To bin EVERYTHING and just start over?

[readingismycardio]

Just kidding, obviously, I wish I could!

Recently I realised I have too many objects (clothes, shoes, accesories, bags, anything really), and giving that we're moving next year from a one bed to a three bed (yay!) I want to declutter massively and only take with us things that we actually use and love. So this year, the decluttering has started, I binned, I sold, I donated a shit ton of clothes, bags, perfumes, books, etc, but I still feel like I'm not done with it.

I am in no way aspiring to be a minimalist, but I do like my house to be tidy.

Did you ever feel like you are tired of SO MANY THINGS? What did you do?

Rant over, thank you

@FindingMeno

The other part of this is to address future buying.

Yes! And in many ways this is the good bit. Think of the money saved…

I have made a massive effort this year not to buy “stuff”. It means I’m now actually enjoying a bit of Christmas shopping (getting my shopping fix without cluttering my house) and am also quite looking forward to getting a few new things (mostly consumable and from suggestions I have made).

@FlowerArranger

The thing I struggle with is sentimental items,so I’m putting some in boxes in the attic until I can imagine life without them!

Sigh. I could THEORETICALLY make do with about 50 items of clothing and half a dozen pairs of shoes. I have already got rid of tons of books and 'things that might come in handy one day but let's face it I'll never use or need'...

But the memory box stuff...... I'll need to be ruthless... but what DOES one do with one's parents precious pre-war 80 piece fine porcelain dinner service. (Yes, I've tried - you can't even give this stuff away...)

Find your local antiques auction and sell it there? Use it next time you need new plates etc?

I know the feeling OP. I sold a load of stuff over lockdown but I think that was because people couldn't go out to spend their money or get what they needed from the shops because they were shut. Now lockdown has ended I can't shift anything so have given up with that. I like it when I stay in a hotel and it's all empty. Then I go home again and it's filled with stuff. Next year I'm going to try to go the whole year without buying anything except food and toiletries. I want to make it so things go out of the house and nothing comes in.

I sell stuff at car boot sales and make a bit of money. I refuse to chuck good stuff in the bin.

Follow Dilly Carter on Instagram. She started a declutter boot camp thingy yesterday and sets daily challenges.
www.instagram.com/declutterdollies/

[quote TrulyPistoff]@Summerfun54321

Ooh I’m going to get that decluttering book thanks @Tryingtogetitright !

Nooo, don’t get that book - no matter how good you’ll have yet one more item to clutter your house. 😂[/quote]
Well, get it from the library and you can return it when it's read

freecycle

Other people give you stuff, that's what I have difficulty with. I don't need more candles or anything that is just adding to more STUFF. But for some reason there is an obsession with things like "getting all your Christmas shopping done"- people make lists and buy stuff in excessive packaging without really thinking about it except that it's one more person crossed off the list. I wish we could just all agree to a "no presents" Christmas in our extended family. Some do that, or just buy something consumable, but others just like shopping as a hobby so insist on getting stuff. Which I then have to find room for.

I've stopped buying unless I really, really have to. I have stopped accepting other people's cast offs unless it's something I was after anyway. I've stopped buying "bargains" even if well made, in my size, in colour palette etc. etc.
I've asked people not to buy me stuff and if they still do I put things in the charity shop unused /with tag still on.
I wear the top ten things in my wardrobe all the time so if I am shopping for replacements I want something that is as good or better (on me) than them.
(I have found online shopping to be a challenge recently and have ended up with some less good stuff.)

If you're finding it hard to part with some things, don't worry. Store them and come back to them later. It's amazing how easy it is to part with things when you know they've been untouched in a box for a year.

I'm doing Swedish Death Cleaning - though I'm not Swedish and hoping to be around for a while - with the idea of everything being 'ready' for my demise, and not leaving a mess for anyone else to clear.

@TeapotCollection

We’ve got way too much stuff too!

I don’t have the answer but we are going to have a massive clear out over the winter. We’ve got a mountain of DVDs that’ll probably end up in the bin, which is a shame but they’re just gathering dust

Why would you put them in the bin instead of taking to a charity shop?

@DoesHePlayTheFiddle oh my gosh I didn't know that was an actual thing?! İ used to do that as my decluttering goal too. İ would have all my photos stored properly too and all my old diaries destroyed and everything and I still delete all my texts so no one can read any of my personal chats if i got hot by a car

We put our house on the market in August and I’d done a little bit of decluttering prior to that.

I’ve since got ruthless - what’s the point of paying for all your stuff to be moved to the new house and then leave it in a cupboard for years again? - and as I’ve been keeping a tally (I’m that sad) I can say that I’ve:-

35 large bags of clothes, shoes and household items to the charity shop.
One garden waste clearance collection.
25 giveaways on FB.
6 trips to the tip.
10 FB low value sales.

I’m sitting in my living room with two more carriers to take to the charity shop tomorrow and I’ve not even started on the shed and loft which I’ll be doing once my ruthless streak returns. The guys at the tip now know me and casually walk over to ‘help’ unload my car aka have first dibs on what I’m getting rid of.

If you are moving, but struggling to work out what to get rid of, why not flip the problem. Go round the house with post it notes/sticky dots/some other method of tracking, be identify what you look forward to seeing in your new house. If you can’t visualise in your new house then bin it/donate it/recycle it. (And don’t buy any more!!)

I'm finding it's getting increasingly difficult to donate DVDs, though not impossible yet.

We have moved internationally many times during our marriage. The last time (about 20 years ago) I so didn't want to have to unpack everything yet again, I found myself half hoping that the container ship would sink and I would be forced to start over....
It didn't happen!

The important thing is not to go back to buying that much after. Decluttering is for you, refusing to buy similar crap all over again is for the environment.

I've become slightly obsessed with decluttering our house. I was finding it really overwhelming with two young DC and the constant mess, combined with no proper storage.

In the past few months I've really become serious about it. Every day I do a little. I don't struggle in deciding to part with things, but don't want to waste things so do spend a ridiculous amount of time giving things away on Facebook and things like that.

Even at my slow pace, finally I am starting to see some results. Our house is definitely calmer. Of course the kids still make a mess, but I'm finally getting close to my goal of being able to quickly tidy each room in 5 minutes if it is trashed. There is less stuff to put away and each thing has an obvious place to go. I feel a lot less overwhelmed.

Still a really long way to go here but I'm getting there, and seeing some results is encouraging me. I can't believe I just accumulated things like this now. I watch minimalist/decluttering/organising people on youtube to keep me motivated whilst I declutter. My DH thankfully is going along with it. Go for it OP!

When we moved house (from a 3 bed to a 4 bed and much bigger space) I had a MASSIVE de-clutter spree. I donated, freecycled, sold, charity shopped a ton of stuff... So much better now! Honestly our place stays pretty tidy and therefore easy to clean (by the cleaners) without too much hassle. Big weight off my mind and I've kept it up - don't buy anything without you know where you'll keep it, always through the old out/recycle if replaced, don't bring in the door what you don't want etc etc I've actually got a bit religious about it - but my god it saves time and money.

I do like Dana K White aka A Slob Comes Clean.

Freecycle, facebook market place, ebay… i decluttered years ago and it has changed my life.
The house is SO easy to tidy and clean, there are no huge piles of washing everywhere because we keep clothes to a minimum. I even do it with kids toys; they have a few and once a toy has not been played with for a while it goes to another child to play with.

Two things to remember: your rubbish is another person’s treasure and dont buy new stuff!

I couldnt recommend it enough. It really has improved my life!

Yes, oh my god. I hate feeling like I have too many things. It makes me feel suffocated!

My BFF and I have been renovating our apartment all summer, and we put 80% of our stuff in storage during it. I've survived the last 5 months or so with a tiny capsule wardrobe and it was GREAT.

Then, last weekend, we went and brought everything back from storage. I don't even have enough space for the things I own! I've decluttered, donated, etc. so many times, yet more stuff seems to just exist! I have at least 30-40 pairs of leggings. Ones for working out, ones that are too small but I plan to fit into again, ones that are too big, ones that are for lounging around, ones that are for my job. Who needs this many pairs of leggings?!

Basically I want to get rid of everything and just have a tiny, high quality capsule for each season of the year. And be so light on other stuff that I actually have empty drawers and shelves.

@PermanentTemporary we struggled too. In the end we put lots in a box and sold the box as a “suprise dvd box” for £5!
It was a rainy sunday and the man who bought it was really happy with it!

I was given the Marie kondo book on the life changing magic of tidying up ( secret Santa...would rather have kept my bottle of disaronno) I didnt follow it to the letter but so much made sense. Highly recommend it. Didnt keep the book, sent it on and it's working its magic elsewhere

I did the kon Marie method...but I actually did it before it was known as this. I have folded that way since I was a teen too! I'm not minimal in the stark sense but I don't purchase unnecessary items and regift things I don't need/use/like.

Massive clear out room by room. Another massive clear before you move. Massive clear out when you unpack. You need to do it a few times over before you get into it, in my experience. I have a pact in my new house, I will not have so much stuff I have to move one thing to get to another thing. And so my stuff has to fit into the space I have decided it will go in. Its a work in progress but it feels so much better to simplify like this.