View Full Version : how often do you totally want to get rid of things/rearrange/purge
It seems only a couple months ago that I purged and was much happier for it. Now I am ready to really get rid of more, the issue is that I am getting into territory that I may start missing. The books seem to be so important but every time I go down another layer I end up being okay.
I have 3 boxes of all my important paperwork in my bedroom plus 2 more boxes of photos and memories, not that bad considering 3 kids and 25 years of being an adult. However I still don't have anywhere to really move them and this is after purging out duplicate photos, scanning everything onto CD's so I could just keep the best, and purging out my file boxes as well. I have one small box of old taxes, medical records and school for the kids that I can find space for.
I really want to get rid of the book shelf in my room and then get the small desk into the closet (I mostly work on my laptop desk anyway) and then have just free mental space in a Zen way.
Lately, purging and decluttering is on my mind ALOT! I did some yesterday and found software for computers we no longer have! I think the most current date on a disc was 2003!
I'm thinking I will not reach a point of "contentment" for a long while yet. But I'm not giving up the effort!
Good luck to you!
It hits me roughly quarterly. Perhaps it has something to do with the seasons. I'm starting to feel it again, but in an even bigger way. Not sure what that's about yet.
Blackdog Lin
6-3-13, 10:08pm
The thought seldom crossed my mind until my retirement. Now all of a sudden I feel this terrible need to "unburden myself from all this stuff". It's weird. I haven't done much introspection yet to figure out why.
My next project is the garage. If I don't get the garage purged soon I shall.....go off, go postal, have a breakdown. Something. It seems to become more necessary every day, to purge and get rid of some of this.....stuff! But this time of year we're awful busy with annual chores to do with shrubs and trees and ponds and gardens and gutters and lawns.....
Soon. Very soon. Must. Purge. Stuff.
Having a big (to me) crisis. DH couldn't find electric fence wire which I bought last year to replace the wire we "lost" from the year before. We are planning to tackle this. First the garden shed which will hold ONLY GARDEN ITEMS and some wood pellets. Then the garage, then our electrical room. Bins of crap will be sorted and winnowed down! I love my DH but I could throttle him over this hanging onto crap!!! This is not simple living!!!
I am through the simple purge stage, and now I am into the deep work that sometimes takes a long time. So I replaced the kitchen table and need to find homes for the old chairs and a rocking chair. I replaced my old broken laptop with a new one and need to transfer over documents from 2 old computers in order to recycle. So not quick jobs right now,
I took an hour just after my rant and cleaned out a food storage closet under the stairs and feel much, much better. WE CAN DO THIS!!!
iris lilies
6-4-13, 10:12am
I started deep purging 3 or 4 years ago. You know, the childhood stuff I'd been dragging around with me for 30 years-- I felt as though I had to find a home for most of it, I wanted to be responsible in getting rid of it. Some of the more interesting off-loads have been:
* sold my babies (dolls!) to doll collectors and one went to a home in Japan via Ebay --this was my only real Ebay sale
* donated a Victorian era chair to a Masonic library and museum in Iowa
* gave a painting I hate to a young friend who loves it (I had always kept it around for the frame, it was the frame I loved!)
* sold sets of silver to SilverQueen and Replacements--I was very happy with their response
* I took childhood toys to the toy show where vendors bought everything except for the baby dolls (which I later sold to collectors)
The first year I held a sale and made $800. Then I took the specialized stuff to appropriate vendors. My goal was never really to make money, it was to off load responsibly the things that had a bit of collecting value. So far I've made around $3,000 but the majority of that was the family silver. I kept two sets, I mean, how many sets of silver does one household need????!!!
shadowmoss
6-4-13, 12:30pm
Part of my feeling antsy living with only a fraction of my stuff out here (rest is in storage 2,000 miles away) is that I look around and see nothing that I want or need to purge. It is truly a strange feeling...
I love to clean out closets and cabinets and drawers and get rid of stuff. DH is much more a stuff keeper than I am which is annoying but we probably give balance to each other.
My goal was never really to make money, it was to off load responsibly the things that had a bit of collecting value. So far I've made around $3,000 but the majority of that was the family silver. I kept two sets, I mean, how many sets of silver does one household need????!!!
I think getting a good home for stuff makes it so much easier to part with it. I sold most of my household furnishings on Craigslist last year. It wasn't collectibles or antiques but it went to people that really wanted it. My grandmas table and chairs -- wobbly, needed refinishing, not that comfortable. I almost gave it away to get rid of it and a young woman who refinishes furniture in her garage bought it. I was so glad it will continue on out in the universe. I had some collectible teapots I'd paid a lot for but there is no market for them now. A mom came with three daughters who want to have annual tea parties with little friends. They loved the whimsical teapots and I think they will be well used. I had so many things that people took and were glad to have. So much easier to part with them than putting things in landfill or even goodwill (where they may put in landfill).
Part of my feeling antsy living with only a fraction of my stuff out here (rest is in storage 2,000 miles away) is that I look around and see nothing that I want or need to purge. It is truly a strange feeling...
This is me. I'm all purged out - well never had much to begin with - but miss the high I get from purging. Maybe I'll come purge your storage units for you. That would be fun :-) I wish my sister would let me purge her stuff.
EEK! Making notes to double lock the storage units, just in case... ;) Actually, I usually turn down all help when I'm working on sorting my stuff. Others try to insert something called cold logic into the process and it just confuses me. However, the habit of mentally going through my current stuff and making notes of what I need to get rid of is a difficult habit to turn loose of.
I do my stuff and DS's stuff quarterly. DH has to be forced to do his. LOL
My brother just downsized from a huge 6 bedroom, 3 story house to a 2 bedroom ranch. He said he found he lived in 3 rooms and used very little so he packed a few boxes, some furniture and moved. A close friend also did a similiar move recently. I can't do that yet but it is my goal and I am constantly thinking of all that I have that I can live without and how few things I really want and use. Someday.......
Simpler at Fifty
6-6-13, 10:06am
I get the urge to purge seasonally. Typically Spring and Fall. I do keep a bag/box going all year long and drop things off at the Thrift Store monthly.
For some reason, Spring seems to bring out the "decluttering" in us.
Embrace it!
As you go through your things, simply create a couple of piles: the Keep It pile, and the Outta Here pile.
The Keep It pile are the things you want to keep.
The Outta Here pile are things that you'll either take to a Goodwill, donate to family, friends, neighbors, or sell online.
Once done, you'll feel great!
Right now I've been in the "people will be visiting soon" decluttering mode! It's actually working better this time around than it has in the past - LOL. Have done two trips of 5 boxes + of donations to the thrift stores, just sold an antique dresser (very low price, but it is OUT of the house!), and we have put several items on the sidewalk out front, which have been taken within 24 hours. (We call it the "magic sidewalk" - lol). Tomorrow I'm hoping to hit my clothes again. Haven't lost any weight since the last time I declutter clothes, so it's probably time to get rid of more.
I really love it when I can get hit with the decluttering bug. :-)
Well my basement flooded last night, so there's a lot going out the door. It's easy to get rid of things when they're wet and dirty :(
I feel bad because some stuff was in boxes ready to be donated, and if I had been more efficient about getting it donated, I wouldn't be throwing it away :(
I love purging. I do it each quarter for certain; weekly declutter and tidy. :)
I got rid of two bookshelves and all of the books that were on them. I just keep whatever I love (maybe 10 books) and then read and donate or use the library.
I've gotten rid of a ton of furniture actually.
On pair jeans, two books, one blouse and a few miscellany donated; purchased one book and an outside metal artpiece for my block wall at same thrift shop. Oh well, I left the house with more than I came back with - that counts, right?
frugalone
6-12-13, 12:04pm
How often? hmmm...all the time, it seems. I sometimes feel like renting a dumpster and just throwing everything! The other day, I grabbed a box that had been sitting in my living room for three or four years. Believe it or not, I found stuff from 2008 in there! Old newspapers, multiple copies of our health insurance information (the provider sent s/thing like four "benefits enrollment handbooks"), blank pieces of paper...I managed to shred a lot of the hush-hush stuff and tossed the rest. I filled a garbage bag with the dregs. A whole garbage bag. I'm still fuming about the fact that things just got tossed into the box instead of really being examined to determine whether they were needed or not.
Seasonally, I try to go through clothing and get rid of stuff I don't want to wear anymore.
Wow! This is singing my song!! Just had a conversation with a co-worker about cleaning things out and the frustration of living with someone who can't let go of things.
I love nothing more than organizing, donating/recycling, storing in marked boxes - DH needs to "touch" everything! His word "touch" means remember where it came from, how he came to have it, who could use it, how to get it to them, why they may or may not want it, is there any monetary value, until I need to walk away!
His plan that in retirement, 2-3 years away, he will begin a big sort. And I have decided to grit my teeth and be patient - it will all happen in time.
In the meantime, I just try to breathe deeply!!
I just did my bedroom again. I have another box of books for storage. I think I should start selling them honestly but that is kinda giving up on my teaching career, and I would like to sell what I can rather than just drop at goodwill. The living room looks a little crappy while I try to move things downstairs however I really like my room. Very clean and Zen with a larger meditation area.
I am only sad that pretty much no one will see it. My mom visits and puts so many bags of hand me downs and stuff in my room I doubt she even blinks at the space.
The only person who can't get rid of things around here is really my oldest daughter and hopefully she will be ready to move July 1st! I can't wait to get her area (half of the basement) super cleaned out
I did my K cabinets last weekend. Lot of storage containers gone. Went through BR walk-in closet yesterday. Got rid of some clothes, some books (down to part of one tub, with papers filling the rest of the tub). Feels good to purge stuff!
Gardenarian
6-19-13, 10:09pm
How often? Every day.
Every. Single. Day.
We have some large boxes full of old bits of computers (courtesy of DH) and other crud that I want to get rid of, but not having the means to lug them to the recycling centre is a hindrance. Also, I no longer enjoy collecting books, CDs or DVDs, while DH does, so I'm always trying to spur him on to part with these things. The fact that the rented apartment we live in is over-furnished does not help either.
We just got sudden notice that our main office needs to move. I have an office at my school so it does not affect me as much, but we have about a week to move everyone down the hall (school and our childcare programs start Aug 26th) and then again in October! All the things that people have held onto for years are getting dumped quickly. Working with kids you always have supplies and project idea books in addition to all the required paperwork and basic offices. We have boxes of supplies in the hallway so staff can just take what they will use out to their sites.
It is purge city and I kinda like it. I did pick up science boxes that are great, they have everything in one box for 4 activities. They have been used so we may need to buy some replacement supplies however they are a great resource that has been sitting in the hallway. My friend has site under a different grant and has a lot less money so I am giving her the boxes. I even offered next week on the last 2 days to come and just throw things away, ahh it feels good.
It's kind of becoming an obsession with me. I sometimes feel like renting a dumpster and grabbing handsful of stuff and throwing it into the dumpster. I'd never do that, of course. But the feeling is there!
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