Page 10 | Any (aspiring) minimalists about?

HereticFanjo · 2021-06-25T13:33:00+00:00

I am a natural clutterbug but aspiring minimalist! I'm about to have a couple of months off work between jobs and with no holidays planned this feels like the time to really go for it on the minimalism front! My income will be dropping substantially so I may need to sell some stuff rather than just donate. How did you get there if you made the leap to minimalism? I find books and household stuff especially difficult to part with.

FlipFlops4Me · 27/09/2021 18:41

I gave the decent ones to charity shops. Childrens' books I gave to friends who had kids of the right age (mine is adult now), my neighbour grabbed the sewing books for her dil, and the rest I'm afraid went to recycling where will get pulped and the pulp re-used.

I use a kindle now except for sewing or crochet books which are easier to use in paper form.

YupIHave · 27/09/2021 19:13

@Jellycatspyjamas why not take your work books to work (as long as you don't wfh, obviously)? Or keep the most inspiring/up-to-date/useful ones and take the rest in to work with a sign to say that they are free if anyone wants them. Or a combo. Unless you wfh, I believe work books belong at work as I don't want to see work stuff when I'm trying to relax. (When I had work stuff at home, they went in the garage or the shed!)

Jellycatspyjamas · 27/09/2021 19:27

That’s a good idea but I’m working from home, I have a dedicated office space with bookshelves but they’re overflowing. I do a lot of training and development work so need to keep up to date with three different professional knowledge bases which tends to equate to lots of books.

I could donate some of the older ones I suppose, or give them to my students? I’ve also got a locking cabinet thing that needs a good sort out so that might make some space. We do have a shed but I fear I’d just start overloading it and give myself another job to do clearing it out.

YupIHave · 27/09/2021 20:33

That's a shame @Jellycatspyjamas. It doesn't work if you have to wfh.

Try to look at it another way. Which books have you used as a reference book in the 1-3 years. (I'm imagining it like clothes - you look at 20% of the books 80% of the time.) Which books have you not picked up at all? Do you still need out of date books eg do you have books with latest editions and older ones? Do you still need books from when you were studying your subject area?

At work we had a whole (walk in) cupboard of reference books. Many of which were never used. I was put in charge. Yes. I managed to whittle it right down to 4 shelves of books.

InvincibleInvisibility · 28/09/2021 08:09

Agree with getting rid of older text books. Im also ruthless with training manuels that I know I won't open again.

I've found work colleagues who are happy to have random things. Baby sling and baby help books for my colleague with a baby. All the pink, purple and orange felt tips/crayons that my DSes never touch have gone to my colleague's arty DD. There is a huge pile of learning to read books that have passed through at least 5 children via work.

I have just bought myself some new work clothes but every piece in will have one or two pieces going out. (Ive lost weight so my clothes look awful and baggy)

LaBellina · 28/09/2021 08:18

In my old neighborhood someone had made an outdoors book case (with some kind of makeshift rain cover) and put it on the street in front of their home. Those who had books that they didn’t want anymore but were still okay looking and thus readable could leave their books there and those who wanted a free book could take them if they saw one that they liked. Same with old coats and jackets. There was an initiative at some point that you could drop off your old but still wearable & clean winter coats and jackets at some local charity’s collecting point and they wrapped the jackets with the sleeves around trees in the neighborhood with a note that said ‘if you’re feeling cold but can’t afford to buy yourself a jacket, please take this one, we left it here for you’.
Both systems a bit like the ‘pending coffee’ as is common in some places in Italy.
I love these kind of initiatives as they create a sense of community, help the environment and generally restore my faith in humanity for a bit

InvincibleInvisibility · 28/09/2021 08:24

Ou local cafe has a book box too. As do a lot of beaches in France. Its a good idea

Original poster

HereticFanjo · 28/09/2021 09:31

Good morning. The textbook thing - donate or sell for sure. I'm having a similar dilemma with baby books - I have half a shelf of them! It's very hard to let go of them for some reason, probably around acknowledging that part of my life is over. Ditto old travel books etc. I'm thinking of selling some book bundles on ebay.

OP posts:

Original poster

HereticFanjo · 28/09/2021 09:32

Is anyone else shocked at the number of books they have but haven't read? I have hundreds I've read and hundreds I haven't read! I think I need to set a deadline to read them by and if they haven't hooked me by chapter 5 I need to ruthlessly purge them.

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FlipFlops4Me · 28/09/2021 13:22

@HereticFanjo - good thinking! I did that with the Massive DeClutter, but now I face having to do the same with my Kindle. It's getting clogged up with things I don't want to read......

It's going to be never-ending, isn't it? I don't want to buy anything (bar cleaning materials and food) but I have this hideous vision of presents coming into the house and MIL unloading her crap onto me. (Although she's as much of a packrat as DH ever was - I know where he got it from).

1990s · 28/09/2021 13:56

@HereticFanjo

Is anyone else shocked at the number of books they have but haven't read? I have hundreds I've read and hundreds I haven't read! I think I need to set a deadline to read them by and if they haven't hooked me by chapter 5 I need to ruthlessly purge them.

I’m doing an ongoing project at the moment to read all the books on my shelves, and then once read they get recycled via Ziffit or charity shop, and only important ones that mean something or I will re read multiple times are kept.

I’ve only given up on a couple part way through so far! It’s been really enjoyable.

YupIHave · 28/09/2021 23:15

I purged my book selection a few years ago. I only have books that I re-read every couple of years and childhood favourites that I still indulge in from time to time. It's joyous. Al new books are purchased on kindle.

DP though. He has tonnes of books, although he let go of many of them. I don't mind as they make him happy.

Original poster

HereticFanjo · 29/09/2021 08:33

So yesterday instead of getting rid of books I bought 3 more. I am an idiot!!! At least they were on Kindle but still. It's those 99p deals I can't resist.

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FlipFlops4Me · 29/09/2021 09:46

@HereticFanjo

So yesterday instead of getting rid of books I bought 3 more. I am an idiot!!! At least they were on Kindle but still. It's those 99p deals I can't resist.

Oh lord they're fatal aren't they? I have lately taken to the Kindle Unlimited thing which has turned out to be worth the fee and cheaper than continually buying even the 99p books. I usually have 12 books out on loan and just return each as soon as I've read it, and take out another.

InvincibleInvisibility · 29/09/2021 10:27

I have to say this thread is helping me keep momentum. Cos now a lot has gone ive got space so no real need to keep going.

This morning i made the DSes sort out which marbles to keep and which to go (they never play with them but I let then keep about 25%). Charity will get 200 odd marbles!

Also am putting a travel bed barrier up to sell. We d kept it as it is really good (and not available to buy anymore) but Im definitely not having a 3rd so it can go.

Jellycatspyjamas · 29/09/2021 10:33

Kindle unlimited is excellent, I use it all the time and it’s much cheaper for me than buying 99p books. I read a lot and read quickly so I’m always looking for new books - lots of good authors that I wouldn’t have come across otherwise, and you need to swap books out once you reach a limit so no (virtual) hoarding.

FlipFlops4Me · 30/09/2021 16:07

Final 10 bags collected by the Council, 2 dolls houses and a large set of shelves collected by local charity shop and a merchant's chest of drawers taken round to one neighbour by another neighbour and his wife (very friendly area round here). All that's left is loft clearance at the end of November.

Now I can switch to just gentle decluttering - look round each room once a week with keen eyes, armed with a bin bag.

I have a small double bed and mattress coming, and I have the bedding put by. Isn't it wonderful? I'll finally have an actual spare room and can offer to put friends up! Or my DSis if she needs me.

FlowerArranger · 30/09/2021 18:40

My next project is to tackle each and every drawer and shelf in turn, with the aim of reducing whatever is in/on them by at least a third. Hoping to do one a day.

Excluding most of the kitchen as I got rid of out of date food stuff and useless gadgets last month.

FlipFlops4Me · 30/09/2021 18:54

I totted the whole lot up in my journal and I am gobsmacked. I have no idea how it all fitted in the house although it really does look spacious and calm in here. My neighbour (the one who has been taking my stuff to the charity shop in his estate car) has taken to called my home The Tardis House because he's seen it all coming out and being taken away.

68 bin bags full of crap
12 wheelie bins filled and emptied
3 estate car loads taken to recycling
4 sets of tall bookshelves
3 bedside lockers
1 kitchen table
2 kitchen chairs
2 vacuum cleaners
2 dollshouses
1 merchant's chest of drawers
1 recumbent exercise bike

I mean, who has a spare kitchen table for goodness' sake!

chocolateorangeinhaler · 30/09/2021 19:04

Do it. I used to keep lots of utter junk. It was a pain to manage and nagged at me and I always felt bad about throwing things out.

I just decided one day to be ruthless and it was so liberating. Anything broken, bits missing or that would never be used again went. I freed up tons of space and it was far easier to know what I needed to replace.

I am really strict about what I buy. Good quality items that should last etc. I still fail but try and do a big clear out every year.

Rummikub · 30/09/2021 20:08

@FlipFlops4Me

I totted the whole lot up in my journal and I am gobsmacked. I have no idea how it all fitted in the house although it really does look spacious and calm in here. My neighbour (the one who has been taking my stuff to the charity shop in his estate car) has taken to called my home The Tardis House because he's seen it all coming out and being taken away.

68 bin bags full of crap
12 wheelie bins filled and emptied
3 estate car loads taken to recycling
4 sets of tall bookshelves
3 bedside lockers
1 kitchen table
2 kitchen chairs
2 vacuum cleaners
2 dollshouses
1 merchant's chest of drawers
1 recumbent exercise bike

I mean, who has a spare kitchen table for goodness' sake!

How long did all that take you?

My dd noticed the house looking clearer but couldn’t tell what was missing so that felt good.

FlipFlops4Me · 01/10/2021 07:25

Looking in my journal it took six weeks from start to finish doing some every day and don't forget SuperDIL came along to help on her days off. And I have no real attachment to things so it didn't cost me much emotionally so the "keep or ditch" decisions were really quick.

The only genuine pang (and tears) came when they took my dollshouse away but letting it go was the genuinely the right thing to do.

InvincibleInvisibility · 01/10/2021 08:24

That is so amazing well done!

InvincibleInvisibility · 01/10/2021 08:26

DS1's party tomorrow so we'll get another 8 things - hopefully stuff he'll like and use as he hates getting rid of things.

I need to tackle my papers but have been putting it off. Might do it this lunchtime.

I also got rid of loads of Christmas decorations (mainly MILs old stuff) a few months ago. Will have another clear out when we put the decorations up.

Rummikub · 01/10/2021 09:19

@FlipFlops4Me

Looking in my journal it took six weeks from start to finish doing some every day and don't forget SuperDIL came along to help on her days off. And I have no real attachment to things so it didn't cost me much emotionally so the "keep or ditch" decisions were really quick.

The only genuine pang (and tears) came when they took my dollshouse away but letting it go was the genuinely the right thing to do.

Phenomenal work

You’re right though not having an emotional attachment to stuff would help a lot.
I had a brief chat with my dd last night re childhood toys and she has just said get rid of it all😱