Tico ♥ Tina

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40+ Things You Can Get Rid of Without Even Missing

Last Updated By 33 Comments

by TicoandTina
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This entry is part 4 of 31 in the series Exploring Minimalism

One of the best ways to explore becoming minimalist is to first purge the obvious excess and see how you feel.

This post was first written in 2014 as 20+ Things You Can Get Rid of Without Even Missing, and in 2016 was expanded to 40+ things and separated into 4 different sections for better readability. It continues to serve as the main post that ties the others together.

20+ Things You Can Get Rid of Without Even Missing | 31 Days Exploring Minimalism | minimalist living, simple living, getting rid of stuff

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 acquire 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.

Here’s a cheat list of some of the most common duplicates and random things you rarely use that you can get rid of without even missing:

BONUS: Download your Quick-Start Decluttering Cheat Sheet below.

11+

Decluttering Your Living Room & Office
11+ Things You Can Get Rid of Without Even Missing

Highlight:

Get Rid of Old Equipment

What do you do with your old cell phone when you upgrade?

Maybe you even have an old landline phone laying around!

Then what about walkman, discman, etc. etc…

Old cords, headphones that don’t work anymore…

Since we paid more for some of these things and sometimes have fond memories of them, we often end up just chucking them in a drawer, cupboard, or box somewhere instead of freeing them to move on to a better place.

Sometimes the problem is that we just don’t know what to do with them, so it takes intention to make something happen.

Aside from the usual garage sale, secondhand store, Craigslist, Facebook groups, etc., there’s also the Amazon Trade-In program, which is definitely worth checking out.

See 10+ other things to get rid of from your living room & office

8+

Decluttering Your Bathroom & Laundry Room
8+ Things You Can Get Rid of Without Even Missing

decluttering - get rid of detergent

Highlight:

Get Rid of Big/Heavy Laundry Detergent

We’ve ditched unwieldy conventional laundry products in favor of a much simpler, more natural process.

See 7+ other things to get rid of from your bathroom & laundry room

16+

Decluttering Your Kitchen
16+ Things You Can Get Rid of Without Even Missing

decluttering - get rid of detergent

Highlight:

Get Rid of Measuring Cups & Spoons

Most people I know have more than two sets of both of these things in addition to several of those multi-cup Pyrex thingies (which is all we use).

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.Tweet: A tiny bit of convenience is not worth the trade-off of more stuff taking up more space + more time to wash. @TicoandTina

See 15+ other things to get rid of from your kitchen

5+

Decluttering Your Bedroom & Closet
5+ Things You Can Get Rid of Without Even Missing

decluttering - get rid of pillows

Highlight:

Get Rid of Lingerie

Not to create any enemies among husbands here, but I’m guessing a good 90-100% of wives reading this have lingerie they don’t use.

You probably got a stash when you got married that spent more time on the floor than your body, but is by now likely feeling dejected in the back of a drawer.

Between weight fluctuations with having kids, and the busyness of life, and not being able to wear it around the house because of said kids, most of those clothing items have probably passed their prime.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying never look sexy again.

I’m saying, maybe keep one or two special things, especially if they actually fit, but get rid of what you don’t use. (I took pictures of mine so I could look back someday and say oh yeah, teehee.)

Wardrobe Decision Guide Infographic - How to Get Rid of Clothes Decision Tree Chart | fashion, minimalist living, minimalism, simple livingAND…

Get something new! That you actually feel good in! And schedule in regular-ish time to actually wear it!

(See, husbands, I’m on your side here.)

For other guidelines on cleaning out your closet, see our handy dandy Wardrobe Editing Decision Guide and tips on creating a minimalist wardrobe.

See 4+ other things to get rid of from your bedroom & closet

Now, I know it can still be hard to get rid of perfectly good things, even when we recognize that we don’t really need or use them.

In some cases it’s easy to feel like you’re giving up a memory, or you might be nervous about what you’ll do if you decide you “need” it after all.

For more tips about these issues, check out How to Deal with Sentimental Clutter Without Losing the Memories and The Question that Makes it Easier to Get Rid of Stuff.

Don’t forget you can take stuff to a consignment store or sell it on Craigslist or Ebay so 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!

In case you skimmed, here’s quick access to each of the 4 sections:

Decluttering - 16+ things you can get rid of from your kitchen without even missing
Decluttering - 5+ things you can get rid of from your bedroom & closet without even missing
Decluttering - 8+ things you can get rid of from your bathroom & laundry room without even missing
Decluttering - 11+ things you can get rid of from your office and living room without even missing

Ready to start kicking some clutter butt?

Get the Quickstart Decluttering cheatsheet Free!

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Exploring Minimalism

Want to explore more of what it means to be minimalist and the resulting space and freedom it creates in your life? Let’s take simple living from something you wish for to something you actually do!

See more real-life application and practical tips!
Series Navigation<< How to Become Minimalist – 5 Methods + 15 Pinnable Minimalism Quotes >>

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  • pleothoria

    Confused as to why you would chose not to use dishwasher… they are much more water efficient and get hotter therfore kill germs better than handwashing…

    • I would like to use a dishwasher for the hotter water aspect, but I feel like it adds a lot of extra steps to the process and end up running out of dishes all the time when we live where they use one.

  • Ellen

    I’m in the process of moving & am doing most of these things right now. I wanted to note that I filled up a trash bag yesterday of random cleaning supplies I inherited from my grandmother. I’ve filled up 30+ 30 gallon garbage bags of donate, trash, recycle, made 3 trips to Goodwill, and furnished my sister’s 1st kitchen & bathroom. 80% of my clutter I inherited from my grandmother or was given to me by well meaning relatives.

    • that’s how it tends to go, Ellen! I bet it feels awesome and so much lighter 🙂

  • Dea

    I do not want to be a minimalist but I am almost 70 and guilty of all these collecting habits. Your article is the best I have read and ses doable. Thank you!

    • glad it helps, Dea! it definitely works for anyone, not just aspiring minimalists 🙂

  • I love this list! Makeup is a great one and one of the biggest things to go when started living with less. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely still wear makeup, but I realised I’m not really the ‘experimental’ type – I like to stick to neutrals that work for me and tossed everything else.

    Along the same line is excess beauty products (so many types of moisturisers, soaps, etc.) A few years ago I gave up washing my face and after YEARS of adult acne it went away! I just use coconut oil 🙂

    • it’s crazy all the stuff that advertising makes us think we NEED – your using coconut oil to wash your face is the perfect example! I use the oil cleansing method, too, and like it so much better!

    • I’m so on the same page with you about sticking to what works with makeup! And I use the baking soda/oil washing method also – soooo much nicer 🙂

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  • Rhys

    Are you joking? This list was obviously written by someone who doesn’t have children in their home, take pride in their appearance, make anything in the kitchen, and you obviously have unlimited funds to constantly replace clothing and wackiness because making your own detergent is horrible for your clothing, machines and skin. Yikes, this is a terrible list and not practical for people who actually live in their houses.

    • LOL I think you may have skimmed and not really read the details of this list. And no, we don’t have children if 2 doesn’t count as having children.

    • Doug

      If you think homemade detergent is somehow worse than store bought detergent, then you obviously don’t know what store bought detergent is made of.

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  • Doug

    The difference between sheets and a bath towel is that you’re not using the sheets to absorb lots of warm water and then leaving them to attract bacteria as they dry. Towels should be used no more than three times before washing. And yes, sheets should probably be washed more often than they actually are.

    • Good point, it helps if you don’t shower all the time 🙂

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  • Ann Fournier

    You had me until the ironing board. OCD…no offense? Using an ironing board to show up anywhere without wrinkled clothing does not make a person anything other than conscientious.

    • Obviously if you have clothes that get wrinkled you would want to do something about that, but there are many clothes that don’t get wrinkled or are very easily taken care of in other ways such as a quick toss in the dryer or hanging in the bathroom while you shower. Honestly, I just prefer to get stuff that doesn’t wrinkle, and last resort is a little steamer, which works excellently and doesn’t need an ironing board.

  • cjShannon

    Towels that stay damp for longer than 20 minutes grow bacteria. If you use a bath towel for a week or two before washing, you are putting your family at serious risk of developing rashes, skin irritants and even MRSA. but everything else sounds pretty good. thanks for the list.

    • Thanks for the info about the bacteria, you’re definitely not the first to mention this, so I’ll be updating the post also, thanks!

  • Victoria Wollf

    Not a bad list but we love our library and our always picking things out to reread (and that’s with our kids still too young for school)

    • We definitely like having a few books at least, I doubt we’ll ever be completely digital with those, but with traveling half of the year it wasn’t that practical for us to keep most of them. We really like libraries, though! 🙂

  • Lisa Bender

    All wonderful ideas! I like to read other peoples lists on what to purge, it gives me new ideas to add to ones I already do. My problem is that once I take my stuff to Goodwill, I go shopping there also because you never know what treasure you will find. A vicious cycle lol.

    • You’re so right about other clutter being so quick to come in! But once you work hard on decluttering you definitely think a little longer about your purchases at least 🙂

  • Tess

    I’m in the process of packing to move to a new home. Most of my decent existing stuff is being donated or thrown out because it’s worn out and has gone through the raising of 3 kids who are now in their mid to late 20s. My husband and I have carefully chosen the new stuff to go into our home. The only things that I seem to have an excess of are towels (I tend to go through a lot) and kitchen items. I have a large extended family and enjoy doing big dinners. I had to laugh about the serving-ware comment because I do have a bunch. However, I do use them at least once a month. Other than that, I don’t have much stuff! Great list!

    • That’s awesome, Tess! I hope to be able to do a lot more hosting someday, and you definitely have to do what makes sense for your family. It sounds like you are thoughtful and intentional about what you’re keeping, so I wouldn’t call it excess 🙂