Any (aspiring) minimalists about?

[HereticFanjo]

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.

In the gaps when I am not actively getting rid of stuff I console myself with not letting new things in.
For example the leaflets that come through the door are straight in the recycling. Letters are opened and dealt with. Any packages are opened, checked and boxes to recycling. We don't get newspapers or magazines any more. That sort of little thing.

The Minimal Mom on YouTube is great, very sensible decluttering advice so you don't trash your house at the same time.

I also like A Slob Comes Clean podcast, turns out I'm not a slob but she is really charming and has good advice about daily and weekly habits to keep things going once you've decluttered.

Both of them have revolutionised my house, it looks so much better and is so much easier to keep tidy and clean.

I might be one of those people who is only 15 minutes away from visitor ready now where I used to take at least 4 hours.

I’ve discovered Vinted and I’m operating a one in one out policy for mine & DS’ wardrobes. So if I sell an item, I can buy something I love, that fits well and goes with everything.

I sold my DVD’s and cds years ago.

We’re using a toy subscription for DS and asking people to buy items through that so we can swap as he grows out of them.

A place for everything snd everything in its place.

Don't put it down, put it away

Anything you are tempted to buy, first decide what you will get rid of to make space for the new item.

Keep a list of things you would like, in priority order. Check it over every so often. You will be surprised by how your priority and even the things you wanted change from season to season, year to year.

When starting to clear out things, I find it easier to pack unwanted items into a box in the attic out of the way. Three months later you will not have missed anything and can get rid of it all with a half heart. Do that a few times and you will gain confidence in checking things out.

I’m someone who aspires to be more minimalist, but come from a family of horders & am a dollhouse/ miniatures collector so it’s not exactly easy!
I have found that i am starting to embrace clear space, however small & it’s having a positive impact on my mental health. But having grown up, where having every surface covered in clutter was normal it’s not easy to adjust!

Thanks for this thread! It's inspiring me. Just taken one box of stuff to the charity shop, and filling a second.

I'm an aspiring minimalist. I always have been but was frustrated in my ambitions by my magpie husband. However, my husband - who had been chief cook and bottle washer in the house while I worked full time - has had a stroke. Luckily I have a wonderful boss who told me to wfh until retirement, and to only work when I feel able and it doesn't matter what sort of odd times I'm able to log on.

One of the things that stroke victims can find very hard is seeing clearly if there's a muddly stash of stuff so I'm de-cluttering with a vengeance. I've done the kitchen, utility, hall and half the sitting room so far. And I have thrown out 12 wheely bins full, plus some 24 boxes full of stuff to go to the recycling centre run by the local authority. (My kind neighbours go for me - it's on their route for their weekly big shop).

Amazingly, if I put wood (from dismantled built in shelves) or furniture on the pavement just outside the house with a "Free - Please Help Yourself" sign on it - it disappears within an hour or two. Brilliant!

It turns out that my husband had very real hoarding tendencies - frightening really - the amount of food! Luckily my lovely daughter in law put it all on a local site where you can put food up and those in need can come and collect for free.

Oddly the stroke has changed that aspect of my husband and he now doesn't care what I throw away. It is a total turn around, but very welcome. I'll be tackling the other half of the sitting room over the weekend! Wish me luck .....

Woohoo! Today I went through the shelves beside where my dh sits. They were stuffed with computer bits, cables and drives and he has forgotten how to use computers let alone how to build them. So - I stripped the shelves entirely, cleaned and polished them and then put back just the things I know he can still use together with the things that meant a lot to him (although he doesn't remember some of them, I do).

That just leaves a few more days of seeing anything else in this room that can go and then I can move out to the hallway.

@HereticFanjo how are you OP?

I'm doing baby steps.🤷

Second box for the charity shop is full :)

Well done flipflopsme. Must be really tough, but it's great that you can make the house a calm pleasant place for you both.

@FlipFlops4Me

Woohoo! Today I went through the shelves beside where my dh sits. They were stuffed with computer bits, cables and drives and he has forgotten how to use computers let alone how to build them. So - I stripped the shelves entirely, cleaned and polished them and then put back just the things I know he can still use together with the things that meant a lot to him (although he doesn't remember some of them, I do).

That just leaves a few more days of seeing anything else in this room that can go and then I can move out to the hallway.

Wow!!! Good work!

Amazing how your dh’s stroke has changed the hoarding urge.

I’ve started decluttering my email inbox in work which has emails going back over 10 years

I'm really inspired by this thread and motivated to get on and actually do something! I have cleared one of our spare rooms today ready for visitors next weekend and have bags of clothes ready for the clothing bin.

Part of my problem is that there's only my husband and I in a large house so we have room to keep everything. We each had a house when we met and merged two houses without getting rid of much stuff! DH has a tendency to want to hang on to stuff, such as DVDs that he hasn't watched in years so need to work on that. I tend to hoard toiletries and beauty stuff, oh and clothes too. I'm going to start on the cupboard in my bathroom where it all ends up.

A previous poster mentioned Swedish death cleaning. I looked it up and I really aspire to follow its principles. I shall take baby steps....

That was me 😇

As a result my mindset has changed slightly and I’ve started giving my precious things away. Sentimental items like jewellery. I get to see others get enjoyment out of wearing it plus I’m sorting out my things.

I’m stuck on photos though.
I can’t deal with those just yet.

I'm enjoying watching The Minimal Mom. She refers to stuff as "inventory" which depersonalises it & makes easier for me

Ive been making good progress and will be stopping for a while (although getting rid of the odd thing i come across if needed).

Ive been selling or giving away for free a fair amount of stuff. The effort involved is definitely putting me off future purchases!

Ive managed to clear a whole cupboard so that is now where things are hidden whilst waiting for charity shop to open/things to sell online.

DH has surprised me with some things he is prepared to get rid of. And DS2 is loving selling his old (good quality) toys and getting cash. He's only 7 but knows what he likes so well. DS1 is much more sentimental and holding onto annoying large toys "because of the memories". These will now be in his room instead of the lounge so at least I don't have to see them.

I read in someone's column once (I can't remember whose - sorry) that if there's a sentimental object you plan to part with, take a good pic of it. That way you'll never really lose that object, and the pic will provoke all the nostalgic memories that the item does.

I'm trying it and I'm hoping it works because there is no way I am keeping all this inventory (I loved that!)

Also - no need to print your pics. I use them as wallpaper for my laptop and have the lappie so that the wallpaper changes periodically for another random pic in the folder.

Some of you are doing so well

I have a lot of worries about money at the minute that aren't helping. That is just the tip of the iceberg really but essentially I always used to donate and now I need to be selling instead.

@MinesAMassiveSalad Thanks for thinking of me :-) This thread and others keep falling off my Threads I'm on for some reason and only reappears when I'm on the laptop.

Thank you for the nods towards Joshua Becker. That man might single-handedly change my life. I just went through the kitchen again and although I thought I'd de-cluttered I have another three bin bags full, plus a large boxful to go to the recycling centre/charity shop according to their quality.

I am gobsmacked.

@HereticFanjo - sorry for your troubles; money worries can overshadow your whole world

I’m the same with miner issues (stupid ex)
And that does make parting with stuff more difficult in case I need it.
I too am getting things ready to sell instead of donating as i would usually.

Joshua Becker just makes minimalism sound so reasonable and simple. Hes also managed to change my outlook on work/life balance and that has been great

I have filled two 120 litre bin bags (I swear I could move in and be comfy the things are so big) with clothes that are:

a) far too small
b) far too big
c) ancient, and really tatty and I've gone right off it
d) really - I actually paid for it??

But now my drawers and wardrobe hold only things I like, wear and that fit!

Thats brilliant progress!

Do it bit by bit. So a room at a time or even just a cupboard or drawer.
My rules are -

1. I must have used it within the last year. Exceptions being some tools which may only be needed for diy over a longer time period.
2. if rule 1 isn’t met, it must be emotionally positive. Eg an ornament which brings happy memories.
3. ideally it must fulfil more than one purpose, eg a stool which doubles as a step ladder, or a piece of clothing which fits bits also make me feel fab.
4. it must be usable not broken.
5. no duplicates. Except for bedding and blankets. Good luck!

I've been dreaming all summer of decluttering, and really love the minimalist approach..... BUT now I have a bit of time I realised I find it HARD! I can't help the voice in my head that says I might use something, or so and so gave me this, or it would be wasteful to get rid and need to buy again. I've read ALL the blogs so my rational brain knows how I should approach this nagging voice.... But it's still hard!

I'm much better at not bringing new stuff in, so if I could just get past this hurdle I'm sure I'd be doing great!!

We have a cleaner, but after reading another thread on here I'm going to follow the organised mum method (which does decluttering but mainly cleaning I think) but I'll tweak it in the first few months to be more de-clutter focused.

Hopefully I'll make some progress through this mental barrier if I have a regular routine and end up making several passes through each area.