De-cluttering

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Baggy said:
Has anyone here who is a hoarder/untidy/allergic to housework ever succeeded in de-cluttering?

My kids grandmother has spent pretty much most of the 17 years I've known her trying to get her house in order. I just wish she'd either get it done properly once and for all, or just give up entirely. What a waste of a life.But that's ADHD for you.:smile:
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
threebikesmcginty said:
Come and do mine when you've finished! :smile:
I've started my decluttering by increasing your clutter to the tune of the 70-odd video tapes that you've just received from me! :smile:

I have been a magazine hoarder for years. For example, I had every issue of Cycle Sport and couldn't bear to part with them because I had the complete set (probably over 200 of them). I agonised about what to do for ages and then came to a startlingly simple solution - I jumped to my feet, ran across the room and grabbed the top one off the pile and started ripping out pages. Okay, I didn't have the complete set any more, just a pile of old mags! ;)

I've been recycling as many magazines as will fit in the bag when the local fortnightly paper collection is done. Another 6 months and I should have got that little problem sorted out.
 
We work on the principal that if something new comes into our house, something old must go out. We try not to hang onto the old version of things that are replaced - if they still work, we give them away to people or take them to the charity shop in the village.
 

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
Use a spare room, shed or even a big suitcase. Pack it with stuff. Six months later when you realise you haven't at any point missed any of it, throw it out. Re-pack. Repeat as necessary.
 

HobbesChoice

New Member
Location
Essex
swee said:
You have to do that without actually looking at what's in the suitcase as you throw it out though, don't you? Otherwise you get that "ooh, I'd forgotten about that, how exciting I'll read that later" and you just distribute it around the house again!

<ahem> so I've been told.
 

biggs682

Touch it up and ride it
Location
Northamptonshire
hi we have just started to off load bits and pieces but 3 weeks in and loads of stuff sold via fri ad , e bay etc given to charity bags and fellow recyclers still loads to do in house never mind shed and garage
 

Madcyclist

New Member
Location
Bucks
A very apt post, moving out of a 3 bedroom house to a rented room on Friday, I'm certainly going to be busy this week !!
 

bonk man

Well-Known Member
Location
Malvernshire
We bought that Life Laundry book, all about de cluttering.. guess what happened to that?? Yep, it disappeared into the junk, occasionally reappearing to mock us.....

We do try, I am a hoarder and the wife struggles to chuck stuff out. We are in a situation that meant 3 households came together in one small house. My wife had been married to a chap who died but they lived in separate houses so 2 households worth ended up here, then I joined in with all my tat xx(

I had a house clearance last year, one of my posh elderly customers passed away and the family gave me loads of treasure to do as I wish with, I have sold £1000's worth of old books and knicknacks and still have some books and stuff left, the Amnesty book shop had about a grands worth as well...

Ebay, Amazon and freecycle are my favourite websites..
 
You have to start with a bit of a mindset-
SPACE is valued. To have an empty space is nice, it gives you room to move. A square yard of floorspace in your house probably costs £1,500.00 to buy! Value having that space as space.
JUNK is cluttering up your space and cluttering up your mind. Learn to let go of things. Think of it like a rucksack. The less you carry the easier it is to get along.
You live in a HOUSE not a SHOP. Dont save things in case you need them. Time was when you needed a bit of wood or hardware and the shops were closed. I now think it is quicker to buy something from B&Q than to find the one I have somewhere in the garage.

So are you there with a £10,000 room filled with £100 worth of stuff? How much is the room worth to you? If more than £100 then you know what to do!

OK not everything can have a price put on it but do we really need to go through life with a big trawler net behind us dragging in all we encounter along the way?
 

swee'pea99

Legendary Member
Over The Hill said:
You have to start with a bit of a mindset-
SPACE is valued. To have an empty space is nice, it gives you room to move. A square yard of floorspace in your house probably costs £1,500.00 to buy! Value having that space as space.
JUNK is cluttering up your space and cluttering up your mind. Learn to let go of things. Think of it like a rucksack. The less you carry the easier it is to get along.
You live in a HOUSE not a SHOP. Dont save things in case you need them. Time was when you needed a bit of wood or hardware and the shops were closed. I now think it is quicker to buy something from B&Q than to find the one I have somewhere in the garage.

So are you there with a £10,000 room filled with £100 worth of stuff? How much is the room worth to you? If more than £100 then you know what to do!

OK not everything can have a price put on it but do we really need to go through life with a big trawler net behind us dragging in all we encounter along the way?
Words of wisdom there. Plus don't forget how cheap stuff has become. My Dad at one point had four 'not working' hoovers - an idea that might once have made sense - when a hoover represented a week's wages. But now? When you can get one for the price of a round?

The only clutter I'm majorly guilty of is books. Drives 'er indores nuts, but I love to have 'em around.
 
OP
OP
Baggy

Baggy

Cake connoisseur
bonk man said:
We bought that Life Laundry book, all about de cluttering.. guess what happened to that?? Yep, it disappeared into the junk, occasionally reappearing to mock us.....
:laugh:

Over The Hill said:
Think of it like a rucksack.
But which rucksack? The Camelback, the commuter, the day hiking pack, the long haul trip 20l, the light weekend away one? All used in the last 12 months...

:thumbsup:

swee said:
I'd never count books as clutter, but ours are mostly in boxes in the loft. We need shelves...
 
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