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

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Replies

  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    edited June 2018
    I am working towards a minimalistic lifestyle. My husband not so much. It’s not really that he buys excess but he doesn’t put things away. It stresses me out to look around the house and see “stuff” scattered all over the place :s one time I spent my toddlers nap time going through all of his toys in the living room and removing about half of them to declutter and I’m not kidding a couple days later I come home from work and my husband had bought a giant inflatable shark and 3 or 4 new balls for him. I wanted to scream lol.

    Areas in my life that I am working on are my wardrobe (I started doing a capsule wardrobe thing for each season) and beauty products/toiletry type stuff. I’m trying to go through everything in my linen closet so I can throw the damn containers away. I’ve honestly never been one to buy little decorative “things” or knick knacks so I don’t have any problem there. I’ve always considered those to be nothing more than extra stuff to dust around. But going forward before I make any purchase I’m going to try really hard to think about it. Is it worth the money and will this bring value to my life and/or my home?

    Another area that stresses me out is my kitchen. I’ve gone through every drawer and cabinet and there’s nothing more that I want to get rid of. Everything brings value to my life. I love to cook. Except the deep fryer but my husband won’t let me get rid of that lol.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    edited June 2018
    I grew up in a spotless house. My mom would stay up late cleaning many nights. I think it set an unrealistic expectation for me as an adult. My brain got wired to think it was the way you live .... with zero clutter.

    When I got married, I saw that my spouse was messy and loves clutter; i think it makes him feel good. The clutter chokes me. It can be very hard on me emotionally to live in clutter. Our dresser in our bed room is cut in half- his side is covered in receipts, papers, and everything , and my side has a picture frame and a candle. I'm sorry to vent. He's not wrong for being that way, because that's how his brain is wired.
    But for me, it's a source of discomfort seeing that junk in piles all over.

    I just needed to express myself on this thread. I wont complain further, but i dream of having a clean house with only items we treasure instead of thousands of pieces of junk that isn't valued but still kept.




    If it helps, you’re not alone. I’m not the neatest person but I don’t like clutter. My husband is a complete slob. I just typed out a really long reply on everything my husband does at home that drives me crazy and deleted it lol. It is funny because our bedroom is the same way. We each have a dresser and night stand. Mine are empty except for my one cup of water that I’m currently using and my phone. His is covered in receipts, pills, random pieces of paper, coins, 3 different cups, empty bottles of lotion, empty deodorant containers, a pile of clothes that are “too dirty to put back in the drawer but not dirty enough to wash” lol!! I try to leave it alone but every now and then I have to clean it off when it drives me crazy enough
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    hesn92 wrote: »
    I grew up in a spotless house. My mom would stay up late cleaning many nights. I think it set an unrealistic expectation for me as an adult. My brain got wired to think it was the way you live .... with zero clutter.

    When I got married, I saw that my spouse was messy and loves clutter; i think it makes him feel good. The clutter chokes me. It can be very hard on me emotionally to live in clutter. Our dresser in our bed room is cut in half- his side is covered in receipts, papers, and everything , and my side has a picture frame and a candle. I'm sorry to vent. He's not wrong for being that way, because that's how his brain is wired.
    But for me, it's a source of discomfort seeing that junk in piles all over.

    I just needed to express myself on this thread. I wont complain further, but i dream of having a clean house with only items we treasure instead of thousands of pieces of junk that isn't valued but still kept.




    If it helps, you’re not alone. I’m not the neatest person but I don’t like clutter. My husband is a complete slob. I just typed out a really long reply on everything my husband does at home that drives me crazy and deleted it lol. It is funny because our bedroom is the same way. We each have a dresser and night stand. Mine are empty except for my one cup of water that I’m currently using and my phone. His is covered in receipts, pills, random pieces of paper, coins, 3 different cups, empty bottles of lotion, empty deodorant containers, a pile of clothes that are “too dirty to put back in the drawer but not dirty enough to wash” lol!! I try to leave it alone but every now and then I have to clean it off when it drives me crazy enough


    Oh man I can also relate to the above! My husband is a super minimalist thank goodness, so he doesn't have a ton of possessions in general. But what he does have is a mess. He cooks our meals and makes the biggest mess of the kitchen (I'm ok with it because I clean up after dinner daily & it satisfies me to see the kitchen looking pristine again). His side of our dresser is a pile of receipts and headphones and change. We got this little tray for him to put it all on, but it's overflowing all of the time and piled up 8 inches high. My side has a large jewelry box, deodorant & 2 bottles of perfume. On the floor next to the bed he just piles up all of his shorts, various running shoes, sandals, even jeans or khaki pants are over there in a jumble. My clothes are neatly hanging or folded, and organized by color & type. Amazingly though he always looks presentable in public! He works from home and usually on the sofa so I got him a couple of really nice large decorative boxes to put his junk in and fortunately I'm able to just close the lids and/or stow them under the coffee table (they look like part of the décor) when we're having company.
  • RubyRed427
    RubyRed427 Posts: 4,371 Member
    AJB1014 wrote: »
    I LOVE THIS POST! Very inspiring, OP - gave me some motivation and helped me remember where I've come from!

    Two, almost three years ago now, I had a shift. I cut out drinking year one. I cut out smoking year two, and this year I've cut out relationships that no longer serve me. In that time I've also managed to let go of a lot of stuff - clothes, shoes, trinkets, school supplies, etc. And also, habits - no more going out every weekend, or having to see every concert that strikes my fancy. No more wanting for the weekend and wasting the week. I planted my roots firmly with my family and started cultivating a better relationship with myself first, and then with my partner. I realized that stuff does not fill me up - it just fills up my house. I can't pour from an empty cup so I had to find out what actually did fill me. It was fresh air. It was heart to heart talks with my partner. It was waking up early and earning overtime to save for a house. It was playing with my dog till we were both dog tired. I tripped - I stumbled - I got back up and I'm back at it! Do I have plenty more stuff I could still do without? Sure do! Will I continue to press on in the directions of my dreams? Sure will!

    This is an inspiring post! Xo
  • AJB1014
    AJB1014 Posts: 1,380 Member
    AJB1014 wrote: »
    I LOVE THIS POST! Very inspiring, OP - gave me some motivation and helped me remember where I've come from!

    Two, almost three years ago now, I had a shift. I cut out drinking year one. I cut out smoking year two, and this year I've cut out relationships that no longer serve me. In that time I've also managed to let go of a lot of stuff - clothes, shoes, trinkets, school supplies, etc. And also, habits - no more going out every weekend, or having to see every concert that strikes my fancy. No more wanting for the weekend and wasting the week. I planted my roots firmly with my family and started cultivating a better relationship with myself first, and then with my partner. I realized that stuff does not fill me up - it just fills up my house. I can't pour from an empty cup so I had to find out what actually did fill me. It was fresh air. It was heart to heart talks with my partner. It was waking up early and earning overtime to save for a house. It was playing with my dog till we were both dog tired. I tripped - I stumbled - I got back up and I'm back at it! Do I have plenty more stuff I could still do without? Sure do! Will I continue to press on in the directions of my dreams? Sure will!

    This is an inspiring post! Xo

    Yay! @JulieAL1969 - It inspires me to inspire others!!! Thanks so much for the feedback :)
  • sliml40
    sliml40 Posts: 8 Member
    Following
  • learn2teachkind
    learn2teachkind Posts: 2 Member
    NicoleVT83 wrote: »
    I really enjoyed reading this! Thanks

    My pleasure and I'm so GLAD you enjoyed the post. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.
    {{{ <3 HUGS <3 }}}

    Agreed beautiful post and replies.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    @VUA21 What a great story! So happy for you. Yes, letting toxic people go can give us so much freedom. Yours is definitely a true success story.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    I've just been reading about “dostadning” - "Swedish Death Cleaning":

    https://www.domain.com.au/living/swedish-death-cleaning-how-to-declutter-your-home-and-life-20180205-h0snyu/
    Now, the new buzzword on the block is “dostadning” – a hybrid of the Swedish words “death” and “cleaning”. How much these fad words are actually a part of Scandinavian culture is debatable, but dostadning is the new phenomenon outlined in Margareta Magnusson’s The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. In Europe, the book has already occupied a good deal of reviewing space and according to Time magazine, dostadning will be the hot new trend stateside in 2018.

    Magnusson’s book chimes with the current anxiety about clutter in the 21st century. Dostadning advocates the proactive and mindful clearing out of possessions before death. The idea is that it saves relatives the onerous task of making decisions about what to keep and what to throw or give away. The book reflects the simple fact that we are all living longer lives. This results, of course, in more stuff.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Y'all have inspired me to tackle my home! It drives me crazy that I can't properly close one of my kitchen drawers. It's the one that holds the big ladles, knives, pizza cutter, etc. I'm convinced that there are things I can declutter. Looking forward to getting home and exploring it!

    One of my random thoughts-- I feel rested when I go on vacation and stay in a hotel room. But why? Maybe it's because that room doesn't have the clutter that I have at home. The hotel room has just the necessary basics.


    Oh. What so what do I do with all the half empty bottles of shampoo hanging around my bathroom?

    @WandaVaughn I use those up to shave my legs instead of buying shaving cream :wink: They work just as well and I know that I don't react badly to the ingredients. It's often just that I grow tiered of the smell (if only they would sell smaller bottles at decent prizes!)

    Conditioner is also a good one to use. It tends to make my legs nice and soft to boot.

    I simply figured that if it was good enough to put on my head and risk having it run into my eyes, then there's no reason why I can't lather up my legs with it to shave them :wink:

    I sometimes use conditioner when I’m out of shave gel but I never would have thought to use shampoo. My linen closet is full of half empty bottles of random stuff. I am trying hard to use it all up so I can get rid of them all
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    hesn92 wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    Y'all have inspired me to tackle my home! It drives me crazy that I can't properly close one of my kitchen drawers. It's the one that holds the big ladles, knives, pizza cutter, etc. I'm convinced that there are things I can declutter. Looking forward to getting home and exploring it!

    One of my random thoughts-- I feel rested when I go on vacation and stay in a hotel room. But why? Maybe it's because that room doesn't have the clutter that I have at home. The hotel room has just the necessary basics.


    Oh. What so what do I do with all the half empty bottles of shampoo hanging around my bathroom?

    @WandaVaughn I use those up to shave my legs instead of buying shaving cream :wink: They work just as well and I know that I don't react badly to the ingredients. It's often just that I grow tiered of the smell (if only they would sell smaller bottles at decent prizes!)

    Conditioner is also a good one to use. It tends to make my legs nice and soft to boot.

    I simply figured that if it was good enough to put on my head and risk having it run into my eyes, then there's no reason why I can't lather up my legs with it to shave them :wink:

    I sometimes use conditioner when I’m out of shave gel but I never would have thought to use shampoo. My linen closet is full of half empty bottles of random stuff. I am trying hard to use it all up so I can get rid of them all

    I haven't bought shaving cream once these past 2 years and haven't had any problems with the skin (no rashes, irritations or other).
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