Please help me to keep what is important.....

[echidna1]

I have just moved to a 2 bed bungalow after renting a considerably larger 2 bed house whilst waiting for my house to sell. The bungalow has an enormous loft that is about to be filled with all my 'stuff' that I was unable to get rid of.

The plan is to build into the loft & extend to the side later this year - but in the meantime I have a skip in the garden (garden being done) that I need to be filling with my 'stuff' - it is purely sentimental stuff and I am unable to limit it to 1 large memory box (I have about 15+ boxes!).

I need some advice on what to keep and what to chuck. I am terrified of chucking something important and regretting it forever.

Thank you in advance!

What types of 'stuff' do you have?
Paperwork I would keep last 3 years of financial items ie bank statements. Bills keep last year's. You will need to shred or burn rather than skip these though.

Have a look at the kondo thread for inspiration. The idea is that you sort by category and only keep what brings you joy or serves a purpose ( ie saucepans do not bring me joy but they are useful :) ) . I think you need to keep the last six years bank statements, for tax reasons , a lot of people scan invoices so that they have a copy in case they need it. You can put things on gum tree that you want to get rid of as you would be surprised what people are looking for. Any instruction manuals can be recycled as you can find them online if you need them . HTH.

My sister keeps a shoebox per year of sentimental stuff. It's a nice idea, she keeps tickets rather than programmes, postcards, trinkets. Or you can photograph stuff and make an album, but that is creating another task.

The kondo threads are a great inspiration. I think the kicker for me is that if I can't remember where something is, there is no point me owning it. If I unearth something I'd forgotten I own, I'm not likely to need it. And there are very many things you only need one of, not several substandard spares. Good luck!

I'm feeling your pain with this as I'm the same and will have to begin to sort through and reduce very shortly.
I can't remember some things - but when I see them it brings back the memories so I just wana keep it all!

I have begun to photograph things and document, but as a pp says, it's just added another job to the list!

Thank you for your replies.

The bank statements are a given, as are P60's etc. But.....an example of what I have in those boxes are as follows:

• assignments that I sweated blood & tears over (pre computers)
• Examination candidate no. & timetables for my SRN Finals, along with all the coursework - I lost my beautiful Nursing & Midwifery Council certificate so that's why I have kept all that other stuff (it's my biggest regret and the 1 thing that I cannot ever get back!)
• Coursework from having to do my degree post qualifying - I've started chucking that out but it grieves me when I paid a fortune for it from the British Library (pre computers)
• Ski boots & ski clothes (haven't been for 12 years)
• Books Books Books
• Programmes from all the concerts I played in (was in an orchestra & wind band)
• All my daughters artwork - it's all I have of her early years that I remember of that time (marriage breakup)
• My old sewing machine that doesn't actually work .....

......I had a look at all my stuff this morning and it's more like 30 boxes Gah!

Anything you can sell at a car boot sale/ebay, it's amazing what 'rubbish' people will buy. I would try to sell what I could and charity shop/skip the rest. The weather is good for the next few days so find your local car boot & see how much you can get rid of and the extra cash will come in handy.

Bin it all. I've done it twice and never regretted it, first time when I did a transatlantic move with a backpack and suitcase, second when downsizing from a 9 bed house to a room in a shared flat. I allowed myself a ring binder of bits the first time, and added a few pages the second.
As it turns out, memories are not objects, and you still have them without boxes of stuff.

I naturally tend to hoard stuff, so it's easy for me to gather a LOT of baggage, but I try hard to follow the "have nothing in your home which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" rule, and it helps.