But What If I Need It Someday?
📖 Read time: 7–8 minutes
💜 Focus: Just-in-Case Items & Letting Go
✨In this article, you’ll learn:
Why “What if I need it someday?” can make letting go so difficult.
How to decide when keeping something “just in case” actually makes sense.
Why getting rid of something doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll never have access to it again.
A few questions that can help you make a decision without trying to predict the future.
🗓️ Last reviewed: September 2026
If you’ve ever tried to declutter, there’s a pretty good chance this question has stopped you in your tracks:
“But what if I need it someday?”
It’s also one of the questions I hear most often when I give talks about decluttering.
And you know what?
You might.
I can’t promise that you’ll never need something you decide to let go of. No one can.
You might donate a kitchen gadget and, six months later, find the perfect recipe that calls for it. You might give away an extra set of folding chairs and suddenly have more people over than expected. You might finally part with that random cord you’ve been keeping for twelve years only to discover that apparently it was the one cord on Earth you needed. 😄
That possibility is real.
But I don’t think the goal of decluttering is to make decisions that guarantee you’ll never experience inconvenience or regret.
Instead, we can ask a slightly different question:
Is the possibility that I might need this someday worth the cost of keeping it today?
That’s a much more interesting question.
Keeping Something Can Feel Like the Risk-Free Choice
When we’re deciding whether to let something go, it can feel like there are two options:
Keep it: Nothing bad happens.
Let it go: I might need it later and regret my decision.
When those appear to be the choices, of course keeping it feels safer.
But keeping something isn’t actually the neutral option.
Everything we own asks something of us.
It needs somewhere to live. Sometimes it needs to be cleaned, maintained, repaired, insured, moved, organized—or simply remembered. Those tiny asks can add up to a surprising amount of mental load
And if we keep enough things because we might need them someday, we can end up devoting a surprising amount of our current space to hypothetical future needs.
One just-in-case item probably isn't a problem.
Hundreds of them can become one.
So instead of asking only about the risk of letting go, it can help to consider both sides of the equation.
Could You Need It Someday? Sure.
This is one reason I’m not a big fan of arbitrary decluttering rules like:
If you haven’t used it in a year, get rid of it.
There are plenty of perfectly reasonable things to own that we don’t use every year.
Maybe you have equipment you use only during certain weather. Supplies for hosting a large gathering. Something expensive that you rarely need but would be difficult to replace. Emergency items that you sincerely hope you won’t need.
Frequency of use is useful information.
It just isn’t the only information.
The better question isn’t necessarily:
“When did I last use this?”
It might be:
“What am I keeping this for?”
If you can answer that specifically, great.
If the answer is simply “Well…you never know,” that might be an invitation to get a little more curious.
Four Questions for Your “Just in Case” Things
When you find yourself thinking, But I might need this someday, try considering these four things.
1. How likely am I to need it?
Not could you need it.
Given enough imagination, we can invent a future use for almost anything. 😄
How likely is it?
Is there a specific situation you reasonably expect to encounter? Have you needed this type of thing before? Does it support something you actually do?
There’s a difference between preparing for a realistic future need and storing something for a hypothetical version of your life.
2. How difficult would it be to replace or access?
This one can completely change the decision.
If the item would cost hundreds of dollars to replace, is difficult to find, is no longer made, or is something you’d need immediately in an emergency, keeping it may make perfect sense.
But what if it costs $10?
What if you could borrow one from your neighbor?
Rent one?
Find another at a thrift store?
Ask a friend?
Post in a neighborhood group?
The question becomes:
Do I need to own this indefinitely—or do I just need to know how I could access one if I needed it?
Those aren't necessarily the same thing.
3. What is it costing me to keep it?
Not everything we pay for is paid for with money.
Maybe this item occupies one tiny corner of one shelf and asks almost nothing of you.
Okay!
But maybe your garage is so full of things you might need that you can’t easily reach the things you actually use.
Maybe the spare bedroom can’t function as the office you need today because it’s storing possibilities for tomorrow.
Maybe you own so many duplicates that you can’t find one when you need it—so you buy another anyway.
Space has value.
So does your time, attention and energy.
That doesn’t mean every item needs to “earn” its place in your home. It simply means the cost of keeping something belongs in the decision too.
4. What happens if I’m wrong?
I really like this question because not all decluttering mistakes have the same consequences.
If I let this go and discover that I need it next year, what happens?
Would I be genuinely stuck?
Would replacing it create a financial hardship?
Would it be impossible to replace?
Or would I be mildly annoyed that I had to spend $12 on another one?
Sometimes the answer tells you immediately that keeping the item makes sense.
Other times you may realize that you’ve been giving a relatively small possibility an awfully large amount of real estate.
But Isn't Keeping It Less Wasteful?
For some of us, there's another value tangled up in the “I might need it someday” question: we were taught not to waste things.
Use things until they're worn out. Find another purpose for them. Save something useful rather than throwing it away and buying another one later.
There's a lot of wisdom in that.
So giving away a perfectly good item—especially one we might eventually use again—can feel counterintuitive. Maybe even irresponsible.
But keeping something isn't the same thing as using it.
If an item sits untouched in my basement for ten years because I might use it someday, I haven't necessarily prevented waste. I've simply become its storage facility. 😄
What if someone else needs it right now?
Donating, gifting, selling, or sharing something while it's still useful can be another form of reuse. Instead of one person holding onto an item for its entire useful life, the item can move between people as their needs change.
And that brings me to something that has made “What if I need it someday?” much easier for me to answer...
Letting Go Doesn't Always Mean “Gone Forever”
There’s another piece of this conversation that has changed dramatically over the years: our stuff can circulate.
Buy Nothing groups, Freecycle, neighborhood groups, thrift stores, lending libraries, tool libraries, friends, family and neighbors have made it much easier for belongings to move from someone who doesn’t need them right now to someone who does.
And sometimes…back again.
I have personally given away and later acquired another French press more than once. 😂
Apparently, French presses and I are in an on-again, off-again relationship.
But it's actually a perfect example.
At the time I gave one away, I wasn’t using it. Someone else could.
Later, when a French press fit my life again, I was able to get another.
I didn't need to store one indefinitely in order to guarantee that Future Dawn would always have access to a French press.
For common, inexpensive and easily replaceable things, this can be a really freeing shift in perspective.
Instead of thinking:
If I let this go, I lose it forever.
Try:
I’m putting this back into circulation.
Your “just in case” might be someone else’s “exactly what I need.”
And if your someday eventually arrives, there may be another one ready to circulate your way.
Of Course, Not Everything Is a French Press
This is where I want to resist turning any of this into another decluttering rule.
Some things are expensive.
Some are difficult to replace.
Some are specialized.
Some are sentimental or irreplaceable.
Some genuinely make you feel more secure having them available.
And sometimes you run through all four questions and decide:
Yep. I’m keeping this.
Wonderful.
The goal isn't to talk yourself into getting rid of something.
The goal is to make an intentional decision instead of allowing “but what if?” to make every decision for you.
One way to get out of that autopilot is to come back to the present. This is also at the heart of rightsizing—considering whether your belongings and your space fit the life you're actually living now.
You can consider the past. You can prepare for the future. But neither one has to outweigh the needs of the season of life you are currently in.
Future You gets a vote. Present You gets one, too.
You Don't Have to Prepare for Every Possible Future
There’s a strange thing that can happen when we try to prepare for Future Us.
We can become so focused on everything that person might need that we forget about the person living in our home right now.
There's value in making space for what's next, but we don't have to know—or prepare for—every version of what “next” might look like.
Future You might need that appliance.
Future You might return to that hobby.
Future You might host 40 people.
Future You might need those extra building supplies.
Future You might finally find a purpose for the mysterious basket of cords. 😄
Maybe.
But Present You needs things, too.
Present You may need room to park in the garage.
Present You may need a dining table that isn't covered with things you're saving.
Present You may need a closet that's easier to use, a calmer bedroom, a functional guest room or simply fewer things asking for your attention.
You don’t have to disregard Future You.
Just give Present You a vote, too.
So…What If You Do Need It Someday?
You solve the problem.
Maybe you borrow one.
Maybe you rent one.
Maybe you ask your Buy Nothing group.
Maybe you buy another.
Maybe you discover something else you own works perfectly well.
And yes—occasionally you might think:
Dang it. I wish I'd kept that.
That's allowed.
A decision doesn't become a bad decision simply because circumstances later change.
You made the best choice you could with the information, resources, space and life you had at the time.
Decluttering isn't about achieving a future in which you never need anything you once owned.
It's about creating a home that supports the life you're actually living.
So when “But what if I need it someday?” pops into your head, you don't have to dismiss it.
Get curious about it.
How likely am I to need it?
How difficult would it be to replace or access?
What is it costing me to keep it?
And what happens if I'm wrong?
Then decide.
Because the question isn't really whether you could possibly need something someday.
It's whether you need to own it until someday comes.
💜 Still Wondering?
What if I regret getting rid of something?
You might occasionally—and that's okay. Regret doesn't necessarily mean you made the wrong decision. Your circumstances may simply have changed. Consider what it would actually take to solve the problem if you needed the item again.
What kinds of “just in case” items are worth keeping?
There's no universal list. Items that are expensive or difficult to replace, used for emergencies, necessary for something you reasonably expect to do, or inexpensive to store may make sense to keep. The important thing is knowing why you're keeping them.
What if I can't afford to replace something later?
Replacement cost absolutely belongs in the decision. If replacing something would create a genuine financial burden and there's a reasonable chance you'll need it, keeping it may be the right choice. Decluttering should support your life—not make it harder.
How can I let go when I keep imagining ways I might use something?
Try shifting from “Could I ever use this?” to “How likely am I to use this?” Then consider how easily you could borrow, rent, replace or find an alternative if the need actually arises.
Do I have to get rid of duplicates?
No. If having multiples supports the way you live, keep them. But if duplicates are taking up space, making things difficult to find or being kept solely because “you never know,” they may be worth reconsidering.
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🤝 Need a Compassionate Partner?
Sometimes “What if I need it someday?” is only one of dozens—or hundreds—of decisions waiting for you in a space.
And making all of those decisions alone can get exhausting.
As a professional declutter coach and organizer, I help you slow the process down, ask useful questions, and make decisions that fit your life—not someone else's rules about what you should keep or how much you should own.
If you're in Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., or parts of Maryland, compassionate, judgment-free support is available when you're ready.
