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

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Replies

  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    Orphia wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    Orphia wrote: »
    All this NEAT led to feeling better, doing more purposeful exercise, eating according to my calorie limit, losing weight, feeling better, round and round.

    Today I was thinking that NEAT is sort of like doing the "right" thing:
    • You walk to the bin instead of leaving rubbish on the table - more calories burned; tidy house.
    • I just walked two sides of a triangle along the path instead of taking the short cut across a carpark - safer; more calories burned.
    • I walk to work - less carbon emissions; save money; more calories burned.

    Doing the "right" thing has so many benefits!

    Losing 80 lbs using MFP, running, and participating in community discussions led me to not having drunk alcohol since January 31 2018.

    Not drinking meant not needing as much time in bed trying to sleep. Now I sleep more soundly and don't wake as often, which means I have more time to do nice things.

    Yesterday morning after my run I still had lots of time to spare before my last day of work for the year:
    • I put away some things I'd left in the hall after doing some rearranging around the house.
    • I walked to the hardware shop and bought some picture hooks and hung prints of my son's artwork properly in my yoga room (his room when he comes home).
    • I tidied my room, and wiped down all the surfaces free of dust.

    And when I came home, it all looked lovely, and now I have 12 days holiday!

    Man oh man O, your post (this one AND all of your other posts here), is like winning the lottery or some other HUGE prize. You have a way of inspiring and provoking one to not only "think", but to actually make changes in one's life to not be as "hard" or complicated and I just love you for that! Your overcoming so many common, but super difficult issues/situations/fun but destructive "problems" like drinking and obesity is nothing less than admirable and amazing. Thank you beloved for posting, this post is going to uplift and help so many people, including lil ole me.
    {{{{{{ <3 Hugs and the highest of fives <3 }}}}}}}}} to you. Keep on keeping on and YAY YOU and please know that you are NOT alone and once more, thank you for taking the time, love, faith and boldness to share here. You super-star you!

    P.S. BOOOOOOOM!!!!! o:)<3o:)

    Thanks so much for your lovely compliments! They brought tears to my eyes. xxxooo

    You'll like this:

    My post and the theme of your awesome thread can be summed up by a term someone used to describe my progress elsewhere:

    "An adaptive spiral".

    Isn't that beautiful?

    My pleasure beloved! Wow, I love what you've written here. I LOVE studying all kinds of stuff
    (old school studying/learning/investigating, not because I "have to" but because I LOVE to study a variety of wide/diverse/unusual subjects and "stuff") and your reply so reminded me of my studies on spirals--your comment about "An adaptive spiral" especially means a lot to me, because a few years ago, I was studying about "spirals"...so very thought-provoking and eye-opening my study of spiral was. Here's a wee bit of what I learned about "spirals" and a whole LOT more...
    What is the Fibonacci sequence and where does it derive from? Why do we find it everywhere around us, from nature to art?
    https://www.learning-mind.com/fibonacci-sequence/

    THE FIBONACCI SEQUENCE, SPIRALS AND THE GOLDEN MEAN
    https://math.temple.edu/~reich/Fib/fibo.html

    I found studying spirals and Fibonacci's work on spirals absolutely mega interesting/fascinating. Spirals are just EVERYWHERE and so, ummmm...WOW! Again, your reply/comment is so like you...cool beans (as "they" say). Thank you my friend!

    You're on my wavelength! :heart: xx

    The Fibonacci Spiral is exactly what I thought of when I read the words "An Adaptive Spiral"

    I have a Fibonacci Spiral as my artist's logo, plus as a beloved pair of earrings.

    xx

    As each day passes, we make appropriate and sustainable growth, change, and habits that beautify the overall picture.

    How cool is that?!? VERY COOL! <3o:)<3

    xxoo

    I sent you a PM. Merry Christmas! :heart:
  • snoo61
    snoo61 Posts: 549 Member
    Merry Christmas everyone!
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,131 Member
    snoo61 wrote: »
    Today I realized that I have a lot of king size pillowcases, but have queen size pillows. Pulled them all out of the linen closet, and threw them in the washer with our new sheets. I will donate them to the animal shelter with the rugs I've made.
    Speaking of dog rugs, I have officially gotten through all of my " scrap" yarn! I made over 30 pet rugs. I have 1 in progress, but ran out of yarn. Will continue it as I get leftover yarn from project.
    Yarn decluttering is complete! ( for the moment)

    Snoo, since you seem to be very handy and crafty, you may find these ideas of what to do with pillow cases interesting and doable.

    https://howdoesshe.com/15-things-you-can-do-to-upcycle-a-pillowcase/
  • snoo61
    snoo61 Posts: 549 Member
    Gisel2015 there are some adorable ideas on that link. Thank you!
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,131 Member
    snoo61 wrote: »
    Gisel2015 there are some adorable ideas on that link. Thank you!

    You are welcome, and here is another link with additional uses or ideas.
    https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/organizing/g2511/new-uses-pillowcase/?slide=8
  • NewLIFEstyle4ME
    NewLIFEstyle4ME Posts: 4,440 Member
    Yesterday I went through all of the 'almost' fitting clothing I had tucked away and made two piles: 'Try on again in 3 weeks' and 'Doesn't fit, off to charity'. I am prepping hard for moving and hopefully won't have the panic of trying to fit everything into a suitcase later on

    Well I did it. moved countries with just three suitcases and none of them were overweight :)

    GIRLFRIEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is utterly thrilling, impressive and super ultra fabulous news. You DID IT, you superstar you--big time YAY YOU and BOOM! <3o:)<3
    6c1a15dd67b4195cbc579b505f1ad8f3--happy-dance-words-of-encouragement.jpg
  • NewLIFEstyle4ME
    NewLIFEstyle4ME Posts: 4,440 Member
    I love decluttering. We have donated or sold over half our stuff in the past two years and still have more to go. Our last apartment really sucked and so I bought a lot of decorations trying to make it look less terrible and feel more like a real home. But when we moved we realized how much stuff we had and that we really didn't have room for it, especially because our new apartment has less closet space than our old apartment. Our new apartment is great and feels like a real home even with few items in it. When people come over they often ask if we just moved in because of how little stuff we have.

    Conversely, I also love secondhand items and giving a new life to peoples' old stuff. Most of our furniture is secondhand/vintage, much of it from deceased relatives, although I did also buy a couple of vintage pieces secondhand. I find that overall the quality of old furniture is so much better. I've heard that a lot of young people would rather buy cheap furniture from Ikea or Target rather than inheriting their relatives' old furniture, and I don't know why. Most of our furniture is solid wood, and solid wood furniture costs thousands of dollars new, but we got it either for a couple of hundred dollars, the cost of moving it, or free. Plus it keeps perfectly good items out of the landfill and saves the environmental cost of manufacturing new furniture. I buy most of my clothes secondhand too and I can usually get good-quality name brand stuff for a fraction of what it would cost new. For example my winter coat is a long wool LL Bean coat that I got for $27+shipping, and a similar coat would cost $250 new. (I usually don't buy shoes secondhand however, as I've found that secondhand shoes tend to fall apart within a few wears for some reason.)

    Unfortunately I live with a hoarder (my MIL) and the child of a hoarder (my husband). My MIL used to live on her own but she became disabled due to an illness that I believe was linked to the conditions she was living in, although we will never know for sure. She wasn't a "clean" hoarder but was also living in squalor. Now it's just easier for us to live together. Otherwise we would have to visit her all the time anyway to bring her food shopping and clean and so on since she can't drive and has limited mobility, she would get lonely and be more likely to start hoarding and neglecting her health, and we can keep an eye on and limit her hoarding. Plus it also saves money. Unfortunately I do have to clean up after her and my husband quite a bit. My husband never really learned what "clean" is, and he tries, but he has a lot of clutter blindness and doesn't see messes. Like for example he will spill garlic powder all over the counter and not even notice it is there, or he will wash the dishes but leave bits of food on them because he doesn't notice it. My MIL and I have also locked horns on several occasions about things like her keeping rotten produce in the refrigerator and insisting it is still good, or leaving her stuff all over the dining room table so nobody else can use it.

    My husband has been working throughout the past year to clean up the house that my MIL (and deceased FIL) abandoned. He had to have movers come in several times to cart away truckloads of stuff. He did dozens of loads of laundry each weekend of my MIL's ridiculous amount of clothes and donated all of them (none of her old clothes fit anymore because she lost a significant amount of weight during her illness). Some items were donated but a lot of them were broken and had to be thrown away. It was a ton of work for him. It's really annoying to see how much waste of money, time, resources, etc. happened because of hoarding. Now we are going to get a price estimate of repairs and decide whether to renovate the house and move in (because it is in a prime real estate location) or just sell it as is. If we do renovate it though, I am concerned that my MIL will think that because it's "hers," she has carte blanche to hoard again, or that we owe her something for living there.

    EDIT: BTW, whenever I have to sell things, since I never get around to doing it myself, I give it to my brother and tell him to keep the money. He is always looking for ways to make money and my items get out of my life and are given to someone who actually needs them, a win for everyone.


    {{{{{{{ <3 Lauren <3 }}}}}}}}}} You, my dear, are a wise, strong and beautiful person, period. I super THANK YOU so much for contributing to this thread so much! Wow, you are dealing with a lot and the way you're thinking ( I LOVE your attitude) and the way you are handling these matter are super impressive, encouraging and amazing.
    You ROCK boo, period. <3o:)<3
  • laurenq1991
    laurenq1991 Posts: 384 Member
    {{{{{{{ <3 Lauren <3 }}}}}}}}}} You, my dear, are a wise, strong and beautiful person, period. I super THANK YOU so much for contributing to this thread so much! Wow, you are dealing with a lot and the way you're thinking ( I LOVE your attitude) and the way you are handling these matter are super impressive, encouraging and amazing.
    You ROCK boo, period. <3o:)<3

    Thanks so much for your awesome and inspiring message! You rock too!

  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    edited December 2018

    Conversely, I also love secondhand items and giving a new life to peoples' old stuff. Most of our furniture is secondhand/vintage, much of it from deceased relatives, although I did also buy a couple of vintage pieces secondhand. I find that overall the quality of old furniture is so much better. I've heard that a lot of young people would rather buy cheap furniture from Ikea or Target rather than inheriting their relatives' old furniture, and I don't know why. Most of our furniture is solid wood, and solid wood furniture costs thousands of dollars new, but we got it either for a couple of hundred dollars, the cost of moving it, or free.

    Unfortunately I live with a hoarder (my MIL) and the child of a hoarder (my husband). My MIL used to live on her own but she became disabled due to an illness that I believe was linked to the conditions she was living in, although we will never know for sure. She wasn't a "clean" hoarder but was also living in squalor.



    I agree on the furniture. Nothing they make these days is made of wood. It's all stapled particle board.

    And ugh.. you're describing my mom. She's not ill yet but that's her house. UGH
    I try not to give her "things" as presents anymore. Because she has too many things and doesn't take care of what she has. Last year I gave her a mani pedi for Christmas. I'm not adding to that pile again.
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