Where does it all come from? And how did it all gather so much dust? I’m sure I dust regularly. Or, at least, I thought I had dusted recently. OK, I don’t do enough dusting. And how did I accumulate so many CDs? Or DVDs? And useless things? Yeah, I kept my first pottery vase but it was too ugly to display, and those photos and postcards and scraps of paper were too important to throw out but not important enough to get filed away, and the canvas my friend painted never got hung but had to be kept, obviously, and and and… But “Mr. Smart, The Educated Monkey”? I mean, I’m a couple of decades too old to need a monkey to teach me basic maths. Who gave it to me, and why? And amusing (but slightly rude) key chains? I think I have enough. Stupid knick-knacks? They’re gifts that cannot be thrown away. Scientific journals? Keeping them out of guilt because I haven’t read them yet. More arrive every month. I’ll never catch up on the backlog. Sheet music everywhere, because there’s never time to file it away properly.
It’s not as if I’m a hoarder. I hate clutter. How did it sneak up on me? Why does my mother think I should live closer, so that “we can buy you more things”? I’m considering torching the lot, and moving into a tent in the backyard.
I realize you are not asking for advice, but consider getting on-line versions of your Scientific journals.
And this:
Is just wrong, IMNSHO. Re-gift, donate to goodwill, use it for target practice, but *don’t *keep stuff you don’t like in your home. That path leads to madness and your heirs having to rent a dumpster the size of Cameroon.
I wanted to chime in on the knick-knack thing, too. I just moved at the end of May, and from a one-bedroom apartment where I lived for 8 years, I threw out about 5 dumpsters of stuff. The little figurine and memento stuff that were gifts, party favors and whatnot, and really meant nothing or their meaningfulness had expired, all outta there! I feel so much better now, without all that stuff weighing me down. I still have a few things, but just things that still have significant meaning to me.
It’s really nice to have tables and fireplace mantle and other surfaces with only 1 or 2 things on them. Clutter gone and I’m so relieved! Please do so for yourself. You will feel so much better.
I’ve read about people taking pictures of stuff and then getting rid of the stuff - that sounds like a good way to go with all your tchotchkes and trinkets and just general junk. Take lots of pictures, make a photo album on your computer (or even a physical one), then purge, purge, purge.
I’m trying to do this, too. Candles. Silk flowers, and vases. Kitchen implements. Neglected needlework kits. Books, books, books. Clothes, clothes, clothes. Canned goods in the pantry. Knick knacks out the wazoo. A suitcase full of little samples of shampoo, hair gel, aspirin, soap, body lotion. Christmas ornaments. Picture frames. … There really isn’t enough for a garage sale, though, and it’s SO hot to have to sit out there all day… I have a milk crate in the back of my car, and I have made a serious pledge to fill it up twice a week with stuff to take away. Food? stop by the church food pantry, drop it off in the hall. Books? stop by the bin in the garage of the library, drop off so they can sell them at the annual September book sale (where I’ll probably buy them back :smack:). Clothes, spoons, pots and pans, mugs, glasses with cartoon characters? stop by the Rescue Mission trailer behind the grocery store…It CAN be done, you just have to commit to it, little by little. Do it, and don’t look back… A few years ago we called a clean-up guy with a truck to come and de-junk our garage - hauled out everything we didn’t want there, he loaded it up, and for $200 we were clutter free. For a while. (I did make an effort before this to give away anything that was truly useful, I couldn’t bring myself to just throw out my ‘wedding china’ or all those Beanie Babies or outgrown onesies and pretty little baby dresses with matching panties.) But those old clocks, and plastic bowls, and half burned candles and dollar store stuff, magazines and old packets of seeds, rancid perfume, old Christmas and birthday cards, broken toys and games missing pieces? That was just junk. Away! AWAY!
It’s not very “reduce, re-use, recycle,” but sometimes you just have to get out the garbage bags and just throw stuff out. I put my mental health above not throwing good things out - there comes a point where you just need to start tossing sometimes.
I’m pretty close to this point myself. I’ve got a ton of clothes in the house that I have no intention of or ability to wear again, and I keep meaning to wash them and take them to Goodwill. Only…I just can’t find the motivation. I’m close to just giving in and throwing them in the trash. Trash I can take care of.
I’m going through the house and trying to reduce clutter, too. I have a specific problem with boxes, as I get a lot of shipped items and stuff from Costco, and I’m not very punctual about taking them out. They just seem like they ought to be reused, but they never get reused.
And I don’t even really have space for the stuff I want to keep, too. I finally collected all the various DVD cases strewn about the living room and organized them, but the TV stand is already brimming over with movies and games.
And I don’t even want to talk about the year-old pile of mail sitting above the shredder I got specifically to keep from accumulating year-old piles of mail. Ugh.
The best part about giving advice on the internet is ya’ll can’t see my house from here.
Goodwill will take clothes that need to be washed. Trust me, I buy clothes from Goodwill, and they all smell like the same detergent. The only clothes that don’t have that smell is stuff that either still has tags on or is dry clean only.
Do you have access to a ten year old child? Perhaps a neighbor, niece, or nephew? Kids love to shred, and will sometimes do it for free. If not, move your shredder to closer to the TV, and shred while watching movies.
the best part of living in a big city is if you put stuff in boxes on the sidewalk people will take it. i usually put stuff out a day or two before trash day with a sign (free to a good or bad home!). the stuff is usually gone in an hour or two.
