Stuff is too hard to get rid of

[Clutterbusting]

I want to be free of my stuff. I’m drowning in it. My house is a mess and all that happens when I have a sort out is it gets moved about. I spend money on storage solutions when I need to just get rid.
I want to but where to? Charity shops are picky and I have A LOT to shift. Selling takes too long and I can’t be wasteful so a skip is out. What can I do?
AIBU to think this is just too hard?

Never ever leave the house without a few things to bin or to drop at charity shop/clothes bin if you’re hoping past.

Well done OP! I’m definitely a cupboard (or under a bed) at a time person. This weekend I’m tackling the cupboard and drawer in the hallway.

Really wish my husband would tackle his stuff!

*Anordinarymum

How can a charity shop be picky when you leato ve the bags of stuff outside?*

Because it creates litter. Some peple open the bags hoping steal stuff, wet things get strewn and blown about, anti social types scatter the stuff for fun, creating litter and garbage in the streets.
Bags dumped outside closed charity shops will be reported by the police to our council who will pick it up as litter. And anyone caught leaving stuff on the pavement can be charged for fly tipping.

Freecycle. Always works for us. And someone may well want to pick up a collection of free stuff to sell on at a car boot sale (which, if you have the time, is another option for you.)

Someone had left half the contents of their house including a double bed and hatred’s blocking the whole of the frontage of our local charity shop on new year. There was no way to even get into the shop. So as well as costing the charity money in disposal of their junk they probably lost an extra hour of trading money while they cleared it.

Hatred??? MATTRESS!

@Violinist64 I am not 100% and willing to be corrected, but my understanding is that hoarding (when it's pathological) is a mental illness that goes along with OCD. I think that you could genetically be more susceptible to that path with the right triggers. I also think that you can develop the pathological version without any genetic part just from life circumstances.

Just been into town for an early appointment and walked past a charity shop.

Bin bags of donations were torn into, stuff everywhere. And urinated on.

So when you donate to a charity shop, please think twice before leaving it overnight.

I feel so disappointed having seen that!

@Littlepurpledragon I love watching Dawn and Dana, they're reassuring but get me motivated. Not as keen on Cas but she did make me understand why me and DH have different styles, I like things hidden away but with broad categories, DH needs to be able to see things or they don't exist.

@sue20 that might not have been a great example but I've found the minimal Mom really helpful.

Lots of her videos are extremely practical and she shows you how to declutter without making more mess.

No need to empty a cupboard and destroy a room, just declutter an area until it gets to the point where you can keep it organised. If you have to stop after 10 minutes then you've still made progress and it won't be worse than when you started.

I always thought decluttering had to be a massive project and needed whole days to make it worthwhile but I've recently got rid of about a third of our belongings in 15 minute increments all due to Dawn!

Marie Kondo wouldn't work for me, I needed quick, easy wins to keep me motivated.

Post Christmas tidying I now have an empty shelf in my wardrobe, this has never happened before!

@Littlepurpledragon

I have watched alot of decluttering you tube videos. They have been great for motivation and where to start. Also the psychology of stuff and the way we relate to it. I recommend "Dawn from minimal mum" Caz from " clutterbugs" and Dana from " a slob comes clean". They all recommend you start with the easy stuff, throw out rubbish and broken, ripped, rotten whatever..unusable things. 15 minutes a day to clear out a small space to build up momentum. If it's toys from the 80's/90s check ebay 'items that have ended prices. Its amazing how sort after some toys are. I don't have access to a car or someone to do tip runs , I have just taken a shopping bag to the local clothes bin everytime I visit the shop, sold books on "we sell books" (I've found pays out more than other apps and they will send you a address label if you don't have a printer or a hermes pick up close by, all free pick up/collection) other books donated to phone boxes, toys to local preschool or sold on ebay. It has been a year long process and I've donated about 75% of stuff. Out of sight out of mind , once its gone you forget about it and enjoy it not taking up head space . As Dawn from minimal mum says it's "inventory" and there's too much for you to care and negotiate space with then it should go.

We sell books or we buy books??

WE KNOW YOU CANT LEAVE STUFF OUTSIDE CHARITY SHOPS!! Jeez, half this thread is people thinking they're coming in with an original observation

I was the same. I gave up got heavy duty bin bags and filled them. The only separation I did was clothes and electronics as dump has separate bins for those. After attempting to sell or give away I became overwhelmed and it was only way. I feel free and a wee bit guilty about environment

@Cocoabutterformula I KNOW, right? SIGH...

OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY TO MENTION THE PISSY CLOTHES THAT WERE DUMPED OUTSIDE THE CHARITY SHOP 😆

Got to love using caps for a change!!

There are some great tips on this thread. I have decluttered a lot over the last two years. Clutter crept up slowly when the DC were small and I had no time or energy to deal with it.
I joined the decluttering one item per day thread and that helped me to get started. I had a charity bag under the stairs and it went straight in there and then I dropped it when full.
My local charity shop sells bags of clothes that can't be sold to a recycling company so I had another bag of rags and dropped that when full. I would focus on one bag to fill at a time and it would take a week or two max usually to fill it and get it dropped off.
I sold items cheaply on Facebook marketplace. I made bundles of items so all the baby toys that were in good condition were bundled together and sold for 5/10.
I gave a lot away to family/friends with younger DC. I asked them if there was anything they needed as I was clearing out.
If you don't drive could you see if there is a local man and his van who would bring some items to the recycling centre for you.
Personally I would involve your DC and get them to sort through some of their toys/clothes. They could sell or donate the items.
Good luck OP. It can be overwhelming at the start but focus on little wins - a clear shelf or an empty drawer.

autismandgin

LOVE A CAPS MOMENT!! Doesn't happen very often! 😁

Motivate me someone please! I just cleared out a kitchen drawer then sat down and now I can't get back up.

It's my last day off before back at work tmrw, DC back at school so I have 4 hours to do as much as possible.

Or I could just sit here a bit longer under a nice warm blanket . . .

@SportsMother Thanks but I only have 2 sets, same for DC.

5 more minutes to procrastinate . . .

Reporting back to the thread that I took one bag of good quality primary school clothing back to DS old school - they wanted it. I took another bag of 0-3 months good quality baby clothes to a local charity which gives 'starter bags' to low income new mums. Both said thanks and I felt virtuous. The next stop is a specialist charity shop for another 2 bags of stuff - but they're heavy and it's a longer journey.

Some car boot research turned up that the car boots I would potentially go to (which my SILs do) are shut till Easter, ah well.

I was interested to hear about webuybooks from PP - will look into that too

I put most my stuff onto free sites that are for people in need and it helps families who are struggling for clothes or toys as our charity shops are chocca with donations just now

Freecycle. Be gone in a week.

Most of the suggestions on here take a lot of time and effort. And the main reason for doing it is to relieve guilt.

Giving good quality second hand goods to charity is one thing, but the op mentioned 4 sheds worth of stuff. That is unlikely to be good quality clothing.

If you struggle with decluttering then you need to do it the easiest way possible, local dump or skip. The time to worry about landfill is when you buy it not when you have finished with it. These days metal and plastic are recycled so won't go to landfill anyway. Think of books as being big magazines. No-one wants 5 year old magazines so put them into the paper recycling.

Don't spend money sending your junk abroad, give that money to the charities instead. Transporting second hand goods around the world is not really environmentally friendly either.

Oh and don't forget, no fly tipping outside charity shops