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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Has anyone completely gutted their house of stuff?

71 replies

Mousey84 · 28/05/2009 17:06

I have come to the realisation that I have all the stuff I do because I feel bad about throwing away stuff I have paid money for.

I have too much stuff. Im ashamed to say that I have 2 storage rooms, 1 that I cant really get into, and they take up almost the same amount of room as I had in my flat (only moved out a year ago)

Last month I sorted a load of clothes and packed them up to give away (none worth selling, I dont think) but the 4 bin bags of stuff is still in my room.

I sort of want to get rid of it all, but at the same time, I struggle to part with it. How do you let go?

Do you do it all in one go? Or do the flylady type thing where you do it little bits at a time?

OP posts:
crokky · 28/05/2009 17:13

Me!!!!!!!!!!

If you have paid money for it, you need to eBay it if worthwhile or send to charity shop/give to friend that can use.

I once heard something along these lines (I think it was referring to clothes),..If you have made a purchasing mistake, get rid of the item. This is all the more important if it was an expensive mistake - you get rid of the item and you no longer feel guilty!

You do as much as you can manage at once - sometimes it is easier to get rid of items that you don't have to think too hard about - reducing the volume of crap quite quickly. Then tackle the harder things later.

It will be very liberating! I have nothing in my house that is not "in use". As soon as we finish with something, we get rid.

DO IT!!

crokky · 28/05/2009 17:15

If you struggle to part with something (item of baby clothing or whatever), take a photo of it on the child etc and put the photo in an album. Can get rid of stuff and still have photographic reminder if sentimental.

Also, think if you keep stuff (like baby clothes) for 20 years etc, nobody is ever going to get any use out of it again. I like to think of my DS and DD clothes on other children who have got them from eBay /charity shop or whatever. Better than them gathering dust in attic IMO.

FlyMeToDunoon · 28/05/2009 17:17

I love a good clear out and think it liberates me. It's like a burden lifted.
I reckon if I have had good use out of an item then it has paid for itself and can go to a better home or make a few pennies on it on ebay.
There is very little that I have got rid of that I regret now.
Maybe it would be easier if you got a diplomatic friend to help you.

crokky · 28/05/2009 17:18

Agree with FlyMeToDunoon - apart from the last bit - get an undiplomatic friend to help you

DorisIsAPinkDragon · 28/05/2009 17:21

Car boot sale, for stuff you don't think that you can sell...

£5 a pitch and just fill your car, It is gob smacking what other people want!!!!!

(and you don't have to spend hours photographing and catologing items they're just sold as seen, keep prices low and everything should go.)

What kind of stuff have you got that's a struggle to let go?

Original poster
Mousey84 · 28/05/2009 17:25

Im ok with kids clothes, because I love seeing them on my friends kids - have just kept a few very special items.

I have lots of stuff I have bought to do little projects - canvasses, fabric etc. I have some unfinished cross stitch projects that I started when I was 17 - thats almost 8 years ago! I still want to do them, but Im doing two courses towards a degree, two (short) childcare courses, working up to 60 hours per week and raising dd on my own...I cant see when I will have time!

I keep buying storage things to try to organise my clutter, but as we all know, you cant really do that!

I guess I should go now and sort a sitter and some big empty boxes and just do it...but I need inspiration!

OP posts:
Original poster
Mousey84 · 28/05/2009 17:26

I dont have a car for car boot sale!

OP posts:
Itsjustafleshwound · 28/05/2009 17:27

If you really think you can't live without certain things, box it and put a time limit on the box - if you haven't looked or used it in say 3 months, then obviously you can!!

Very corny , I admit - I find trying to keep things that have been outgrown/unused is holding on to the past and not letting the good future things in, IYSWIM ...

Keeping things costs more money and creates incredible hassle ....

BonsoirAnna · 28/05/2009 17:28

Yup. I moved house, and put all my stuff in storage. Two years later, when I was moving again, I went through all my boxes and chucked 60%. When I arrived at my new destination I managed to chuck another 30%, after a year or so.

I throw/recycle clothing etc permanently.

GrapefruitMoon · 28/05/2009 17:31

If you are loathe to part with things because you paid good money for them, then think of the fact that you are paying extra in rent/mortgage payments for those two rooms that are filled with stuff and not being used to live in. Think about how much nicer your home would be to live in with the extra space.

DorisIsAPinkDragon · 28/05/2009 17:32

Alternatively freecycle is good, but you wouldn't get anything for it.

(have you a friend that would help you with a boot sale thinking laterally and all that)

I would say that all the kits etc should go keep maybe one and once you have done that you can pick up another one (i.e. limit yourself), not store more. Be brutal with yourself and think of the space you'll have afterwards

Original poster
Mousey84 · 28/05/2009 17:34

Oh, I like that idea Bonsoir. I might try that - really push myself. Maybe pretend Im moving house.

Will see what I can part with now and the rest Ill pack away. Anything I havent pulled out again in a few months time will go to charity... 6 months do you reckon?

I just went up to have a nosey in one of the rooms and found a box that is marked "Ebay 2004" - its kids clothes I washed, ironed and put aside to be sold on ebay 5 years ago...its moved house with me twice, but remained unopened!

OP posts:
FlyMeToDunoon · 28/05/2009 17:38

If there are things that could be sold, trawl ebay for completed prices on similar things. This may inspire you to start getting rid.
I have a tiny house -well relatively and not much room to store things so when the clutter builds up I get the itch to do something about it.
Think about what you could be doing in those rooms and how they could look-workroom for you craft/studying maybe.

Original poster
Mousey84 · 28/05/2009 17:40

Ohh.. good idea FlyMe. I could sell stuff and use the money to redecorate the room.

Gosh, Im getting quite excited about this now!

OP posts:
FlyMeToDunoon · 28/05/2009 17:43

Mousey I think you have a major problem if you have made the huge decision to keep things for another '6 months'

expatinscotland · 28/05/2009 17:49

My experience echoes Bonsoir Anna's.

I moved to another country and came over with about 5 big FedEx boxes and two cases.

That's it.

I never hoarded much again personally and when we (DH, me and the DDs) moved to another part of the country nearly two years ago I got rid of loads of stuff.

Now I just permanently chuck out/flog/recycle/give to charity.

SOLOisMeredithGrey · 28/05/2009 17:58

Are you me Mousey84?

littlelamb · 28/05/2009 18:01

It's very liberating not to have a houseful of crap. I have tred to live by the motto that if I don't love it or genuinely use it then it gets chicked. Freecycle has been fab for getting rid of the bigger stuff, and charity shops are happy to come and collect things as well so it's really not that much effort. It makes such a big difference to open my wardrobe and be faced with clothes that I actually wear rather than clothes I bought for the life I wish I had

Original poster
Mousey84 · 28/05/2009 18:14

LOL, FlyMe, Im thinking of boxing it all up, and if there is something I think I genuinely need within the 6 months, Ill take it out. Surely something I havent needed in 6 months, I wont need at all, so I dont have that nagging feeling "but it might come in useful for...."

I think I worried about feeling poor (im clearly a mug re consumerism!) but noone has come on here and said, "wish I hadnt got rid of it all" so thats a good start.

While making dinner there, I gutted my kitchen gadget cupboard and drawer and filled two biggish boxes of stuff that I know has not been used in last 6 months... I now have an empty cupboard except for breadmaker and a sieve Now I need to figure out how Im actually going to get it out of my house!

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 28/05/2009 18:16

Do you love it?

Do you need it?

Does it make you money?

If the answer is no, out it goes to make room for something else that does.

TheProfiteroleThief · 28/05/2009 18:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FlyMeToDunoon · 28/05/2009 18:21

Thats great!
Now don't just put it in the spare room for another six months to think about it.

ramonaquimby · 28/05/2009 18:27

another one who edits/recycles/chucks out constantly. We don't live in a big house with lots of storage, have no basement or huge garage and did the loft up a few years ago. Girls have very few clothes (when compared to friends) and toys.

hate clutter and knicknacks. I think it helps that when I moved here I left behind lots and lots of 'stuff'

Original poster
Mousey84 · 28/05/2009 18:33

No, all this stuff is going. I have had three tin openers and three bottle openers including a homer simpson novelty one that has never been used. Hopefully I will have hardly any stuff, but I being realistic, I will have some.

TPT, I think that I keep the stuff because 1) I paid for it , so if I dump it then I feel Ive wasted money (if I kept it, I might use it one day...or at least forget I have it and not feel bad about buying something thats effectively useless)
2) If I didnt have lots of stuff, I might feel how poor I really am (as if stuff makes me rich - I know it doesnt really, but Ive realised recently that I think it subconciously).

Hardly any of the stuff is sentimental.

I will make a list of the crafty projects that I started or bought stuff for and still want to do. I will pack away that stuff and WILL devote time to doing these things. Anything not done in a year will be given away / sold.

OP posts:
FeelABitCrapToday · 28/05/2009 18:35

I desperately want to do this. Will I go to Hell if I just shove every non-essential into black bags and leave them in the front garden until I can be bothered to go to the dump?

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