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.
For those who are really attached to "stuff" and find it hard to get rid of, I recommend renting a storage space. They can be had for as low as $50.00. We have a temperature controlled one that we pay $90 a month for.
We downsized from a 2500 sq. ft. home to a 1000 sq ft. condo. We did this in our 40's. Talk about planning for retirement well in advance, lol.
Anyway, I am a sentimental pack rat type. My husband is a die hard minimalist. We did get rid of many things. Donated some, and had 2 huge yard sales. The things that I can't part with are in storage. I visit the storage place every few months and in time, I have been able to even get rid of some of the things that are in there.
What is left, is for keeps. By keeping it in storage, we have more available space in the condo and it's not cluttered. By downsizing from a single family home to a condo, we saved a lot of money each month on mortgage payments and real estate taxes, so even with paying for the storage space, we're well ahead.
In answer to your question, have you noticed changes in yourself that make it easier to get rid of stuff?
This is my "someday" I've collected stuff over my lifetime, to remember my life by when I get old". Well, I'm currently 55, and its now my day of remembering. There's still memories to be made, but really, do you want to remember your whole life in one swoop the day before they haul you off to the old folk's home?
You let go gradually. Things that still have value I say let someone else now enjoy. Things that are memory triggers I take a picture, then put it in a scrapbook along with a story of the memory. that way I can keep my memories close without stuffing a pod full of junk at the same time!
Thanks, MaryleeII...yes, I have noticed changes in myself that do make it much easier to get rid of stuff. This is ama ing because this is a big change in my willingness to part with things. It makes me feel much free-er (is this a word?) to be able to let go of things.
Great suggestion to take pictues of things I give away. Thanks for the good suggestion!
The stuff that takes up the most room is not family photos or little mementos, it is boxes/tubs of stored items...for me stored curtains blankets quilts dishware and other-season clothing. How do you let go of things that you know you are going to use again in your lifetime--items that are heavy in boxes and take up so much room?
Finally, I'm reali ing that stored stuff is stuff I no longer need. Woo-hoo!!! That's progress!!!
I've been rather annoyed lately at the commercials on my TV by "Public Storage," a self-storage company. They're rather clever, they present the dilemma of a family's ever increasing stuff, and propose the solution - Public storage, problem solved. I feel its more - Public storage, stuff enablers.
For me, if I do resort to using a storage unit to store my 'junk' it would be defeating the purpose of traveling lighter - and feeling lighter - in my last years. This would be the equivalent of storing it in the house where I live. This new way of thinking and living is pretty ama ing after all these years of being a 'clutter bug' I'm not complaining...I'm just glad that this mega-change in attitude has changed my life for the better.
Also, I no longer 'shop til I drop" and purchase things just because I like them. It didn't used to matter if I truly had a practical need for them. This is what created my clutter problem to begin with. Now, I can enjoy looking at them as if they were a work of art, but I no longer feel the need to purchase them.
The Clutter God works in mysterious ways, my friends.
For me, if I do resort to using a storage unit to store my 'junk' it would be defeating the purpose of traveling lighter - and feeling lighter - in my last years. This would be the equivalent of storing it in the house where I live. This new way of thinking and living is pretty ama ing after all these years of being a 'clutter bug' I'm not complaining...I'm just glad that this mega-change in attitude has changed my life for the better.
Also, I no longer 'shop til I drop" and purchase things just because I like them. It didn't used to matter if I truly had a practical need for them. This is what created my clutter problem to begin with. Now, I can enjoy looking at them as if they were a work of art, but I no longer feel the need to purchase them.
The Clutter God works in mysterious ways, my friends.
Amen This weekend I pulled out 6 bags of clothes the the Vets and 4 for Disabled Vets (different organizations). They have my number and call often - seems what they really need is clothes. It is a nice feeling - or will be on the 5th when they pick them up.
I sorted my cookbooks over the last couple of days and got rid of half of them. I was surprised to find that I've never made any of the recipes in most of the glossy books with appealing photos. Then there are several cookbooks I used in the sixties and seventies that I wouldn't use today because I don't eat the same things and several books from when I thought fat-free everything was the answer. Out they go!
OK everyone, I hobbled up to the attic today and looked around. Could not stand long, but I assessed the boxes very quickly and realized there is really and truly nothing to be rid of. I have to have the basics as I cannot afford to replace them...and honestly the basics are too much if I do in the end move a significant piece from here. I think that in my situation I would love to have everything I own fit into a 3 or 4 room apt. But that depends on closet space! What do you do when you get to the point where you feel you are down to basic necessitieis and it still feels overwhelming? Maybe I'm being a sissy about it all, and a bit overly obsessed? Has anyone got it down to where you feel your possessions are really and truly tight?
If you haven't used the item or even looked at it for 10 years, you can get rid of it. Unless of course you are a collector. My wife is a collector. She collects everything for the antique road show when she is 210.
Also from what I've observed, garage sales are a ton of work to get ready for with a pretty pathetic payoff. A week of sorting and labeling, setting it out early, warding off the early morning vultures, then two days of sitting out there watching people pick though your stuff is hardly worth the $200 you MIGHT get, IMHO. I'd rather donate it.
I agree. Unless you have a LOT of stuff and a lot of help, but even then...
Last night in WalMart I saw a guy buying stuff for what I assumed was his new apt. New stuff for the bathroom, curtains, rugs, pictures, etc. It all looked very nice. I thought what would it be in about a year, old crap he tosses? all stuff starts out nice and new at some point, then becomes old junk, then we get new, some sort of cycle?
Face it, we will always have stuff. you can't just live in a bare apt like a nun's cell. And we do personalize our space with knick knacks, etc, to make it our own. That will never change. Just try to keep it down to a managable amount.
I think I hit on the key word--managable. We will always have stuff, just don't have so much it crowds us out of a place to live. Do realize as you get older your needs will downsize and you do so gradually. Don't have sooooooo much stuff you are literally trapped, physically can't grapple with it and can't afford to hire people to haul it off and store. Also, its very draining psychologically to sort through memoribila, do so gradually, or you will be trapped by your memories.
Slowly we're making progress!
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.
I'm not complaining...I'm just glad that this mega-change in attitude has changed my life for the better. 
This is what created my clutter problem to begin with. Now, I can enjoy looking at them as if they were a work of art, but I no longer feel the need to purchase them. 
