Don't Leave a Massive Mess For Your Kids to Clean Out

This is part of Stewie's Guide to Ruthlessly Declutter Your Clothes Today.

Imagine, for a moment, that today was your last day. It’s not a pleasant thought but stay with me. If you were suddenly gone, who’d clean out your stuff?

A spouse? A sibling? Your kids?

Would they carefully go through each item, reminiscing as they decided what to keep? Or would they stand in the middle of a cluttered room, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of stuff, wondering why on earth you held onto so much?

What would happen to all those clothes in the back of your closet—the ones you never wear? Would they be packed into garbage bags and hauled to a donation center? Or worse, would they end up in a dumpster, buried under old newspapers and broken appliances, surrounded by dirty diapers and rotting food?

If that’s where some of your things are ultimately destined to go, why hold onto them now?

The Burden We Leave Behind

It’s an uncomfortable truth, but one worth considering: someday, someone else will have to deal with our stuff.

Every extra box in the attic. Every forgotten tote in the basement. Every drawer filled with things we meant to sort through but never did.

And if those things don’t bring us value, if they don’t serve our lives in any meaningful way, then what are we really leaving behind?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to burden the people I love with a massive cleanup job. I don’t want them to spend weeks—maybe months—sorting through things that meant nothing to me, just to figure out what to keep and what to toss.

So, if there are things in my home that I wouldn’t want my family to deal with after I’m gone, maybe I shouldn’t be holding onto them now.

Making Peace with Letting Go

This isn’t about imagining the worst. It’s about imagining a lighter, easier future—for you and for the people you love.

Decluttering now means more peace today and less stress for others later. It means creating a space that truly reflects who you are now, not who you used to be or who you thought you might become.

So ask yourself:

Because, in the end, our legacy isn’t in the stuff we leave behind.

It’s in the love we shared, the memories we created, and the space we made for what truly mattered.

And that’s something worth holding onto.

Next steps…