ilovedolphins
Well-Known Member
Joined: Jan 31, 2011 10:56:31 GMT -5
Posts: 1,930
|
Post by ilovedolphins on Jul 30, 2017 9:36:29 GMT -5
As I am decluttering I am realizing how much money I spent on stuff that I am now disposing of. It makes me feel like I am just throwing my money away. So from now on I will really think about everything I buy and make sure it isn't just going to satisfy me for a short amount of time.
|
|
Rob Base 2.0
Well-Known Member
Joined: Feb 23, 2017 18:12:07 GMT -5
Posts: 1,538
|
Post by Rob Base 2.0 on Jul 30, 2017 10:26:04 GMT -5
ebay
|
|
Gardening Grandma
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 13:39:46 GMT -5
Posts: 17,962
|
Post by Gardening Grandma on Jul 30, 2017 10:44:16 GMT -5
Agreed. I've come to think of "stuff" as the enemy. The obstacle to my desire to simplify my life. I keep a donation box in a corner of my closet. Yesterday I put in several articles of clothing I've had for several years and never worn.
|
|
resolution
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 13:09:56 GMT -5
Posts: 6,999
Mini-Profile Name Color: 305b2b
|
Post by resolution on Jul 30, 2017 10:44:52 GMT -5
My house is extremely small and I have a "one in, one out" policy. It really makes me think twice about purchases as I try to figure out what I will give up that is currently in the house to make room for the new item.
|
|
giramomma
Distinguished Associate
Joined: Feb 3, 2011 11:25:27 GMT -5
Posts: 21,350
|
Post by giramomma on Jul 30, 2017 10:48:01 GMT -5
My house is extremely small and I have a "one in, one out" policy. It really makes me think twice about purchases as I try to figure out what I will give up that is currently in the house to make room for the new item. We do something similar..I like to keep about 10 days worth of work clothes. When we get below that, I shop. When we hit that, I'm done. I will say though, that I won't give up my stash, just yet. I have significantly cut back though, because I'll never get through all that I have. (The flip side is I don't know what will float my boat in 20 years.)
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 5, 2024 21:35:52 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2017 11:03:26 GMT -5
I hardly buy anything for myself or the house. I am not into decorating or knick knacks or clothes beyond the bare minimum. It's the KIDS that have so much crap. I'll admit, I'm partially responsible, but the vast majority is from family. I am so glad that older son is now to the point where nobody knows what to give him, so they give him money and gift cards. He tends to spend it on food, itunes and online video games, so that doesn't take up much space, but the younger one. OMG. So much stuff, especially if you consider we still have all the stuff from his brother that he inherited too. I sold this massive Hot Wheels garage the other day and was so glad to get that out of the house. I have now gotten rid of almost all the giant plastic crap.
|
|
TheHaitian
Senior Associate
Joined: Jul 27, 2014 19:39:10 GMT -5
Posts: 10,144
|
Post by TheHaitian on Jul 30, 2017 12:06:42 GMT -5
We been at that point since we move into this house last August.
It is only 1080 sqft if you don't include the basement and 1,620 if you and we are coming from over 2,000 sqft.
The rooms are way way way smaller than our last house, less than half the closet space and storage.
So we have been in purging mode since then and we realized all the money we have wasted on "things" or "stuff" as you said.
Even the baby things, as soon as she is done with it and no longer need it we put it up for sale or donation ... to much stuff!
A smaller house is definitely helping us being more conscious.
|
|
NoNamePerson
Distinguished Associate
Is There Anybody OUT There?
Joined: Dec 17, 2010 17:03:17 GMT -5
Posts: 25,722
Location: WITNESS PROTECTION
Member is Online
|
Post by NoNamePerson on Jul 30, 2017 12:13:39 GMT -5
I live by the mantra "if it has to be dusted" I don't want/need it.
|
|
Knee Deep in Water Chloe
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 27, 2010 21:04:44 GMT -5
Posts: 13,820
Mini-Profile Name Color: 1980e6
Member is Online
|
Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on Jul 30, 2017 12:23:39 GMT -5
Yup, we are definitely done with "stuff" just to have or look T. We do purchase "stuff" for comfort, but we try to avoid any sense of clutter. We very much want to focus on experiences.
|
|
tallguy
Senior Associate
Joined: Apr 2, 2011 19:21:59 GMT -5
Posts: 14,164
|
Post by tallguy on Jul 30, 2017 14:13:36 GMT -5
I live by the mantra "if it has to be dusted" I don't want/need it. Wouldn't you rather live by the mantra, "If it has to be dusted, so what?"
|
|
Artemis Windsong
Senior Associate
The love in me salutes the love in you. M. Williamson
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 19:32:12 GMT -5
Posts: 12,318
Today's Mood: Twinkling
Location: Wishing Star
Favorite Drink: Fresh, clean cold bottled water.
|
Post by Artemis Windsong on Jul 30, 2017 14:28:07 GMT -5
A static duster with a long handle is invaluable and fast. Dust is shaken out or falls to the floor for sweeping or vacuuming H. says it just spreads the dust around. Even with HEPA filters, there is blow back.
I notice my accumulation when company comes. I look around and wonder why didn't I tidy?
I store way too many groceries. I have a lot of clothes for sports.
If I really really want a nonessential, I try to feel what it would be like if I already had it. The want satisfied.
|
|
suesinfl
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 9, 2011 18:02:27 GMT -5
Posts: 2,765
|
Post by suesinfl on Jul 30, 2017 15:19:49 GMT -5
I live by the mantra "if it has to be dusted" I don't want/need it. Wouldn't you rather live by the mantra, "If it has to be dusted, so what?" Since last summer when I was hell bent on moving and really cleaned all the "stuff" out, I now live by that mantra. Actually, I hate shopping so most of the stuff was given to me. My house is only 1090 and it felt really cramped, now it seems like I have so much more room. Just don't look in the kids' rooms
|
|
dee27
Senior Member
Joined: Sept 28, 2016 21:08:12 GMT -5
Posts: 2,211
|
Post by dee27 on Jul 30, 2017 16:06:17 GMT -5
Susie, that's why bedrooms have doors to hide the kids' stuff.
|
|
suesinfl
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 9, 2011 18:02:27 GMT -5
Posts: 2,765
|
Post by suesinfl on Jul 30, 2017 16:13:30 GMT -5
Yep, and that's why I insist that their doors remain closed. I don't want to see that mess every time I walk down the hall to my room.
|
|
NoNamePerson
Distinguished Associate
Is There Anybody OUT There?
Joined: Dec 17, 2010 17:03:17 GMT -5
Posts: 25,722
Location: WITNESS PROTECTION
Member is Online
|
Post by NoNamePerson on Jul 30, 2017 16:14:03 GMT -5
I live by the mantra "if it has to be dusted" I don't want/need it. Wouldn't you rather live by the mantra, "If it has to be dusted, so what?" That applies to the "stuff" I already have. I just refuse to add more at this stage in my life! I consider dust a coveriing for fine furniture and tell friends to feel free to write name in my dust, just Don't date it.
|
|
NoNamePerson
Distinguished Associate
Is There Anybody OUT There?
Joined: Dec 17, 2010 17:03:17 GMT -5
Posts: 25,722
Location: WITNESS PROTECTION
Member is Online
|
Post by NoNamePerson on Jul 30, 2017 16:17:25 GMT -5
A static duster with a long handle is invaluable and fast. Dust is shaken out or falls to the floor for sweeping or vacuuming H. says it just spreads the dust around. Even with HEPA filters, there is blow back. I notice my accumulation when company comes. I look around and wonder why didn't I tidy? I store way too many groceries. I have a lot of clothes for sports. If I really really want a nonessential, I try to feel what it would be like if I already had it. The want satisfied. I have a swifter duster with telescoping handle. No falling off of dust!
|
|
ilovedolphins
Well-Known Member
Joined: Jan 31, 2011 10:56:31 GMT -5
Posts: 1,930
|
Post by ilovedolphins on Jul 30, 2017 18:03:56 GMT -5
I do admit I feel good every time I take something out of the house. I will be happy when I get all my unwanted/unneeded items out of the house.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 5, 2024 21:35:52 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2017 18:15:34 GMT -5
I agree with the idea of looking at stuff that I am donating and mentally adding up the $$$ that I have thrown away.
My solution these days is to stay away from stores and garage sales. If I buy something on the internet, at least I am generally looking for one or two things. I do usually ship it to the store to save shipping.
But even when I try to declutter, I am not very good at it. I had all these books by Sue Grafton. You know, A is for Alibi, etc. I took them to Second and Charles (used bookstore) to see if they would buy them. They bought four and gave me $4. That left me about 20 of them. It was all I could do to donate the rest. I did, though.
Now I am winding down my teaching career. I will work 2 or maybe 3 more years. I went to buy stuff for my classroom today at the Dollar Tree. And then I said, "No. If I don't have it already, I don't need it." I saved a whole $5 plus tax!
Lol.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 5, 2024 21:35:52 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2017 18:44:22 GMT -5
Eliminated 90% of my belongings in the last two moves, I did buy new furniture but now have a rule when I acquire something, something else gets tossed. I'm not going through a mass purge again or leaving it for whoever has to deal with it when I die. My uncle died a couple months ago and left an unbelievable mess of junk for the rest of us to deal with. I mean it was unreal, and at auction it netted 2k total.
|
|
NoNamePerson
Distinguished Associate
Is There Anybody OUT There?
Joined: Dec 17, 2010 17:03:17 GMT -5
Posts: 25,722
Location: WITNESS PROTECTION
Member is Online
|
Post by NoNamePerson on Jul 30, 2017 18:55:54 GMT -5
Eliminated 90% of my belongings in the last two moves, I did buy new furniture but now have a rule when I acquire something, something else gets tossed. I'm not going through a mass purge again or leaving it for whoever has to deal with it when I die. My uncle died a couple months ago and left an unbelievable mess of junk for the rest of us to deal with. I mean it was unreal, and at auction it netted 2k total. My son has made me swear that I will call him before I throw away anything. I asked him about some pictures once and his reply was "if it can't be replaced don't throw it away" My reply was then you come get it. I missed the sentimental gene and will head to the thrift store with trunk full in a heart beat. Not quite that way about records and paper work though. Guess I spent two many years as bookkeeper and know the "oops" when stuff gets discarded.
His MIL is borderline hoarder. He told me once that he and wife were going over to try to clean up her place. I told him if they wanted to clean up a place they could come to my place!! His reply was "if we cleaned out your place you wouldn't have much left. My place is comfortable and no hanging on to stuff here.
|
|
Anne_in_VA
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 14:09:35 GMT -5
Posts: 5,509
|
Post by Anne_in_VA on Jul 31, 2017 8:59:28 GMT -5
I finally got DH to bring some stuff over to daughters house! Yay! He's a borderline hoarder and won't throw stuff away even if it doesn't have any sentimental value, but if it's got sentimental value- no way is it being tossed or donated! I have to sneak stuff out.
|
|
Bonny
Junior Associate
Joined: Nov 17, 2013 10:54:37 GMT -5
Posts: 7,437
Location: No Place Like Home!
|
Post by Bonny on Jul 31, 2017 9:18:17 GMT -5
Eliminated 90% of my belongings in the last two moves, I did buy new furniture but now have a rule when I acquire something, something else gets tossed. I'm not going through a mass purge again or leaving it for whoever has to deal with it when I die. My uncle died a couple months ago and left an unbelievable mess of junk for the rest of us to deal with. I mean it was unreal, and at auction it netted 2k total. My son has made me swear that I will call him before I throw away anything. I asked him about some pictures once and his reply was "if it can't be replaced don't throw it away" My reply was then you come get it. I missed the sentimental gene and will head to the thrift store with trunk full in a heart beat. Not quite that way about records and paper work though. Guess I spent two many years as bookkeeper and know the "oops" when stuff gets discarded.
His MIL is borderline hoarder. He told me once that he and wife were going over to try to clean up her place. I told him if they wanted to clean up a place they could come to my place!! His reply was "if we cleaned out your place you wouldn't have much left. My place is comfortable and no hanging on to stuff here.
With respect to the bolded part. My mother would set a deadline; say 30-60days. Then off into the trash. A couple of rounds of that and your son will also be prioritizing. He doesn't get the use of a free mini-storage at your house.
|
|
Bonny
Junior Associate
Joined: Nov 17, 2013 10:54:37 GMT -5
Posts: 7,437
Location: No Place Like Home!
|
Post by Bonny on Jul 31, 2017 9:20:20 GMT -5
I'm girding for an epic battle chez moi.
The downstairs room plus the entire garage has to be emptied. All those moves where we didn't declutter because the company paid for them are coming home to roost.
If you don't see me posting for a while you'll know why!
|
|
Tiny
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 29, 2010 21:22:34 GMT -5
Posts: 13,369
|
Post by Tiny on Jul 31, 2017 14:23:39 GMT -5
My son has made me swear that I will call him before I throw away anything. I asked him about some pictures once and his reply was "if it can't be replaced don't throw it away" My reply was then you come get it. I missed the sentimental gene and will head to the thrift store with trunk full in a heart beat. Not quite that way about records and paper work though. Guess I spent two many years as bookkeeper and know the "oops" when stuff gets discarded.
His MIL is borderline hoarder. He told me once that he and wife were going over to try to clean up her place. I told him if they wanted to clean up a place they could come to my place!! His reply was "if we cleaned out your place you wouldn't have much left. My place is comfortable and no hanging on to stuff here.
With respect to the bolded part. My mother would set a deadline; say 30-60days. Then off into the trash. A couple of rounds of that and your son will also be prioritizing. He doesn't get the use of a free mini-storage at your house. I agree with this. I have successfully let relatives temporarily store stuff at my house (there were a couple of years when every one was moving OR there were flooded basements OR doing remodels). The rule was if whatever they stored was still in my basement after 6 months it became MINE and I could do whatever I wanted with it. Some time after the 6 months was past and I was in the mood to clean -- I'd give them a one-month warning when I was getting rid of their stuff (in case they really wanted it). and then if they didn't claim it - out it went. I did keep the table saw, couch, and treadmill and some framed posters... the rest of went to the trash (camping gear with dry rot! ). When they found out I trashed the dry rotted camping gear (really - it was useless and could not be fixed and no one would use it - it was trash!!) they came around and got the stuff if they really wanted. Whatever was left was trash/donated. I like to think I did them a favor helping them sort out the trash from the treasure with their stuff.
|
|
Tiny
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 29, 2010 21:22:34 GMT -5
Posts: 13,369
|
Post by Tiny on Jul 31, 2017 14:31:01 GMT -5
A long while ago, I realized I was spending a lot of time/energy maintaining my 'stuff'. Everytime I added more stuff I had to maintain that too.. So, I started going thru stuff and getting rid of stuff and I stopped shopping for entertainment. I've got a lot less stuff - and a lot of empty spots in my house - where I keep my "space" (when someone wants to store stuff at my house - I usually start with "where will I put it?" and they will hint that the basement is pretty empty and I will say something like "but there's where I store my "space"! if you put your stuff there I won't have anyplace for the "space"!)... and then I ask them what they want to store and for how long (and remind them of the "it eventually becomes mine" rule).
I've had a "one in, one out" rule for many years. I have a box in a closet for donations. It helps to have a place to put the stuff I no longer want so it can eventually leave my house - rather than putting it back in the drawer/closet/wherever).
I do have collectibles (which I enjoy) and sometimes I "thin the herd" to make sure I have/am displaying the ones I enjoy the most. I like to see my stuff.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 5, 2024 21:35:52 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2017 8:18:16 GMT -5
I think of the money I spent on stuff as rent. I paid it, I'm done with the stuff, the cost of buying it was rent and now I can get rid of it- donating, recycling, whatever. I'd never get rid of 100% of the things DH left behind or all of the things from DS' childhood but I've kept it down to a few sentimental items in DS' case and am slowly working through DH's things, occasionally offering treasures such as his almost 50-year old shirt from the Navy to DSS.
Last weekend I was visiting DS and we stopped at Half Price Books. He didn't buy any but I bought two and almost felt guilty.
Like SouthernSusana, I typically stay away from stores and garage sales. I also zoom right past all the "impulse item" stuff at the entrance to Costco. DS, who's pretty thrifty, bought a rice cooker there! I have a stash of specialty kitchen appliances from our various marriages- mostly wedding presents from DH's first two. They include a Crock Pot, a pasta make and an ice cream maker, all in the basement. I'd rather do a little extra hand chopping or mixing than buy another highly-specialized appliance.
|
|
MJ2.0
Senior Associate
Joined: Jul 24, 2014 10:27:09 GMT -5
Posts: 10,972
|
Post by MJ2.0 on Aug 1, 2017 8:49:35 GMT -5
I thought rice cookers were unnecessary too, until my mom bought me one. LOVE! I use that thing like crazy because rice is one of the things I seem to mess up.
|
|
alabamagal
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 23, 2010 11:30:29 GMT -5
Posts: 8,118
|
Post by alabamagal on Aug 1, 2017 12:22:15 GMT -5
I thought rice cookers were unnecessary too, until my mom bought me one. LOVE! I use that thing like crazy because rice is one of the things I seem to mess up. I thought the same about Keurig, but DD bought me one in May. And I also get free Starbucks coffee for the next 3 months while she is living with us.
|
|
kittensaver
Junior Associate
We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. - Mother Teresa
Joined: Nov 22, 2011 16:16:36 GMT -5
Posts: 7,983
|
Post by kittensaver on Aug 1, 2017 12:27:22 GMT -5
Who was it who said "We spend the first half of our lives acquiring things, and the second half getting rid of them"?
|
|
Deleted
Joined: May 5, 2024 21:35:52 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2017 14:04:39 GMT -5
I am purging all kitchen junk next. Breadmaker, popcorn makers (air and oil), food processor, kitchen gadgets in the drawer that I don't even know what are for...
|
|