Let it GO! Decluttering (simplifying) your life of (people, places or things) success stories?

Gisel2015

@cory17

Great idea! I should do the same but I know that I will get a push back from my husband, since he knows that I am not a Xmas person.

We have a huge Xmas tree and the kids and their families don't come very often anymore since they don't live near by. I would like to get a smaller and easier to put together tree, decorate it with the ornaments that have special meaning and donate the rest. I never decorated much for Halloween and I gave away the few things that I had, a couple of years ago.

Gisel2015

Ladies and gentlemen, we are having competition ...

Bed Bath & Beyond's stores have always been chaotic. Now it's decluttering Marie Kondo-style

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/21/business/bed-bath-and-beyond-flagship-store-new-york/index.html

TerriRichardson112

De cluttering
I went through my old school stuff and discovered that I must have done a better job than I thought the last time I looked. There is not that much left.

Rather than just leave it I then looked at a lot of other papers in the filing cabinet. I have Decluttered 2 file drawers, so I’m well on the way to clearing out a lot of the paper rubbish that I’ve just filed and forgotten.

I should’ve done this ages ago. I feel light! 😂

yweight2020

I continuously have things to purge and declutter, at least it's not as much now. One day at a time🙃🤗🤸‍♀️

Sableness

My mom used to watch an episode of Hoarders and then go clean a drawer or something right away. We had a hoarder relative and never never never want things to get to that point.

g2renew

RubyRed427 wrote: »

Currently I am not sleeping well. I was thinking one reason could be is that I have a bed with storage drawers underneath; i bought it when I had a small apartment. I think it inhibits energy flow. I will declutter those drawers and put things in containers and donate some items.

I have a lot of journals in those drawers; some empty and some full. I don't know what to do with them. Do you throw away journals? Who would want to read them besides me?

Some of my journals I keep, some I toss. I make the decision based on content. Most of the ones I keep have cute stories about my children as they grew, but a few have interesting to me observations. For example, during a period of my life when my memory says I had it all together, there were posts proving otherwise. To know I made it beyond the roughness to a better headspace seems important to know/keep-for now. About once every few years, i toss another one out.

Parr of me wonders if these would be useful in case of dementia or Alzheimer's setting in. But then I realize that sometimes the me I am does not even recognize the me I was at this point in time, so i continue to review and toss.

Best wishes to us all on this journey!

g2renew

My daughter and grand are in process of moving out. This has made a huge difference in the stuff, clutter, and space here😉.

A life change always seems to make it easier to designate things that I do not want or need.

FYI We had been decluttering on a regular basis before their move. I have downsized from 4200sqft to 3600 to1500 to 897 to now 1200 duing moves over the past 10 years, with last move completed last year.

You would never know this has been a WIP by the amount of stuff I now have to determine whether to sell or give away. And I have already tossed 4 giant garbage bags!

This is bizarre to me. More bizarre is that I bet if I do this again in a month there will be more things to disperse elsewhere!😂😂😂

Anyone else experiencing this phenomenon?

jenilla1

Sableness wrote: »

My mom used to watch an episode of Hoarders and then go clean a drawer or something right away. We had a hoarder relative and never never never want things to get to that point.

Hoarders has the same effect on me. I immediately want to go clean or organize something!

Gisel2015

Greetings everyone! Just an update to keep this thread going.

No major de-cluttering or re-organization on my part for the last two weeks. I have been cleaning drawers and disposing of unwanted things as I go along and it has been effective. I checked my closet this week and I decided that there are not items to get rid of right now. I haven't been using many outfits due to pandemic/quarantine in the last year and half so it's like finding new clothes that I didn't remember I had. I did organize the shelves and I probably will dispose of some fall and winter stuff after I try them again. Too hot to do that during the summer heat.

My next project is to check the drawers where I have table runners and tablecloths. I am not entertaining much anymore and I doubt that I ever will. My kids don't live nearby, two of my grandchildren are all grown up and the other two are in middle school so nobody comes very often, not even for the holidays. Old DVDs and music tapes are also on my list. I am having surgery on 8/16 so I will have to do what I can before then but take a break until I am back to normal.

@PatriceFitnessPal, I was wondering if you accomplished your July goals/challenge as planned. Good luck to the rest of you, stay safe, and enjoy the summer the best you can. G.

cory17

@Gisel2015 That not entertaining much anymore sounds familiar. 3 of my kids are also out of visiting range. Passed on our dining set earlier this year as kitchen has been redone and I am eating either at the island or on couch w/dh who is always eating on couch (in front of tv. As come across them, have thinned out those table coverings too. Thinning out the Halloween decorations and going to reduce the Christmas stuff to one box, if possible (gave away the outdoor lights - that's one bin down).

So far, have hung on to the camping equipment, even though haven't gone in years, want to go w/the grandkids if possible.

JessiBelleW

We have just moved house. I thought I did a pretty good job of donating stuff / listing things on Olio but as we unpack I’ve found more things that are unused and need to go!

suzij27

I made some progress over the past 2 weekends. The first weekend it was clothes. This weekend it was old jewelry and bits and bops I found in a dresser drawer. I also recycled more papers and magazines.

I can see a difference but there is still a lot more to go through. 😀

sargemarcori

This weekend I passed on a Betty Crocker cookbook from 1968. I haven't used it in years, but it was *like* the one my mother had, that I learned to cook from. I was holding onto a big book I never used because it *looked* like my mother's.

I took a picture of it and passed it on, along with a lot of other things from that shelf that I never touch.

Gisel2015

Awesome! it looks like everyone is doing some kind of organization or de-clutting and having good results. Good ideas reading your postings too. Let's keep up the good work and keep in touch.

nannurse

I have been emptying out 2 closets of plus-sized clothing. I have lost count of how much I have donated to Goodwill, but we are somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 trash bags full. I gotta make room for all of the size mediums that I am currently wearing

jennipooh82

After reading this, I really took a good look at what my room was really like… the clothes that I keep holding on to, the clothes that have holes that I “plan” to fix. All the things I plan to make. Unfortunately, in our home we have extremely limited space and with 3-4 people sharing one closet, I figured I would take the plunge and purge overthink that I haven’t worn in 1 year, especially with my weight being nearly 30 pounds less than what it was since May 28. I felt great cleaning everything… old sheets… GONE…. Ripped pants….IN THE BAG….old dresses/shirts that don’t fit…. PEACE OUT… it was actually liberating to get rid of that stuff. There were somethings that I just had to look away while putting them in the bag… things that I have memories with… things from my old job that I did truly love (worked at a daycare but got done because of covid and had to take care of my school aged children). Things from when my oldest was in elementary school; pictures, awards, newspaper clippings- so o decide that seeing next week is our anniversary/ I Love You Day, I would gift those to her as a sentimental gift of her journey through life.

So with that being said I was able to get 2 large garbage bags filled and the ENTIRE top portion of my closet and seriously reduced each section of my clothes.
I’m feel very good with what I’ve done so far. But we had to take a break because the noise I heard all day was a busted pipe and it’s in our room where I was working so diligently.

Gisel2015

I finally check some of the upper shelves in our closets. Lots of blankets that I don't need anymore and also a king size mattress cover that doesn't fit our mattress, plus some socks that my husband will not wear again (and they are brand new and never used). I also found a couple of reversible twin bedspreads, not longer needed either since the guest room has now a queen size mattress and bed. Everything is going to Habitat for Humanity next week.

Still more to do but I am happy that I am heading in the right direction.

suzij27

We went on a road in my car, so I had to clean out the storage space for our luggage. So much unnecessary stuff had accumulated! So I reorganized what I needed into a much smaller space, put some items away, and have items to return to stores and to donate.

Making progress inside and outside the house!

pennysob

I've started to get some of clothes that I don't wear anymore out of my closets but my husband refuses to get rid of all the things he doesn't use anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could get him to start thinning down his keepsakes? Part of the issue is he has parkinson's disease and so desperately wishes he could still do all the things he once could.

sargemarcori

@pennysob, from following this thread and others, the only thing I remember people saying worked for that was inspiration. I know it works (a little) in my house. when my family admires my room, I point out that I have so much lovely space because I keep getting rid of things. And then I drop it. Hopefully he'll come around!

Dianedoessmiles1

WOW OUTSTANDING!! Wtg on this!! Love the stop going to triggering places. I had found when I go with a friend whos a hoarder (Truest sense of her lifestyle) that I would spend so unneccessarily. Without her and now with a different friend, that's so totally is no longer an issue at all. YO I'd love to have her read this, but she's not all has healthy mentally,emotionally as you are. WTG!!

SoulOfFire1514

RubyRed427 wrote: »

SoulOfFire1514 wrote: »

I made the decision to throw out my marriage about 2.5 years ago. During that time, I got rid of a lot, but more stress was added, as he made my life a living hell.
But I sorted through all of our belongings, packed up all of his, and sent him on his way.
Since then, I managed to get custody and mobility rights, and moved my son and I across the country.
To do this, I had to massively downsize. I took a 1500sq ft home stuffed full of belongings, and a 2000 sq ft art studio plus two garages, and downsized it all to fit in a 5x8 Uhaul trailer.
I had a small library, over 50,000 books. I can fit all my absolute favorite books onto 1 bookshelf now, with room to spare. My art supplies were massively downsized. I went through my belongings multiple times, minimizing what I wanted and needed, and only brought the things that I truly loved.
I got rid of almost all my furniture, save a double sized bed for my son, and a small dresser. We brought out our favorite books (12 bankers boxes full), our favorite clothes (4 totes full), a few odds and ends, and my art supplies and gear (Which is my profession).
I still had room in the trailer, as well!
We packed it all up and moved it across the country, in my truck, and I have not missed anything I left behind, besides my best friend.

Since then, I have only bought a handful of items. A few new sets of clothes, since most of mine didn't fit, a computer for work, a few odds of things for work, a smart watch for my fitness health, a new set of headphones for working out, and I did buy two new to me books and a pair of running shoes.

I want nothing more to do with clutter. I don't want my belongings to weigh me down.

And it feels so good now.

So proud of you- what courage you had!
I'm thinking moving across the country was a wise move- the more distance you have from him, the more peace.

It was a very wise move! I have never been happier in all my life. My son and I are THRIVING out here!

summerviking1

pennysob wrote: »

I've started to get some of clothes that I don't wear anymore out of my closets but my husband refuses to get rid of all the things he doesn't use anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could get him to start thinning down his keepsakes? Part of the issue is he has parkinson's disease and so desperately wishes he could still do all the things he once could.

I wish you luck. My husband will not get rid of anything. I just declutter everything else.

Gisel2015

summerviking1 wrote: »

pennysob wrote: »

I've started to get some of clothes that I don't wear anymore out of my closets but my husband refuses to get rid of all the things he doesn't use anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could get him to start thinning down his keepsakes? Part of the issue is he has parkinson's disease and so desperately wishes he could still do all the things he once could.

I wish you luck. My husband will not get rid of anything. I just declutter everything else.

My husband is the same. About 5 years ago I had the inside of our closets done, and I told him that I was going to pay for his if he got rid of all the clothes that he didn't wear anymore. We took 7 big trash bags full of his old stuff to the donation center. Some of his clothes reminded me of what Travolta used to wear in Saturday Night Fever. Hilarious and pathetic at the same time.

His closet is full again, but this time of nicer and more modern styles, that he seldom wears. He needs to clean up the closet again but I gave up trying to convince him. I also just declutter and organize the rest of the house.

brenn24179

summerviking1 wrote: »

pennysob wrote: »

I've started to get some of clothes that I don't wear anymore out of my closets but my husband refuses to get rid of all the things he doesn't use anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could get him to start thinning down his keepsakes? Part of the issue is he has parkinson's disease and so desperately wishes he could still do all the things he once could.

I wish you luck. My husband will not get rid of anything. I just declutter everything else.

I feel for you, my husband is a hoarder, maybe stage 1. I helped him clean up for 5 hours one day and then I thought I am staying on top of this, checking on him every few days. I can't go thru that again. So far he has kept stuff pretty straight but I know it can get out of hand fast. I feel it is somewhat my fault for allowing it so long.

Plasicage

How/when do you guys declutter handbags? I just ordered a new one for everyday use, and think I should go through the stash.
I have going out bags, that are fun to outfit build, but the everyday ones I have trouble letting go, even if they store 5+ years in a bin.

I should add they are not designer or $2000 bags. And I do live in a shoebox bachelor, so space is an issue overall.

Iseulte

My sister helped me declutter the hallway linen closet. We have had several deaths in the family and I inherited a lot but nobody needs 40 table cloths! I got rid of 30 of them and now only have every day, special occasion and seasonal ones that I actually use. I also got rid of sheets for a twin bed we no longer own, threw out 2 grotty pillows, and weeded out the towels to just the nice ones. I took two large bags to the thrift shop, threw out two large bags, and my sister took the twin sheets and blankets to her place. There was a whole empty shelf when we were done so I moved the holiday dishes into that space. They had been living in cloth boxes in my dining room and looked so tacky just sitting out. Every time I walk past that closet now I smile.

yweight2020

Donated 3 bags of grandkids clothes, some of my clothes dresses, shirts,, jacket,, sweater etc,, that are to big for me now and children shoes that still seem new. Hope someone can benefit from these items.

BrennanArmacost

I don't like people being mentioned like they are just things. I think that's another subject entirely. People get too interested in minimalism and start ignoring their friends. In my opinion, it's a kind of cult. I've lost several friends this way. I don't like being called trash. Good luck on decluttering, but remember that people are alive, and so are animals. That should matter when you make your decisions. "Oh, I figured out what I really and truly value and it's ALL of my things. Bye." Yeah, cute.

sargemarcori

No one is decluttering friends because they have too many. If a person chooses to be negative, or difficult, or stuck in their destructive ways, then they need to be removed from the life of a person choosing to do better. Whether it's called decluttering or breaking up or choosing one's own health, no one is under any obligation to stick around and continue being abused.