How do I get rid of house stuff??

[Petuniaspetal]

I NEED words of advice and encouragement on how to dump all my household toot.

Some of it is sentimental but serves no other purpose.... old cards, letters, ...
I've given other bits to charity shops but I have so many paper items it is ridiculous. They just sit in a box from year to year, then I do a clear out and find them again and they go back in the box till the next time.

I live alone at 60 and when I pop my clogs I don't want people wading their way through it either. It's ridiculous. Help ...

Can't they just go in the recycling or shred them if they're personal?

I find hard to throw out cards and kids drawings. I suppose you can't just buy another one if you miss it like you can with most stuff. Could you photograph them then let them go? Good luck.

sometimes it works to do reverse decluttering like decide which ones are your absolute favourites first
imagine the box for them was smaller which ones would you put in the new box

Shred anything you don’t need or just put it in recycling.
What is it exactly that you’ve got lots of? Old bills and things?
I’m excellent at keeping things to a minimum, I’m sure people would be horrified at how unsentimental I am but I just hate an excess of stuff and it helps keep my house clear and free from bursting cupboards!

Recycling, definitely just get rid of it. You'll never remember it! I'm the same age and chucking it all too.

Yes I'm not sentimental either, does help. The odd thing but sling the rest

If you can't bear to get rid of- can you leave the box junk so no one would feel they had to go through it ?

On the Swedish death cleaning programme they suggest labelling it to throw. I’m not sure if those left behind wouldn’t go through it though.

with actual paperwork you can check what you actually need to keep
the obvious birth marriage death certificates passport driving licence degree certificates, house deeds
bank statements if not digital 1-2 years ( unless self employed then its 5 years)
orignal shares certificates, original policy document for any insurance that is current
a copy of wills
last years utility bills occasionally needed for ID or to show energy usage if you move house
I would keep P60 and P 45's my sister needed her when a pension company closed and they wanted her to prove pension payments for about 1999 it was a very good thing she had them
things you don't need to keep statements for closed bank accounts
anything other than current MOT , car insurance house insurance though you do need a note of any claims with dates
wage slips after you have had your P60
receipts / manuals for stuff you no longer have or it's way past guarantee period
most manuals are available online and you can certainly get rid of the parts in multiple languages
letters from school charities can almost be binned on receipt

know whether a digital calendar budget book works for you

old diaries do you actually want them to be read
same with old personal letters
I would only keep a small selcetion of cards if they have a meaningful message or the DC made them even then I only keep a selection