25 Things You Can Get Rid of Right Now

Most people don’t know where to start when getting organized. The first step is to toss useless stuff! After you get rid of the obvious garbage – empty Chinese takeout containers, old pizza boxes, etc. – here’s a list of the not-so-obvious garbage you can get rid of today.

1. Wire dry cleaning hangers

They’re cheap, they can be dangerous, and they bend and break easily. You’re not going to use them, and you know you’re going to throw them out eventually. Throw them out now!

Star Organizers Tip: Invest in Ultra Thin Velvet No Slip Space Saving Hangers. It’s worth it. I promise. I used to be skeptical, too. I thought there is no way that a hanger is going to make that much of a difference in my closet. One you go velvet black, you never go back! These hangers increased the amount of space I had in my closet by almost double! My clothes also don’t fall off hangers anymore, as they used to on the plastic ones. These hangers are totally worth it! If you’re not in a place to make the investment in these hangers just yet, at least start by getting rid of the dry cleaning hangers you have laying around your home.

2. Socks with no matches

Socks disappear in washing machines and dryers. It’s a fact of life. We’re all guilty of holding onto socks that don’t have matches in hopes of one day finding its counterpart. Stop hoping; throw out the sock (or at least turn it into a rag).  You’re not going to wear mismatched socks, just get rid of them.

3. Broken umbrellas

They’re taking up space in your home and they’re completely useless! Get rid of them! Keep one or two umbrellas. If you’re one of those people who owns 16+ umbrellas, hone your collection down to 2-3. You don’t need more than 2 umbrellas per person, and depending on your household size, that could still be excessive. You can’t use them all at once, and we both know that you have your favorite one you use 99% of the time

4. Last year’s holiday cards

And the holiday cards from 2, 3, 5, 8 and 10 years ago… You don’t need to hold onto them anymore. And they definitely don’t need to be displayed on the refrigerator anymore.

Star Organizers Tip: If you feel like you really need to keep them, take a photo of them or scan them and store them digitally.  You don’t need old holiday cards, birthday cards, and anniversary cards cluttering your space – especially if they’re not organized.

5. Dried up cans of paint

You keep telling yourself you might need it to touch up a wall, or you paid so much money for it and had so much leftover and don’t want it to go to waste. What it’s doing is wasting space in your home. Toss it! It’s garbage.

6. Random mugs or plastic promotional cups

You don’t need a cabinet full of dozens of mugs and cheap, plastic, little cups that say “XXX Bank” or “YYY Foundation” on it. Toss them and keep the glasses and mugs that really make you happy and out of which you enjoy drinking.

7. Old hair brushes

If it’s broken, if pieces are coming off it, or if there’s more hair in the brush than on your head, toss it! It’s time to get a new hair brush. Or maybe you already realized that months ago, but you still haven’t gotten rid of your old one. It’s now time.

8. Candles with burned down wicks

Toss them! They’re literally useless garbage! Get fresh candles to bring the beautiful scents back into your home.

9. Pens that are out of ink

We all have that cup, drawer, box, or bag of dozens (or cough, cough, hundreds) of pens and markers that are out of ink. We have so many that we don’t even know which ones work. Don’t you hate that feeling of needing to write something down and you go try to write with six pens before you find one with ink? Have you ever forgotten what you wanted to write down while you were looking for a good pen?

Star Organizers Tip: Instead of putting an out-of-ink pen back in the pen jar, toss it so you don’t have to experience that again!

10. Pencils without erasers

Throw away the chewed up pencils, the ones that are so tiny they barely fit between your fingers, and the ones without erasers. If you never write with pencils, you don’t need to keep dozens.

11. Dead batteries

Toss them – especially if they are corroded. Corroded batteries can be detrimental to your health. Dispose of them immediately. Bring rechargeable batteries to any store that sells them, like pharmacies, office supply stores or hardware stores. Alkaline batteries can be disposed of in the trash, not your recycling bin. Click here to learn more about properly disposing batteries.

12. Used notebooks

If you don’t refer to your notes on a regular basis, toss them! Get rid of old school notebooks – you’re never going to need them again. Toss filled up scratchpads. If you feel like you may need the information at some point and don’t want to throw it away, scan your notes first, and then toss it. Storing it digitally takes up much less space and allows you to find your information more quickly, too.

On a roll and want to toss some more junk? Click here to check out Part II!