Well I am ashamed to say that until about a year ago, I probably could have been ON the show Hoarders lol. I just let it get too bad after 8 years of marriage and all the new little things you accumulate. But I thought, it's in the den, no one goes in there, what's the big deal? Then, in August of last year, we had a house fire. Lost about half of the house from the fire and all the water damage afterwards. I had to spend a week in that burned out house trying to go through and clean out what I could. Then it seemed like a big deal. That was the worst week of my life to date. I dwelled a lot on what we couldn't save, but I will be honest. Now, a year later, the only things I miss are my bible (that I had had since about 12, so lots of notes and things gone) and the pets that we lost in the fire. I miss them everyday. I don't miss any of the other stuff. Of course I might feel differently about my photos, but most of them were online, and the wedding pictures my mom had copies of thankfully.

Wow...I do this a lot when I clean.

Clothes: If they don't fit or are on the floor in my closet they go

Kids stuff: I only let them keep 1 toy box of items. If it doesn't fit with the box closed they have to pick something to give to other kids that don't have anything

Books: we have 4 shelves of books because my husband likes to re-read them. I personally like to take mine to Half Price books, get credit and pick something else out. (a lot of times they will give you the money if you don't have anything that you want to pick up at that time)

Stuff: I usually post my stuff on craigslist for a cheap price. That way I can either save the money or purchase something else I have wanted.

Stuff from Childhood: I found a realtively decent sized bin. Then I started putting stuff in it. If it didn't fit I put it to get rid of. This is a way to not hold on to stuff but rather the REALLY IMPORTANT things.

Hope this helps!

We have a basement full of my kids childhood memories. They are in their 40's and out on their own, but they won't take this junk with them. But they want US to store it for them. Maybe if I charged them a storage fee they would change their minds. I just know that when DH and I pass on, they will clean out the house and throw all of it away!

CArol

I have just the opposite problem. I am in my twenties and my mother cried when I cleaned out my childhood stuff. I still have a huge box of things but I threw away quizzes and many of the art projects. I also had about 10 ceramic pots that I made in high school. I tossed 4 of the really bad ones and she dug them out of my trash and now use them as decoration in her room. She cannot help it. She made her 6 children her life.
I will finish cleaning that stuff out when I move out.

Love this thread! It's interesting to see what everyone does.

Cluttered house=cluttered mind. That rings so true for me. I was raised by a pack rat/hoarder. Not as bad as the show but enough for me to know that if it sits in one place too long, it's gone. I have accidently tossed usable remotes and clothes and things that people are still looking for. I can get carried away.

Clothes- I take things out of the rotation when I've been ignoring them too long. I keep a bag on the floor in my closet. I put these things in "The Bag" and after the bag is full I sort, for friends or donations. Then it goes out quickly. No room to store it or time to rethink. I have NEVER actually ended up keeping any of these things for myself, but I would if I felt the need.

Household- If it sits unused or collects dust too long it goes into the storage area in the basement and eventually gets sorted into sell or donate. Those take longer to get rid of though. Bigger and more complicated when it comes to selling.

Books- The library is my new hangout. I get movies for the fam, books, all these things are available there. I no longer feel the need to keep every book and I hardly ever buy them now. Although, the kids favorites and mine have a special place and I do keep the sentimental things.

Coming from a not so weathly background I have one question I keep in mind as I'm doing all of this-
Are there other people that need or can use this thing that I am not using? This is a big help for me when purging.

My family knows now that if they try to pass things on to me, I may or may not keep it. So it's reduced a lot of the clutter they try to get me to store!

I can understand how your mother feels with you still being in your 20's, and you're still living at home. And these are things that you MADE. They mean something to her. It is her choice to want to keep these things. You are not forcing her to store these things in her home while your own home looks nice and uncluttered. That was my point.

Carol

[QUOTE=Gogirl008;3977404Coming from a not so weathly background I have one question I keep in mind as I'm doing all of this-
[B]Are there other people that need or can use this thing that I am not using?[/B] This is a big help for me when purging.

QUOTE]

When I quit working, I had so many nice "office" clothes that I no longer needed. I tried to find someone who was re-entering the workforce after raising their kids, etc, with no luck. It would be hard to have to go out and buy new clothes in that situation. I ended up giving them to GoodWill, but they don't give them to people in need, they sell them.

Carol

I go through clothes about once or twice a year.

A big thing for us is toys. At DD's birthday or Christmas (which are both in December) we go through all of her toys and get rid of tons before anything new comes in. It helps a lot. I sudder to think of the stuff we would have amassed from grandmas if we didn't do that!

As far as cluttery stuff, I'll just periodically go through and chuck things or donate them to goodwill. My house still has cluttery hot spots (mail, anyone?! agh!), but for the most part, it's not too bad.

My motto is: "If in doubt, throw it out!"

I like enlisting people to help me, because I tell them not to ask me about most stuff, and just follow my motto. I don't know what I'm missing, so I won't miss it.

Also, I've been known to take pictures of things if I can't think of a use for them but have a memory attached to them, and then donate/throw the actual item away. Having the picture makes me feel like I can still look back and have the memory without having to save the actual thing.

I like the show Clean House...it's like Hoarders light, lol.

My boyfriend and I are delaying our moving in together....because of our different styles.

If it's not functional (as for furniture) get rid of it. My place is way too small to keep anything that can't serve a dual purpose.

Clothes, I don't care if I may fit into it some day, I don't fit into it now!

His theory is, keep everything, you may need it. But it's all organized and labeled in boxes haha!

I sort my stuff, periodically.

If I haven't used it in a year and it's still good it goes into a donation pile.

If I haven't used it in a year, but it's needed if we have company-I quickly invite friends over so I can say I still use it.

If it has emotional attachment issues, I take a picture of it. Write down everything I remember about and put in my photo album or computer scrap book. Then put the item in a box on a shelf for the next year's purge. Sometimes the photo is enough and the following year I'll donate.

Clothes-I'm bad about clothes because I fluctuate sizes so much. I have 2 wardrobes-one size 14-16 and another 10-12. I put the small size in storage, and try to donate the ones as I out grow them.


Have you check out flylady? http://www.flylady.net/pages/FLYingL...luttertips.asp


If you give to charities you can write it off as a donation for tax purposes. Just get a receipt when you donate and keep records of what you have donated. Think about all those people who may be helped by your donation.

I don't have any exact rules. When I sold my house I donated a lot of stuff. Giving it to our local PAWS thrift made it much easier. During the actual stressful move I did donate a few things I wish I hadn't, like an antique painting. But it's only stuff.

I still thrift. I'm just very very selective about what I do buy. I think less clutter is better. Don't get rid of anything you cherish.

Nola Celeste, I'm so sorry. You have a great attitude. I'm not sure I could be as positive.

"Useful, Beautiful, or Joyful"...if your possessions are any of these to you, then keep them