Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We're in that "phase". (yep, your kids go through phases, but as we age, we also go through phases).
We moved last year, I got rid of a ton of crap, still have way more than I need. It becomes an emotional thing, you need to start early, because you can only do so much at a time. the emotions items can stir up can be difficult, you can't deal with them all at once.
Here's something I've been doing---if an item has sentimental value, but takes up too much space and no practical value, take a picture of it. Put it in a scrapbook, along with a paragraph or two about what the item means to you. sort of a readers Digest version of your life!
I've found too much clutter can actually be dangerous. My parents lived in the same house 30+ years, never got rid of a thing. When it came time to move, they had to made decisions and didn't have the time to go through everything. They simply got bogged down in the clutter, became overwhelmed. they did get moved, but it could have been better if they didn't have to make so many decisions all at once.
I've seen people time and again, have to move, downsize, due to age, illness, etc, then they have to move a lifetime worth of stuff in a weekend.
Get started NOW, even if its just one drawer, one closet at a time. Also, this way, you have control over it. Not at the mercy of "friends and family" to make decisions for you. Also, you can get rid of stuff that could be embarassing for others to find some things are no one else's business.
I simply hate clutter, it bogs you down, and really can comprimise your lifestyle and choices. I remember my parents, delayed moving simply because they couldn't face the task of de-cluttering. They simply didn't know where to begin, it was truly overwhelming. So, they died and left it all to me!
When they died, they lived in another state and I only had a few days off work. I paid a moving company to box it all up and ship it to me, stored in a storage unit. it took over a year to go through it, a box at a time. Thanks goodness they had life insurance, otherwise I couldn't have afforded to have packed, shipped and stored all that stuff. There were a lot of treasures among the trash, but I did jetison about 90% of the stuff.
Oh, another thing---if you decide to get rid of stuff, do it yourself. don't take the offers of friends and family to help you sort stuff. if needed, hire someone to help with the grunt work. Otherwise, you just end up arguing. People act like its their stuff, and you have to explain and justify every last item. Its amazing, how people will argue you---why are you getting rid of this? etc.........
Watch the show Hoarders. It'll inspire you to get rid of stuff! Hoarders - A&E TV
It's mostly older retired or nearly retired people on the show, too.
You ever notice, the people on those shows aren't too bright?
wonder if they get paid to do the show, or if they just get help moving stuff out.
I was watching a show about buying homes in Europe. They typically don't "hoard" simply because they don't have much storage space in their homes. Many homes don't have built-in closets, garages, etc. They use amoires, chests, etc to store their stuff. they don't buy a bunch of crap because there's simply no place to put it to begin with!
You know, the older I get the less and less enchanted I am with technology. One of my BIGGEST goals is to completely remove computers from my life (5 year plan).
I was actually thinking about how to PRINT OUT some of the photos I have on CD so that I can enjoy them when this occurs. Sooooo I don't think archiving mom's photos to CDs is the answer. LOL
...
I was watching a show about buying homes in Europe. They typically don't "hoard" simply because they don't have much storage space in their homes. Many homes don't have built-in closets, garages, etc. They use amoires, chests, etc to store their stuff. they don't buy a bunch of crap because there's simply no place to put it to begin with!
I don't know about that logic as far as Europeans go... ever watch "How Clean is Your House?" I loved watching the British version of that show. I had this impression of all British people being skinny, affluent, clean, you know - better than us fat uneducated oaffish American's. Boy was I wrong! They can be just as filthy and awful as anyone else, but the horrible thing is that, like you mentioned, they have the horrible little "flats" and row houses. They have absolutely no space, but still they manage to hoard and live in filth. You should watch that show, it's awful, but it's fun! Those Brits like to pretend they're so much better than American's - not buying it for a second!
I had a business where I'd often be called by family members looking to sell valuable items held by collectors or hoarders and I saw some absolutely distraught and overwhelmed family members trying to deal with mountains of stuff. In several cases almost literally.
In one case I went to the house to look at some items that the daughter had called me about and I saw a huge industrial sized dumpster parked in front of a modest two story house in a fairly nice residential area. The parents, in ill health had just been sent to an assisted living facility and the adult children, practically frantic, were trying to clear out the house to sell which was filled to the ceilings. Paths through the piles connected rooms, the kitchen being fairly cleared out. I commented that the big dumpster ought to do the job and one of the sons said that this was their second dumpster, the first one was filled almost entirely with old newspapers, magazines, junk mail and the like from the basement and old unsalvageable food and dirty kitchen items. OMG!
We have no heirs to burden with mountains of things but we are also in the process of downsizing as an exercise in freedom. I can't stand clutter as I get older. I no longer want to wash it, dust it, vacuum around it and the like. It's a fine line like someone already mentioned of possessing things or being possessed by one's possessions. Over the last four years we've been slowly (as we find time) putting Craigslist, garage sales and donations to work to clear out the closets, storage room, garage and shed to our most essential items. We've parted company with several big and expensive toys and are down to the sailboat and a small travel trailer in the lower 48 for winters out which still brings us joy.
I'd say we are about halfway through the process because we are working on downsizing to a much smaller house (less than half the square footage) so more "stuff" must go. It is liberating and we feel like we have more time and money to spend as we please. After we sell our "big" house we will really have cleared the decks.
I'm completely one with the sentiment expressed here.
I hear you, Janeace. Decluttering was difficult when I first started doing it a dozen years ago, but now I get a thrill everytime I get rid of something I don't need. I love not having so much crap to dust, store, and move.
What I can't seem to downsize:
1) 12 bankers' boxes of writing from over the years (this represents my creative life, even though I may never type it all up!)
2) Two heavy plastic containers of print work samples from professional jobs over the years (I will never work a staff job again, but these things represent my whole life--other than my grown kids, it's all I have to show for my years on earth!!)
3) Art supplies - who knows if I will ever actually paint or draw again? Just living day to day takes all my creative energy!
4) Framed artwork--a few paintings but mostly prints---that are actually very good and I just can't part with these.
4) Numerous plastic bins of winter clothing and lots of quilts & blankets--as I live in New England and do not wish to freeze-- and these things are costly to replace.
Every time I look at all this stuff my heart sinks. I feel driven to get rid of this stuff but how can I? Someone give me some feedback!
NEG - While I believe in downsizing, I also believe there are things that have a special meaning to each of us and to get rid of everything would be like living in a motel. I don't see the point in making anyone's life so austere that the home is merely a house'
Keep all the things you mentioned.
My one real weak point is Xmas stuff - I have bins and bins of it. I get great joy every year pulling it all out a revisiting all my old "friends" that bring back so many memories. I have downsized that quite a bit and will do more but I will keep the extra special things.
Make your house your home.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Boy was I wrong! They can be just as filthy and awful as anyone else, but the horrible thing is that, like you mentioned, they have the horrible little "flats" and row houses. They have absolutely no space, but still they manage to hoard and live in filth. You should watch that show, it's awful, but it's fun! 
Those Brits like to pretend they're so much better than American's - not buying it for a second!
