Community Chat

[mistriTsquirrel]

On 1/28/2014 Golden Sky said:

On 1/28/2014 mistriTsquirrel said:

On 1/28/2014 Golden Sky said:

On 1/27/2014 mistriTsquirrel said:

On 1/27/2014 Golden Sky said:

When watching Hoarders I get somewhat motivated but I never really see where all the stuff goes, besides the trash. I keep reading on these boards about donating, but it's hard for some reason.

Do you mean that it's hard to part with things, or hard to find suitable places that accept donations?

Good question, but I don't really know. i have tons of paperwork, I have some stuff that my DH likes, antiques with no use like old radios that are pieces of furniture, we both have clothes we don't wear. I donated my kids clothes no problem. All I have to do is put the bag out on the sidewalk to be picked up. I think I should be blamed for the papers and bills, and him for all the old furniture, some goodwill nick nacks he got that I don't like, and the junk in the garage. He thinks my xmas decorations are junk and that's just 2 bins. I have empty boxes around, and I have blankets. I use the bags and get bins, but then I just have space bags and bins around. He did build a shed and I only have it half full. It's taller than wide so I have to stack things. We can't afford good furniture, so I got cheap stuff (like Sauder bookshelves) and he hates it, then he wants all this old junk he picks up. He has headboards that he makes into benches. I wish I could just throw everything away (almost), especially his stuff. We just complain about each others stuff lol.

Sounds like the two of you are enabling one another.

Can each of you commit to filling one bag or box a week of your own items to be donated? I'm also wondering if some money can be made from some of the antique items that aren't getting use. As far as the paperwork...doesn't the IRS advise you to keep the past 7 years of financial records in case of an audit? I would shred and dispose of any financial papers that are older than what the IRS recommends you keep. I've also decided to go paperless with my bills. All of my bills except for water and sewer can be sent electronically, so I don't need to keep a ton of old bills around anymore...and if I need copies of anything, I can go to the website (or my e-mail inbox) and print out a copy.

If you are resistant to the idea of getting rid of all of those papers, you may want to purchase a scanner (like "Neat Receipts" or some other brand) that allows you to keep copies of all of your papers on your computer or on a flash drive. You can create folders like you would for file folders in a filing cabinet without having the clutter. The key to getting motivated to undertake such a project, I believe, is to tell yourself, "I'm only going to scan 10 things a day." If you wind up doing more than 10, great. If you only do 10, still great. If you miss a day, don't spend a lot of time beating yourself up about it...just make an honest attempt to get back up on that horse the next day.

See if you and your hubby can agree on goals that each of you can stick to, regarding your own items (neither partner should be tossing out the others' things). The goals should probably be modest, because when you set your goals too high, it's so very hard to get motivated!!! Sometimes the only way I can get motivated is to tell myself, "just get one load of laundry done...just one." ...and then I find myself motivated to do more than that sometimes, which is cool. And, even if I don't get more done than just that one load of laundry, I still met my goal...which is better than nothing, right?

If you find yourself looking for places to donate to, use Bing or Google and enter, "where to donate" or "where to recycle" in the search box. Lots of results come up.

When you make a donation, think about who may receive it...and imagine how it may help him/her. That can help, when you are trying to decide whether or not to part with something.

Please post again if you feel I've misunderstood anything regarding your situation, or if you have other concerns that need to be addressed. There are some sharp people here who may be able to help.

Thank-you for the suggestions. I think the scanner is a good idea. I heard some negative reviews on this board about the Neat system, and I was really interested when I saw it on TV. Also, I've been doing the little tasks, just take a minute to empty the dishwasher, recycle some papers, etc. It's good to get things done. I decide I should work on my things and not worry about his for awhile.

I don't know much about the Neat system in particular, but maybe another scanner...?

As far as hubby is concerned, if he is resistant to change, you may only be able to work on yourself, for the time being anyway.

[mistriTsquirrel]

On 1/28/2014 Golden Sky said:

On 1/28/2014 mistriTsquirrel said:

On 1/28/2014 Azcowgirl said:

On 1/28/2014 mistriTsquirrel said:

On 1/27/2014 Azcowgirl said:

On 1/27/2014 mistriTsquirrel said:

On 1/27/2014 Azcowgirl said: Reminding myself of how good it feels to get organized(;

.......and watching squirrels !!! They are about the best organizers I've ever seen (;

You'd be surprised. Sometimes it's hard to remember where your nuts are.

LOL.....one day I made a pile of the green pine cones, because the squirrel in my yard works his tail off collecting them all day, and one by one, he took them away and hid them,till the pile was gone. Amazingly ambitious little guys (: Anyway, My Dad never threw anything away and his garage was so jam packed , Mom would walk out there , look around and finally throw up her hands and go back in the house that she kept as neat and clean as a pin. .....I have the house now, and it took days on end to plow through Dads garage, but talk about a trip down memory lane(:.....lots of it I have in bins, still trying to figure out what to do with it, most of it went to donations and a garage sale.Couldnt believe there was actually a good sized garage buried under everything !

Bless you for your kind donation of green pine cones to a needy squirrel.

If my mother leaves behind a home with only one cluttered room, I will be relieved.

A year or two ago, she told me that her greatest fear was that she would die before she was able to go through all of her "stuff." Since she and I know that I will be the one going through what she leaves behind, I said, "what a coincidence...that's my greatest fear too." We both laughed. She knows I love her...but she also knows I'm not a fan of the amount of stuff in her house.

Funny, my mom has everything in order. She said we will have no problem sorting through her papers, things, etc. She is worried about me though. I think she doesn't want me to mess up what she handled so neatly, not that I'm an only child though.

How wonderful it would be to know that everything of my mother's would be in order!!

Oh well.

[Shorty2U]

I don't need motivation. When my back isn't real bad I do things around the house. When its bad I cant. But I like to play loud music while doing things, which helps me to be more motivated. For instance today I decorated for Valentines Day and did some dusting and other cleaning. Music makes me happy and makes the household chores easier IMO.

[RedTop]

I try to hang onto the euphoric feeling of accomplishment. Because of the cold temperatures, I have been putting off a trip into town to run errands. I had designated today as the day to do it, but found it hard to get moving this morning. I truly wanted to be lazy and stay at home, but kept reminding myself that it wouldn't get done unless I did it, and that if I waited, the stores would be more crowded at the end of the week, with the first of the month shoppers. I always try to shop early in the morning when there are fewer shoppers out and about, so I forced myself to think about moving around in a crowded store, which is what motivated me to get ready and just do it. Now that it's behind me, I look at my restocked pantry, and feel great, because I know we are good to go for another 6-8 weeks---and tomorrow can be my lazy day!

[LucyGoose]

Well definitely not this cold weather! But yeah, watching Hoarders has put me in the mood to clean my house.

[VanSleepy]

When someone says they're going to stop by this afternoon.

[GCR18]

On 1/29/2014 VanSleepy said: When someone says they're going to stop by this afternoon.

Me too. Some kind of deadline.

[Gooday]

[gazelle77]

A repair man that is coming in the house!

[mistriTsquirrel]

On 1/29/2014 Gooday said:

Yep. Totally true. Sometimes the energy is just completely gone.