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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2012 15:53:00 GMT -5
Stuff (or in my words "crap") have you accumulate throughout the years?
The movers are coming Thursday to pack and load our stuff and delivering them Friday. So today we have decided to go thru our things and decided what we are keeping and what we are giving/donating or throwing away.
Geesh... Make me realized how many things you buy thinking you need only for it to end up in a closet forgotten aka that slow cooker that my wife just had to have. Haven't been used in 2 years and counting.
Crap, crap, crap... And we are moving into a smaller apartment and I am not going to rent out a storage space.
One of the reasons I am not too in a rush to purchase a house because my wife will fill it with "crap" in a blink of an eye.
I don't care for stuff or things (maybe because I did not have much growing up) while my wife gets attached to her stuff/things.
My apartment right now is freaking me out, I just want to throw everything in a dumpster.
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InsertCoolName
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Post by InsertCoolName on May 28, 2012 15:55:28 GMT -5
Awwwww you're an adult now!
LOL
That's just what happens. Wait til you have children! Hahahahaha
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swamp
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Post by swamp on May 28, 2012 15:56:30 GMT -5
I have accumulated way too much crap, especially since I had kids. Today, I filled up 5 garbage bags of kids clothes to donate to the salvation Army.
Later this week well do another toy purge. I hate crap.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on May 28, 2012 15:57:49 GMT -5
Awwwww you're an adult now! LOL That's just what happens. Wait til you have children! Hahahahaha  And wait till you have a gramma that likes to b uh the kids more crap. I keep sending it back to grammas house, but somehow it finds it's way back home. |
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constanz22
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Post by constanz22 on May 28, 2012 15:59:06 GMT -5
Yup...been there...when I moved last, I easily sold or gave away half of what I owned. The crap I pulled out when packing was unreal, and I had only been in my house about 6 1/2 years. I lined the curb, more than once, took multiple loads to salvation army, and I still can't believe how much I moved. I filled the largest size Uhaul and still made multiple trips by car the last week or so before I closed on selling it....what made me the sickest is thinking of all the wasted money. All those Target trips, dollar store crap that I never used, etc. All donated or trashed.
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on May 28, 2012 15:59:32 GMT -5
funny that you start this thread now. I've spent the weekend trying to go through closets and old paperwork, to purge as much of it as I can. it will NOT be going with me to the next place, that's for sure. I've got a 1250 sf townhouse with more closets than I know what to do with. I'm finding all kinds of crap I forgot I had - like that griddle I mentioned in the "what have you finally used that you bought eons ago?" thread. maybe I'll dig out the stand mixer I bought on deep sale that I have no room for in the kitchen. maybe I'll use that now.  I've been spending a lot of quality time with the paper shredder today, I've filled 4 or 5 paper grocery bags with the cross-cut scraps. anyone need shipping filler?  |
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2012 17:20:05 GMT -5
I'm not even moving, and I have the declutter impulse going on. I started shredding on Saturday and filled two garbage bags with unneccessary stuff. I had every statement Merrill Lynch ever sent me, and I haven't had an account with them in two years. It was a non-taxable account, and I have the forms they sent to the IRS. That was all I kept. I had all the different insurance booklets we got every year since I started in this system in 1999. I had stuff from insurance policies I have canceled. I had the yearly notification from the gyn that my mammogram was negative--for the last fourteen years. I even have the last tax form I filed with my ex, but I keep that because it has my kids' social security numbers on it. I have needed those a few times for beneficiary forms. I'm probably going to take that page and stick it in the safety deposit box and shred the rest (we have been divorced since 1998).
I am not even moving, but I am still trying to purge a lot of stuff. My husband did it when he moved to Phoenix to live here so he's way ahead of me.
My cousin who moved her mother in with her (different thread) rented three storage units because she couldn't deal with figuring out all the nuances of what had to stay and go. When her mother dies, she will have to finally decide. I don't want that to be me or my children.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2012 17:23:56 GMT -5
I HATE HATE HATE stuff / crap but inevitably we all have too much of it.
Our two worst problems are the basement (it is small but thank Gd we have it because if we didn't, the house would look like shite) and our books.
The rest of the house is clutter-free.
I go through our half of the basement every year. There were / are six of us here. Five of us plus the pantry share half the basement storage space.
DH has the other half. It's mainly filled with Stuff from his parents. But given that his late parents had a four-bedroom house filled to the brim with boxes neatly lining every wall from floor to ceiling, plus the two-car garage, plus the attic, plus the greenhouse, on some level, I feel that I've gotten off lightly.
The other issue is our books (and my DH's mom's books, again, he probably kept only 10%).
I keep telling DH that I hope I go first. I just don't want to go through all that carp. And I won't. If he goes first, I'll just rent a dumpster, out it goes, all of it. He may have an attachment to it, but I don't.
We are both in our 50s, when friends pass early, inevitably DH gets a call to "please just take a look at his books". He knows that he's allowed three in, if two go out.
I was planning on SERIOUSLY culling my books this winter. But "my books are my friends" too, so I changed my mind. I no longer see the point in getting rid of MY books so DH can put HIS books, or his mom's books, on "my" bookshelves.
Plus, he's talking about downsizing as our kids fly the coop. I tell him, get rid of 50% of your half of the basement, and 50% of your mom's books, then we can talk.
It will never happen. For now that's not an issue, so it doesn't matter (yet?). I'm hesitant about downsizing, but I can certainly see going there in a few years.
But, that would be a hill for me to die on. I may be willing to downsize to a smaller, clutter-free environment. But I'm definitely NOT willing to downsize in order to live like somebody on Hoarders. If it came to that, and DH couldn't jettison that Stuff he hasn't looked at in 12 years, I'd jettison DH. Because there is just NO way on this earth that I could ever live like that.
Both my parents went through the Holocaust, so I REALLY don't get this attachment to "Stuff".
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2012 17:32:22 GMT -5
You've got it backwards because you will only get more and more.
My husband's rule (and I actually follow it) is that I have to give away two things for every thing new I bring in.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2012 17:37:37 GMT -5
SS, I haven't gotten it backwards. That is our agreement so that I even OK him going to look at the books. It's way better than getting a few more entire libraries in.
For sure, it can take him hours to decide which three books he's bringing home.
For the rest, it's one in, one out.
ETA: I'm like you, one in, two out. But all that means is that my closet space gets emptier, and DH's gets fuller LOL. He has 2/3 of our closet space, I have 1/3.
About the books, I thought it was much better to get one more book every time somebody dies than to accept many hundreds of books instead. Or even (literally) thousands.
This said, it's VERY sad. Even the English-speaking libraries here don't want them anymore.
But that doesn't mean that we have to act as the US / UK English library in Paris.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2012 17:54:39 GMT -5
Message deleted by debthaven2.
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busymom
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Post by busymom on May 28, 2012 18:00:47 GMT -5
Yes, we've got too much stuff. Add in the kid's toys, and now stuff from a parent's house, and we need to do a major purge. (I'm working on it.) We could easily get rid of 1/2 the stuff in the basement, & never miss it!  |
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Jaguar
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Post by Jaguar on May 28, 2012 18:08:08 GMT -5
I'm not even moving, and I have the declutter impulse going on. I'm getting rid of a lot of crap. I had a garage sale up North and got $120 for the crap I was throwing out. I sent two box loads to GoodWill. I just want to purge the shit. I also lost 20 pounds. So you can say that I'm doing double duty. I also found a indoor grill and immersion blender that I bought from Wolfgang Pucks line eons ago. |
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on May 28, 2012 18:17:29 GMT -5
We have way too much. DH is a pack rat and I haven't been able to break him of that. He has an old postal jeep that he bought before we net that's sitting in the garage. It's rusted out in places, doesn't run any more, and he hasn't touched it in at least 4 years, but he won't get rid of it - even to sell it for the metal. He's got stuff from when he was married to his ex and he won't get rid of any of it. I dread having to move; at some point I know we will have to move.
Our garage is so stuffed with shite that you can barely move around in there and 90% of it is his. A lot if it is just junk too. Makes me ill just thinking about it, but since I don't see well anymore I can't really do anything about it.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on May 28, 2012 18:43:03 GMT -5
I grew up in a very cluttered environment so I've kind of gone the opposite direction as an adult. Moving 4 times in 4 years has helped us keep our stuff down to what would fit in a 10' truck... I'm not really a knick-knack person, so other than books/pictures and furniture, our house is pretty bare.
The only area I have to actively declutter is clothes. I have a hard time getting rid of things, even if I haven't worn them in years. When we bought this house we easily quadrupled the closet space in our master bedroom yet it's still just as crowded as it was in our old house.
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msventoux
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Post by msventoux on May 28, 2012 19:10:38 GMT -5
I had way too much junk and every time I visit my parents house I see my future: wall to wall crap that they don't even see anymore. So far this year I have the junk beat back into the garage (looking to rent a dumpster later this year and toss most of it), and the spare room has a few boxes of old bills/papers I need to go through. Life seems so much calmer and more manageable since my intimate environment isn't so cluttered and chaotic, and it's much easier to maintain now. Other aspects of life still suck, but I actually like my house again and feel like I have a haven from the other outside pressures.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2012 19:47:13 GMT -5
I purged a room full of crap a couple of years ago and there is yet more to do!
Books - What do I do with all these books!! I think I passed a book collecting gene to the kids & now I've got cases of their books as well as my own :-)
Clothes seem to be a hard one for me to part with - oh, I might use such and such again - sheesh, I just need to get rid of a ton of stuff still!
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on May 28, 2012 20:07:02 GMT -5
I couldn't believe how much crap I got rid of when I was packing to move from CO to here. Bags and bags to charity and more to the dumpster in the apartment complex.
I still have too much.
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simser
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Post by simser on May 28, 2012 20:10:58 GMT -5
I just moved, and I had to move everything. There wasn't time to purge the crap before I moved (and there wasn't as much of it as there could have been- I had just gotten divorced). Well now that I'm here and unpacking I've had 5 boxes to go to goodwill and 3 more boxes (+ a bed and another large piece of furniture) to sell. I'm purging everything I can but it is really freaking hard for me to do. Why yes I am one of the people who can't let go of their wedding cards- after they got divorced. |
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on May 29, 2012 6:54:14 GMT -5
Books - What do I do with all these books!! I think I passed a book collecting gene to the kids & now I've got cases of their books as well as my own :-) quote] Check with your local library. Ours accepts donations. They either use them in the stacks (if they're new-ish best seller types) or they put them out in the big Friends of the Library book sale each year. We're bad about accumulating books, too. I used to go through and purge the house once or twice a year, keeping our favorites and donating the rest. Now that we've both got Kindles I think the problem will be less severe... |
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2012 7:10:37 GMT -5
I have been massively decluttering. But do NOT toss the crockpot! I got one for our wedding and i didn't use it for 10 yrs until we had kids. Now, it is an invaluable tool! Do NOT toss kitchen related items!!!!!!! ;D
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yogiii
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Post by yogiii on May 29, 2012 8:03:25 GMT -5
I am not a "stuff" person and we still have a decent amount of crap around. Part of it is my husband. He'll keep an old microwave because we may need part of it. When?!?! In 10 years?
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swamp
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Post by swamp on May 29, 2012 8:18:14 GMT -5
Dang, I've been found out. We buy our grand kids a lot of stuff. It's great you want to give stuff to your grandkids. keep it the stuff and your own danged house. |
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Waffle
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Post by Waffle on May 29, 2012 8:19:44 GMT -5
Oh, I have way too much stuff!. Had a yard sale in April - filled up both sides of the garage with stuff to sell. At the end of the sale - sold the leftovers to a guy who sells at flea markets, so that nothing would come back in and I don't feel like I even made a dent.
My basement is ridiculous. There's a small portion that's got out of season things - Christmas decorations, etc. But mostly it's things I've bought at auctions and garage sales to resell. I'd probably have to have an auction myself, before I could ever move again.
I like the idea of a decluttered life, but sadly I usually have trouble letting go of things.
Shooby - kitchen stuff is the one thing I could easily purge. I'm not much of a cook. But my mother lives with me and she loves kitchen gadgets and dishes. We've got two sets of dishes now that we hardly ever use and she wants to buy a third set.
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kimber45
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Post by kimber45 on May 29, 2012 8:41:11 GMT -5
Oh my, where do I begin. We have been in our place for 21 years  . As we are in the process of remodeling we are getting rid of stuff by the pick-up load. We are being merciless when it comes to pitching things. We made some good headway on the house and garage so far, BUT we have several rather large outbuildings that are full of stuff as well  . We are taking it one box at a time. |
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2012 10:04:37 GMT -5
Stuff (or in my words "crap") have you accumulate throughout the years? The movers are coming Thursday to pack and load our stuff and delivering them Friday. So today we have decided to go thru our things and decided what we are keeping and what we are giving/donating or throwing away. Geesh... Make me realized how many things you buy thinking you need only for it to end up in a closet forgotten aka that slow cooker that my wife just had to have. Haven't been used in 2 years and counting. Crap, crap, crap... And we are moving into a smaller apartment and I am not going to rent out a storage space. One of the reasons I am not too in a rush to purchase a house because my wife will fill it with "crap" in a blink of an eye. I don't care for stuff or things (maybe because I did not have much growing up) while my wife gets attached to her stuff/things. My apartment right now is freaking me out, I just want to throw everything in a dumpster. do we share a brain? DH and I haven't really packed yet, and I am freaking about the amount of crap that we have that needs to be brought to the new house. Do we really need 4 tupperware containers full of Christmas decorations? Do we really need the crap ton of stuffed animals we have? And MIL is talking to me about buying DS more stuff. Gee, he's already got a ton of toys that he hasn't opened yet AND we're moving, but sure - give us more crap to pack and junk up our new home.   |
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dancinmama
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Post by dancinmama on May 29, 2012 10:24:21 GMT -5
My thing on getting rid of anything is "I MIGHT need it one day." I guess it comes from growing up poor. After years of feeling that way, I realized that the cost of buying the one or two things that I MIGHT need one day, was not worth having to keep all the other stuff that I would never need (not knowing of course which was which). So now my rule is anything that has not been used in a year gets donated or tossed. Unfortunately, DH does not follow my rule. The garage is his domain and until a couple of months ago, it was not in very good shape. He and DS went through it, cleaned a lot out, and organized what DH thought he needed to keep. We bought one of those industrial shelving units on sale at Costco and a bunch of industrial strength storage containers to put on that unit. DS threw some stuff out that we knew DH had never used and would never miss. Shhhhh. Now the garage looks gorgeous. ;D |
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The J
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Post by The J on May 29, 2012 10:29:35 GMT -5
I've been getting rid of crap for the last few months in anticipation of getting my condo on the market and eventually moving (and moving to a smaller space). A lot of the crap I accumulated was the result of people handing me down stuff and XF accumulating a lot of household crap in a short period of time. Some of it is just the result of replacing some stuff with newer stuff and not getting rid of the old. I got rid of a ton of stuff this past weekend (larger items) and things seem a lot more open than they were.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2012 10:31:50 GMT -5
Ugh. I still have unopened boxes from when we moved into the house 5 years ago. It's tempting to just throw them out without looking in them. I'm collecting stuff for a garage sale and have no where to put it until then, lol! I'm slowly getting rid of my books and replacing them with e-books. I love paper but it's taking up too much space in my house.
It's hard with the seasonal decorations and supplies. Like the lawn furniture that has to be brought in for the winter, Christmas stuff, special glassware. The worst for me is sentimental stuff. Letters, things I've saved while traveling, some of my father's thing, items from our wedding. I feel weird getting rid of them but I never look at them or use them. They are just sitting in boxes taking up space.
Kids are horrible for clutter. DS seems to have toys that explode into a million different small pieces and have to be gathered from under the bed, in the corners, and the backyard in order to be assembled and reused.
DH is the worst though. RV Garage/shop full of crap. Half of our regular garage full of crap. A storage unit that full of things he's received from relatives. Ok - it's not all crap. It's tools.
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Post by findingdeadbeats on May 29, 2012 10:41:33 GMT -5
I am struggling also with the battle of the crapola...
LateDH had every tool (power and otherwise) known to man. I have saws, auto repair tools, camping crap, etc... I have no earthly idea what to do with much of it...
DS wants some of it and seems to have a problem with my going through things and tossing/donating them.
I want the laser guided chop saw and tools to work on my vehicles. However, what to do with the rest is a mystery yet to be solved.
My LDH also grew up poor and so we have tons of that "we might need this someday" type stuff. When I start trying to go through the shop or the extra house on my property I start to feel overwhelmed, and manage to do little more than toss some trash and leave the rest for another day.
I really do need to work on it though, because I am thinking about moving in a couple years and I am NOT moving all this crap. (My idea of moving is one vehicle full of stuff and that's going to be it. It won't be a short move and I really don't want most of the crapola we have acquired over the years.
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