I Tried the Lazy-Girl Method of Decluttering and I Barely Had to Lift a Finger—Here’s How to Do It

Decluttering is hard. No one really wants to spend hours and hours plowing through their cabinets and drawers, trashing or donating items that they once spent perfectly good money buying. But what if there’s an easier (and yes, much lazier!) way to keep a lid on the amount of stuff in your house? Enter the one-in, one-out decluttering method.

We tested out this time-tested decluttering strategy to give you the lowdown on how it works.

What Is the One-In, One-Out Decluttering Method?

In a nutshell—you’re committed to removing one item from your house (preferably in the same category) every time you bring something new into your house. So if you buy a new book, you need to give away a book that’s currently in your collection; if you buy a new t-shirt, another item of clothing needs to be donated or given away.

That helps ensure that you aren’t overstuffing your closet, your bookshelves, your makeup setup, or any other category of clutter with too many things that you’re not using. And it’s a low lift as far as time or emotional investment—you’re basically just required to make a quick, in-the-moment decision, and ditch only one “something old” to account for the “something new.”

How Passive Decluttering Worked in Real Time

I’ve actually been a big fan of this method for a while, as it’s a low-stress, low-effort method of managing the stuff in my house. Instead of a marathon decluttering session, I just have to make one decision: What’s leaving? Sometimes, I even take out a couple of items to replace a new one that’s shuffling in, so I do reduce the amount of stuff I have overall.

And the one-in, one-out strategy has actually been a huge money saver. Every time I’m ready to hit click on something new, I take a minute to think about what I’d give away to make room for it. If I’m not ready to part with a dress—then I definitely don’t need another one! It also keeps me from stocking up on a lot of different beauty products, which definitely have a shelf life. I wait until I’m basically done with a tube of sunscreen or a new serum before I buy something new.

The only downside to this lazy declutter method? Unless it’s something big like a piece of furniture or something broken, you’re probably not going to get rid of the item right away—after all, it’s probably not worth your while to post a single book on a Buy Nothing group or take a single t-shirt to a charity. So you may find that the item sits in a “to donate” bag for a little while until you have several things that are ready to go.

Will the Lazy Girl Decluttering Method Work for You?

If you’re drowning in clutter, the lazy-girl method isn’t going to solve that issue—it’ll just keep it from getting even worse. And while it’s obviously helpful to stop the madness in its tracks, if you’re overwhelmed with clutter, you’ll still need to put in the work to do a more major decluttering overhaul. (To help you move the needle, you could up the ante to a “one-in, three-out” method for a slow and steady reduction of your stuff.)

Where the one-in, one-out method really shines is in situations where you’ve already done the work and you’re happy with the amount of stuff you have. By removing one item every time you bring something else in, you help maintain the status quo, and avoid having to do another massive decluttering project down the line.