The Black Eyes Peas once asked, "whatcha gonna do with all that junk?" While they were not specifically referring to your garage, this song is certain to draw up mental images of boxes stacked to the ceiling and old bikes hanging from the walls of your overstuffed garage. When you can't even see the floor and you have no idea what's in the 16 boxes tossed haphazardly into corners, it's hard to use your garage for parking a car, hosting a party, or organizing your landscaping tools. Luckily, organizing and getting rid of all that junk is not as tough as it may seem with the tips below.

Rent a dumpster.

Chances are, a lot of the items in your garage are not worth saving. The "throw away" pile will fill up your trash bin in an instant, and if your plan is to wait and dispose of the rest in the coming weeks, you're bound to forget about it and end up right back where you started -- with a pile of junk in your garage. So, the best way to dispose of items you don't need is to rent a dumpster. This way, you can toss all of the trash at once, and then it will be hauled away -- so you're not tempted to keep it unnecessarily.

For most garage cleanout projects, a 20-yard dumpster offers sufficient space. If you have a small garage and are confident that you don't have too many things to throw away, you may be able to get away with a 10-yard model. Have the dumpster delivered the day before you plan to start your cleanout project so you're not waiting on its arrival to get started in the morning.

Ask friends to help... and delegate tasks.

If you try to do this on your own, there's a good chance the project will either take you so long that you become bored and quit, or you'll get overwhelmed and end up saving everything, including items you don't need. So, call on a few close friends to help you clean out your garage. Only ask people who you know will be helpful, motivating, and supportive. Make sure there's at least one strong person in the group so you have someone to lift the heavy items!

Once you've invited your friends to help, remember to delegate tasks. For instance, you could put one person in charge of going through all of the bike gear and another in charge of sorting through boxes of old car parts. Delegating tasks ensures everyone keeps working efficiently instead of stumbling over one another as they are unsure of what to do next.

Be conservative when choosing items to donate and sell.

As you go through your garage, you should be dividing items into four groups: keep, donate, sell, and trash. It's important to be conservative when deciding what items to donate or sell. If it's only going to sell for a few dollars, you're probably best off putting it in the "donate" pile rather than spending the time to sell it. If it's not in great shape, then you're probably better off throwing it away rather than donating it. 

Once you're done sorting through items, make sure you take care of the "donate" and "sell" piles quickly. You would not be the first person to separate out these items and then let the piles sit in your garage for many more months or years because you got too busy or distracted to deal with them.

So, whatcha gonna do with all that junk inside your garage? Clean it out! With the tips above, you'll be right on track. 

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