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[Mominohio]

The never ending purging continues!

Do most of us really realize just how much stuff we have? I think the answer is no. 

Some people claim to be minimalist, and relative to someone like me, they probably are, but still have a lot of stuff in relation to what most of the rest of the world possesses.

I'm still juggling the last few baskets, trying to make a final decision, as I have allotted only so much space to keep baskets, and it is now full. So I'm eyeing them and making one last trim down.

While in the basement doing this, I look around and wonder how did this much stuff accumulate (well, having kids and living somewhere for over two decades does contribute to this!!)? It's clean, it's organized, categorized, and much of it is on shelving ready to access when it is needed. But just how do I take something this big (after all this isn't as simple as a drawer or even a closet, which can be hard to process through and get the real desired results) and make any kind of headway?

My answer to myself (and yes, I was talking out loud to myself!) was one piece at a time. 

So I grabbed a big black trash bag for things to be thrown away, and a box for donations. This morning, I walked around the basement and found one thing for each container. It was easy, and without a doubt took all of 60 seconds. 

I felt like I was on a roll! I walked passed two other things I had no trouble trashing, just to get the first thing. Same with the donations, so in those things went. In less than 10 minutes I had half a bag of trash, and half a box of donations.

I stopped. I stopped because if I looked at it all any longer, I'd start to procrastinate and take longer with the decisions. I came back upstairs and started some daily tasks (fed the kitties and the dog, took the dog out). The whole time I'm doing my 'routine' things today, I'm mulling over other things I saw in the basement that I now know I can go back down there and place into one of those two containers. I mean I'm actually typing this, with pictures in my mind of several things I know I will go down there and place in the box or bag. I didn't know for sure when I came up out of there, but I do now!

So, for those that have been looking at any area of the home, no matter how small or how big, and seemed overwhelmed or indecisive about where to begin....it seems that just one or two pieces at a time will begin the flow of progress. Keeping your mind on what is in that space, even when not working on it, will allow you to come to decisions without you even having to be in the room, and the next time you enter, you already have a plan for removing one or two (or more) items.

I stated this in another post, but bringing all of the same things together, and getting them out into the light of day, gives you some real perspective on just what you have, and how much of it you may decide you don't need or want any more. Seeing groups of things, and choosing one or two of them at a time to remove from your space, giving plenty of 'think' time in between as you go about other tasks, might just be of some help for some of us. Just thought I'd share what I've 'learned' this Sunday morning.

[151949]

We have a second home (camp)  so there is a tendency to want to save things and take them up there instead of toss or donate them. I  have to be very stern with myself about that.Esp. because there is extremely limited storage up there. DH has the little shed stuffed to the bursting point.I'm also always seeing things I think would be cute out in the pretty cottage garden yard someone before me planted at our site.(I didn't plant it but I do my best to maintain it. )

[jeanlake]

Your post hit home. We sold our home of 23 years last week. Down sizing / right sizing into smaller, newer, maintenance-provided community. I've taken your approach over the past 6 years so I only have about 10% of possessions to discard / give away. My sports-loving, collectable-possessed, never-toss-a-tee-shirt husband has his work cut out for him. Move date in first week in May. One of us is not stressed. 

[151949]

@jeanlake  When we moved to Fl. I packed the entire house except the garage. It took my husband - the hoarder - longer to pack the garage than it took me to pack the entire remainder of the house. We threw away, donated, sold or gave away a tremendous amount of stuff. The hardest for me was books.Our community was in the process of starting a library and I donated about a dozen boxes of books. The library stamped the donated books with who donated them and sometimes one of my old neighbors will tell me they took out a book I donated.

[jeanlake]

That's funny about your husband. I can see this organization melee happening at my house. He has so many trips to the city dump in his future. He has an unplugged freezer full of baseball cards in the basement. SMH. I don't get it, but after 38 years together, he understands if his schtuff doesn't get packed, it's on him. That's the beauty of knowing each other so well. Nothing personal, just take care of your schtuff.  

[ms traditional]

i definitely recommend doing over time.  i find that what i couldn't part with 6 months ago might be the first thing for the Goodwill pile today. i just went through my "gift" drawers and realized that i have not felt like gifting about 50% of stuff in there for some time.  so i probably never will.  solution: Goodwill pile. i wasn't in the mood to do so last fall.  i am getting more practical it seems!

[mac116]

I have been working on purging since I left full time work for a limited part time job.  Like so many of you, I have accumulated SO MUCH STUFF over the years.  I try to donate and dump a box or bag every two weeks. It gets overwhelming to look at all of the STUFF, and realize how much money was spent on STUFF over the years.  I need to work on this project when my DH is not around.  He wants to save everything, "Just in Case!"

[KaySD]

@Mominohio, I really appreciate that you took the time to break down your process and examine/write about it step by step. 

[Mary Bailey]

@Mominohio  After reading your post I decided to open the cedar chest to see what I could donate.

I find  a purple fleece blanket identical in color (but not style) as the Soft & Cozy blanket I just bought. 

.....sigh

So I took out the electric blanket that hasn't been used in a decade. I closed the chest and gave it a good polish with Jubilee.  I'll deal with the "evil twin" later.

I just LOVE Soft & Cozy!!

[Mominohio]

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@Mary Bailey wrote:

@Mominohio  After reading your post I decided to open the cedar chest to see what I could donate.

I find  a purple fleece blanket identical in color (but not style) as the Soft & Cozy blanket I just bought. 

.....sigh

So I took out the electric blanket that hasn't been used in a decade. I closed the chest and gave it a good polish with Jubilee.  I'll deal with the "evil twin" later.

I just LOVE Soft & Cozy!!

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I wonder what it says about us, that we buy the same things over and over, sometimes not even knowing we already have one just (or almost) like it?

I'm guessing it at least says we have too much of certain things, but I wonder what the psychology behind that is. I know I have purchased the same pattern of dishes in various colors (Temp-tations). and rotate them according to season. I like them, use them, and enjoy the change, but when we tend to buy basically multiples of the same thing (think of that shirt or pair of jeans that we end up getting one in every color) what must be behind that?

And @Mary Bailey, I can't bring myself to go through my cedar chest. It holds lots of things from my kid's baby days and childhood. I know I should pare down what it in there, but I just can't bring myself to deal with that yet, still way attached to many of those things.