a couple of pitchers if you regularly make multiple types of beverages at the same time, but I still bet you have too many pitchers.
Measuring Spoons and Cups – Most people I know have more than two sets of both of these things in addition to several of those multi-cup Pyrex thingies. I will admit that I’m not a baker, but I also really hate extra dirty dishes, so even when I do have to use measuring spoons or cups I make sure to do it in a way that I can just use the same ones. That tiny bit of convenience is not worth it to me for the trade-off of more stuff taking up more space and more time to wash.
Whisks – Same old refrain, different verse… how. many. can. you. use. at. a. time???
Note: I suspect that dishwashers make us feel like we need multiples of things. Oh, that thing is dirty and in the dishwasher, thank goodness I can pull out one of my five extras. Only one of the reasons I hate dishwashers.
Towels – Do you change your sheets every day? You’re probably touching your sheets 5-8 hours a day, whereas you only use a towel for a minute or two – at the cleanest part of your day. Say you use the same towel for a week or two – how many do you really need? This year we invested in towels that we love and cut down to one towel each + a couple guest towels. It’s been wonderful! Less laundry, less folding, more space in the cupboard, no more towels laying on the floor to guess if they’re dirty or clean or whose they are.
Toiletries – Do you like to try new products and then find yourself with a bunch of half-used bottles and tubes? I recently forced myself to use a few things up and threw other things away.
Makeup – I have a bag of half-used makeup and samples waiting for me to sort and probably mostly throw away. Same idea as the toiletries, but why do we just keep hanging on to this stuff?!
Cleaning Supplies – Same as above, trying new things and not ever making ourselves use up the old ones… make yourself use it up or throw it away. Your children do not want to inherit your cleaning supplies.
Medicine Cabinet – We are blessed to be able to say that medicine often tends to expire before it gets used up in our house. It’s rather annoying to actually need something and think you have it, only to discover that it’s expired, and even more silly to hang onto stuff you’re not going to need again, like nursing cream if you’re not having any more babies.
Books - It feels nice to have a book collection, it does. But we got honest with ourselves and knew that there was zero reason for us to keep all those books sitting on our shelves. We kept a few favorites that we actually use, and got rid of everything else. Whenever we buy anything new these days it’s all digital copies, anyways, and there’s always the library as well. Even if you do want to hold onto your books, there are probably quite a few you wouldn’t really miss.
Office Supplies – Notebooks, binders, folders… filled largely with good intentions and nothing else. If you have them, make yourself actually use them, or just get rid of them. We had old planners, calendars, you name it. They sat, untouched, in drawers and cupboards. We haven’t missed them in the slightest.
Special Occasion Stuff – Do you have a collection of little hotel bottles? Gift lotions, soaps, candles, bath this or that? Stop telling yourself you’re saving them for a special occasion. That goes foranything you’re “saving for a special occasion”. Unless you have a specific occasion in mind, just get rid of the clutter.
Magazines – Do you keep old magazines, telling yourself you’re going to re-read them some time or make craft projects out of them??? Because you’re not going to. And even if you someday decide that you really need old magazines for something, you can find some pretty quickly at libraries, garage sales, thrift stores, Craigslist, recycling at the post office, other people’s trash, etc. Just kidding about the last one, unless you really do have a magazine emergency
Craft Supplies – This is one of the areas that is still on my list to whittle down. I love all things creative and my daughter is a girl after my own heart. It’s hard for us to not look at everything as something we can make something out of, somehow, someday. All it’s gotten us up to this point, however, is the equivalent of crafting junk drawers. I fully intend to start doing a lot more hands-on creative stuff with her, but we’re going to get serious about what we make and get the right tools for the job, and our rule is going to be that we have to have a use in mind if we keep scraps. If you don’t have a weekly, or at least monthly, crafting night where you use those supplies you have sitting around, you’re just kidding yourself.
If there’s something that has sentimental value, take a picture of it. Take stuff to a consignment store or sell it on Craigslist or Ebay so that you can get money back and reward yourself for good decisions. Goodwill, the Savation Army, and your local thrift store would also be very happy to take your excess, or you could bless someone personally at your church or in your community. It’s going to be doing them more good than it has been taking up space and collecting dust in your house, and you’re going to love the extra space!
