You've de-clutter, but what about all the stuff I don't want?

Be realistic - is the golden rule! We have the "R" method which some of you may have seen before but lets focus on the stuff you don't want rather than those items you want to keep.

R - Repair
A lot of people hang onto stuff because it originally cost a lot of money and believe it is worth getting repaired, for example a watch (which you have since replace), electrical appliances and so on. Be realistic about the cost of getting the items repaired versus replacement. Do you know where to take it? Do you have time to get it done? Also consider if you do repair the item, will it fit into your new de-cluttered life?

R - Recycle
Give it to charity or to friends and family. When donating to Charity, consider if you would ask a friend to pay $5 for that particular item, if no, then that item is not suitable for charity. Please don't use charity bins as a garbage bin - did you know it cost the Salvation Army about $5m last year to get rid of rubbish, don't you think that money would be better spent on other services?

Idea - If you have lots of clothes to get rid of and you are de-cluttering with friends, why not have a swap night where everyone brings the same number of clothing items and you all swap - a new wardrobe for free and lots of fun!

R - Re-Sell
If you are up for a garage sale or perhaps you want to have a go at ebay there is money to be made in re-selling your unwanted items. We are no longer surprised by what people will pay good money for! If you don't know how to sell on ebay, find an ebay Trading Assistant (they are listed on the ebay website). Psst ... we can help you with this too!

R - Return
During your de-clutter you may have come across items that belong to someone else, like library books, shoes you borrowed from your sister or the power tool from your mate next door. Return these items asap, complete with an apology if you've had the item for a very long time!

R - Rubbish
If your items don't fit into any of the above categories, then it really has to go. Don't keep the rubbish hanging around your garage waiting to fill your bin each week - this is fraught with disaster. More often than not, the unwanted items end up back in your home and you are back at square one. There are plenty of rubbish removal companies that will take away absolutely everything for a very small amount of money (they will even load the truck for you), very cost effective compared to paying fees at the council dump.