I've worked out why I live in a tip - help me get out of it!

[goingmadinthecountry]

Our house is perfectly big enough for us, but when I started sorting out a cupboard today I realised my problem - I just buy more and more junk.

Eg I had 10 packs of open pasta - OK 3 were spaghetti. I also had room taken up in the utility room with empty large Kilner jars. Pasta is now in jars.

I have at least 600 fairy cake cases from Cath Kidston to Poundland in the drawer.

Fish knives and forks fill one of my kitchen drawers. We've bever used them, belonged to GPs I think. NO-ONE uses fish knives.

Etc etc - don't even want to start on clothes, kids' clothes etc, books.

Obviously I need to stay away from shops - not working much at the moment and am bored. Hate housework but want a tidy house. Dh works abroad in the week.

Help/advice??? Please. Am drowning in mess.

Stop buying crap.
Get rid of the crap you have.

What other advice could there possibly be?

Start selling it
Ebay or car boot sale

1. sort out the food cupboards so you know where all your food is and how much of everything you've got. Be strict about using stuff up. that will gain you a surprising amount of space. It sounds like you were in that spiral of having too much stuff to be able to find anything so you buy more stuff which actually you don't need.

1. 2 cardboard boxes: one for stuff you definitely want to sell/give to charity, and one for stuff you're not sure about.

after a few months revisit the 'not sure' box and you will probably find you can chuck most of it.

Easy - join Flylady!

www.flylady.net/

Freecycle

I've tried flylady - maybe I need to get back on the wagon. 15 mins of decluttering tomorrow morning then. I still do the laundry every morning etc, it's just the clutter. All I seem to do is shuffle it from one area to another.

Already started on the kitchen cupboards today, so I intend to buy only vegetables - plenty of fish/meat in the freezer. Seth, I definitely do buy because I'm disorganised. There's space already!

I know all this menu planning stuff - need a big kick up the bum to do it.

Grab a bin bag and do one cupboard a day. Never pull out more than you can put back in 15 mins is Flylady's advice I think. I sorted the fridge out yesterday, took me nearly an hour .

I do the same as you - can't be arsed to look what I've got so just buy more - ditto clothes, toiletries, make up etc.

When you food shop check what you need and make a list. Then only buy what's on the list. Don't be tempted by any offers unless it's on sonething on your list.

Don't buy anything without checking if you need it first. Yes, you might miss a bargain but you'll save a lot more money by not buying stuff you don't need.

You've got a mammoth job to do there so start small, otherwise it will just seem insurmountable and you'll get put off.

Make a small list of the most pressing/most space-saving jobs and start there. Remember how good it feels when you get something done and tap that memory to inspire you to do more.

Do you need money?
I have worked out that it is a whole lot easier to just give it to charity than to mess around with eBay.
You give it away and it is gone - poof! - from your consciousness.
eBay drags that gloomy feeling out terribly.
(I am talking basic clutter here, not valuable items, obviously.)

And do one category at a time. Don't try to do a room, do 'all clothes' or 'all old toys' and do it when there are no children around of poss because they hate seeing stuff go, but never miss it if it's just gone.

I have started giving loads of stuff away to charity and freecycle. Makes you feel good to have given something that will benefit somebody else. And freecycle is so easy as you can just let the people collect it so no hassle at all!

One cupboard at a time, one room a week.

I need to take my own advice really

You need to change your boredom routine - make it decluttering instead of shopping. I am in the process of doing the same and I am gradually seeing results.
I agree that if you don't need the cash then just get the stuff straight out of the house to charity. If it hangs around it is harder to feel the progress.
The trick is the 15 minutes a day though - otherwise it is overwhelming.
Let us know how you get on. I am sure there are a lot of us who could join in with you on a motivational thread.

OP you have my sympathy. I have a very similar problem. I recently decided to empty one drawer in my kitchen. It is a drawer for utensils that we don't often use. I found a total of 12 corkscrews and bottle openers. WTF are we doing with that many? They must breed in there!

I gave most of them to a charity shop.

I have exactly the same problem OP and my house is huge. If I downsized all my belongs to only the essentials my life would be so much simpler.

I have two or three of just about everything!

Im joining the club here. My house is a RIGHT mess. Mainly due to the stuff we hoard. I have joined Flylady, but Im still not getting any motivation to DO anything.

I would go with one drawer/cupboard/area at a time and build up from there.

I just wish I could win a load on the lottery, buy a nice house, decorate it, buy new furniture and then move in.

Anyway off to think about following my own advice.

I started working four days a week recently. Friday is now my housework day - how exciting!

I start in the kitchen and work my way through the house room by room. I clean, hoover and tidy. As I go through each room I do one or two things like sort out a cupboard or tidy up a drawer and declutter as I go. I have a charity box and each week stick a few things in there then every few weeks drop off a couple of bags to the shop.

This is working great for me and every week is getting easier as the house is getting cleaner.