Cleaning out your house is a monster job, physically and mentally.
Every decision to toss something becomes a reckoning of your lifestyle.
Below, weve listed some things you’re free to just throw out without any thought.
Weve tried not to include stuff you could donate or sell, or stuff with emotional attachment.
If you cant afford to throw away your garbage, dont throw away your garbage.
Save this list on your calendar for a weekend thats relatively un-freakin.
Put on a podcast, and burn through the list.
If any item gives you pause, dont deal with it!
Move onto an easy one, quick, while youve still got the momentum!
Dirty sponges, old toothbrushes,anything that gets gross and needs replacing, becausethey actually affect your health.
Plastic bags:Theyre super useful!
They carry dog poop, they line the bathroom trash.
Throw out half of them.
Cardboard boxes:Unless youre about to move, throw out every empty box that has dust on it.
Break it down flat yo.
Papers:Every paper thats already digitized, or that outlived its usefulness.
Receipts, cards, documents, manuals, monthly statements.
Heres a guide tohow long you should probably keep your papers.
Dont worry about scanning all your papers right now, or going paperless.
Do that next week.
Bad food:Look at each item in your fridge.
If it does not look tasty, throw it out.
Let the guilt over your wastefulness remind you to make more careful purchases.
Stale food:Dont use up the old stale bread while the new fresh loaf sits there unused.
Compost your wilted greens, your iffy milk, your mealy fruit.
Or eat it all, right now, in one big meal,now.
Cords:If you cant immediately identify what it connects to what, toss it.
If you havent used it in a year, toss it.
If it only worked on your old phone, toss it.
Ruined clothes:Dont worry about clothes you rarely wear.
Throw out the clothes that are actually stained, or ripped, or stretched.
Be especially aggressive with the socks and underwear.
Orphaned pairs of things:Socks, earrings, gloves.
Put them in a single shoebox that you didnt throw out when we told you to.
Same forbad towels, washcloths, or linens.
A cheap towel is better than a stained towel.
It is honest, dignified, humble.
I recently got a branded Band-Aid holder in the mail.
If you have enough non-branded alternatives, throw the branded ones out.
If you dont, throw the branded ones out and buy replacements.
Hangers:If you dont care whether your hangers are plastic or metal or wood, keep them all!
If you secretly hate half of your hangers, replace them.
You are required to do theMommy Dearestscene.
Magazines:This will hurt so hard but it will feel so good.
Last years gadget accessories:Cases and lenses and stands that dont fit your new model.
Were treading into donate it territory, but even people with old phones want new cases.
Dont insult them with your used stuff.
Default headphones:Keep a single pair of backup headphones.
Lifes too short to drink from a chipped mug.
If that was easy, now throw outeverything broken.
If youre not willing to fix itright now, you will never fix it.
Paperclips, matchbooks, rubber bands.
The weird random gifts your parents get you from, like, Walgreens:No one wants it.
Goodwill doesnt even want it.
The store didnt even want it, which is why your parents got it on clearance.
Now, if you have any energy left (wow, look at you!
Or check outthis long PopSugar listof other stuff you could toss.
Or go work on your inbox.
You did such a good job!
Were proud, jealous even!
