When I work with clients, sometimes I help them clutter bust the things in their refrigerator. They often find old food and condiments that they are no longer using. These things get overlooked. That makes sense. We tend to see the things we are looking for. If something is no longer a part of our life, we tend not to notice it.
So, I was thinking that this weekend, you can take a trash bag and head on over to your fridge. You can consider yourself an explorer or an archaeologist on an adventure. You'll open the fridge door and start the investigation. Pick one area and start with the first thing you see. Would you eat this today? Would you add it to food you are cooking for lunch for dinner? Would you buy it if you were in a grocery store today? If you feel hesitant, that thing is probably not a part of your current diet. It's worth tossing. You'll notice it feels good to toss something you are no longer using.
Move on to the next item. Ask yourself the same questions. This is good to do because it's hard to want to hold onto something you no longer eat - it starts to get moldy, it turns colors, it becomes a health hazard. Plus you get to enjoy the new space that you are creating in your fridge. Continue moving through the fridge.
Then move on to the freezer. It's amazing the things I've found in client's freezers. Sometimes they can't figure out what the frozen clump of something is. They'll try taking a closer look, and even try smelling it to try and figure it out. That's hard because frozen things tend to not smell. They usually end up tossing it. Somethings have been in the freezer for a couple of years. They'll finally come to the conclusion that if they haven't eaten it in that long, they're not going to eat it tonight.
When you are done with the freezer and you feel like moving on, might I suggest you move your investigations into your spice area? Clients often discover that they own five or six of the same spice. They have so many that they couldn't keep track of what they had and they bought additionals. Many of the old spices have gone way past their expiration dates. They often end up reducing down their spices to one each.
We love having choices, but it turns out we prefer things simpler. Less choices, less chaos. This can extend to other parts of your home too.