10 Things I Got Rid Of After 45 (No One Needs Them!)
A lot of things have become harder since I hit the 45th birthday milestone. I may have celebrated this occasion with a martini-fueled evening involving dozens of loved ones, but the reality of it all is that I’ve started to feel a lot older, more tired, and less tolerant of all the stressful things in life that keep coming up. And, to be honest, the walls in my tiny studio apartment have started to feel as if they are closing in on me.
I tell my friends often that the key to feeling like you have a handle on things when life gets more complicated is something I like to call “life administration.” This is multi-faceted, and it involves taking care of any paperwork, finances, and other personal affairs, as well as dealing with physical items that have accumulated over the years. I’ve discovered that the more of these things I remove from my life and my space, the more in control I feel about every aspect of this chapter of my life. Here’s everything I decluttered after turning 45.
1. Novelty Cups and Glasses
I’ve accrued an impressive (read: unnecessary, frustrating, and mildly ridiculous) amount of novelty shot glasses, mugs, and other glassware and cups. What may have felt, at the time, like a cute nostalgic souvenir from that trip to Mexico ended up never being used and taking up too much space.
Since decluttering, I’ve downsized to a single set of wine glasses, martini glasses, and coffee mugs that I either use regularly for myself or for entertaining.
2. Nostalgic Tickets, Wristbands, and Lanyards
I’ve gone to so many concerts and festivals over the years, from my favorite musicians to food fairs. Everything has resulted in tickets, wristbands, and lanyards that then litter tables and drawers — at one point I had a whole collection of backstage or media passes lining the coat hooks on my walls. But what purpose do they really serve in the long run other than taking up a ton of space?
If anything is super important to you — maybe the concert ticket from your first date with someone you love — then you could put it in a photo album or memento box. But most of this stuff you can toss and won’t miss (plus, you can always take a photo of it to maintain the memory!). All of my mementos, with a tiny sentimental fraction exception, are now out of my home.
3. Expired Products
It’s funny how I bemoan how little space and storage I have, and then waste that exact same space keeping items that are long past their expiration dates. Vitamins, medicine, beauty and skin products, and, of course, pantry items like spices and canned goods were all given the heave-ho after I turned 45 if they weren’t still usable or effective.
Why give anything space that isn’t serving you? That’s a larger life message of adulthood if I’ve ever heard it.
4. Mail and Paper Clutter
Every time I go through my drawers and piles that live on my desk, I’m shocked to find old mail and papers that simply don’t serve my current life needs: itineraries from trips decades ago, takeout menus from restaurants I no longer go to (or don’t even exist anymore!), random brochures and sales catalogs, and billing statements from items long ago paid (when all that info exists online anyway!).
If it has any personal data, shred it — and toss the rest.
5. Unidentifiable Kitchen Gadgets
Unexpected job hazard of being a food writer: You end up with a lot of random kitchen tools. Some are super useful, while others … not so much. Many get used once, thrown in a junk drawer, and then forgotten about for years — until one day you open the drawer to clean it out and find a bunch of stuff you can’t identify.
Treat it as you’d treat your closet: If you aren’t currently using it and can’t identify it, then give it away or donate it. It’s no use to you if you have no idea what it’s even used for or why you have it in the first place.
6. Dated Decor and Accessories
Once upon a time, I was a 25-year-old moving into her first apartment, and I loved decor like pink leopard print and polka-dotted pillows, shower curtains, and towels. It was all super cute at the time, but it just doesn’t fit my style now.
I got rid of all that household decor that no longer serves who I am today, and now I have a bathroom and bedroom that has a whole lot more black in it (with a splash of pink where it makes sense, for good, but tasteful, measure). There’s nothing wrong with animal print or dots if it reflects your current vibe, but if you have the decor from three-versions-of-you-ago, it doesn’t belong in modern-you’s home.
7. Random Cords and Chargers
Over nearly two decades in my current apartment, I’ve amassed a whole lot of cords, cables, and chargers. Some of them are for phones and other tech I’ve long since sunsetted.
If these cords and adaptors don’t actually work on anything I currently own, why do I still have a giant tangled bag of them? No idea. But adult me decided it was time to get rid of everything that doesn’t have a present-day purpose.
8. Old Instruction Manuals and Receipts
Much like obsolete cords and cables, instruction manuals and receipts from items I no longer own have no place in my home at this stage of my life. I’ll keep the receipts with my tax files if they’re work-related or something I need to hold onto. But if it’s the owner’s manual for an air fryer that went to kitchen appliance heaven last year, why am I holding onto that?
Same thing goes for old fans, chargers, and everything else I don’t need to flip through these days. (And most of these manuals have digital versions anyway — even if they do happen to be for current products in your home!).
9. Clothes I Haven’t Worn in Years
I have one closet in my apartment, and it has to store everything. My clothes, coats, shoes — you name it. I clearly don’t have room for a whole lot of excess, and yet I discovered clothes in there that I stopped wearing years ago.
Whether they’re ripped, stained, faded, too small, or they just don’t match my current style — if I’m not wearing them, why am I keeping them? Everything I haven’t worn in the last year, I gave away.
10. Old Books, Albums, and Cookbooks
I like holding onto books, cookbooks, and albums that I still love and enjoy decades later. But there are also plenty I haven’t listened to or read in forever that aren’t suited for this point in my life.
And that’s fine! I gave all of these items away to make room for the things that are meant for the current era of me, and I don’t miss it one bit.