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Original poster

If you are a minimalist, come tell me about it

63 replies

CheerfulYank · 27/12/2014 10:30

Is it lovely? It seems lovely.

We just have so. Much. Crap. We are drowning in it, and for what? I have actual daydreams of the house burning down and taking everything with it. ( Said lightheartedly!)

Where do you start? I want to get rid of things but I'm not sure where they would go. Blush That sounds stupid, but...

OP posts:
Original poster
CheerfulYank · 30/12/2014 19:01

This is great! I am anxiously awaiting my Marie Kondo book.

I agree about storage. If I have a hundred baskets or drawers, I will fill them. I'd fill a thousand if I had them! I'm a very "out of sight, out of mind" person so if things are stuffed in drawers/behind cupboards, I feel like the house is "clean".

I think actually getting rid of stuff is easy for me. I'm not sentimental about "stuff" at all and I don't worry about wasted money. (Dh has a problem with both) It's just actually doing it that's the problem.

I have been diagnosed with ADD but I don't take meds for it or anything. I think part of it for me is that when I have a room full of clutter I can't concentrate or tell where to begin. I don't really know HOW to tidy. I just stuff everything away. I know that's not right and obviously not very efficient as the house is just a disaster again immediately.

OP posts:
BiscuitsAreMyDownfall · 30/12/2014 19:39

Im married to a hoarder. I have been reading the Marie book. Not a fan, I just can't relate. I dont like the part about not chucking out other people's stuff. Obviously I wouldn't chuck out anything that was used, but DH has a lot of stuff, just in case. Plus she appears to be talking about just tidying as a single person. Im married with 3DCs.

Jan we are starting (I say we, I mean me. Ive been asking DH for ages to help, but he hasn't done too much. Spends too much time thinking about stuff, Id rather chuck it TBH) and its going to get done properly. One room at a time (starting with upstairs as it just seems easier)

Tried Flylady, but could never get with that either. I liked the control journal, but not the shining sink, which never looked shiney anyway.

Original poster
CheerfulYank · 30/12/2014 19:43

Biscuits I liked the sink part of flylady! :) Mine was never very shiny either, though. But nice that it was empty anyway.

I've begun! Just listed something on our local sell it FB site. I'm going to keep track of how much $ I make getting rid of my junk. I'm not selling for much as the important thing is to GET IT OUT, but every little bit is good.

OP posts:
LaurieFairyCake · 30/12/2014 19:49

I've just bought the Kondo book on Kindle to see if I can at least do some of it Smile

I find dvds really hard nocuts - I took them to a car boot sale 6 months ago and no one was even buy them for 20p - all current ones that are £7 plus on Amazon Confused

I can't bear to throw away hundreds of dvds - and even though Ive heard the sunk cost line selling them for 5 pence on music magpie is really crap. All I can do is not buy more and watch the ones I have.

Deux · 30/12/2014 21:15

@cheerful. The attitude of just getting out of the house is great. It's what really motivated me. And the FB sales soon add up. I put the cash to one side and we went out for a meal with some of it.

@Laurie. It's hard to let go of things if you attach a £ value to them. Really, the value is what someone is prepared to pay which may only be 10p each. In those instances I donated to the charity shop as I have a benefit/hassle factor ratio in my head. So I only sold where the hassle factor was low and the benefit relatively high. Have you looked at your local FB selling sites as on ours I've seen ppl sell DVD bundles, say 10 for £5.

LaurieFairyCake · 30/12/2014 21:19

I don't have facebook but I have been thinking of stealing Dh's to do some selling Smile

Tonacata · 31/12/2014 09:53

Hurray! Well done for getting started!

And oh, hey, that makes a lot of sense and there are actually lots of good resources for people with ADHD who have this problem. (It's a common problem.)

A good friend of mine has ADHD and I sometimes go over and "body double" her as described in this article. I take my laptop and do accounts or something and she potters around and I tick things off her list and drink her tea. It's actually a really pleasant way to spend a morning.

Cc1234 · 31/12/2014 10:34

I have always been very minimalistic (both parents are mild hoarders).
I love having a clean, clear and tidy house. It makes tidying easy and makes me feel good within myself.
I simply keep on top of things constantly - regularly shred documents etc and give clothing to charity etc.
I keep the important stuff though - my daughters drawings/crafts/school reports etc are all organised into lovely boxes and folders.
I print off photos and put them into albums. I keep the important stuff - not all the crap.
In order for it to work you have to be ruthless.

Artandco · 31/12/2014 10:44

Oh and I wonder how much childhood homes influence. My parents hoard everything, and I was always frustrated that I couldn't find the simplest things like a pencil for homework. So I think I have gone the opposite.

For children's work- I store everything in a canvas bag for about 3 months. Then take it out one eve, and photograph everything. Then I just keep the odd 'best' pieces ie first good drawing of person , nice painting. So from 200 pieces only keep say 10. Throw the rest, but have record. At the end of the year I make an album up of the art photographs. So one small album a year

BatshitCrazyWoman · 31/12/2014 12:35

My mother loves to get rid of things (and she now volunteers in a charity shop, so it's easy for her to take things there regularly) and was always like that when I was growing up. My childhood home was very uncluttered.

However, I was an arty/crafty child, and wrote a lot of little stories, and I have nothing at all that I created from that time, apart from my A level art stuff, which makes me quite sad. I think my mother must have got rid of it all. I will confess that for this reason I found it harder to let my own DCs art and school work go.

Original poster
CheerfulYank · 01/01/2015 03:15

I am beginning with toys!

If you are a minimalist, come tell me about it
OP posts:
HermioneGrangerHair · 01/01/2015 13:15

Biscuits, my husband is a bit of a hoarder too, definitely worse than me, but there's still plenty I can get rid of before I touch anything that he minds about. I'm hoping he'll come along with me a bit when he starts to see the benefits, but I'm not kidding myself that he's ready to let go. I'm not going to push him, as long as he respects my need for a tranquil living space, and doesn't try to fit more of his crap into newly empty spaces.

BiscuitsAreMyDownfall · 01/01/2015 13:25

All his stuff that he cares about is in the dining room. Ive told him that he needs to sort out that room. I will do the rest which none of them seem to be as bad. Im hoping that once the rest of the house gets tidy the tidiness will just spread over into the dining room too. I think I read somewhere that once you get a room tidy and clean the rest of the house starts to follow suit.

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