Hmmm. where do I begin?

A few years ago my landlord was in my house doing some repairs. He made a casual comment about how much "STUFF" I have or had. That little comment sent me on a series of waves of downsizing and updating all my belongings.

I looked around here after he left and you know, he was right. I had stuff I have been collecting all my life to use someday. Most of it I just move around from room to room from time to time but when I looked at it on the whole, I did/do have way too much stuff.

The first thing I did was get rid of stuff I have never used. Either tossed it in the trash or gave it to charity. I LOVE Yard/Garage/Secondhand shop shopping and am always picking up SOMETHING. I have a stack of fishtanks that I'll never use but grabbed them because they were either cheap or free.

It's good to talk about this topic since so many of us have too much stuff and the thought of getting rid of some of it and streamlining our homes seems a monumental task IF you think of it as one big project.

The major problem with me is I'm a PackRat at heart, just like my Dad was. He had a special "shed" in the backyard for all the "stuff" he collected. Before the shed he had a barn with a workshop and that was Pretty bad. It seems the bigger the space you have for all your stuff, the more stuff you accumulate.

UGGHH!!

That is the area where I am constantly in trouble. I have/had way too many clothes. This is a special area that needs my constant attention. For instance:

SOCKS. I must have 50 or 60 pairs. some I haven't worn in years but they are so nice I just don't want to part with them. So here's what I've been doing.

Go through them ALL. Check if they are wearable still. No holes in the heels or rips or tears. Throw out the worn out ones and one you wouldn't wear. Then I sort them by colour. Ball them and put them back in neat rows in the drawer. But that is optional because next time I am in there I mess up the whole drawer again anyway.

UNDERWEAR. Go through all of them. IF there are any with holes or worn out elastic and are CLEAN give them one more wear then chuck them. Don't throw away clean undies.

These little projects might seem trivial but if you look at this as small projects it isn't so overwhelming.

SHOES. Aww Geeze, where do I start?? I am relatively easy on shoes but still have a lot. I have a huge, antique, Middle Eastern basket I keep all my flipflops, slippers, sneakers, warm snuggly knitted thingies, heavy house socks in. I rotate my stock according to the seasons. What isn't in the basket goes in the closet til next season OR to the Homeless Mission. Very rarely if Never, I throw OUT shoes.

Talking about this here I want to add something. I have no family to leave what's left to. I think that's why I decided to attempt to get rid of as much stuff as possible while I still can.

The thought of just a LL coming in here if and when I go and all the things I had throughout my lifetime just chucked outside. I have seen this happen and it distresses me very much. To think your whole life is reduced to just a pile of stuff that anyone can pick through and take.

I struggled with this for years. WHO do I leave my stuff to??

I decided to TRY to figure this out. I wanted someone I know, not too close but has to be young. I didn't want to talk about this with anyone because, well, you know. If someone thinks that you are going to give tham all your stuff, they are eyeballing everything and it just creeps me out.

Anyway, I came to a decision. I asked one of my closest friends IF she thought it appropriate to leave all my stuff to her youngest daughter and she had no problem with that. I just have to get it down now on paper. I asked her NOT to tell anyone about this. If anyone reading this has any advice about this Please reply.

Interesting topic! I have so much STUFF in my house that I do not use. I have a hard time getting rid of it because of sentimental reasons. Either I associate it with a good memory, or someone gave it to me, and I don't want to ditch it, even though I don't use it.

I have clothes in my closet that I can't even wear anymore!! My attic is full of things that my kids did in grade school, even all the trophys thay won. They don't even want them. So I hoard for sentimental reasons.

I sometimes start to get rid of them, but spend hours reading it all and can't get the deed done. My house doesn't look junky, because alot of it is either in the attic , drawers or basement.

If I have to downsize, then it will definately go. If not then it will be up to my 3 grown sons to wade through the mess after I'm gone. What a job they will have.LOL

Wiix, leaving your STUFF to a friends daughter is a great idea!!

wiix, is there a women's shelter in your area? they can alway use donations of clothes. some will take donations of anything you have.

there are women who end up there with nothing but the clothes on their backs. same with their kids.

we took a box of craft stuff, games and puzzles not to long ago.

great topic.

Yes bn, I also get bogged down in memories BUT if you ruminate over things you have to think of WHERE these things are going to end up if you aren't around anymore. Last week I went through some old photos and an old wedding album. Know what I did? I took out all the pics, tore them up and threw them out. Who wants them?? I certainly don't. I got lost in the past looking at all those miserable people who made my life a misery. I could see now how unhappy I and they were. People aren't genrally happy most of the time. Peoples emotions and mental state show on their faces. Time and space has a way of putting things into perspective, don't they? I still have more pics to go through. Some it's going to be very hard to get rid of but who is going to care after I'm gone? Letting go of the past is SO hard. But, we have to do it eventually.

And yes, Curious. I do take many things to the woman's shelter and the homeless shelter but we also have a Free Table here in our laundry room. People just leave good, usable things there or take things they can use. It cuts down on a lot of the stealing from washers and dryers. Not all but some.

IF you live in an apartment building with a laundry room a Free Table is a great idea. I hate waste. And it's a lot easier than taking things somewhere else. Sometimes I actually get things JUST for the table, if they are free. Just being neighbourly.

My whole life, I have made an effort to remain "portable" by eliminating my excess stuff.

One of the hardest things I ever did was ditch my "memory box" that my mom started for each one of us. I found my compromise by taking photos of everything in it. Nowadays with digital cams, this is way, way easier! I managed to part with 90% of the contents and you know what? I never even look at those pictures because the memories are quite alive in my mind. If it ever slips away, the photos will be there.

My mom was a terrible packrat and for all you parents, if you love your kids, get rid of the junk! It took me 14 massive garage sales and 3 trips by the mission truck to unload only about 75% of her junk when she died.

Books are a small issue for me, I only keep hard covers that I'm certain I will read one more time.

If, like my mom, anyone saves magazines just to read one article "when you get around to it", please cut out the article and pitch the rest! Those things weigh a ton and take up too much space!

Monkey Woman is quite right, women's resource centers are always in need of usable items and don't forget that most of those women had lives just like yours— kids who need clothes, toys and books, pets, kitchens, dust in their surroundings, dishes, entertainment items, TOOLS, family games, pens and pencils, telephones, decks of cards, greeting cards, office supplies, sewing equipment, shelf-liners... all of it!

Sometimes secondhand stores have NEW stuff. A few months ago I got all NEW lampshades for every lamp in my house. My old ones were really old, dusty and discoloured. I got all new ones for less than the price of one in a retail store. Of course once you start with the lamp everything around it grabs your attention. I started washing down furniture and giving it a good wipe down with orange oil. One thing leads to another.

For the past few months I have been steam cleaning all my carpets. NOW I am thinking of new runners for my hallway. The old ones didn't match and they'd about had it.

Took me a while to figure THAT out. It's not like she is ever here. She's off in college now. She just spent the summer in Europe and I read her blog while she was there. She is such a nice girl. I'd feel strange leaving my stuff to someone in here once in a while especially if they knew in advance.

Ebay is your friend