Artifact Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Oh my gosh, I have too much STUFF! I am finally serious about getting rid of all of the junk in my life! It stresses me to think about the clutter hidden under those box lids, and I am just damn overwhelmed. Half my life is in storage. Problem is, I cannot seem to get rid of anything. (Okay, maybe some trash.) I look at EVERYTHING and have trouble parting with ANYTHING that was a gift, that I might use someday- you know- that stuff. My time is up though. My fiance moved in with me on Sunday and is going nuts. Plus, I am no longer mobile. There is no way I could pack up and move in a week. Well, I could, but more boxes full of bags of STUFF would appear. That worries me too! Finally, my mind is beginning to distinguish between TRUE sentimental value and FAKE sentimental value; but now I have hardly any time to throw things out! Argh. Anyone want to come clean up my life?? Link to post Share on other sites
Fayebelle Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Check your local Yellow Pages- there are people who specify in this service. They can look at your "treasures" objectively and call junk junk when they see it. Have your fiance help- I'm sure it would make great bonding time and help them feel they have a say in what happens to the home you make together. Link to post Share on other sites
Merin Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Originally posted by Artifact Oh my gosh, I have too much STUFF! I am finally serious about getting rid of all of the junk in my life! It stresses me to think about the clutter hidden under those box lids, and I am just damn overwhelmed. Half my life is in storage. Problem is, I cannot seem to get rid of anything. (Okay, maybe some trash.) I look at EVERYTHING and have trouble parting with ANYTHING that was a gift, that I might use someday- you know- that stuff. My time is up though. My fiance moved in with me on Sunday and is going nuts. Plus, I am no longer mobile. There is no way I could pack up and move in a week. Well, I could, but more boxes full of bags of STUFF would appear. That worries me too! Finally, my mind is beginning to distinguish between TRUE sentimental value and FAKE sentimental value; but now I have hardly any time to throw things out! Argh. Anyone want to come clean up my life?? Possible to look at some of the things you have that you could donate to homeless shelters... or womens shelters... there are a lot of items you may have that you don't really need, but you don't wish to throw away that could really help someone else out... Then you may feel better about seperating yourself from the item's you have, knowing that they are making a difference to someone else.... Just a thought. Link to post Share on other sites
Author Artifact Posted September 29, 2004 Author Share Posted September 29, 2004 Faye- My fiance is ruthless! He's already helped me move twice. It does help to have him stand over my shoulder and tell me to drop whatever I am looking at in the donation box... Merin- Speaking of donation box: knowing that so much of what I have CAN be used by others helps immensely. I have been taking it to Goodwill, but maybe I should find a shelter that can use it immediately. Link to post Share on other sites
Merin Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Originally posted by Artifact Faye- My fiance is ruthless! He's already helped me move twice. It does help to have him stand over my shoulder and tell me to drop whatever I am looking at in the donation box... Merin- Speaking of donation box: knowing that so much of what I have CAN be used by others helps immensely. I have been taking it to Goodwill, but maybe I should find a shelter that can use it immediately. I take a lot of what my little people have outgrown or no longer play with down to the womens shelters... I know there are a lot of little ones out there who's Moms are in a hard place right now, and they can use the items... Other things like coats (gently used) and things like that really help out a lot of people who are in need... Also, try having a garage sale for some of the stuff... LOL I know getting one together can be sucky.. ugh! BUT why not decide BEFORE hand what you and your fiance will use the money you earn from your sale... more incentive! Link to post Share on other sites
HokeyReligions Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Start watching the TV show Clean Sweep. I have boxes in my attic that moved with me from Michigan -- well over 20 years ago -- and have traveled around Texas with me and remain unopened! Recently I have begun clearing out the barn and closets and I'm going thru the stuff that I have collected. Oh my. I have sports programs from the 1940's. An Astros pennent from 1964. College news papers from the 1940's, 50's and 60's. A map of Houston from 1963. And tons of broken pieces of china cats (they were my grandmothers) and those travelled with my mother through the years and ended up at my house. They are broken! There are 20 year old cheap pots and pans that no one would ever use because they are in bad shape (not collectibles of any kind, by any stretch of the imagination) and I also have every pair of shoes I've ever owned! Well, I should say I HAD every pair of shoes -- I recently took 20 pairs of shoes and boots to a consignment shop (I have a very wide foot and high arch and most shoes are not wide enough for me -- I need a EEE width) for others who can't find comfortable shoes in regular stores. I also threw out a bunch of shoes that were too worn down to be of value. You might consider taking some of your clothes and shoes to a second-hand consignment shop if you don't want to donate them. Check out the flylady.net website too -- I use that system now for cleaning and for cleaning OUT! I used to keep everything that was a gift because momma always told me it was rude and wrong to ever get rid of a gift. Horse feathers sez I! If you don't want it, don't like it, don't use it, don't have room for it, get rid of it -- no matter who gave it to you. Take a picture of it and keep a scrapbook of gifts if you are afraid you will forget. A scrapbook is much easier to store! I had a bunch of craft projects that I was "getting to" and some of them were begun when we first bought out house many years ago. I got rid of those too -- I'm never going to complete them so I sold 'em in a garage sale. It was hard to let go of that stuff! You can do it. You will always have the memory in your mind and heart. Link to post Share on other sites
Author Artifact Posted September 29, 2004 Author Share Posted September 29, 2004 Oh Hokey, you are so right! I have boxes that I can open and say "this was from the move I made 3 moves ago." They are like little time capsules. I saw Clean Sweep for the first time yesterday (while I was getting rid of clothes in my closet) before i went to work- scary! I admit though, I was a little envious of the final outcome. I'm motivated. And I think I'll take digital pictures so I don't even have to make album space available... great idea. Merin- I always dismissed the garage sale thing before, because I live in an apartment complex... but I do live on the end, and I do live near a Denny's and K-Mart. Someone has to be up for shopping after a nice breakfast... Link to post Share on other sites
tiki Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 Yard sale. I've made over $700.00 on just junk alone! Link to post Share on other sites
goodnbad Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 This is what I do (being a former pack-rat myself)....ask yourself these questions: 1/If I throw this out and find I need another one like it in a few years, will it be expensive to replace? Most stuff, of course, doesn't put you into deep debt to replace (like clothes, weird but unused tools, cool gadgets that are more pain than fun to use, anything that takes up a lot of space but seldom gets used, etc) 2/Is it outdated? Will I really use/wear it in the near future? In the case of clothes, can I still fit into it (in this case, if you can't, ditch them! I was a big clothes saver, I had stuff that was 4 sizes too small----believe me, if you lose weight, it is more fun to buy new stuff than wear the outdated rags). 3/Is the item really and truly one with sentimental value, or is it that it was just given to you and you feel obligated to keep it? Sometimes you just can't keep everything! Is your fiance a neat freak? Better go through your stuff before he does it secretly, out of sheer frustration! My dh is a major packrat. And I mean, he throws NOTHING out! The only way I can manage with this is to.......dare I confess? ....go through some of his junk and toss it in a bag destined for GoodWill. Not his 'valuable' junk, mind you, but the scraps of near useless crap, old/outdated/undersized clothes, stuff he SAYS he will 'go through soon' but never does. Some of the stuff that takes up lots of room, I say, "If you haven't sorted it by X date, I dispose of it." Works for him----that is to say, usually he does NOT go through it and then I toss it! Anyhow, if your 'saving nature' is already tormenting your fiance and he's just moved in, best to get a rein on it now. Otherwise, it may become a major topic for marital squabbles! Good luck! (Did I mention that I am giving some serious thought to cutting the excess from my sacred photo boxes? Yikes! That strikes terror in the hearts of packrats everywhere, I'm sure! ) goodnbad Link to post Share on other sites
pav186 Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 I keep a lot of old clothes too even stuff I know I'll never wear because one day I might. Needless to say the only time i see that shirt again is when im lookin for stuff to throw out, but of course I still decide to keep it. I think its just because throwing stuff away is so final...lol. My drawers and closets have tons of crap too, I really need to go through everything one of these days and just THROW SOME OF THIS CRAP OUT!!! I'm not a pack rat per se but def keep more stuff than I need to. Link to post Share on other sites
Author Artifact Posted September 30, 2004 Author Share Posted September 30, 2004 Originally posted by goodnbad Is your fiance a neat freak? Better go through your stuff before he does it secretly, out of sheer frustration! goodnbad, he's a quasi-neat freak! He loves bare, Norwegian-like spaces; but he is not innocent in keeping things around longer than he needs them. Just lucky because he moved most recently, and already did his part of cleaning up the junk! I'm sure he is throwing away my stuff as we speak. But most of it is safely in a climate controlled space a few miles away... and he doesn't have a key! ...meanwhile I am trying to get some time off work to haul things away... pav186, the old clothes are useful when laundry day keeps getting pushed back further and further. I finally had to get rid of them so I would be forced to just do laundry! Link to post Share on other sites
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