View Full Version : The Madness of Too Much Stuff (not you TooMuchStuff!)............
I'm trying to really clean alot of JUNK out of the house. I'm ashamed of how much stuff I've bought in the past decades.........plus how much I bought for the kids.......clothes/toys/school supplies.
DS hasn't lived at home for about 5 years, and his room has become a shrine/pit of all his stuff. He doesn't really want to deal with it (he's very busy with his job......he really is). So today I collected all the old/half-used/barely-used school notebooks that have sat idle in that room for far too long. What to do with them? The Caring Center, which locally accepts all kinds of things for people with little means, is so overwhelmed that there's no way on earth I would take these there. I won't use them as a dumping ground for things I can't deal with.
I won't take them to schools, since they usually encourage buying new things. I also have to take into account the gas that it would take to drive to various "donation" places.
So.........I didn't something very painful.. (emotionally and physically, since I have severe hand arthritis).....I tore them all apart and will send all the totally empty pages to paper recycling. I will throw away the wire rings and the plastic covers, and recycle the backs (cardboard). I would love to have recycled the rings, but my hands just can't pull all that paper stuff away from them. I wish I could recycle those plastic fronts, but I'm almost 100% certain that our local recycling doesn't accept those. I have already apologized profusely to the trees. I AM truly sorry.
Am I anal? Yes.........but if you're into recycling, I don't think there's an alternative here. (except to quit buying so damned much and quit buying into the notion that everything has to be new).
Plus........this clean-out has made me sick at how much most American's have. It's shameful. The local Caring Center is overwhelmed with all the stuff they receive every day..........good, useful stuff........Stuff that people just don't need/want anymore. What happened to wearing something until it fell off of you?
Yes, I AM part of the problem, but I am trying to change that. It really does make me sick to see all this extra stuff that most EVERYONE in the U.S. has. I think we'll end up drowning in it, one way or another. It's Karma............
awakenedsoul
9-13-14, 11:40am
I try to just have what I need. Clutter really does weigh you down. Since I've been home so much recovering from the bike accident, I'm so glad that I have a clean, organized environment. It's much easier to heal when you are in peaceful, calm surroundings. I try to have my little house look like a Bed and Breakfast. I only have one small closet, which helps. Homes that were built in the 1940's were smaller. Hotel life for 15 years taught me that I don't need much to be happy.
Good luck with the decluttering. It really affects our happiness level when we take care of our things, and don't over collect...
catherine
9-13-14, 12:06pm
I am so thankful that over the past couple of years I've had relatives come to visit that necessitated the old heave-ho from the rooms my kids left behind. Nothing like company to get your butt in gear--at least that's what I seem to need to get motivated.
I also have tons of old school stuff. If it were me, I'd recycle the paper if it isn't too time consuming, but I'd just toss the rest. You have to pick your battles and if too much sorting is going to hold you back, just think how this is a once-in-a-lifetime purge, and the Recycling Gods will have mercy on you.
iris lily
9-13-14, 12:23pm
Yes, sleep-over guests are necessary here once a year to motivate thorough house cleaning. Even our highest and best cleaning doesn't result in a finished product that's all that great, so no one should stay here in normal times. :D
ToomuchStuff
9-13-14, 12:27pm
Why be ashamed? In this culture we are targeted to buy, buy, buy and stuff is supposed to be fulfilling. Life is a learning curve and unfortunately we are not born with any knowledge or genetic memories of predecessor's experiences. (I've wondered what are species might be like if that were the case, make a decent Scifi book)
Now you know where my name came from. It is tough getting motivated, as I understood stuff, and still feel I don't understand people a lot.
As for the not me part, aw, come on, you should have thrown something in there for humor sake.:laff:
I'm with you all. I just had a bathroom redone, which means I emptied EVERYTHING from there. I'm sorting through before I put things back. I had lots of expired medication- I go through these preparedness bouts where I buy all the stuff we /might/ need in the middle of the night but the reality is we don't get sick much and it all expired. I have linens from a different (decorating) era - all kinds of wall quilts that haven't seen the light of day in 15 years. Too nice to discard, but no longer my style. White towels that are dingy (rarely use bleach due to having a septic system) are getting donated to the animal shelter. The bathroom closet really didn't look that cluttered, I do tidy up every couple of years, but the things you buy onesy twosy just accumulate over time. So even though I'm not purchasing much stuff, I also don't discard much stuff and over time gets to be a big pile.
I cleaned out my bathroom closet too..............I mean seriously..........how many emesis basins from the hospital does one really need? I had 6! :doh:
ApatheticNoMore
9-13-14, 1:24pm
What always amazes me about stuff is how much was never bought in the first place. How so much of it is junk mail - a ton of which comes every day. How much of it is packaging that stuff that was bought came in. Stuff I've been given - people give me old amplifiers I don't know why - but at least some work. Piles of stuff at any given time are stuff that needs to be taken to be recycled or taken to electronic waste and I don't get there often enough to keep up. Glass bottles with CRV, glass bottles without CRV. AHHH!!! Then I have clothing from 6-7 years ago that now has tiny holes - it's not moths it's just wear and tear (can't even donate it). When I've actually disposed of the piles of that stuff to be recycled etc. people have remarked "you don't actually have much stuff". >8) Yea but I'm constantly drowning in JUNK.
I think of the hundreds of bags of stuff (and furniture) that I've taken to places like Goodwill, and I'm still overflowing! It's amazing how much stuff you can cram into just one closet! I think it grows back on its own.........don't know how it does it, but it does. :~)
Gardenarian
9-13-14, 3:02pm
Moving...holy cow. I forgot about that exercise machine that was going to change my life...and all these VHS tapes...why am I keeping strings of Xmas lights that half work?
I'm having to be ruthless. I feel really guilty about the money I've wasted on crap.
rosarugosa
9-13-14, 6:33pm
I worked on my semi-annual closet clean out today. That always has me smacking my head. I could almost open a boutique with the excess from my abundant life. I do at least feel confident that my outflow is exceeding my intake at this stage of the game, thank goodness!
Simplemind
9-14-14, 1:32pm
I am thankful that we have a community center/food bank that accepts used school supplies. They use them in their daycare and also hand them out. The school supply list always peeved me because they made you pay upfront and so much of it came home at the end of the year. They would not let you use it the next year. Such waste, such crap. Why on earth do they not keep the scissors, rulers, pencils etc. and when they get new money add or replace. Use the other money for a field trip or speaker to come in. Stop me now................
Anyway, the center always took our used supplies and I was happy to take them there. It was also a great place to take the extra toothbrushes and toothpaste that comes home from dental appointments, soaps and shampoo from motels etc.
That's good to hear, Simplemind. When my kids were in school, it was just a given, that everything should be brand new. That's just crazy. What an absolute waste.
I think of the hundreds of bags of stuff (and furniture) that I've taken to places like Goodwill, and I'm still overflowing! It's amazing how much stuff you can cram into just one closet! I think it grows back on its own.........don't know how it does it, but it does. :~)
I just took a car full to donate (as i do quarterly, at least) and I'm thinking the same thing. But I persevere...
I am watching dd and her fiance go through the same cycle of stuff accumulation that we did as a young couple. It pains me but that is the way we are trained up in this culture and it is her life to live. I am itching to move just so I can start the process of deep declutter one more time. I read somewhere that female brains are generally more upset by clutter or disarray. Seems to be the case in my house as dh has a lot of it and doesn't seem to bother him a bit.
... I read somewhere that female brains are generally more upset by clutter or disarray. Seems to be the case in my house as dh has a lot of it and doesn't seem to bother him a bit.
I'm not known for having a "female brain." :~) That might explain my untidy house.
rosarugosa
9-14-14, 6:56pm
Pinkytoe: Please give us your DD's address and we'll all send her lots of nice stuff! :laff:
Blackdog Lin
9-14-14, 8:49pm
Ruthless. My new tagline. I am being ruthless with my decluttering.
And it feels great! It feels so freeing. And since it helps me to not bring more new "crap" into the house: it also feels so frugal.
Pinkytoe: Please give us your DD's address and we'll all send her lots of nice stuff! :laff:
haha yep me too! clue me in!
I am retiring and downsizing. I finally admitted to myself that I don't like machine sewing. I just did it to get clothes that fit properly (I'm a bit tall) and save money.
There's a talented professional seamstress in town. I gave her around 10 boxes of fabric and supplies. She was thrilled. So was I - to see it go! The sewing machine goes today. Seamstress has four and doesn't need my old cast iron one. It was a treadle that had an electric machine added to it before I was born. I've sewn everything from chiffon to leather on it. And now I'm done.
I love hand sewing so I've kept that stuff.
Among my clothing was a Little Black Dress with the lovely low back I designed, made, and used to wear dancing. I asked the young gal next door if she would like it. She said she doesn't really go anywhere. I said "your husband would like you to have a little black dress." She said "well then - that would be nice." Cute. She loves the dress and the magic bra I gave her with it. (Straps and dress won't stay up without it!)
It can be very hard to start de-cluttering when you have so much you don't even know where to start. I think you took a great first step. Recycling is a good option when you can't sell or donate. It means you don't contribute to the waste problem. DS is probably also overwhelmed by the clutter. How about inviting him over and make an agreement to spend just an hour? Maybe with a nice cup of coffee / tea and some cake afterwards to celebrate doing something.
Feeling overwhelmed by clutter is quite familiar to me. Yesterday, I sorted out 8 (!!!) big storage boxes of DUPLO bricks my kids do not play with anymore. 8 boxes! We bought only very few of it and got the rest from family/friends, but this amout of toy bricks was just ridiculus! We got a lot from my brother-in-law, and they bought most items twice or even three times. Instead of selling the stuff or throwing it away, it ended up here. OK, saved us quite a bit money. But all of this was to much for the kids. We only gave them a few items not to overwhelm them.
Thanks to ebay all this will be out of the house at the end of the week ;-) And hopefully some extra money for the kids' savings account...
BTW, how do you get rid of books? You can hardly sell them on ebay or so. I sent a few to professional buyers, but for most books they pay only a few cents. Some, I donated to the open bookshelf at a local store, but they are sitting there untouched since weeks. Any other ideas?
greenclaire
10-19-16, 2:56am
For books I use Amazon seller, if the price is only coming up a few pence then I just take them to the charity shop. However, you'd be surprised at what sells well on there and I've made quite a bit of money back from it.
sweetana3
10-19-16, 6:05am
Our books go to our local library for their 5X a year sale. Isn't there some library around that sells books even once per year? Senior centers and assisted living homes can often use books for their residents who cannot easily get out. Call a few. Mom's has a whole library room in each building. Really depends on what types of books, current fiction, non-fiction, etc.
ToomuchStuff
10-19-16, 11:55pm
If the kids are readers, how about taking them to a half priced/used book store, and turning them in for credit.
Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, our local library does not take books any more, and there is no second hand shop that does. I asked our hospital, senior center, women's center etc., but no one is interested. Seems there are way too much books on the market.
The childrens books are the easiest. Some are so worn out they go to recycling, and I could donate some others to our Kindergardens. Seems our local open bookshelf is the only alternative instead of throwing them away...
catherine
10-20-16, 6:39am
Thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, our local library does not take books any more, and there is no second hand shop that does. I asked our hospital, senior center, women's center etc., but no one is interested. Seems there are way too much books on the market.
The childrens books are the easiest. Some are so worn out they go to recycling, and I could donate some others to our Kindergardens. Seems our local open bookshelf is the only alternative instead of throwing them away...
I am amazed at how worthless books have become! In the past I would never even entertain the thought of throwing books in the recycling, but I've come close. Luckily, I'm able to give them to our library.
Do you have any local sharing/give-away group, like Freecycle.org (https://www.freecycle.org)? Maybe you could pack up books by genre and offer them for free--"Box of used mystery books" or "Box of used business books."
Otherwise, I think recycling is the only option.
greenclaire
10-20-16, 6:57am
There are some charities that take books and send them to places around the world where they are still valued. http://www.book-cycle.org/projects/overseas-schools/ is one I've used before with school but they may only be UK based. It could be worth checking if something similar exists near you.
We have a big set of Encyclopedias from the 1980s that nobody wants.....including all the libraries around here. I think I'll call the ag extension office and see if there are any home-school people that might want them.
I do take my other books to a local library for their yearly sale.........but they are pretty overwhelmed by all the books that come in.
As far as my encyclopedias, I've heard you can tear all the pages out and recycle them......but throw out the covers. Shortly after we bought these for our first child, the home computer came into being, which is probably better than the encyclopedias.
CathyA...I threw out the encyclopedias in the trash. A few at a time. I hated doing it, but could not get the covers off easily, no one wanted them, I could according to pintrest have glued them together to make a bookcase, but I don't need an impossible to move bookcase! I was upset, but have gotten over it.
No one wants old encyclopedias anymore because the information is behind the times. I tossed a huge set in the trash. As for books, a lot of places don't want them because bugs/insects can lurk in the pages. Or there are insect eggs. Little mites that eat paper and glue, termites, bedbugs, cockroaches. I think people are most fearful of bedbugs because they are so difficult to get rid of (and costly to get rid of.) I love books and it about sent me over the edge to put those in a dumpster (no recycling in my area). but it had to be done.
ApatheticNoMore
10-20-16, 3:25pm
I buy used books all the time (though I can see the encyclopedias not being in demand). Some people are so fearful it's a wonder they ever leave their house at all. If I have written on books too much to give them away (I have a habit of writing in books), I recycle them, though I don't 100% know they are recyclable, I just figured they were paper and thus recylable.
Teacher Terry
10-20-16, 3:25pm
I threw ours away.
I suppose we could burn the encyclopedias, right? We have a bunch of old wood we need to burn. I supposed we could toss those in. I've seen craft ideas for them......but who wants a lamp made out of encyclopedias?
I remember how much I used our World Book collection for my school papers back in the 60's. It was great. We bought these encyclopedias thinking our kids would really use them......but then the computer happened. Seems like it's part and parcel of our capitalistic/consumeristic society to keep changing things so things become useless and you need to buy more. :(
iris lilies
10-20-16, 5:30pm
We have a big set of Encyclopedias from the 1980s that nobody wants.....including all the libraries around here. I think I'll call the ag extension office and see if there are any home-school people that might want them.
I do take my other books to a local library for their yearly sale.........but they are pretty overwhelmed by all the books that come in.
As far as my encyclopedias, I've heard you can tear all the pages out and recycle them......but throw out the covers. Shortly after we bought these for our first child, the home computer came into being, which is probably better than the encyclopedias.
Why do you think homeschoolers need outdated information found in old encyclopedias? Are they not deserving of up-to-date resources?
Back in the days when my library accepted blanket book donations, and that was a looooooong time ago, even then we didnt take sets of encyclopedias.
Encyclopedias and issues of National Geographic are for reasons that escape me, the final frontier of book decluttering. Everyne has them and wants ro be rid of them and are convnced that others should take them.
sweetana3
10-20-16, 6:35pm
Yes Iris, encyclopedias and National Geographics are found on the free table at our library sales. Along with Readers Digest Condensed books and popular newsy magazines, such as People.
Our library sales are the size of a small store and held 5 times a year. All categorized and kept neat by a squadron of little usually old people with aprons who are like strict librarians. Gotta love them since it is a lot of work and a really crowded and hot area during the first days of the sale. They still take all the books and magazines brought in.
ToomuchStuff
10-20-16, 6:39pm
When I buy books from places like Amazon, I tend to look for used books, because of price and the lack of good places to pass them on. Something else I wondered for the one poster, what about seeing if there were any of the "little libraries" around?
Irislilies..........history hasn't changed in the years before these late 1980s encyclopedias. They could be used for the history before then. Why would you think I was implying that home-schooled people deserve less???
iris lilies
10-20-16, 9:17pm
Irislilies..........history hasn't changed in the years before these late 1980s encyclopedias. They could be used for the history before then. Why would you think I was implying that home-schooled people deserve less???
Dude, if the books only go up to 1980 that is 35 years ago! It is six Presidents ago, before a couple of Gulf wars and many U.S. military altercations, and it is before the rise and fall of Britney Spears! The human genome project wasnt even started yet. Home computers werent a thing.
And modern interpretarions of historical events HAVE changed the way it is presented, but that is less important in a general encyclopedia.
Personally, I think giving childen outdated materials is lacking in foresight and I wouldnt target any group to receive second rate educational books, especially those who are not of my own tribe. There is a range of acceptable for currency of children's books but 35 years is outside of that range.
I agree - homeschooled kids need the internet and up to date resources just like any other kids.
I think this is a general problem with decluttering and donating. I definitely prefer donating instead of throwing things away, as I think most of us do. But I only want to donate stuff somebody else can still use. There is stuff that nobody can use anymore, and for that the trash is just right.
As for books, I threw away some old encyclopidia. The GDR still existed in these books, so they were not really useful anymore. No problem with that. But I was quite surprised that noone seems to be interested in books that were bestsellers just a few years ago. Anyway, I bought only 1 book the last 3 years, and I will keep that one. The rest came from our local library.
greenclaire
10-21-16, 5:11am
I have so many fond memories of flicking through the encyclopaedia collection when I was young and getting it out to help with every homework project. Don't get me wrong computers and the internet are an amazing source of information and students these days have a wealth of sources at their literal fingertips but there is still something about reference books. Part of me now wants a really old set of encyclopaedias to see just how much has changed since they were written, I bet it would make a fascinating history project. In a similar fashion one of my favourite things to do is to look at old maps to see how much boundaries and names have changed.
catherine
10-21-16, 6:18am
I suppose we could burn the encyclopedias, right? :(
As I've watched books go from being valuable to disposable to unwanted, I've often thought about Fahrenheit 451--and how it feels like that science fiction story has come true--at least in part.
OF COURSE I think that home schooled children deserve everything that other children get! The home-schooled families around here seem to also utilize everything they can get their hands on......so I thought reading through some of these encyclopedias (with some still accurate, interesting information) might be a good thing. And some people still encourage their children to read books.
sweetana3
10-21-16, 9:44am
I think the issue with bestsellers is that they were bestsellers. Among the people I know, they only read the popular new stuff and don't go back and read "older" versions. The libraries buy large quantities of the bestsellers because of demand and then dump them when the interest wanes. Took me awhile to collect all of the MC Beaton Hamish McBeth books because I wanted to read them in order to keep the story straight. Got most of them off ebay as a lot and cheap because I did not care whether they all matched and just wanted them to be readable.
iris lilies
10-21-16, 1:07pm
I think this is a general problem with decluttering and donating. I definitely prefer donating instead of throwing things away, as I think most of us do. But I only want to donate stuff somebody else can still use. There is stuff that nobody can use anymore, and for that the trash is just right.
As for books, I threw away some old encyclopidia. The GDR still existed in these books, so they were not really useful anymore. No problem with that. But I was quite surprised that noone seems to be interested in books that were bestsellers just a few years ago. Anyway, I bought only 1 book the last 3 years, and I will keep that one. The rest came from our local library.
Bestsellers were producd in such quantity that there are zillions of them around. There is no scarcity to provide value.
If I never see another Danielle Steel novel, bestsellers of yesteryear, it will be too soon.
I saw an ad for Value City furniture that made me cringe- maybe it was another company- the girl buys stuff, stuff, stuff and decides she needs a new bed with drawers underneath to store her stuff, stuff, stuff and is excited that she can buy more stuff, stuff, stuff. It is so creepy.
iris lilies
10-21-16, 1:16pm
OF COURSE I think that home schooled children deserve everything that other children get! The home-schooled families around here seem to also utilize everything they can get their hands on......so I thought reading through some of these encyclopedias (with some still accurate, interesting information) might be a good thing. And some people still encourage their children to read books.
That requires a lot of labor on the part of their teacher to mark sections that are accurate, and those that are not.
Its like hoarding. Buried in a typical hoard are some things that are useful, and perhaps even some thIngs that are valuable. But the ratio of drek to good is too high, and human labor has more value than the book content. This is a case of placing value on the physical object over value placed on human life energy.
One of my jobs when working was to pull outdated materials (includng old encyclopedias) out of the hands of library staff. Those who wailed and threw their bodies on piles of old books were also, not coincidentally, our weak employees who ran collections that were ratty and unattractive, crowded and unused.
freshstart
10-21-16, 5:39pm
I have to purge DD's room, she just walked away blithely saying she wanted none of it and now truly does not have time to deal with it with her many hours of working and senior yr of school. She would just load everything into trash bags and toss it. Some of the clothes might be acceptable to Plato's Closet (they're super picky here) and the rest will get donated. She stopped wearing make up and has a ton, I guess I can use some but most will have to be thrown away as it's used. She has cheap jewelry that I'll donate. Lots of totchkes on the desk that I want to sell. I've had the desk on FB garage sales and Craigslist for months with bites but no one has actually bought it. Time to donate. Once the desk is out, I'll have room for a treadmill that is wasting away in the basement. And it will be a pretty guest room because she had great taste in pain colors and bedding. It's the starting that's the hardest part.
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