Major Decluttering

Hello everybody, Tsubaki here! Changing living conditions will slowly but surely influence a person to either acquire more stuff and or feel a great need to get rid of stuff. In my case of temporarily moving into a small room that I share with one other person and then moving into our own actual two bedroom apartment, made it a necessity to get rid of everything I don’t need or want. This post will break down how I have been mentally breaking down what I get rid of and what I have been using to slowly make progress. 

The first item I started with is clothes. Personally, I was holding onto shirts and pants that were too small for me because I had either forgot about them all together or was hoping I was going to lose weight and would need them later. Unless you are going hardcore changing your diet, exercise routine and lifestyle there is a high chance your weight will stay the same or will change with time depending on the person. I also figured out these things were using up a lot of space and for some reason, many people have a habit of just holding onto clothes. That tight dress you got on sale last year, jeans from 3 years also, if it doesn’t fit and it is not being used, donate it or sell it. Places like GoodWill and Salvation Army are easy to find to drop off good condition clothes. If you realize you have a collection of old and worn or just completely uncomfortable undergarments there are certain collection services that will take them. Just cause they have a hole in it doesn’t mean the material can’t be recycled. Try to research services in your area that can take them, or start getting crafty and transforming them into pet toys, decorations, and so many other things. For all the socks that are completely destroyed or have horribly placed holes in them, they make great paper towel replacements depending on the sock but if its just not usable please donate them to a place that can recycle the fabric. 

The next cluster of items is books. Now this will vary depending on if you like to hold onto physical books or you like having a digital library of books since having digital books is a lot easier since you just need more online storage or a larger SD card depending on where you want to store them. If you have physical books you have to come to terms with yourself and if you are not willing to read certain books or re-read them at a later date, it is best to donate them to your local library, sell them to second-hand bookstores or even sell them online. All books you are willing to keep will take up space either digitally or shelf space so you have to be picky on what is worth keeping especially since there are ways to still be able to have access to the same titles by having access to a public library.  

The next cluster of items is collectible items. If you love blind bags/boxes and gacha machines it is possible you have full sets of collections or random collectibles. If you had bought a blind box/bag for one specific item, the rest should be sold off and or traded for the one you want. If you want to keep a certain collection then you must make space for it and maintain the items. In a case that you don’t want to keep a full set, selling it online as a bundle or selling to a shop that takes in said items will make you a bit plus get it off your hands all at the same time. DVDs and CDs and older media storage(cassettes, vinyl disks, etc) also count as part of this set. More often than not it might be easier and sometimes cheaper to obtain movies, videos and music digitally, especially if you aren’t super crazy about obtaining a favorite. I only keep favorite shows I can’t watch online as DVDs and it helps when you have limited shelf room. If you have physical ones that are still in almost new condition and have no need for them you can sell them online for a good price. Just remember to do research on what other places are selling it for so you don’t undercut yourself. 

The next cluster of items is tech. Tech can be anything from hardware, AC cords and actual sets of devices even with accessories. If you took the time and fully matched each cord with its device and realize that you have dead charging cables, AC cables to stuff you never had in years and batteries that were used. Please find your nearest tech recycle center. BEST BUY is an example of a retailer that actually will take broken devices and parts for recycling as long as you bring them to the store. There are also places to bring in working tech and will give you cash for them. If you do that do remember to clear all personal info and data on the device. You also have the option to sell it online. Just make sure to give a very detailed description of all defects. If you can’t do any of those then it might be best to find your nearest community recycle event where they will take anything from old TVs to paint cans! Please note depending on your location this might not happen that often and only at specific meet up locations.  

Those are my personal main clusters that I have been improving especially for the new year. To make these things more effective I have also taken upon myself to only buy clothes when absolutely needed like a new pair of professional pants for work, using what I have for tech to complete what I need like downloading a good drawing app for my tablet to do digital art, and donating books I either only need for school or will replace being of hardcover editions of favorite books.

 I just want to add one more on the side but I personally haven’t been able to declutter because to me it is items I want to keep, and that is video games. If you been here on my blog before you may have stumbled across many limited edition video game sets that I reviewed. I do a lot of research into games so if I buy a physical game I know that it is something that had replay value for me. Also if I am confused about getting a game physical there is a high chance there is a free downloadable demo or video of some gameplay up for me to try or watch so I am very sure of my choice when I buy a game. However, if you are willing to let go of working games, the best choice is to sell them at a store that will give you a better amount of money even if you trade it for another game. In my experience selling games to big retailers like GameStop have been poor with very little money for older games. If the game is more or less within a few months since it has been out then big retailers might give you more. If you sell older games to a shop that also sells more pre-owned and import games and systems, they might give you more money for it. Another option is to sell them online however, you will have to make sure there is no way they can get damaged on the way there. So be friendly on the bubble wrap! 

If you made it this far, I hope my experience will help you declutter. If you are wondering which app/site I use to sell my goods it is Mercari. Click here for a link to the app plus ten bucks off your purchase! 

See you next time and Happy New Year! 🎉❤️