Do you have a lot of stuff you really don't use?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

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Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
Do you have a lot of stuff you really don't use?
I was in my shed. I'm not a "hoarder", but it's getting there. I have all kinds of stuff that I don't know why I'm keeping it.
 

Yes... and I have been trying to clean some of it out by donating it to the Salvation Army.. Trying to organize the things I want to keep. It's seems like an endless job.
 
Not as much as I used to but YES!!!

I have been shedding all sorts of things in preparation for a move to a smaller apartment in 2019 when I hit another milestone birthday!

I keep trying to seek the minimum, I will never be Diogenes but I'm gaining on him, LOL!!!

One day, observing a child drinking out of his hands, he cast away the cup from his wallet with the words, "A child has beaten me in plainness of living."

800px-Jean-L%C3%A9on_G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me_-_Diogenes_-_Walters_37131.jpg
 

------- >" toomuchstuff" <--------- LOL * The saying is true .... "artists are the worst hoarders because they can see a project in everything they find" . That was me . I used to see a finished piece of art in every piece of junk I'd find. I'd keep it with good intentions and put it away and forget about it. I finally realized I won't live long enough to make something out of everything I've kept , so I'm biting the bullet and getting rid of stuff slowly.
 
I am getting rid of stuff. Between free cycle, The Salvation Army and Goodwill, I hope to be rid of my stuff. Not buying anymore nicknacks or clothes. Told kids to get what they want now and to gift me only with gift cards for birthdays and holidays. Also taking things to consignment shop. Only keeping things that give me pleasure and a few things of my mothers'.
 
Yes, good heavens, it's a problem that refuses to be solved :confusion:. We're working on it but I'm afraid it will remain a work in progress (sigh).
 
I moved recently - from several states away - and knowing I was paying a mover to pack and move everything made it easy to get rid of extra 'stuff'. I only kept what was useful (and that I actually used) and frou-frou that had special meaning. Book collections - cook books, genealogy and needlework pattern books had to come with me but many others were re-homed through Goodwill or Salvation Army as were cold weather clothes and blankets. No need for either in central Florida.
 
I really have divested myself of a lifetime of stuff I couldn't get rid of, but I'm still loath to get rid of clothes that are just a teeny-weeny too small. I still have illusions of dropping a couple of sizes....just like the brave little train engine: "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." get into them some day.

I just tossed five pairs of shoes into the charity shop bag. I finally convinced myself that I'm really not ever going to wear them. It was hard; they were really good-looking shoes.
 
Yup. After mom passed, her accumulation of "stuff" (mom artifacts) is still here. I'm sure friends wonder why a single guy has a ton of female knick-knacks hidden away in his extra bedrooms, but I am hesitant to lose what remains of her physical existence, but more hesitant to live in her past. May God keep her safe and happy.....
 
Me too. I have my stuff, kids stuff (they're all in their 30's now), my mother's stuff, art stuff (I hear ya post#5) and the kids don't want anything.
When I get overwhelmed I go into denial mode and look the other way...or I could just go buy another house lol

God help us all :happy::happy: :rofl:
 
No, I get rid of excess stuff by giving it to others. It helps me and it helps them too. It's a win/win situation.
 
jujube said:
I really have divested myself of a lifetime of stuff I couldn't get rid of, but I'm still loath to get rid of clothes that are just a teeny-weeny too small. I still have illusions of dropping a couple of sizes....just like the brave little train engine: "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." get into them some day.

I just tossed five pairs of shoes into the charity shop bag. I finally convinced myself that I'm really not ever going to wear them. It was hard; they were really good-looking shoes.
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean -- those absolutely lovely shoes that always DID hurt like all get-out really need to go, but for some reason it is SO hard to part with them. Why is that so hard -- I mean, my feet aren't going to get any smaller or narrower, after all. Same thing for clothes that don't fit quite right -- maybe someday it will fit? No, it won't, but it's so hard to get rid of that stuff. I am doing better, though, and trying to be ruthless about it.
 
hauntedtexan said:
Yup. After mom passed, her accumulation of "stuff" (mom artifacts) is still here. I'm sure friends wonder why a single guy has a ton of female knick-knacks hidden away in his extra bedrooms, but I am hesitant to lose what remains of her physical existence, but more hesitant to live in her past. May God keep her safe and happy.....
Click to expand...

When my grandma died many years ago, she had lived in the same house for 57 years. She was a bit of a hoarder and a compulsive bargain-hunter, but at least a "neat hoarder". She had stuff like five pressure cookers still sealed in the box, several sets of dishes never unpacked, etc. She had a huge number of polyester pant suits, still with the tags on. So we had the garage sale to end all garage sales.

We mentioned to people that it was our grandma's stuff that we were selling and I overheard a woman say to her friend, "Don't you know that old lady is just turning in her grave right now?" and it made me feel sort of bad that we were selling all her stuff. BUT, how could we keep it? Outside of some antiques, collectibles and sentimental items, who wanted another pressure cooker? Another punch bowl set? Another set of hot-pink satin sheets? Another aqua polyester pants suit? Another battery-operated plastic grandfather clock (there were five of them)?

I just hope she forgave us......
 
Shedding possessions is definitely not an easy task.

This quote attributed to Basil the Great has been a great help to me during this process.

“When someone steals another's clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.”
 
I've been reading these posts. But what about the stuff that has meaning only to you? I've got a 4 foot model of the Empire State Building. I own the real one. Well, I own one share of stock in the corp, which owns it. It's in a frame on my wall. I've got my first dividend- 9 cents. It's in a frame on my wall. How can I get rid of that?
It's in the pic below.
 
I get rid of stuff I don't use but as soon as I do, I need it again even though I haven't in years or more.
 
i am the same way ---i have new pants i keep for wearing in town and
when i go in town i just wear what i got on --i am not gone that long so why change
 
Last year I moved from a two bedroom flat to a one bedroom bungalow and had to downsize lots of my things. The bungalow is tiny so I have had to store many things in an outside shed. Its packed to the roof so I really need to get in there and decide what to keep and what I can get rid of.
My daughter keeps saying that its best to be minimalist but I like having my things around me.
 
A couple of years ago we moved back to Florida from Arizona, 2,000 miles. I got a quotation of the cost per pound to move that distance. We then really got serious about running a garage sale, we did so on three different weekends. We still have things with no good place to keep them. A "donate box" in the spare bedroom helps. I do miss the garage.
 
hauntedtexan said:
Yup. After mom passed, her accumulation of "stuff" (mom artifacts) is still here. I'm sure friends wonder why a single guy has a ton of female knick-knacks hidden away in his extra bedrooms, but I am hesitant to lose what remains of her physical existence, but more hesitant to live in her past. May God keep her safe and happy.....
Click to expand...

That's what can be truly difficult is to let go of items that meant something to someone you loved and lost. I went through that too, after my Mom passed. I felt like I would be betraying her memory to get rid of those things. But after a couple of years I decided just to keep a couple of the most special items, then I took pictures of the rest before I donated them to the local hospital's thrift store. I will always have the pictures to bring back memories, but I feel good knowing that maybe someone else is now enjoying the items that she treasured. God bless your dear mother, she must have been a very special lady.
 

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