Thrifty hoarding vs clutter clearing- which tactic works for you

[wheresmypaddle]

I don't like clutter but at the same time I hate throwing things away that might 'come in useful' one day or save me some money. As a result our (small) home is filling up all sorts of clutter (magazines I 'might' reread one day, clothes I might fit into, books I might lend to friends, old toys DS might regain interest in, CDs I might want to listen to..........).

I try to store these things neatly but that leaves little room to store the rest of our stuff. I have been considering doing some ebaying / charity shop runs but always seem to find an excuse to hold onto things in case they save us money or come in usefull.

A little voice in my head is telling me to get rid of it all this clutter, another voice is telling me not to be so wasteful- can anyone tell me which approach they take??

I went on a chucking spree this morning.

'Twas fun!

I love Freecycle...it is the perfect way to de clutter.

My mantra is, if i haven't used it for over two years it really is not worth keeping.

Works a treat, apart from work related clutter, the house is quite tidy

OK. I'm going to start clearing. Ebay, freecycle and charity shop here I come!

I am another discerning hoarder. We get away with it becuz we have a large house. I HAVE thrown out things only to have 2 buy replacements months later; it guts me 2 waste the money. I love to get rid of stuff, plus I try hard never to buy anything, but still we have heaps of stuff not used in years.

So, all my long-stored stuff is carefully chosen and it would be a terrible waste to toss it. Almost all DH's long-stored stuff, of course, is pure junk and should have been tossed a decade ago.

We have friends who have a bare minimum of stuff, I admire them for it. But they DO waste a lot of money buying replacements when they could have just stored a bit longer.

I am a ruthless clearer when I have the energy. Unfortunately DH is a cross between a hoarder and a tramp as he goes through the bins when I've been clearing, even if I've deliberately covered the bags with dirty food leftovers. I even hid the last lot of pure rubbish, not even charity shop stuff, in the boot of my car and he went through that!!! arrrgh!

gah. i hate all the cr*p. we moved from a teeny tiny flat to a great big one with whole extra rooms and cupboards. it has now been filled and it makes me so blue. i forget about all the good stuff i have because its hidden behind all the rubbish.

we've started to chuck in the last month. slowly but surely. it's wonderful. our problem is getting the stuff out of the house. we have a tendency to organise our clutter then leave the ebay box/freecycle bag/just-blardy-rubbish where we organised it and it melds once more into the very messy background. time is better spent listing on internet or doing a run in the car getting rid of stuff rather than sorting out IME.

i truly believe now that the only way forward is to stop bringing the stuff into the house in the first place.
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I am also a natural hoarder but I just force myself to declutter. Freecycle, ebay, MN for sale boards, charity shops, recycling... every bit you give away or sell is something else that is getting another life. If you haven't used it in the last year or so then it needs to go.

It sounds dreadful but I am pretty ruthless with incoming gifts - so often in the past we would end up with a house full of clutter after Christmas when we'd been given random inanimate objects by friends and family. Now I don't open them if I can live without them and either squirrel them to pass on to raffles/tombolas or give away to charity after the holidays.

With clothes the best policy is only to buy what you will wear immediately. If you are buying for another season or a bargain that you'll squeeze into when you've lost a few pounds it is inevitably dated or never fits. I'm not against impulse purchases but if it doesn't fit or you aren't sure take it back!

I hate clutter, I know what it can become as I work with older people and frequently go into houses where there is no space to sit, move, live.

My mum is an incredible minimalist and erased all trace of my childhood! but I would rather this than be swamped with bloody crap.

I have to clear all the clutter - out house just isn't big enough to hoard it all. Plus, when you get rid of it, you just feel so much better!

It's on my list of things to do now that the children have gone back to school.

Flylady flylady flylady Flylady flylady flylady Flylady flylady flylady Flylady flylady flylady

It has transformed my life, not just by getting rid of the clutter - very freeing and such a wonderful feeling, but also I now have a house that is clean and tidy and I don't spend my whole life keeping it that way. Google it, filter out the 'American' speaky and try it. It's brill.

Get rid of anything that you really do not need/use etc. I came from a family of hoarders and it drove me mad. It felt like I lived in a tip of stuff that 'might-come-in-useful-one-day'. Yes, some of it did I expect, but the vast majority of it did and does not. Give the decent stuff to charity if you can afford to - that in itself is doing good and you will feel good about yourself for helping others. Be ruthless and stop agonising over something that is really quite simple. Keep the agonising for something more important!

Have just returned to my computer after posting OP on Thurs- thanks to all who have responded so far it has made fascinating reading.

Barely anyone has regretted clearing out a 'might use' item as so I am going to hold my breath and go for it and clear some much needed space in our small house.

The idea to give to a charity that means something to you is a great one- anything I can't ebay I will give away.

Thank you for all your replies- I know its a trivial matter really but the clutter is starting to get me down.......

dh is a terrible hoarder!as is all his family(as i found out the other day when moaning to his brother that dh even wants to keep a plastic curtain rail as it cost however much and might come in useful one day.bil agreed with dh!).
were moving and im gradually chucking,recycling,charity shopping and ebaying!weve been in currant house for 9 months and some stuff hasnt been touched the whole time weve been here-so i think we probably dont need it!

Pah, I have no time for de-clutterers. Have had people offer to come and strip my flat of stuff in the past, have always refused, it;s up to me what I want to keep. And WRT 'you'll never need it again' I have made quite a few quid from selling off my old mags on Ebay, and frequently enjoy rediscovering old clothes that I'd put away for a while.

It must be fate, I've been trying to declutter today and really struggling with it, decided to post a thread on MN and here you all are. wheresmypaddle I feel your pain.

Anyway, I take everybody's point about things that aren't used etc but give me some responses to the following things that the little voices in my head say when I try to declutter:

1. you can't throw away all that old school work (I still have files and boxes of GCSE, A-level and Uni work), you put so much work into it at the time. And DD might be interested in it when she gets to that stage

2. you can't throw away all those cards/letters/poems written by childhood boyfriends (I have boxes and boxes of the stuff) - think how you enjoy reading old letters that were sent to your parents and give you glimpses of what their lives were like as young people

3. keep that fabulous taffeta skirt you last wore 10 years ago, it still fits, it's beautifully made and you never know when it might come into fashion again, your Mum's dress from the 60s is probably a collectors item, don't chuck it

4. OK, that jumper, shirt, pair of jeans/tracksuit bottoms are beginning to look pretty shabby - but isn't it just wasteful/vane to give it all away when you could manage without a tonne of new stuff. An you might need it when decorating the house etc

5. don't throw away that 'various' tape that your best mate made you when you were 15, it'll be a lovely thing to keep and listen to years from now... even though you haven't got a cassette player anymore

I've got a lot better and my house looks quite clutter-free on the surface but there are plenty of cupboards/shelves etc full of unused stuff that I really struggle to get rid of. I definitely picked up that wartime mentally of reusing everything from my parents, but there are times when it pays off, I've just got all my old toys out for DD and she loves them, even if they look a bit knackered.

But the main problem is all the stuff that's of sentimental value: letters, birthday cards anyone?

To somethinganything. i am new to this but as quite a lot of posters have said if you (really really)love something or it makes you happy then maybe there is a good arguement for keeping it..... It sounds like some of the items in your list fall into his category.

That being said - a few reasons to clear out the items you mentioned:

Could you just keep a sample of your past school or Uni work e.g. a couple of fav projects / dissertation. Would DD really be interested in it all one day. It might not be a good idea for her to use it as reference as ideas and research change over time.

Same with old letters / poems could you keep a few favourites??

If it still looks fabulous keep it. Find out if your mothers dress really is a collectors item- search under the designer on the net.

You only need a few items te wear when decorating or gardening so maybe you can clear out the tired looking clothes. That said, I struggle with this one- I have so many tracksuit bottoms, jeans t-shirts that are shabbly and shapeless but at the moment I dont think I have the budget to replace them so I daren't chuck them out despite that fact I don't feel good in them.

wheresmypaddle thanks, that's v helpful. I feel like I need a plan. Have just been checking out the flybaby thread but wondering if it's going to work for me.

Have you decided how you are going to tackle your clutter? Are you going to take it a room at a time? I don't know where I'm going to find the time! Or where to start for that matter.

Well, good luck anyway, and do keep us updated on your progress - I could do with the inspiration...

I think I will start by finding and sorting stuff by 'type' of so magazines to doctors surgery, books to charity etc..

As its the start of the winter season I think the first thing I will do (as suggested on here) is sort out any unwanted winter clothes of mine, DP or DS and get them on ebay.

Now I just need a few extra hours in the day to get on with the sorting out and do some ebaying. (altough a bit tempted to stuff it all in bin bags while I am in the mood and take it to Oxfam- the only thing stopping me is I want to make some extra cash where poss).

I'm a bit daunted by ebay - I can imagine that the hassle of getting it up there etc, including pics, working out the postage price then getting it to the post-office wouldn't be worth the money you'd make from the item. Have you sold stuff there before and was it worthwhile considering all the time and effort?

I did a couple of car boot sales, which was quite satisfying but takes up a whole Sunday and you only sell about half the stuff so in the long run, I didn't find it an efficient way to declutter.

I did sell an old stereo on gumtree.com, which was really quick and easy.

I do have clearouts and take stuff to charity shops but there is still too much clutter - and a lot of it is stuff we do want to keep like camping, tools, DIY and hobby stuff - we do use it, just need somewhere to put it the rest of the time. Hopefully we're moving soon to a place with a garage and so it can be stored out of the way. Meanwhile, we've declutttered and put a lot of it in temporary storage, and it feels great.

I think the ultimate solution is regular clearouts and organised storage for stuff, so that you can access what you need quickly, but not have to look at your stuff all the time. Unfortunately for that you need space.

I went to see friends in their new house once - it was beautifully, uncharacteristically uncluttered and clear. Then they showed us their cellar, which was basically the size of a whole floor of the house. My god the piles of shite they had down there - nothing ever had to get in the way, they could just bung it in the cellar. I dream of storage like that...

To the poster who thinks there DD will ever be interested in their old school/uni work - this will never happen. Ditch it.

I take your point. I have sold a few things on ebay before and it was quite a lot of effort. However, I am afraid I am a bit tight and I dont want to give something away if there is a chance I could get good money for it. I plan to be realistic though and only ebay things I can get enough from to make it worthwhile.

A friend of mine recently had a ruthless clear out of her DD's (7mo) things, she ebayed everything she didn't need unless she absolutely loved it and she made £150.00. I was inspired!!

However, I admit there is a risk that I will just add another pile to my clutter - the awaiting ebay pile!!

librabiscuits - you're probably right. I've just ordered a book on decluttering - hopefully not one that will turn up in my charity shop pile 10 years from now...

wheresmypaddle - that is rather inspirational

Wheresmypaddle - you have to do eBay stuff straight away, or you do get a ready-to-sell pile. I was really into flogging stuff on eBay a couple of yers back, but there is so much on there now, and people have less to spend so bid lower these days. I now get my possible-eBay-pile, quickly look to see how much completed listings for similar items have been, and if they are not going for more than £5, ideally £10, it goes to charity/Freecycle as i figure my time is not worth the faffing about to get £2.

I am a hoarder, think it comes from my mum always saying to me, "I had this but my brother threw it away" etc so I feel bad about parting with anything (I remember as a child being in tears handing over my bag to the infant school jumble sale as it had my favourite dress in, even though it didn't fit me! )

Books - I use the library online reservation service to get hold of books I fancy - you sometimes have to wait for it to come back in, but it costs 50p and means no clutter! Paperbacks now cost the same as a glossy magazine, so don't feel guilty about the expense and let that stop you giving it away - if it was a copy of Cosmo it would have been recycled when finished, so buying a book is actually better value than a mag as it takes longer and can be passed on to someone else.

If my computer would break for a week I may not go on MN and actually get more decluttering done...

I have tried the hanger trick in my wardrobe - I turned all the hangers the wrong way round (ie hooked from back of rail) - every time I wear something I put it back in the right way round. When it gets to the same time next year, I will know what hasn't been worn all year so can ditch it without thinking that I really want to wear it.

Not heard the hanger suggestion before- thats brilliant.

I see what you mean about ebay maybe I am too tight but can't get used to giving something away that I could get a couple of pounds for!!!!