As I help clients to downsize their belongings, the biggest part of the process is decluttering, or getting rid of things. Decluttering comes in various forms such as donation, recycling – which can be a form of donation, returning borrowed items, gifting, and trash.
Some things are in good condition and can be donated. Other things that are not worthy of donation, that can be recycled, go into the recycle bin. Then there are things to discard that are just plain trash. Getting rid of things can be expensive.
I’m not talking about throwing out things via your weekly trash pickup. I’m talking about large amounts of trash, and big pieces that cannot be recycled, or donated. My clients always have to pay someone when they get rid of things in some way such as, paying a trash hauler, paying an organizer, or if you haul it away yourself, you will be paying a fee to dump your trash.
A less expensive way of getting rid of things is to do it a little at a time through your curbside pickup. Most trash companies provide a means of getting rid of big items by offering a bulk pickup during different times of the year. They understand that people have big items to get rid of at some point, and it’s included in your service.
Staying organized is a good way of getting rid of things a little at a time. After you’ve put like items together, or created a category, the second step in the organizing process is to purge or eliminate excess in each category. And, when you add decluttering to your regular cleaning regimen, you are getting rid of things a little at a time, and it’s much easier, and more cost effective to get rid of things by way of curbside pickup.
