Minimalist Teen's Guide to Minimalism
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Minimalist Teen's Guide to Minimalism
9 Step Journey into Minimalism

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Trash, donate, sell

It's time to let everything––yes, everything––go. 👋
By this point, you should have reached a day where you didn’t unpack a single item.
Congratulations! You’ve identified the items you need, the items that truly add value to your life. Now, you can get rid of the items that don’t. Now, it’s just a question of whether you should trash, donate or sell. Now, you can begin the cycle of letting go!
“But Diana, I can’t!” 😩
Yes, you can! Embrace it. 😤 Over the past week or so, you unpacked the items you need. So why are you still holding onto things that you clearly don’t have a need for? It’s time to stop selfishly clinging onto unnecessary material possessions. Those things can probably be better-used and better-appreciated by someone else. As Elsa would say, let it go! ❄️

What should be trashed, donated or sold?

(1) Trash 🗑️
Whether it’s magazines, newspapers, rusted nuts and bolts, instruction manuals, stray plastic containers/lids, old and tired T-shirts, beat-up sneakers, expired makeup/medicine/food, hotel lotion and shower gel bottles, broken/unfixable furniture, receipts and bills, or your high school physics notes, some stuff should just go directly into the dumpster. (or the recycling bin!♻️)
🗞️👕🍼👟💄💊🧴🧾📓 → Goodbye! 👋
(2) Donate 🤗
I ultimately donated the vast majority of my belongings during my journey into minimalism. Donating was a win-win because I not only made the most of an item (by giving it to someone who would get more value from it than me), but I also got satisfaction from adding value to others’ lives. Stop holding onto items you’re not using and let them have a new home!
🗒️ NOTE: Not sure where to donate? I recommend checking out
Goodwill
⁠
,
The Salvation Army
⁠
,
Freecycle
⁠
and
Habitat for Humanity
⁠
. Also, consider giving stuff away to friends :)
(3) Sell 💰
If you think someone can get a lot of value from an item, you can try to sell the item. Whether that’s having your items evaluated (at a consignment/thrift store like
Crossroads
⁠
/
Buffalo Exchange
⁠
) or posting online (on a marketplace like
eBay
⁠
/
Depop
⁠
/
Poshmark
⁠
or in a group on
Facebook
⁠
/
Nextdoor
⁠
), you may be able to make some money off of your old electronics, clothing, furniture or jewelry. And with online thrift stores like
ThredUp
⁠
and
TheRealReal
⁠
, this process is more convenient than ever!
So what are you waiting for? Go list everything today!
🗒️ NOTE: I ended up donating, rather than selling, most of my items because the selling process can be time-consuming. I wanted to move on rather than trying to wait days (or even weeks) for a response to an online listing. The time I saved and the relief I felt from getting rid of my boxes of stuff far outweighed the couple of dollars I could have gotten.
⁠

👉 Your Turn: Trash, Donate, Sell!

Let everything go. Determine what you should trash, donate or sell and DO IT.
We’ll deal with sentimental items (e.g. birthday cards, pictures, travel souvenirs, school yearbooks, family heirlooms) later, so hold on to those... for now!
⁠
🗒️ NOTE: If you find that you’re changing your mind about getting rid of items after taking them out of their boxes, consider keeping your boxes of stuff sealed and donating them unopened. 📦 📦 📦
I can’t remember the number of times I thought to myself, Even though I don’t wear this, maybe one day I’ll have an occasion to. I should keep it just in case. I’d forgotten about most of these items while they were packed up, only remembering––and wanting to keep––items after I pulled them out. When I realized this, I drove the rest of my boxes of items directly to donation bins, without opening up the boxes before and allowing myself to see what I was letting go. In my experience post-purge, there have been few––if any––items that I remember and regret giving up... and my regret was short-lived since the item was easily replaced.
Need more encouragement? 💪
Pick up an item and ask yourself:
When was the last time I used this item?
Does this item add value to my life?
Is this item replaceable?
If you’re like me, your answers will most likely be along the lines of “I can’t recall”, “no” and “yes, if I need to”. So get rid of that stuff!!
🗒️ NOTE: After you’ve let everything go, if you come across items that you find you need, you can replace them. But chances are, you probably won’t.
⁠

➡️ Next up: Step
Go digital
⁠
.

⁠
😲 Did You Know: The average American throws away 65 pounds of clothing per year! That’s equivalent to the weight of a queen-sized box spring!
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