Major decluttering - who's done it?

[davyboy]

My wife says "do we really want this because when we are gone the kids will put it into a skip.

When I sorted my mother's furniture and stuff in 2000 the local house clearance offered me £150 for the lot.

The family took what they wanted (not much) and the rest went to the tip or was given to mum's neighbours and their children.

Sad really but we didn't want an old fridge, washing machine etc.

She lived in a council house and they wanted possession ASAP and due to circumstances we didn't have much time and I lived 70 odd miles away.

Edited April 2, 2018 by davyboy

[mrcharlie]

Re the post about clothes, I read that we only regularly use 20% of the items in our wardrobe. If true, it’s a lot of wasted money.

 

Mrcharlie - it might not be of any comfort but you are not alone. Hoarding clutter seems to be a common problem these days. I too have read various articles about the subject and still don’t know why we do this. Possibly it is a deeply rooted, psychological issue due to varying and different causes.

 

You are right - possessions can come to possess us if we are not careful. Occasionally I watch the house programmes on television and I am always amazed at the retirees (usually just one or two of them) who want a big house in the country to contain their possessions. It doesn’t seem to occur to them that within a short space of time, it will be too much to manage. Old age is a time for clearing out the clutter from our lives so that we don’t leave it for someone else to do. Margareta Magnusson has written a book on this very subject - The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. If you can crack this hoarding tendency as a young person then you will be free of it for the rest of your life. Good luck.

 

Funnily enough I read about "Death Cleaning" yesterday whilst taking a break from listing stuff on eBay.....it's exhausting.

It makes logical sense (death cleaning). I know I have/had a problem and that too me is the battle won. I also suspect that in my case it's stems from having not many toys when I was a kid. I honestly cannot remember besides an old die-cast Fire engine with missing wheels, toy guns what I had. I certainly never had a stash of toys like my son has today. A colleague I once worked with was a compulsive hoarder my stuff pales compared to what he had amassed. Yet like me he too had very little as a child. By comparison my own younger brothers were truly spoilt rotten (large age gap) they never asked twice for anything, had designer stuff as kids yet today they both own virtually nothing. A friend I met online in another forum who also happens to be a shrink has confirmed my assumptions are true and it is indeed in my case due to childhood memories that have made me want to have so much stuff when I grew independent and could afford to buy as I pleased. For some very strange reason things I like I need 3 off? One for best, one for use and one as a back up!! Multiply that by literally 100's if not 1000's of items I have/had you can begin to see just how out of hand it becomes.

 

As mentioned in my previous posts, I now recognise my problem and have sold the vast bulk of expensive stuff I had. What's left still adds upto many many £1000's even at giveaway eBay prices hence why it's taking so darn long to get shut.

Edited April 2, 2018 by mrcharlie

[rudds1]

I've cleared my shed out of old car parts and put them on various websites to attract people who deal in old vauxhalls etc.I was surprised how much I had and how much it all fetched.

[ricgem2002]

have you got a link to what you selling on ebay you never know you might shift it quicker:thumbsup:

[mrcharlie]

Here's another thing....

What to do with CD's & DVD's

My CDs are all on my iPod these days, I cannot remember the last time I actually listened to a cd! As for DVD's, jeez!! The bulk I have was removed from their cases and transferred to high capacity cases, yet I'm still drowning in the ones I left be. Add to that I can't remember the last time I watched a DVD in my collection.

 

The world has changed so much in the past decade. Today's generation are happy to stream what they want when they want it...it does make a lot more sense.

[feargal]

Sell them on Music Magpie? Don't think they'd buy anything not in an original case though.

[area 51]

I woke up this morning and looked at the snow outside and decided a spring clean was needed.Here i am at 5.30 with five bin liners full of stuff and a pile of stuff to go to the charity shop.I love my hillwalking but how have i managed to end up with five rucksacks?.I have also found out i have two ironing boards,but not for much longer.

[Anna B]

I woke up this morning and looked at the snow outside and decided a spring clean was needed.Here i am at 5.30 with five bin liners full of stuff and a pile of stuff to go to the charity shop.I love my hillwalking but how have i managed to end up with five rucksacks?.I have also found out i have two ironing boards,but not for much longer.

 

Well done. Sounds like a very good start.

 

---------- Post added 02-04-2018 at 18:23 ----------

 

Funnily enough I read about "Death Cleaning" yesterday whilst taking a break from listing stuff on eBay.....it's exhausting.

It makes logical sense (death cleaning). I know I have/had a problem and that too me is the battle won. I also suspect that in my case it's stems from having not many toys when I was a kid. I honestly cannot remember besides an old die-cast Fire engine with missing wheels, toy guns what I had. I certainly never had a stash of toys like my son has today. A colleague I once worked with was a compulsive hoarder my stuff pales compared to what he had amassed. Yet like me he too had very little as a child. By comparison my own younger brothers were truly spoilt rotten (large age gap) they never asked twice for anything, had designer stuff as kids yet today they both own virtually nothing. A friend I met online in another forum who also happens to be a shrink has confirmed my assumptions are true and it is indeed in my case due to childhood memories that have made me want to have so much stuff when I grew independent and could afford to buy as I pleased. For some very strange reason things I like I need 3 off? One for best, one for use and one as a back up!! Multiply that by literally 100's if not 1000's of items I have/had you can begin to see just how out of hand it becomes.

 

As mentioned in my previous posts, I now recognise my problem and have sold the vast bulk of expensive stuff I had. What's left still adds upto many many £1000's even at giveaway eBay prices hence why it's taking so darn long to get shut.

 

I too am a terrible hoarder, and in my case I'm pretty sure it comes from insecurity. My parents came through the second world war and knew what it was to lose everything, so I think they passed that insecurity on to me.I hang onto everything. But then again my sister is a great 'chucker outer' and lives in a super neat minimalist home so I think it is down to individual personalities too.

 

Anyway, Mr charlie, keep going and let us know how it feels to be clutter free when you get there. You've already inspired me to make a start.

[L00b]

Over the years, I’ve gotten to become a pro at clearing junk, to the extent family members routinely call on me or recommend me to friends. I’ve cleared quite a few rooms, garages, did our family home’s attic 3 or 4 years ago (150+ years’ worth of ‘stuff’, some great, some disintegrating on sight ...3 flights of stairs, 7 LWB Transits’ full, literal tons, took over a week)

 

I’m a bit of a minimalist -always have been- in the house/room/decorating department, can’t stand clutter. But I do value aesthetics and beautiful objects. And have at times been a compulsive collector-buyer (games & other electronics in particular), but now mostly cured

 

With the adoption of, and reasonably rigid adherence to, some basic self-rules (“1 in, 1 out”; only need 50 to 70 items of clothing/footwear all year-round; “not used in a year = out”; the sort of philosophy alluded to by Jomie above,...) it’s relatively easy to stay clutter-free. But it does take some willpower.

 

As some of the regulars will know, we very recently moved country, and all I’ll say was: thank God we were (reasonably) clutter-free to start! A modern 4 bed detached’s worth into a 180 sq.meter duplex, and there’s tons of room left

Edited April 3, 2018 by L00b

[Chez2]

I only hoard my craft stuff as its my hobby. I have a clear out of everything else every few months. If I think I can't part with stuff I put it in a box with a date on it. If I haven't used it in a certain length of time I usually donate it to charity or friend / family.

 

I can't cope with clutter and I don't buy excess stuff, shopping isn't my hobby.

 

We have just enough storage for the things we need. If you but more storage it just gets filled up. I do keep a lot of used plant pots. If I purge those I find I need one.