Inside: Give your decluttering a clear focus this October! A guide to what to declutter in October, perfect for maintenance and slow, but steady declutterers.
Normally, I love October. It’s usually when it finally starts to feel like fall, and I can finally bring out my Bearpaw boots and sweaters.
Not this year. Thank you, climate change (and possibly hot flashes?). T-shirts it is.
I started a new part-time job this month, working outside the home for the first time in seventeen years. And I LOVE IT. I get to be surrounded by things that make me laugh, I love the people I work with, and it gives my brain a (paid) break from the challenges of parenting and homeschooling.
(Also, it’s refreshing to come home and be “done” for the day. I’ve realized that working from home at a job that is potentially endless has its downsides.)
I had been itching to try working outside the home again for several months. The idea wouldn’t leave. Just as I was about to give up and wait until next year, I found the perfect flexible job.
If an idea won’t leave you alone, it might be your sign to try it! You can always say it was a failed experiment and abandon it. Or it might be the best decision ever. If you don’t try, you’ll never know.
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This month, we’re again focusing on (potentially) easier categories like makeup and the towels, plus seasonal items like Halloween costumes and fall decor.
You are welcome to tackle these in any order you choose, but I’d recommend going in order this month. Costumes are fresh on the brain in October, and it will be easier to declutter them now that kids have chosen this year’s costume.
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Costumes
As much as I’d like to believe that my kids are going to repeat Halloween costumes, it’s not gonna happen. And it’s very unlikely that siblings will want to use other siblings’ costumes.
Maybe your kids are still young, and they love to dress up. If that’s the case, you could justify keeping a small collection of Halloween costumes. Just make sure they fit whatever container limit you’ve set for them!
But if your kids have outgrown that phase? Then it’s time to declutter those costumes!
If money is tight (#beenthere), perhaps you could host a costume swap? Or hit those thrift stores in mid to late September to get your first pick of the second hand costumes.
Or keep just one tote of costumes in the garage – ONE – and tell the kids to make do next year.
Bonus: Fall & Halloween Decor
For starters, if you didn’t pull it out of the decor bin this year (or the year before), you probably won’t next year. Time to declutter it.
Next, do you actually have room for all of your fall and Halloween decor? Do you enjoy using it all, or is it a chore? If you know you need to pare down, try to get down to one tote of fall/Halloween decor.
Towels
As a general rule, we own two towels per person in our house, with a bonus one for a kid who gets anxious that they’ll run out of clean towels, which in this house is honestly valid.
We do store two back-up guest towels, and we also have a small bin for old towels to clean up large spills or floods (shudder as I remember the basement flood of October 2021).
You do not need to go extreme minimalist and only keep one towel per person. But if you have more than two per person, or your linen closet is overflowing, OR you can see through your towels, it’s time to declutter and/or replace.
Towels don’t cost much. We replaced ours with basic towels from Costco for $8 each, and we love them!
Bedding/Pillows
While you’re going through the towels, go through the pillows and bedding, too. Anything in really bad shape can likely be donated to your local animal shelter.
If you don’t use top sheets (be honest), they can be switched over to drop cloths for painting or donated.
I try to follow a one in, one out rule for most things in our house, including bedding.
Related: 21 Minimalist Habits That Will Keep Your Home Clutter-Free (for Good)
Toiletries
Have you ever ordered sunscreen as summer approached, only to realize when it arrives that you did, in fact, have three bottles left from last summer? Yeah, me, too.
If that’s ever happened to you, it’s time to organize the toiletries. This part is less about throwing things away and more about realizing how much you have (or don’t have). That way, you won’t inadvertently add to the pile while you’re at the grocery store or through Amazon subscribe and save.
I finally got around to organizing this week, and what I found made me rush to Amazon to pause several monthly subscriptions – we had more than enough!
Obviously, if you have bottles of toiletries you know you won’t use again, like a shampoo you didn’t love, throw them away. If you have unopened bottles you won’t use, donate them to a local homeless shelter.
Makeup
I am most definitely NOT a makeup girlie. Contouring? Heck no! I’ve gotten by with tinted moisturizer up until now. But then I hit forty, and I realized that it wasn’t cutting it anymore. I needed foundation.
For now, I landed on Il Makiage Woke Up Like This foundation, where they send you new shades until you find the right one. I ended up with three bottles of foundation! Two of which, I wouldn’t be using.
I quickly gave away the extra foundation, but I finally understood how easy it is to accumulate makeup products. It’s hard to justify throwing away a full bottle of foundation just because it’s not your shade.
But it’s not going to save the planet by sitting in your makeup drawer, so it’s time to accept the waste and declutter the makeup. Throw away anything you haven’t used in six months, and that you know you’ll never use again (be honest).
Only two more months to go for decluttering in a year! You’ve got this!
Read Next: 7 Home Organization Products You Won’t Regret Buying (+ What to Avoid)
