In this episode of Organize & Cherish, we continue the Fix It or Free It series with August’s project: electronics. From letting go of old headphones to tackling the bigger items like TVs and printers, we explore practical, compassionate strategies for clearing out tech clutter. Electronics can be sneaky sources of overwhelm—whether it’s tangled cables, outdated backups, or the promise of “someday” repairs. This episode offers tips for deciding what to keep, what to fix, and how to responsibly let go of the rest.
In this Episode We Talk About
- How to apply the Fix It or Free It method to electronics of all sizes
- Decluttering tips for cables, chargers, and accessories
- Responsible ways to recycle or donate unused electronics
Mentioned in this Episode
- August’s Fix It or Free It challenge: letting go of old headphones
- Local e-waste recycling programs and retail drop-off options
- The mental relief that comes from fixing or freeing technology clutter
Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast
Review Transcript:
Hey friends. Welcome back to Organize and Cherished with the organized Flamingo, also known as me, Stephanie, your friend and professional organizer in the organizing space. So today's episode is part of our ongoing Fix it or free IT series where each month, this year for 2025, but it doesn't matter what year you're listening to.
By the way, these are all meant to be as lifelong episodes as possible. I either repair something I already own or finally let it go. And sometimes it's a tiny project that only takes a few minutes, and then other times it's been something that is, it's been sitting around for months waiting for attention.
These are all either from the bins that I, you know, you the quote unquote fix it bin like, I will fix it later bin. And I got the inspiration because I needed to make decisions and I thought I'd take you along with me on this journey. And hopefully inspire you to fix, to finally fix or free it. For once and for all, because you know you're not going to get to it.
You're not the person to be fixing it or shouldn't, and make a decision one way or another, or be intentional about truly pointing it in the bin back in the beginning again, to come back in a few months and then re rethink about it, right? But be intentional about it. So the point of this challenge is to practice intentionality and to stop letting items pile up and waiting for that someday, and instead, take action.
This month for August, I tackled something that many of us have. It's electronics. It's one in particular. One in particular item was the inspiration, which I will talk about, but I'm taking this, this episode to talk about electronics as a whole as well. So I'm just gonna take advantage of us talking about what I decided to fix, but then also give you tips on if you're in the same predicament, similar, or have electronics to declutter.
Then we will talk about it today and I'll give you some of those tips. Okay. Alright, so here we go.
Welcome to the Organized and Cherished podcast with the Organized Flamingo. I am your host Stephanie, your compassionate and deficient profess organizer. Whether you are part of the sandwich generation helping a loved one declutter, or just trying to simplify life, this is the place for you. Together we will tackle those overwhelming piles of stuff, uncover purpose in what we keep, and let go with dignity and care, because it's not just about throwing everything away, it's about respecting memories and simplifying life.
Sound like a plan? Let's jump in and get organized. So for my fix it or free it of the month, it was to let go of a pair of headphones that I thought I'd fix with new ear pads. I bought these headphones years ago. They were the start of having, you know, like the wireless type of Bluetooth connectivity type of headphones, and they were just really uncomfortable.
So someone said, oh, you can get some pads or holders that you can get, uh, and then you can, like, they won't fall off, or you can adjust 'em to however you want. And I said that and I said, okay, great. You know, I, I'll, I'll get to it. They sent me up a couple links and then, I don't know, there was something about it that just made me stop for a minute.
And then honestly, the moment then passed. It then became years and I put them in a, so we have about four or five bins for electronics, especially, uh, small electronics for cables and stuff and such. And since we're such an Apple family, we have one designated specifically for Apple. And then we have one for headphones.
Like anything ear headphones. And we like headphones. And then we have other things in there like pads or anything that might have come with, um, an electronic, like a support system or cushion or something like that. And then, or an extra of something. And then the sec. And then the third one is for cables and power cords and things like that.
And then the fourth, I think it's like hd my cables, connectivity, av, all of that. Okay. So those are our four, four small cable, uh, long cable types, right. So I just put it in the headphones section and then yours, what came and went, and then I got some better headphones. I, I personally use the Apple headphones.
They work great for me. I like 'em, and that's what I use now. And so then every time I looked at the old pair in that bin, it's for, you know, one of those, uh, square bins. I felt like this nagging voice telling me to order those pads every single time. So eventually I moved it out of that bin and put it in my fix it.
Like, why? You know, my fix it. Been that I've been talking about this whole year, and then they've been just sitting there every time. I still get that nagging feeling. I mean, it is now August now that at the point where I'm tackling this. So that in itself has been eight months, but I had already had these air pods, or not headsets, I guess for years before that.
Just bringing them along for a ride, a free ride. So instead I decided to be honest with myself. When I finally looked at it and I said, I don't need them. I don't wear, I haven't used them since the first time I got them. I obviously didn't return them, get my money back, and I didn't get the new cushions.
So they're not my most comfortable pair. I don't like them, and they've served their purpose and it's time to free them. Made the decision. So then that decision led me to think about more broadly about electronics, uh, as far as a topic for you. So instead of just telling you my journey about what I did with these AirPods, or I keep saying AirPods because that's what I use now, but these, this headset, these earphones, um, I'm gonna talk about how overwhelming your electronics can get and what to do about it.
The big electronics, like the TVs, the monitors, the printers, and then also the small ones like cat cables, chargers, earbuds, all that, and headphones. Today we're gonna talk about that. And then along the way I'll give you what I learned about my own journey is I fixed. And finally, let these earbuds and headphones let them go.
Alright, so let's go to it. Let's start small with the cables, the chargers and accessories. So cables and chargers are like the junk drawer, the electronics world. That's what I like to say. They, uh, multiply and we rarely know what they all go to, right? Like that junk drawer, just because it's, well, one, they come with the stuff that you buy.
And two, you most likely are buying. If so, you know, you're probably buying a replacement or an upgrade to something else. So you have your original one and that came with its own cable. And then going forward, you have now gotten the latest model a replacement. But think about all of the replacements or upgrades, starting with, even if you had, let's, let's start just with DVD era, like the DVD player era, right?
The either the AV connectors in the back or the power cable in the back, that's still considered small enough, right? Where that's what we're talking about. Cables, chargers, and accessories. You might have changed from the 1D VD player module console. But then the DVD players came out that now you could store like up to five DVD players or DVDs inside the DVD players, but then the cables on the back didn't change, which is great in my opinion.
I we're not looking for them to be new every single time. But now that new one came with its own cable. And then after that, you might have upgraded to a different model, one that fit in your console a little better. You moved and now you want it to be more slick or slender and not as bulky. And so you've upgraded little by little, but the back.
The connectivity part of it, the cables in the back haven't changed as much. Again, I am definitely not complaining over that, but every time you did that, you received a new cable and a new charger and a new accessory for the item. And so now ev times that by how many more other electronics you and consoles you have had, and now you've got yourself a big bin of unused cables, chargers, and accessories, they multiply.
So here's what I suggest. This is one of those areas of your home in space that you do want to edit, declutter, maintain every, at least, at least every year, hopefully every six months. Again, because you're probably replacing something every six months, like a electronic every six months or so, maybe sooner, but probably around that timeframe.
If this is the first time you're doing this, like you haven't decluttered, cleaned out and organized your cables in a very, very long time, and I mean more than a year, then gather every loose cord in one place. So we're not going to be, um, trying to match them to their console right now because. Most likely either you replaced your console electronic because it got broken, so you threw away the other one or gave it away, or try to fix it, donated whatever, and so the core didn't go with it.
You won't have a match, and I don't want you to spend time trying to match it up right now. We will, and that will be an option for you if that's the type of personality that you have. But right now we are just gathering every loose chord in one place. Then. Try to match up. Match, match the them up. So sort them to like the end of it.
So the by input and or output. Decide on one end, probably the output, you know, or the one that ultimately it will be plugged into. So if it's an HDMI cable, all the HDMI cables together, and you can sort them by end to end. So if HDMI to, you know, whatever the other side of it, it might be, I would just do one side.
So focus on what its input or the output is and then, and then get sort by like items. And then if you can get yourself a little label maker and label what it goes to, if you know, if you don't know, or, or, or it can go to multiple things such as. A, an auxiliary or HDI cables is a good example to an av because it could go to different, right?
It could, it could be AV for your stereo, or it could be an AV cable to your television or to your speakers. So just put AV or sound something that makes sense to you and start labeling it that way. From there, we will then start the decluttering process or the edit process of what to throw away, what to keep.
If you start seeing that you have five of the same power cables. Then maybe keep up to how many you think you, you really, truly will use with extras. What I like to suggest to people is that, uh, if you are a frequent traveler or you are a remote worker where you're always on the go, then if you have extras, put one in your briefcase or you travel case and let it live there.
So if you have a power cord to your computer, and now you have like four or five because you've, um, your computers have been upgraded, but you don't need every single power cord every single time. And now you've, but, but now you have three or four. Keep one in your, in your briefcase, one in your travel bag, and then one at home and you know where you charge it, and then maybe, you know, whatever.
So do that. Keep extras that you, that make sense? And put them in your travel bags, in suitcases and whatnot. If you have multiples of things that you don't really need, like the telephone cables, the old ones, then pick one or two and, and let go of the rest. We'll talk about recycling and throwing away in just a minute.
Okay, so I'll say that until the end. So that's what I would suggest for the practical tip of how to let all that stuff go. Hi, cherish friends. Life can get overwhelming, especially when you're juggling caregiving, clutter and everything in between. That's why I created the Organizing Cherish Weekly email that goes out every Wednesday's straight to your in.
To help you keep the momentum inspiration going with tips and reminders of our upcoming events, all you have to do is head on over to organize and cherish.com and sign up for the email newsletter. It's free and you can up subscribe whenever you'd like. It's my way of helping you simplify your life and respecting memories along the way.
Now back to our show. Now let's talk about backups of the electronics of the consoles themselves. So we're moving ourselves from small, like cables, chargers, accessories. Now let's move to the medium sized items, and then we'll move to the bigger, the old phones, tablets, things that are smaller, not as big, even computers or laptops.
Probably not the desktop, but the laptops kind of fall into the medium sized DVD consoles, audio type of consoles, music, all that. Okay, those. Rarely is the, is the case where you will just in case need another one. But those times do come, I won't lie, I'm actually using some of ours now. For our kiddo, we don't really let him, uh, use the streaming screens.
So, I mean, he does have an iPad and he watches a television and, and the whatever you know of the moment streaming service is, but we don't let him scroll on his own. It's just, that's our personal choice, not the right or wrong one, it's just what we decided. But once in a while, you know, he's getting, gaining independence and he wants to do things on his own, of course.
So we've given him one of our old DVD players where he can put in whatever movie he wants that from the options that we've given him and that he's chosen together. And then he puts it, puts a movie on himself when it's movie time. So that came in really handy. And I'm not mad that I kept that DVD player and no one can make me feel guilty about me having kept it all these years.
But that is a very specific example. Uh, and if you are living in a place where you can't be keeping these old consoles around because they're bulky, then be practical about it and think about, well, am I really going to use this? And if you do, you can always sell, um, buy one at a thrift store, consignment store, or ask a friend if they have an extra one and use that.
If you're not a collector by profession or trying to make money, then that's the option that I would give you and the, um, suggestion that I would give you because by the time you'd pull it out. The software also is probably outdated, by the way. Computers huge on that. Um, the battery doesn't hold a charge.
Batteries go. They get older. They don't hold the charges as long. I don't know if you know that. And if you're already, uh, you might have already adapted to the new way, you know, and why go back? But again, there's those rare, rare cases like me now using it for my kiddo. This one didn't need a software upgrade or update because it, it's a DVD console.
You just put the DVD and they're still around. So that worked great. Same thing with like BCR players and stuff. Um, but computers that need software, so anything that needs a software, that's a really hard spot to be in. Um, I've had clients who wanted to sell their old laptops and computers. But they can't even, well, one, hold the charge 'cause of the battery.
But you know, sometimes with batteries you can buy a new one, so that's fine. But the software trying to get to the newest, it just wasn't even, it didn't have the capacity. It wasn't big enough memory-wise to be able to upgrade to every single update and let alone the newest one. So it just didn't even really work.
Of course, you can take it to a professional. Have them fig, figure that out for you. But for the most part, they just wear down time after time. There's a question that I have given clients and community members to ask themselves when they're in this predicament, and that would be, would I actually rely on this if my current one broke?
And if the answer is no, it's probably safe to recycle or donate if you are using it now. So if this is like you're, you're keeping it for the, just in case backup. But because sometimes your backup is just so much, so old like you, you, it just wouldn't. It wouldn't do what you want it to do anyway. It wouldn't make sense, especially for any electronic that has, again, the software upgrade type of option.
Those are hard to rely on because they're just going to be old and they're not going to be helpful. They're actually gonna be the opposite of that. But if you have an electronic wear, you know what? I might actually use this for my child. Or if I, we didn't have electricity, or not electricity, excuse me, internet.
Then for instance, for the DVD player, it, it works great. Like I won't have to rely on that, so that works. But that, that could be a good question to ask yourself. Okay, so let's talk about the bigger items like TVs, monitors, printers. These are the elephants in the room. We hold on to TVs and printers thinking maybe we will put it in the basement, or it still kind of works.
But if you have newer models available to you that you actually use and could use those extras often sit unused for years. Oh my gosh, this is probably one of my three things that I have to move around for clients all the time. There's at least one, one big printer I can guarantee you. So here's a gentle rule of thumb.
Thumb, one screen per room that you actually use, and anything beyond that is probably excess. And same thing with printers. If you have a printing company, this doesn't apply to you, so that's a good rule of thumb for printers or anything like that, that kind of still works. Remember that these electronics need to be supported over time, not just physically like a stand.
You know, the old, big, blocky TVs, they need a room that actually can hold that weight. So some of you, I mean, most of our homes, luckily, we, for the most part, we live in, in places that can hold and bear that weight. But if you're trying to put it like on a shelf and over time it's starting to bow down or bow down or bow, then it, it's not really helpful anymore.
Right? The bearing the weight and then also the, the accessories to support them, like printers, like ink and stuff, those may start to get discontinued or no longer work. And well, at that point, it's a technology that is not usable anymore. And then a question for printers that I often like to put out there is ask yourself, do I really need this?
Or can I rely on digital files and the occasional trip to print, you know, or to go to a print shop. Because printers are just that notorious dust collector. Okay. Like I mentioned, we actually, in our house, we have one now that I'm, I, I might now choose as my next, for my, the next month as we're talking right now, because I can just go to the print shop or to the library and it's much faster and easier.
And I don't have to get the ink or the setup and have the headaches of, oh, it didn't print, it didn't connect. I can just let it go. Then again, for the digital files in today's age, we just have more memory on our desktop, our phones, uh, our laptops, iCloud style or cloud style services like Google, uh, business Suites and iCloud for Apple and all of that.
So we're keeping more items digitally, so why print them? Okay. That is a, another option in a.
Recycling disposal, letting it go, throwing away. What are our options out there and what is my take and what I would suggest for you. So unlike old clothes or decor, like electronics do need a little more thought because you can't just toss them in the trash for the most part. We here in the United States, most states and even counties have their own rules and regulations.
I don't want you to get in trouble. I also don't want us as a community to be damaging the earth anymore as much as we can, right? Within our means and what we're able to know and able to do. So I want us to be responsible as much as possible. Check. First, I want you to check your city. Or county because some of you live in unincorporated cities or counties or whatever.
So check your city and or county and see if they have an e-waste recycling system program day. Some of 'em have like a day, like a one designated day every year, um, sometimes every quarter, et cetera, et cetera. HOAs are also part of that, so if you're, if you live in an HOA within a city, then check your HOA, your city, your county.
Look up e-waste recycling for, and then insert your county, your city, your HOA, ask your neighbors. And sometimes that's really economical, like very low cost. Sometimes it's even free and it comes with your taxes or fees that you pay your HOAs or community. Okay? So e-waste recycling options for where you live.
There's also retailers like Best Buy or Staples that accept old electronics for recycling. Great option there as well. And then the nonprofit sometimes will take working electronics and refurbish them for schools or families in need. Great option there. Call ahead though, because not all nonprofits will accept.
Electronics, especially like televisions and any big bulky, uh, we haven't even talked about the exercise equipment. That's a story for another day because actually little of a sneak peek, that is one of my fix it or free it items that I'm choosing before the end of the year, and that's going to be an entire episode.
Two, because electronics that are for exercise equipment, that's an exercise equipment as a whole is an industry in itself that we need to talk about. I'll save that for then, for then, but call ahead, make sure that they accept it. Of course, there's always just post it up on your Facebook and or local nextdoor community free site.
Now we're talking about the items that, that you really can't get any money for because they don't work or they need to get fixed, or you just know it's just not worth going through. The hassle. If you're trying to sell it, that's a story for another day. We then move on to the category of trying to make money off of this item, and then you can post it accordingly if it's a collector's item, especially those old.
Phones and laptops and collectors you know of, of certain brands like Apple will collect those. Contact your local appraiser or collector and see what they think. See if you can sell it there. But if you're not collecting and we're just talking about decluttering like everyday spaces and everyday items, then.
Check your city, your local communities, the retailers call the nonprofits and see if they'll take it or refurbished, refurbishing, or fix it shop, see if they'd like to take it because they might need a part that you have for something that does work. Okay. So big on like vacuum cleaners and things like that.
Um, a lot of vacuum cleaner or sewing machine specialists will accept it because sometimes they need a special part, um, for something else. So that's an option. Okay, so that is our episode for this week. That was the item that I chose for August. I'd love to hear about what you're choosing if you're doing the fix it or free challenge.
Some of you have sent us pictures, they're so awesome and cheering you on and told us about what you're thinking about. Finally fixing or finally letting go and then remember about electronics, that electronic clutter can feel very sneaky. Because unlike boxes or books or stacks of clothes, these items don't always look messy.
At first glance, you think you need them, but they weigh us down with cords and guilt and the mental clutter of decisions that we keep postponing. So let's just do like a quick little declutter session. Look at it every couple of months and remember that by fixing something, you can finally release that guilt that you have been holding onto or to when you finally let it go.
Know that there could be a replacement. Just around the corner that will feel even better. Like my EarPods, my AirPods EarPods headphones now have been such an upgrade. Anyway, I didn't need to stress about it. I've been using these forever. I take good care of them, and I could have just let go of this decision a long time ago and moved on with my life, right.
Until next time, happy organizing. Thank you for listening to the Organized and Cherish podcast with the Organized Flamingo. If you enjoy today's episode, I'd be so grateful if you left a rating and review on your favorite podcast player. It helps others discover our show. For full show notes, resources, and more organizing inspiration, visit www.theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast.
Until next time, happy organizing.