We have all saved certain items because we “might” need them someday, but how many times do we actually use them again? These items oftentimes end up in drawers or cabinets, only to be seen again when we start cleaning things out. Clutter has a sneaky way of quietly piling up, and before we know it, we’re stuck with a slew of items that we don’t need. If you have any any of the 10 following household items, you might want to throw them out now.
Unmatched Socks
We can all agree it seems as if socks just “disappear,” and oftentimes we are left with unmatched socks that we just throw in our drawers and hope the matching sock turns up. Most of the time, however, that other sock isn’t going to make another appearance. If you’ve been hanging on to old, single socks, you should throw them out now.
Newspapers and Magazines
While it’s just fine to snip out articles, photos, stories, or recipes that are of interest to us, we don’t need any newspapers or magazines older than a month or two. Chances are, if we haven’t gotten around to reading them within a reasonable time frame, we probably never will Clip what you want out of them and recycle the rest.
Old Medication
Your medicine cabinet might get cluttered if you are hanging on to old, expired prescriptions that should be disposed of. While we may keep these “just in case,” the bottles at the back of our medicine cabinets are usually very outdated and not suitable for consumption anyway. Check the Food and Drug Administration’s unused medication disposal guidelines before discarding your meds.
Outdated Technology
Cleaning out drawers and cabinets can be intriguing because we may come across something fun, but oftentimes it is boring and what we actually come across is a bunch of old electronics. The power cord from your 2002 Nokia cell phone is probably unusable, especially for the technologies being sold today, so it should be discarded. You can also donate that old flip phone to Cell Phones for Soldiers, which uses proceeds to fund communications between active duty service members and their loved ones.
Glasses
Unfortunately, our eyes are unpredictable and many of us experience multiple prescription strength changes throughout the years. If you come across glasses with your old prescription, it’s safe to say you don’t need them and can throw them out. Better yet, there are organizations you can donate them to so other people can make use of them.
Greeting Cards
You may have a few birthday or holiday cards that have some sort of sentimental value for you, but chances are most of the cards you are hanging onto simply say “Congratulations” or “Happy Holidays.” If you’re keeping these generic messages around and they have very little significance, recycle them today.
Takeout Menus
If you have old menus from restaurants that offer takeout, these restaurants likely have a website with a menu now that you should refer to instead. Restaurants also change their menus over time, so that Italian menu stained with tomato sauce in the bottom of your kitchen drawer may be outdated anyway.
Lidless Tupperware
Tupperware without a lid is no good, yet you may find yourself hanging on to the bottoms of the containers just in case you find the lids. You may have already purchased new Tupperware and likely won’t end up finding the lost lids; therefore, you can recycle the lidless Tupperware.
Old Makeup
The U.S. does not mandate that cosmetic manufacturers put expiration dates on their products, but it is important to throw old items out. “Expired” makeup can cause adverse skin and health reactions, so you’ll want to make sure your cosmetics are intact and don’t have a strange smell or appearance. Just like the age-old rule with outdated food, “When in doubt, throw it out.”
Your Bath Loofah
While this is not new knowledge, it is definitely alarming! Most people are unaware that people should be throwing out loofahs after just a few weeks. A peer-reviewed study from 1994 found that loofahs “play host to a variety of bacterial species,” so you’ll want to either disinfect or replace your loofah more often than you may be doing now.
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