What do I do about the STUFF in my LOFT & GARAGE????

[HellyBelly]

Not sure what to do about the amount of stuff we have in our loft and garage. I've always kept things 'just in case I may need it' but I do feel I'm a lot more ruthless these days but we still have SO MUCH STUFF!! We have bags and bags of baby clothes (for next time round) bags of baby toys (for next time round - loads), an old pc for my ds if we ever get to move to a bigger house which has room, baby walker (never used, was given to us), baby indoor swing thing (ds loved it and would love to use for my childminding but now we have all the older toys downstairs, there's not the room - would use in bigger house) and well, all sorts of other stuff, 4 big 4x4 spare wheels in garage - the list goes on and on.

The reason for keeping most of this stuff is because we've never had much money and I'm worried that if we get rid of them, we'll regret it when have another baby and need to buy stuff again.

There are things that I straight away can think I want to sell but the problem is, if we bring them down from the loft to clean up and advertise, we'll have nowhere to put it whilst we sell it (no room in house without making it look messy and can't have messy due to childminding - need the space!)

Don't know what I'm after really, just wondered if I'm the only one that has loads of stuff like this? Any tips on what I should do about it? Get rid or keep?

Also, I've had bags of clothes handed down that we never used when ds got to that age as the loft is so full, we can never find anything

HELP!!!!!!!!!! Please

Maybe you could divide it up into manageable jobs.
First, catalogue what you've got.
Second, sort thru the baby clothes & decide what you realisticly do not need (heavily duplicated).
I find I don't need that many baby toys (do you?)

It is wonderful when you've had your last & you can start clearing stuff out, old stairgates, prams, clothes, baby bath, I've got shot of loads of stuff in last 16 months!

As for selling stuff, what if you just got one item down at a time to clean & sell? Takes a while, but you'd get thru it eventually.

We're like that too- except we're just about to get a major extension in the house so everything has to be cleares. I am finding it hard going for the same reasons as you- just in case( altho' no more babies here!) too good just to throw out. Dh however is loving it- he's at the dump right now! There is a load of old junk there too- bits of carpet, old xmas trees, 5 old suitcases!

Have given major baby stuff away, have bag loads to sell on ebay when I can finally get my computer to recognise my memory card. Think you have to be ruthless or if you can't, can dh?

Dh does an area at a time every weekend. My contribution was sorting clothes into bags suitable for charity or keeping.

if the reason for not selling it is "Just in case you need it" (rather than sentimental) then sell it on ebay - a bit at a time. You don;t need to being whole loads of it downstairs, just do a bit at a time to clean/take photos. Put any money you get into a "just in case you need it" bank account and I bet, within about 2 sales you'll be addicted and you'll clear the loft within a few months. then you'll start selling stuff you do need...

If you go through the baby stuff, you may be able to get rid of say, half of it and just keep your favourite things?

Get in touch with your HV or MW and find out if there are any hard-up mums in the area that might be really grateful for some freebies. It will make you feel good too.

Cheers for the advice, will give all that a go Thanks a lot. Will save the money for when we need to buy more stuff next time round (well, if we don't spend it first - bit hard up since dh lost his job at xmas)

Thanks again