I did this for a long time with a lot of things. Then I found a blog called the Zero Waste Home. It changed my life. I've gone through my entire house and gotten rid of about 20 small boxes of things and donated several boxes of food. We also went for more fresh foods and rely only on packaged foods for emergencies. It doesn't sound like it would make a difference, but it really has simplified my life. There are less things in my home and so less to clean up after. Major time saver. Still working toward a simpler, greener life.

Oh, one thing she suggests is that if you can't bring yourself to get rid of something, sometimes taking a picture and keeping that instead will help. The idea is that it takes up less space but you can still see the item. It can go to someone else who can actually use it or be repurposed into something else but the photo helps you keep the memory of the item.

I give myself a small tubberware tub for each of the kids. If one of them makes something I want to keep or a keepsake from an event or something - I throw it in their tub. It also helps to keep a notebook - I only write a sentence every so often - of the cute things they do that I want to make sure to remember when they're older.