I can tell you what is (sort of) working for me.
I have a folder for each year, then sub-folders for each bill category. So, for example:
2017
And so on and so forth.
I also use some regular naming conventions so, for example, a credit card
2017Jan-CC1.doc
2017Feb-CC1.doc
2017Mar-CC1.doc
Missed edit window - the reason for the file name conventions is so that I can use the search function to search by, say “CC1” in a name rather than by year, so I can call up all my records on Credit Card 1 by entering ???-CC1* Which is a bit awkward, but mostly I work by year. If you work by name of item then maybe you want a structure like
Credit Card 1
With the naming convention CC12017-Jan. As an example.
I like the date convention yyyy-mm-dd, because it sorts so nicely.
I’m trying to come up with a scheme for 6 to 12 main categories, with no more than 10 subcategories in any one, not including separation by date. Every time I come up with one, I find a record that doesn’t fit within the first 10 records.
Feeling a bit discouraged of late on the de-cluttering front (hard to work on the house during heat waves, as the bedroom is the only room I can really keep cool enough for physical activity), but found re-reading this thread really brings home how much I have, in fact, done.
This week, I’ve been spending 30-60 minutes a day sorting old paper and doing a LOT of shredding. At this rate, I’ll wind up with a full load for my pickup to take to the recyclers (Yay! Money for garbage!)
Still uncertain about what to keep or not keep, but I did decide that, given the car has been paid off for over 10 years now, I have not one but TWO statements from Toyota it is paid off, and an actual title in my name with no liens against it I can shred all the saved payment stubs from when we were paying it off. zzzrrrn! zzzrrrn! zzzrrrn!
We are moving house, and have been going through and sorting 18 years of crap. It’s not fun, to say the least. Yesterday my husband took a pickup load to Goodwill. I’ve packed half of my kitchen so far. We close August 21st, but we’re not selling our current house for a couple of months after we move, so we can go slowly. But it makes me not as motivated to pack! This weekend I’ll get after it with more vigor.
Remember that you have two opportunities to distil: once when you pack and the second when you unpack.
I’m trying real hard to be brutal with my choices. Stuff in the back of cabinets that I didn’t even know I had? Donate. Knick knacks? Donate. (Except Mr. Rebo wants to sell them on eBay. :rolleyes: - storage unit! not my new house.) All duplicates, donate one. Ancient paperwork? Shred.
Wish me luck!
Luck!
Also perseverance.
If your husband actually wants to sell the knicknacks there should be a deadline imposed - either get them up on eBay by X date or get rid of them.
Rather like how I’ll collect recycling for the scrapper, but I have to actually take the stuff to the recycler, not just accumulate it.
It’s great to get money for your stuff, but there’s something to be said for just getting rid of stuff you don’t want/need anymore, whether or not money is involved.
Maybe also impose a $ amount as well as a deadline, like if you don’t expect to get more than $20 for what you’re trying to sell, just donate it/place curbside instead. It takes time to take pictures, write up the description and post to eBay, pack and ship, time that could be used in better, more enjoyable ways. Beware of cognative dissonance that could make you think things are more valuable than they are, eBay tells you fairly spot on what things are worth.
So far today, with the help of some friends, we’ve filled up half a dumpster with random garbage, installed my Franken-computer which is composed of usable bits from the old dead one (the unusable bits have been responsibly disposed of) plus new bits, two trash bags of shredded documents, a trash bag of paper garbage, and cleaned up two fans and put them back into service.
Not bad for one morning.
I just need to have more mornings like that.
Well done!
After a long period of inactivity on my clutter, which hasn’t really gotten WORSE but has mostly just stagnated, I finally made a bit of progress over the weekend.
I helped my 12 year old daughter spruce up her bedroom, which included culling her wardrobe down to the things that still fit (big growth spurt lately, 75% of her clothes went to Goodwill! :o ) We also took this opportunity to remove many older stuffies and kid’s books.
And!
I didn’t even consider “saving” any of it, or storing it elsewhere, or waffling about wanting to sell anything. Right off to the curb or Goodwill it all went, 6 bags of stuff.
Her room is much roomier and more grownup looking.
Now I’m feeling inspired again and want to start making more progress.
What would we do without Morgie’s to donate to?
I’ve been subscribed to this thread for a long time and get updates every Monday morning. It’s good to hear about people getting things done and getting stuff out the door, especially Broomstick, it sounds like she’s come a long way. My house is still a work in progress, it’s slow but steadily progressing. If anyone is checking out this thread looking for support, I want to share a podcast I found called “Clutter Chronicles”. There’s a lot of truth and honesty in them, give a listen if you have time, they’re each about 20 - 30 minutes long. https://player.fm/series/series-2286445/ep-1-meet-mary-a-recovering-hoarder
Wow, this took a turn for the worst.
On September 12 I came home from work to find out that ALL the utilities in the building I lived in (note past tense) had been turned off. ALL of them. No power, no gas, no heat, no running water (because you need electricity to run the well pump…)
At first, we though it would be just 3-4 days at the MOST, the weather was mild, sure, I could camp out for a couple days…
It is now October 23 - that building still does not have utilities. I will not go into details at the moment, but the landlord is NOT the bad guy here. He owed no money on the accounts. He’s helped me out considerably with the chaos. All required/requested repairs and changes were made within three days - all the subsequent delays have been because the county refused to sent an inspector to approve said repairs/changes for over a month. My former landlord has owned that building for over 40 years and have NEVER had this sort of problem before. Not with any of the buildings he’s owned in this county.
Needless to say, during that interval an emergency relocation had to take place. I and my birds now live in another apartment, a smaller apartment, about 5 miles down the road from the prior location.
Here’s the problem: most of my stuff is still back at the old place.
This is NOT how I wanted to downsize the pile. I was planning on 6-12 months to finish this project. With, you know, lights and heat in the winter and running water to clean stuff up with.
This has been utter and complete hell. A couple weeks of living without utilities and showering in friends’ homes. Having to find a place to board my birds on one particularly cold night. Trying to continue to work full time while apartment hunting and dealing with living in 19th Century conditions. Hey, you know what the downside is to paying your bills on-line? When you no longer have reliable internet access (because you have no utilities) paying at all, never mind on time, gets to be really exciting in all the wrong ways.
I have not been eating or sleeping well for over a month. I’ve gone down two notches on my belt. The stress has been horrific.
At least I wised up and hired movers for the heaviest stuff - but as this was all last minute and unplanned they won’t be able to move the big stuff until tomorrow. Yes, I’ve been sleeping on the floor since moving to the new place. All my spare blankets under me, but on the floor nonetheless.
And I STILL have to sort through the mess at the old place. In the dark. And the cold. (As it can’t be rented out anyway the old landlord is essentially giving me free storage for at least several months)
So I go, and sort, and donate, and throw stuff out (have a growing pile that needs to be either shredded or burned). In the dark. And the cold. Then go to the new place which has heat and light to sleep on the floor. As I mentioned to a co-worker, when the least stressful part of your life is working as a grocery store cashier on a Saturday afternoon there is a Serious Problem in your life.
The good news, I suppose, is that in the end this will be fixable but it’s very, very hard to remain positive and motivated through all this.
How awful for you!
Do you think you will eventually be able to get back in your old apartment? Or is the move final?
Sad if so, it sounds like you had a really, really good landlord there.
The move is final in that I have signed year’s lease on the new place.
In theory, after that year is up, assuming things are back to normal in the old place yes I could move… but I hate moving and if the new place is working out why do it?
The old landlord now has a building without tenants. He’s not sure what, exactly, he will do with it, but he’s taking the opportunity to make some repairs and renovations that will either increase the rental value or the sale value regardless of which path he takes.
The old landlord also helped me carry my piano up a flight and a half of stairs to the new place. Granted, it’s an electric piano and not a monster upright or grand, but it’s still a freakin’ piano and weighs a lot. As I said, he’s not the bad guy here.
He owes me money from the September problems (legally, he did not live up to his end of the tenant/landlord agreement even if it wasn’t his fault) but frankly, we’ve been more worried about moving me, securing the building, and draining out the water so the pipes don’t freeze than figuring out that figure. I have sufficient savings to cover moving costs so I can wait a week or two on reimbursement. At that, I have to find the box with all the receipts in it…
The landlord was arguably my late husband’s best friend, certainly the best friend in the area. We may have rented from him for 20 years but we’ve known him for almost 30 - we rented from him for two decades and all stayed friends. It was a really good situation in many ways until the lights went out.
That sounds like a cluster-you-know-what. Is it possible the city’s playing politics w/ a longtime property owner b/c they’d rather have more property taxes?
I once had a similar situation as you, btwn two apartments and moving myself. I brought all my couch cushions to the new place and put them in the closet to sleep on for nearly a week while working full time and driving back and forth to move things as best I could. It wasn’t great, but my old hip bones cannot handle sleeping on the floor no matter the stack of blankets. (Nowadays I’d just go to Home Depot to grab a camping pad.)
Something of that sort - from my perspective it looks like a LOT of properties in the unincorporated part of the county are going vacant. There may be a politically-connected land-grab going on. And I note - this is NOT a city, it’s outside-of-any-municipality part of the county. County government in this part of the state is not, shall we say, known for highly ethical behavior.
Perhaps the folks in Gary are envisioning some of the consolidation/renewal that has gone on in Flint, MI and Detroit… but in those cases they didn’t (from what I’ve heard) cut the utilities just prior to cold weather and force people off the properties, those cities had relocation programs and offered above-board deals to property owners.
Anyhow - had pro movers shift the big stuff today to the new place. Worth every penny to get those items moved fast, efficiently, and safely by pros. While I was waiting for them to show up at the old place I filled two more garbage bags with crap and chucked them into the dumpster, and boxed up some more of the kitchen stuff I want to save. Go me! I am getting it done.
Wow indeed.
I’m glad you’re making the best of it. I’m surprised they were allowed to cut utilities that were paid-up. There’s more than a whiff of something from your description. Anyway, chin up, and remember to have a house-warming party for your friends.