There’s this moment every year—right around mid-November—when it hits you: people are coming over. Not just people, but holiday people—the family, the in-laws, the old friends who haven’t seen your house since 2016. You glance around the garage, the spare room, maybe even the back patio that’s still full of summer projects, and you think, how did it get this bad?

Welcome to the pre-holiday panic. But don’t worry. You’re not alone. And if you live anywhere in Florida—from Pensacola to Fort Lauderdale—you’ve probably got even more stuff hanging around because, well, we don’t have winter to force a seasonal clear-out. Things just accumulate. Year after year. Project after project. Pile after pile.

Now’s the time to fix that. And believe it or not, the best way to get your home holiday-ready isn’t with a mop and a scented candle—it’s with a dumpster.

I know, I know. Renting a dumpster doesn’t sound very festive. It’s not exactly the stuff of holiday movies. No one’s roasting chestnuts over a 20-yard roll-off. But hear me out.

A few years back, I hosted Thanksgiving at our place in Orlando. We’d just finished redoing the kitchen—barely—and I thought we were in the clear. But then came the pre-clean. My wife opened the guest room closet and found everything we’d stuffed in there since 2020. Old throw pillows. A busted plastic fan. Half a treadmill. And don’t even get me started on the garage. By the end of the day, I was making trip after trip to the curb, hoping the bulk trash guys wouldn’t notice just how much I’d crammed out there.

That’s when I swore: next time, I’m getting a dumpster.

Fast forward to last year, and I finally did it and went for Elgins. Best decision I ever made. Instead of playing Tetris with trash bags, I had a giant metal bin right in the driveway. Every broken decoration, every cracked planter, every “why do we still have this?” item—straight in the bin. No overthinking. No saving junk “just in case.” Just clear it, toss it, done.

And let’s face it, Florida homes are sneaky when it comes to clutter. We’ve got outdoor spaces galore—screened-in porches, pool decks, sheds, lanai storage—and they’re all magnets for stuff we swear we’ll get to one day. Old patio furniture, hurricane shutters that don’t fit anymore, sun-faded Christmas lights that haven’t worked in years. All taking up space you could be using for actual holiday joy.

Renting a dumpster gives you room to breathe. Literally. You clear out space in the garage so you can park the car again. You clean up the yard so Uncle Joe doesn’t trip over that garden gnome graveyard on the way to the grill. You make space in the guest room closet so your cousin doesn’t open the door and get attacked by a pile of pool noodles and mystery boxes.

And look, I’m not saying a dumpster is a cure-all. It won’t help with your burnt pie or stop Aunt Linda from asking passive-aggressive questions. But it will help make the whole season feel a little less chaotic.

Plus, it’s not as pricey as people think. Especially in Florida, where there’s a healthy supply of local dumpster rental companies that know how to work around tight driveways, HOA rules, and unpredictable weather. A few hundred bucks, and you’ve got a week (or more) to get your act together. And no, you don’t need a massive 40-yarder unless you’re also tearing down a gazebo or evicting a raccoon family from your attic. Most folks do just fine with a 10 or 20-yard bin.

Pro tip: if you’re in an area with lots of neighbors doing the same clean-up (like Palm Beach, Naples, or even the outskirts of Tampa), split a dumpster. Make it a neighborhood purge party. Everyone chips in, everyone tosses out their junk, and you all get a fresh start before the holiday chaos hits full swing.

Bottom line? Before you hang the lights, before the tree goes up, and definitely before the in-laws pull into the driveway—it’s worth doing a pre-clean. And if you’ve got years of clutter weighing you down, don’t try to tackle it with a few trash bags and wishful thinking.

Rent the dumpster. Fill it up. Clear the space. Then pour yourself a drink, light a cinnamon candle, and enjoy the fact that—for once—you’re not scrambling to hide junk under the bed.

Better safe than sorry. And definitely better clean than cluttered when the holidays come knocking.