Things in the house I have more than I need of

As an aspiring minimalist, I'm constantly looking around the home for things to declutter. I'm generally pretty good at it, and I don't hang on to much once we've finished with it. But as I look around I'm always being confronted by the things we own that we have far too many of. Here is a list, which could also be titled 'things that should be decluttered, but I just can't bear to'.


Drawstring bags. Those simple bags that often come into the house as a freebie. My husband and I both use one to hold our swimming gear for the gym but other than that we never use them. I just can't bring myself to throw them away in case they should be useful.

Freezer packs. I have about eight in the freezer. Even in the height of summer when we are out for the whole day I only ever use about four in our largest cool bag.

Candles. I had a huge clear out of candles a few years back but I still seem to have more and more, and I don't ever seem to buy them. Some of them are big candles that I like to keep for emergencies (even though I've never experienced an emergency where lighting candles was necessary). Most are scented ones that I do like to burn but I'm paranoid about leaving them unattended, especially with children in the house, so I never seem to get round to using them.

Post it notes. Where do they all come from? I have packs and packs.

Moisturiser. I always pick up little tubes from hotels, I can't help it. They are useful for the gym and for travel but I have many more than I'll get through in a reasonable time frame.

Lanyards. Another thing that always seem to be given out for free and it seems such a shame to throw them away.

Cardboard boxes. I can't resist a nice, sturdy box. You never know when you might need it, for posting something, storing something, or for a child's craft project.

Bubblewrap. We have a big roll that we were left with when we last moved, and I save any that comes in parcels, it's such a waste to just bin it. I gave away a big bin bag full on Freecycle last year and it has just built up again.

Buttons. I love buttons. I have some sorted out in little pots by colour, then I have a large tin full of random ones. I do love buttons though.

Marbles and glass pebbles. We have so many marbles. Some are with the toys, some are in a decorative bowl, glass pebbles are in my craft drawer. Mia went through a phase of collecting them so I bought her a massive bag of coloured glass pebbles on Amazon, they are everywhere.

Scrap paper. When I was little the only paper we had for drawing was scrap paper, with 'writing on the back'. Our children are spoiled and they ask for the fresh new paper from the printer, the won't contemplate starting their artwork on a piece which has already been written on.

Suitcases, bags and rucksacks. We travel a lot and go on day trips so we have a large selection of luggage options. I've tried to cull them before, but each one serves a specific purpose so it's really difficult to find ones that we don't need!

Gift bags. I've never purchased a gift bag. I've never needed to, because whenever I've needed one I've always managed to find one in the house that suits the purpose. I'm not sure where they all come from as I don't get that many gifts!

Light bulbs. When we moved in to our house, every room seemed to have different light fittings so we needed a huge collection of different sizes and styles. Over the last couple of years we've been upgrading to smart light bulbs, but they are expensive so if we ever move we'll be taking them with us, meaning we need to keep a stock of old light bulbs to put back in.

What do you have too much of cluttering up the house?