Hello. I have stuff that I don't need, stuff that I don't want, I am sorting it into piles, at some point it will leave my house to go onward to the next place. Some of it will go to charity shops, some will be sold on the cat rescue stall, some I will put out on the front with a label on saying free please take, and some will be made into something new and given away. I have stuff scattered on the floor, I have too much.
If you are suffering from an overload of stuff take a look at this video. You may be inspired to take a fresh look at your stuff and decide if you really need to keep it.
On the other hand, you may wish to keep your stuff because you may be able to sell it, car boot sale, ebay or whatever. Thanks to Anon for pointing me in the direction of this web site, Things I find in the Garbage. The writer lives in Montreal, and scavenges through people's rubbish to find things of value that they can sell. There is also a Facebook page.
I'll leave you to sort out your own stuff, I am bagging some of mine up and it will go to the charity shop this afternoon. I have some stored in boxes to sell in June at the Village Fair, and I will keep some things for my arts and crafts.
Have a nice weekend. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip
Ceramic Christmas trees
5 hours ago
After I retired I realised just how much unnecessary stuff I had in my flat. Wherever I went I was tempted to buy souvenirs, little ornaments, novelty books and so on. I've taken a lot of it up to charity shops, and tbh I don't miss it. I don't have time to dust and tend all these things. I have managed to wean myself off what I call random shopping, I do still get tempted and I do miss it to a degree, but I need to keep my budget on track! I've realised I won't die if I don't have a momento from every visit or day out etc.
ReplyDeleteI think we've all gone through that phase, picking up niknaks from the places we visit. I have very few ornaments in my house now.
DeleteA very good tip I read about was to take a photograph of any item you had sentimental attachment to, but didn't really want to have around any more. Maybe things you've inherited which remind you of the loved one who left it to you. This makes it much easier to let go of the actual object! Good post, as usual! JanF
ReplyDeleteI like it how thin Angela Horn looks. "The less you eat, the better you look" LOL.
ReplyDeleteAs for decluttering, it's not as easy as it may sound. People get attached to stuff for various reasons: it brings back memories,it has a special quality, it was hard to get, and so on. For some people it will take longer to part with things, but in the end, reason overcomes feelings and decluttering gets done.
I do like AngelaThorn.Thanks for the video.I have so many piles of stuff in my home.Ashamed to say I think it's my 'comfort blanket'.I am going to do as she suggests and throw out one item a day.When I sorted my mother's things after she passed at 56 it was sad to see many lovely clothes with tags on 'just in case'.I must say ,for me Angela Thorn has got it 'spot on'- and you too Ilona - you rock too x
ReplyDeleteSorry ,I have just watched video again and I think I got her name incorrectly-Angela Horn x
ReplyDeleteI spent a while in a foodbank charity shop and the amount of stuff people offloaded was gobsmacking, good stuff and lots of crappy stuff really only good for the tip. I got burnt out with the sorting, id do 8-10 bags and put it all away and stuff would be there again the next day, I have left there now, this was one of the reasons. I have strangely got to a point where I don't want to buy stuff, and filtering the house like crazy to move some point in the future. I have another bootfull of stuff to go to my friend who car boots this week, she had a bootfull about a month ago, I honestly don't know where it appears from. we have done the shed and loft recently, 27 years worth of stuff up there, wow what can I say, why did I put certain stuff up there ill never know, cushions and duvets that were never going to be any good after being up there and so on, 3 tvs, 6 keyboards, 2 pc monitors, zillions of cardboard boxes, cot, cot bed, bunkbed, table, dining chairs, tv cabinet, xmas stuff x 4 and so it goes on, the car was full to the tip of stuff we couldn't pass on. I facebook freed a desk and mower, things have gone to friends and outside the house, and still I'm filtering. I cant really explain it but I seem to have developed a stuff get rid of fetish. My bathroom cabinet has always had something on it for 20 odd years, now its free of stuff and its so nice, why didn't I do it earlier. I don't know. will watch the video above now. Julie T
ReplyDeleteHi. Sounds like you are making progress Julie. It's so easy to push something into a cupboard. Out of sight out of mind. Keep going.
Deletejust between us (as in my family should never find out),
ReplyDeleteevery so often I take a bag / garbage bag around, and collect up this or that for donation or the garbage. They (and myself to some extent) are TERRIBLE packrats, and I have yet to have them "notice" what is gone, but if they saw it being "gone", a terrible hue and cry would result....
Years ago I would not have done this in what I do consider somewhat "sneaky", but the ridiculous and unused and broken and useless things accumulated are too overwhelming, and something must be done. (and no they are not at all receptive to selling/giving to good cause/trash...not at all)
Brilliant!
DeleteI am constantly clearing out, yet still have too much stuff! Mr S is a bit of a hoarder so I have to get rid when he isn't looking :)
ReplyDeleteI'll bet your home is very orderly!! I still have too much stuff but, after a decade of decluttering, I am most certainly 'getting there' as they say. My goal this year is to have my upstairs living area completely emptied out, save for a guest bed in each bedroom and only the linens I use in the airing cupboard. Should I shuffle off the mortal coil, it will be easy for my family to deal with the remnants of my formerly uber consumerist life! It is important to me not to leave a mess for someone else to clean up.
ReplyDeleteQuest
Hi. It's not actually too bad, I try and keep on top of it.
DeleteIlona, look for a book called Stuffocation - a fantastic read.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I am not yet at the stage of being stuffocated, but I will look out for the book.
DeleteI hate to say this but colder, damper weather predicted this week across the UK so, what I am going to do is concentrate on one room and go through absolutely every drawer, cupboard etc etc sorting out the stuff I don't need or want and disposing of it. Then tackle the next room and so on until I have done it all. I have to say that I have done a massive de-cluttering project in the past i.e. loft, garage and shed and it was hard work but very satisfying. Thanks for this post. Amanda
ReplyDeleteI am a bit off topic here but as I see you like walking around humberside, snaith and goole area, I thought I would tell you there is a lovely village fete at Rawcliffe in the middle of june every year. It incorporates the old may day with a village may queen, a procession of floats, country dancing and crafts, all from the village, with a bit of saints Johns day and midsummer all rolled into one day. If you want to see an authentic english village fete this is the place to be.
ReplyDeleteJust watched the video. Wow, at the strt I thought she was talking about my life. You see, my mum died 2 years ago and she was a horderan dad didn't know what to do with her stuff after she passed. Dad passed away last month. He too was a horder. For the past month I have been going everyday and working one room at a time, in the house they lived for 50 years, just getting rid of the rubbish out of the house. At weekends my brothers and I have been working on the garden and garage and still there is plenty to do. We have sent a tremendous amount of stuff to the charity shops and done a few car boot sales. We still have a long way to go.
ReplyDeleteI have learnt so much from doing this that when we are finished with mum and dad's I'm going to have a really good go at our home too a we have way too much stuff.
Thanks for sharing the video, it was interesting
Carolx
Thank you so much for the video, it was really inspirational. I freely admit to being a bit of the 'it'll come in useful' mindset; but thanks to your post a huge bag went to the charity shop this morning, there's a bag of magazines for one of my fellow knitting friends, and a big bag of books and DVDs that I'm not likely to use again off to another charity shop. And home feels that little bit better! I shall follow her advice on a regular basis. And thank you in general for your good humour and kindness, in a slightly (?) mad world your blog reminds me that there's a lot of good out there.
ReplyDeleteI watched this video and so much of it rang true. After my father passed away in 2015, it took my sister and I nine months to clear out his house so that it could be sold. We couldn't believe how much "stuff" they saved.
ReplyDelete