Simplifying Life - Mark II

mary43

turfy - don't feel bad about it.........you wouldn't believe the 'stuff' I hang on to for no apparent reason and I end up striving to find some way of justifying it.............I've storage boxes galore and it can become a case of 'out of sight out of mind'.............I did have a good clear out earlier on this year but sadly, what with Christmas stuff piled everywhere, in computer room and spare room (thats my excuse anyway!) I've not been able to de-clutter........but, having said I'll do it new year - again ! - I will just have to do it and bite the bullet. If I don't I just may go quietly mad..............it really does make a difference to how you feel once you 'offload' a lot of 'stuff' that you don't need. Mind you, kids drawings and stuff like that............yes I've a few of those and they're in a box all of their own, clearly marked. Sometimes its good to take things out like that, have a look at them and realise that are the 'smiles' we all need now and then. I started with one room and did a corner at a time.........the sense of achievement was something thats hard to describe apart from me feeling very good about myself. And the stuff I got rid of I've not missed one bit...........in fact, I can hardly remember what it was so thats how much I really needed it.
Good luck. You're in the right place for any support.

Blairweech - buy nothing day ? I'd not heard of that one. Well, have to plead guilty to buying (via other half) some ribbon to finish off christmas pressies and I suspect he bought one or several pints of something while he was out................lol

2cats - I had a go at the Flylady method but sadly -like a lot of things- I've lapsed in that area. Maybe once I've dropped off Christmas pressies and made some space here I'll feel motivated to get started again and this time stick to it (not my strongest point)

ceridwen

Yep - its an annual event and happened again yesterday.

www.buynothingday.co.uk/

www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd

Hence - the launch of the "live for nothing for a year" thing happening yesterday.

ceridwen

Just started trawling my way through those two links - loads on there of interest - and ideally suited for anyone who was wondering what to do today other than spending:D

Charis - its your lucky day;) I know you like being well supplied with reading:D

One pick-out from there - on economics and a link I had anyways to a blog by an "alternative" economist:

http://uk.youtube.com/user/RenegadeEconomist

http://gaianeconomics.blogspot.com/

lellyo

Hi all
I'm fairly new to MSE and after reading through all your posts on de cluttering i felt it was time to sort through all the stuff we where keeping "just in case". We now have things to be put on ebay and to go to the charity shop. Doesn't it feel good when you've been a bit ruthless?

Charis

turfy6 wrote: »

You have spurned me on to do something about it, this can be my new year resolution, to declutter my life. I have so many things drawing the children did about 10 yrs ago.

Choose the the ones that mean the most to you and scan them onto a CD. That way you still have the memories but they take up far less room. My treat to myself when I finish simplifying will be a good scanner. I started with the living simply thread at the end of last year and even now I am still decluttering.

I have lots of photos of the children that I want to put onto CDs, then, because my children are now grown up, they can have the photos . I also have an art gallery of kiddies' drawings and personal letters from my friends and rellies, and even writings of my own that are taking up valuable cupboard space. I have several years of paperwork from courses I have studied that still need to be cleansed and the files with my bills and other paperwork also need an exorcism. Most could be scanned onto CDs.

Mary is right, it does get easier to get rid of things the more you clear out. I've got past the 'why am I storing this?' phase (all that stuff has gone) and I now think 'I know X bought this for me but I never use it/look at it, so I will bless someone else with it who might appreciate it more'. If we all did this we could keep the charity shops in business indefinitely. We would take in what we had finished with and the DGKs (Dear GrandKids) would buy someone else's trinkets and bless us with them. I just need a cupboard with a revolving door...

Charis

ceridwen wrote: »

Charis - its your lucky day;) I know you like being well supplied with reading:D

Thank you Ceridwen It was refreshing to hear someone talk about personal responsibility. I wonder, though, why those of us on MSE a year ago knew the property crash would happen and were stockpiling food six months ago, yet those in charge of all our financial affairs, those so called experts, with bonuses running to seven figures, 'didn't know the economic model they were using was flawed'?

BTW the blog was relevant too. I visited Tewkesbury Abbey early this year. It had been completely surrounded by the floods in the summer of 2007 and there were some amazing aerial photos of the floods in the Abbey.

Charis

ceridwen

Hi Charis

Oh yep - I do believe in personal responsibility. Actually - its a two-way thing: there's rights and there's responsibilities. Two sides of the coin. People have rights on the one hand - the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness bit enshrined in the American Constitution and basic things like health care, a home of their own, etc. The other side of the coin is doing one's own reasonable best to "fend for yourself" and not just expect to be given "summat for nowt" if you are capable of providing it for yourself and have a reasonable chance to do so.

There is a phrase from yet another "religion" - "An it harm none do as you will". There is a lot to think on in that one little phrase actually.

1. Do as you please - i.e. it doesnt matter if "what you will" isnt the conventional householder/2.4 children/9-5 job lifestyle and might not necessarily be approved of by more "narrow-minded" people. That is their problem.

2. AND "an it harm none" - ie one doesnt do what one thinks (conventional or otherwise) if it will harm others - and, with that, bearing in mind the American Indian thing of taking into account the effect up to 7 generations hence.

Thinks: hope I can manage to print this through without my keyboard developing a mind of its own and starting to erase the whole darn post again .

ceridwen

Charis wrote: »

Thank you Ceridwen It was refreshing to hear someone talk about personal responsibility. I wonder, though, why those of us on MSE a year ago knew the property crash would happen and were stockpiling food six months ago, yet those in charge of all our financial affairs, those so called experts, with bonuses running to seven figures, 'didn't know the economic model they were using was flawed'?


Charis

Maybe because we are operating on gut instinct and commonsense - a combination of the two usually suffices to come to the correct conclusion about what is happening and then to start "making like a squirrel" stockpiling away.

NOTE TO SELF - personal checklist:
- garden now totally turned over to foodgrowing - tick
- large waterbutt in place - tick
- well stocked-up with food/cleaning material stuff/stuff to make own cosmetics - tick
- clear of debt - tick
- in LETS Scheme - tick (have been for years)
- clear of mortgage - tick (have been for years)
- good reference library of useful books - tick (have had for years and recently expanded to include new info gathered)
- got wind-up lantern, wind-up radio, camping gaz cooking stove and fuel for it, kellykettle and accessories, large flasks to hold hot water - tick
- got lots of candles/candleholders/matches - tick (have had for years)
- got lots of throws to put over chilly self - tick
- contraception dealt with effectively - tick (took contraceptive Pill followed by sterilisation operation - so I could forget about it all in my 20s)(now got the "belt and braces" of Mother Nature as well, now I am a "certain age") (have had for years)

EDIT - further personal checklist thoughts:
- got old-style phones in house - check (swopped back to them years ago)
- got haybox cooker - check
- 2 clotheshorses - so I dont use tumbledryer anymore - check
- warm clothing (bootee style slippers, fleece dressing gowns) - check
- involved with local Transition Town group - check
- got info. I personally want on cooking for crowds - check (including one of them printed off in case Internet isnt working)
- belong to the Nonnymouse Forum that originated here on M.S.E. (one reason for me personally belonging being in case Britain's biggest website comes under attack again - i.e. M.S.E.) - check
- got own blogs for storing information gathered to date - check
- got good-quality torch (for where there is no street lighting) - check (had it for years)

Justamum

ceridwen wrote: »

Oh yep - I do believe in personal responsibility. Actually - its a two-way thing: there's rights and there's responsibilities.

Sadly the people who bang on about "I know my rights" are the ones who seem to think it's everyone else who have the responsibilities :rolleyes:

ceridwen

Justamum wrote: »

Sadly the people who bang on about "I know my rights" are the ones who seem to think it's everyone else who have the responsibilities :rolleyes:

One does see this - hence I emphasise both sides of the coin: rights and responsibilities - yin/yang.