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

LoveyChar

@Gisel2015 I read your post about decluttering and organizing papers the other day. This, too, is one of my problems and I am working on this also.

Ladies, I had a productive day! I decluttered and I'm still working on it but soon, when I have more time, I will share my progress with you lovely ladies!

snoo61

Hi everyone! As you know we got a puppy last month. Well last week we went and got my dad's dog. Dad fell when walking her and can't handle her anymore. We couldn't let her go to the pound.
The moral of the story is: A puppy and new dog take the "de" out of decluttering!
Reading all your stories is inspiring, hoping to be able to get back to it today!

He1loKitty

One of my goals for 2020 is to stop wasting time and energy on people and things that don't reciprocate my efforts. I'm also not going to "force" anything that isn't working for me or doesn't feel right. I'm not going to do things just because I feel like I should or just because someone else wants me to.

mi_nina_lola

He1loKitty wrote: »

One of my goals for 2020 is to stop wasting time and energy on people and things that don't reciprocate my efforts. I'm also not going to "force" anything that isn't working for me or doesn't feel right. I'm not going to do things just because I feel like I should or just because someone else wants me to.

this! needed to read this at exactly this moment. thanks for the reminder

Gisel2015

mi_nina_lola wrote: »

He1loKitty wrote: »

One of my goals for 2020 is to stop wasting time and energy on people and things that don't reciprocate my efforts. I'm also not going to "force" anything that isn't working for me or doesn't feel right. I'm not going to do things just because I feel like I should or just because someone else wants me to.

this! needed to read this at exactly this moment. thanks for the reminder

I agree!!!!!

Gisel2015

LoveyChar wrote: »

@Gisel2015 I read your post about decluttering and organizing papers the other day. This, too, is one of my problems and I am working on this also.

Ladies, I had a productive day! I decluttered and I'm still working on it but soon, when I have more time, I will share my progress with you lovely ladies!

Good for you Char, but I warn you that it is a never ending chore. One day everything is neat and in order, and the next a bunch of papers show up out of nowhere that need to be checked or read before throwing them away. Just take one day at the time. The good thing is that once you get rid of the big pile of unneeded and unwanted things, the rest will be easier to handle. Good luck!

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

I have a card in my file that shows up on Sunday nights that warns the people with desks downstairs to tidy their personal areas. I will dust and put everything back if it's neat, but if it's a pile of piles, I won't. There's also one that tells me to weed the magazine and catalog piles.

Evamutt

Hello everyone, I was on here for a little while, a while back. I've been very busy helping our daughter get rid of almost everything with her move out of town. She literally only took what she could fit in her car with her 3 kids. We donated bags & bags of household stuff & clothes. I only took a few things I could use although I was very tempted to take more. After she left last week I've been de cluttering too. Got rid of several pots I never use & have been cleaning out my walk in closet. Not nearly finished. I have so many clothes I never wear but keep them just because they're near new because I hardly ever wear them. I also have "nicer" clothes hanging in closet that I hardly ever wore & don't really dress up so I need to get rid of those too. I also got rid of several blankets we never use. It's really hard because I think I'll use them in the future

snoo61

Got some dusting done yesterday. Today I got all the things dad sent with the dog sorted out and put away. Too many old towels, but I'll sort them when I'm taking dog rugs to the shelter.

bobsburgersfan

I've seen this thread before and I've always put off reading it because it has so much in it! Well, I read through the first 6 pages last night and was already inspired to go put some things away that I've left sitting around for too long.

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

I cleaned out my closet yesterday. I've dropped a size and will drop more, and I don't have room to have stuff that's too big for me cluttering my closet. I left two unfitted dresses and drapey shawl-jackets that will do in a pinch if I have somewhere to go in a hurry formally (At least for a few more sizes) and the shirts and yoga pants that still fit. My girlfriend is doing this too, but she's starting at a 26/28 pant. So I packed up the size 20 pants that were in decent shape for her, and gave her my 2x tank tops to wear now with sweaters. My closet is quite bare now, but that's fine with me.

I have next size down prepurchased and hanging on red hangers, and I'm waiting for next size down underwear and yoga pants. I'll sort my closet out every size I go down, since I'm wanting to go several sizes down, and I don't ever want to come back up.

LoveyChar

I love reading these decluttering stories ^^^, all of them! I got rid of two big, full bags of recyclable paper last night and I'll get rid of more "stuff" today, although, I haven't figured out where to start yet. Just start, just do it, right?!?

parkerpowerlift

My partner and I just recently moved from a 2-bedroom townhouse to a 2-bedroom loft-style apartment. We definitely downsized our living spaces (no garage, small square feet, lower rent and taking over a sublease), but we were definitely able to get rid of a ton of old furniture, clothes, and nick-nacks that we simply weren't using anymore. The last few weeks have been stressful, dealing with the old landlord and moving to getting into our new place.

We got rid of two huge couches that our animals have destroyed and replaced those with a small used futon with a waterproof/allergy resistant cover. We got rid of whole wardrobes of clothes we weren't fitting into anymore, kids toys that weren't getting used, etc. And sold what we could on Facebook Marketplace for extra cash. And now that we are week two into our new (carpet-free) home, it finally feels like our living space is more open-concept.

Madwife2009

*****Warning - this is more of a rant than anything - please feel free to skip past *****

Looks like I'm going to have to declutter people . . . .again.

I "decluttered" my sisters a long time ago. Almost two decades ago. I don't miss them because the pair of them were toxic and were horrible to me from early childhood to adulthood. So I eventually realised that they had to go. I've been happier without them in my lives. I never really felt part of the family because of the way in which they treated me. I still think that my parents took the wrong baby home from the hospital!

My dad is very, very old. And becoming more frail, to a point whereby he can't do much for himself anymore. So my sisters are at my parents 24/7 between them, with my brother there daily as well. They want me to be a carer for him and I'm not prepared to do that. I've seen how they handle my dad and frankly, he must be in more pain than he should be from his multiple illnesses - emotionally and physically - due to their ill-informed attitudes and lack of skills. Furthermore, I am not trained to be a care-giver. And I have seen the appalling results of uneducated family members "caring" for a sick person; they ended up breaking bones and causing many other injuries. I have already told my mother that I am not prepared to be a party to causing my dad pain and injuries. That's cruelty and anyway, my dad would be entitled to paid-for help.

I'm not in a position whereby I can drop everything anyway and go running over there - I have my children to worry about (one of whom is fully home-ed, and two who are part-time home-ed who have exams in a few weeks), we are trying to sort our house out and DH runs a business from home. Money is also an issue - they aren't close by and petrol is not cheap. But I said that I'd go over when I could and do what I could.

But every time I go over there, I am ambushed by my family. My brother puts constant pressure on me to "make up" with my sisters. My mum has tried to interfere in the past by giving my sisters my contact details. Even when I explained to her why I didn't want to have anything to do with them anymore. She seemed to understand but still gave them my contact details.

I was told that my sisters would not be there when I went over to see my parents this week but they were. So, rather than cause conflict when my dad is poorly and my mum stressed, I was civil to my sisters. Not friendly, but civil.

My mother, brother and sisters now seem to think that everything is "okay" again. They are wrong, so wrong.

I don't want my sisters back in my life. It will end in tears, it always does.

I don't like my sisters. One thinks that the world owes her something and constantly whined when I was on better terms with her. The other thinks that it is her right to organise the world and woe-betide anyone who disagrees.

I am not the same as them at all. I have nothing in common with them. Blood is not enough to make me want them back in my life.

So now I have the difficult task of telling my mum that it's not going to be what she wants. I have to tell her NOT to give my contact details to my sisters. And I have to tell my brother to butt out. And if they (my mum and brother) give my contact details to my sisters then I will block ALL of them.

Not a conversation I am looking forward to.

But not one I can avoid, either.

martianspuds

Madwife2009 wrote: »

*****Warning - this is more of a rant than anything - please feel free to skip past *****

Looks like I'm going to have to declutter people . . . .again.

I have a similar toxic individual (mother in my case) - I'm sending you so many hugs & positive energy while you grapple with this.

After years of so many onlookers chastising me about a situation they DO NOT understand -- yet insist 'but it's family, you can't do that!' -- I've come to realize a few things. First, simply sharing DNA does not make someone family. True family watch out for each other, not degrade & tear down constantly. Second, if you would absolutely not tolerate an emotionally abusive behavior in someone who is not a blood relative -- a boyfriend, an acquaintance, etc. -- why in the world should it be tolerated because you share a few genes?

Toxic is a spot-on word to describe these individuals, because being around them does indeed reduce your health & well-being; I'm so glad you have an awareness of this. I understand it's not a casual decision to remove them from your life. If it's the best way to retain your well-being & find a way to cherish the remaining time with your father, I think it's definitely a valid option to be carefully considered. Just be sure to think through resources for how to maintain access to your dad - siblings/mum sound like they are acting like gatekeepers to him.

One thing that jumped out at me - you said you thought your mum 'understood' about keeping your contact info private. I hate saying this, but she may well have understood, but just didn't respect your wishes. Perhaps having a conversation about what being respectful of your choices would look like, may help?

Hang in there x

snoo61

I went through some of my pantry today. It wasn't as bad as expected. Apparently I'm not doing too bad at keeping that up.

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

I'm really enjoying packing because I can honestly look at every single thing we own and say, "Are you worth taking with us?" and the answer is a pretty straightforward yes or no. I LIKE cleaning out closets. My sewing room still has things in it, but it's mostly furniture. I have the walk-in closet piled with boxes, ready to be carried out on moving day.

Next comes the library. We are bibliophiles.

snoo61

theleadmare wrote: »

I'm really enjoying packing because I can honestly look at every single thing we own and say, "Are you worth taking with us?" and the answer is a pretty straightforward yes or no. I LIKE cleaning out closets. My sewing room still has things in it, but it's mostly furniture. I have the walk-in closet piled with boxes, ready to be carried out on moving day.

Next comes the library. We are bibliophiles.

I love bibliophiles! You are inspiring me to declutter like I'm moving this month!

Madwife2009

Haven't done the emotional decluttering as no opportunity as of yet but . . . I have decluttered my collection of fabric, of which half is going to my little one's weekly craft session group, a further small bag is going back to university with my oldest daughter tomorrow, some I will try to sell and some I actually have plans for. The only bits I am going to keep for the sake of keeping them are some samples from the material I used to make my wedding dress and the attendants' outfits, which I am going to keep with my wedding album.

Have also promised a spare microwave to someone I met last week who doesn't have one. I don't need it as it was purchased for a caravan which was sold after a particularly bad holiday. The microwave has been taking up a huge amount of space for the last 14 years, for no particular reason. It has moved house with us twice since then. And I have no idea why! It will be out of here tomorrow

Evamutt

yesterday I finished going through my tops & putting about 70% in the donation bag. It wasn't easy but I rarely wear them. I'm going to have to buy more tops as time goes by so I don't wear the same ones over & over again. These included the "nicer" ones I have hanging that I wear to church, going to lunch with a friend etc. I will probably go through the hanging ones again