Why do I always want to get rid of things ?

[tellmesomethinghonestly]

I love nothing more than a clear out. I feel good when I drop a bag of clothes off to the recycling bin or charity collection. I look at my kids lovely toys and I think ohh I can't wait to give that away to the preschool up the road. I wonder when they will outgrow that and I can get rid of it. I'm very organised with storeage. Is this some kind of control issue ? My parents were very minimalist, certainly not obsessive or OCD, but there wasn't a lot of stuff around, some due to lack of money and my Dad likes modern things rather than collections and antiques.

Have you used the app Olio? Think you'd love it

Wow. Can I borrow you for a week couple of hours please?

My mum is like this. I do have some sadness over things I loved that she gave away!

I don't know why you feel this way, but it's better IMO than someone who is a massive hoarder.

Perhaps you're a minimalist? I find the less stuff there is the more relaxing the environment is. If you keep wanting to get rid are you buying too much in the first place?

I don't know why you feel this way, but does the feeling good about giving away also form part of a buying cycle?

I know someone who loves a good clear out and loves organising, but they're also always buying things so whilst they talk about how great it feels giving go charity, recycling etc, their overall consumption is huge. They seem to actually have a cycle of:

1. Clear out, take to charity, feel good, have an endorphin high
2. See cute things for their home, need to buy a new jumpsuit, have a gap in their wardrobe for something fractionally different to their other coat
3. Lots of online ordering, going shopping, treating themselves, buying cute clothes for DC, even buying new washable sandwich bags because it's cute and useful
4. Have a clear out,

Repeat every few months.

@LeafBeetle I always ask about giving toys away. Usually they want to keep things, even if not used for a year. Actually as soon as I think about giving toys away they must sense it and play with them to prove me wrong.

I'm not very nostalgic so I suppose I don't want to keep things, however my brother is very nostalgic and keeps all sort of weird stuff. However he seemed to have a different childhood memories to me despite growing up together 🤷‍♀️

@cheesecrackerz we have a local Facebook group we here we do give stuff away free or I sell
Stuff on on eBay or FB marketplace if I can face it.

I need to borrow you. I'm a hoarder and having a sort out today. I think I have only got rid of 20 things in two hours!

I'm the same.
I love a clear out.
I love dropping even 4 items to a charity shop.
Everything has it rightful place in a labelled box.

@LolaSmiles maybe I can justify buying nicer things thinking I will give it to school / preschool and other children will also enjoy it. I don't really buy much, we don't really have any spare disposable income, but yes with presents and stuff for Dc I can see something in your suggestion. I didn't have much as a kid so I do think I spoil them as much as I can within our budget.

DC's clothes tend to get worn out or stained. I tend to buy supermarket or H&M multipacks for value. Sometimes next if I filter on their cheapest tshirts or jersey dresses. I don't buy much for the house really or myself, we did buy new DFS sofas on HP and did give away our old one away as it had an electric footrest and an elderly couple had it for free. I made my DH deliver it too 😬

I love a clear out too. Not to an obsessive level, but there is a feeling of freedom in not having too much stuff.

I’m exactly the same. If I buy anything new, I’ll throw out something old at the same time. I even love getting rid of emails. I get a little thrill once an event has passed and I can delete the booking email

I find getting rid of stuff quite difficult, so I envy you a bit.

@3LittleDucksQuack

I'm the same. I love a clear out. I love dropping even 4 items to a charity shop. Everything has it rightful place in a labelled box.

I think you'd also love Ferris... a great app for getting rid of clutter (and larger items)

There's a lovely freeing feeling of the realisation that you don't need a particular item - that your life will be unchanged whether you have that item or not, so you may as well not have it and be responsible for looking after it.
There is a feeling of heaviness of being overwhelmed by possessions. Everything feels calmer and cleaner without clutter.
The crucial thing is not to introduce things unnecessarily or else you're in a constant cycle of acquiring and discarding which is no good.

I'm a bit like this op!