Tightwad versus De-clutter

victory

Ellie2758 wrote:

not strictly de-cluttering, but where do people keep their winter duvets in summer, and their summer duvets in winter?

a kingsize 15 tog is such a bulky item, and the kids both have double size ones. It's a big space to find.

I put mine in the airing cupboard in one of those bags that you put the hoover nozzle onto and it sucks all the air out so it ends up very small and compact, brilliant they are, bought them from Woolies in the sale, come in different sizes and are a life saver now we have moved to a much smaller house but still with the same stuff xx

amazon_spice

liz.. wrote:

I think its one of those facts of life that you only have an urgent need for obscure items the minute the bin men have taken them away, regardless of how many year you have hoarded them for...

How very true!

amazon_spice

vfairbrass wrote:

I got the Complete Tightwad Gazette for Christmas this year and am working slowly through it - a fantastic book with lots of useful ideas. BUT last Christmas's book was one on De-cluttering which I also took to like a duck to water and have decluttered the whole house as much as possible. Tightwad seems to imply a massive amount of clutter in that you save absolutely everything, just in case. How can I combine the two philosophies?
Valerie

Have wrestled with this type of thought for a while now!

vfairbrass

Thank you. I'll look through the threads for a home made way of making Pringle type snacks. It's not only the two daughters but also their friends and boyfriends who look forlornly in our fridge for the usual snacks. We used to moan a bit about their friends eating us out of house and home. Now I do a lot more baking and they seem to like that but they are also scavenging through my storecupboards and eating things they used to turn their noses up at so perhaps it's a good thing. Mind you I'm sure a tightwad would cost the difference between the jar of brazil nuts (used for home made muesli and baking but now emptied by them) and a packet of crisps and find that I'd come out the poorer on the deal.
Valerie

phizzimum

I used to justify my clutter habit by saying that I was saving money...then I realised that I would have stuff in "storage", completely forget it was there...and go out and buy some more!

if I have less stuff then I will be able to find and use the things I actually need.

My weakness is taking other peoples junk... I can't seem to say no to a freebie even if I don't want it! (that's not an invitation for you to all send me your clutter!)

too much stuff takes up too much room...so maybe I should find out the value of my house and calculate how many square feet are cluttered and work out how much it's costing me from that point of view

still baby stepping!

Nicki

I think the key to combining the two philosophies is clever storage, and ideally you need a garage, shed or loft to keep things in, or a spare room in your house.

In a ideal world, you want somewhere you can put up lots of shelves. If money is tight, these can often be found on freecycle, otherwise you could do the housebricks and planks of wood option.

Try to keep like things with like, so that things can easily be found, and store things in cardboard boxes which you can scrounge from local shops. Label the sides which face out so you can find things easily. Pack things in as space efficient a way as you can - eg margarine tubs stack inside each other - and once the box is full, accept you don't need to save any more of this item until stocks are low again.

Clothes and unused bedding are probably best stored in the vacuum seal bags, as these don't take up much room, and also keep the clothes clean and in good condition (and dry if you are storing in a garage or shed). You can sort them into appropriate age groups, and store each size in a different bag.

Food supplies are best kept indoors, but again if you are buying lots of something, (eg cans of beans) it may be more space efficient to store them in a box (possibly under the stairs). You can also buy cupboard organisers from places like Lakeland, which enable you to fit much more into your cupboards in a tidy way which enables you to find them.

If you know that you absolutely won't use something (eg the objectionable shoes) then sell them or give them away. They are taking up room, without paying their rent!

For paperwork, it will make life easier if you keep on top of it (says someone who has almost finished filing/binning 3 years worth!) My strategy is to keep key financial documents which the tax man could call for and credit card statements for 6 years but everything else for 1 year only, unless there is a good reason not to. For things where I may need one piece of information from the document, I have transferred the info onto a computer file, and destroyed the original (and back up the computer onto a memory stick regularly). So, for example, I have a spreadsheet showing car insurance premiums over the last few years, details of any accidents/claims and my no claims history) and also kept the actual certificate of insurance for the last few years, but only have the renewal paperwork and quotes for any repairs for this year. That solves the problem of chucking the old stuff, then needing a reference number.

This may make it sound like my house is a well-ordered place, and it isn't at all, but this is the strategy which I am trying to adopt slowly, and in the places where I have implemented it, it is working well. What works for me is to have things stored compactly and out of sight as this makes cleaning easier, and it more easy to find what I am looking for, which were my two key objectives of the exercise.

vfairbrass

taplady wrote:

I have just finished reading the Complete TWG and really enjoyed reading it! I have taken on board some of the ideas but am more inclined to declutter than hoard. What was the decluttering book you had vfairbrass? might give me some ideas;)

It was 'No more Clutter', by Sue Kay. Published by Hodder last January and available on Amazon for £5.39.
Valerie

vivw_2

vfairbrass wrote:

It was 'No more Clutter', by Sue Kay. Published by Hodder last January and available on Amazon for £5.39.
Valerie

Is the book worth buying or will it only add to my clutter? [one of my weaknesses is books]

vfairbrass

vivw wrote:

Is the book worth buying or will it only add to my clutter? [one of my weaknesses is books]

It was a very good book but, like so many of mine, hasn't been looked at since I last read it and I don't feel I would need to look at it again. I bought it at the same time as Flylady's Sink Reflections and worked through them both together, putting routines in place, decluttering etc. I was fortunate (!) to have my husband immobile with a bad back at the time and so a captive audience as I flashed things before him for a joint decision whether to keep or not. That way he couldn't say I did it behind his back.

I noticed recently that my local library has a good range of similar books so I would borrow rather than buy if I were starting over. All the decluttering books I've looked at work along similar lines.
Valerie

jubarnes26

carolt wrote:

Am i the only one who feels huge amounts of guilt on both sides? - guilt at throwing stuff away that might be useful and I once paid good money for, and guilt at being surrounded by pointless clutter and mess all the time, unable to find the stuff I really need on a day-to-day basis? I suppose at the end of the day I have to admit that I wasted money on stuff I didn't need - sadly once you've bought things (with a few exceptions like antiques) they decrease in value very rapidly, and even if unused, let alone used, will fetch very little on ebay or elsewhere.

Note to self - buy less!

OMG it's not just me then, little secret here, last year I bought 10 bags of clothes off someone at a car boot with the intention of selling them on ebay - well there were a lot of clothes my daughters size so a lot ended up cluttering her wardrobe, some i did sell on ebay but the amount of effort and organizing stuff into bundles was hardly worth and the remaining 6 bags are still in the attic and I cant bring myself to dump them because they might make me some money but now I havent got the time or inclination to sort through them again !!!!

actually I've thought that if i didnt spend so much time on here and focused on the job in hand for a bit my house would be decluttered and spotless !!!:rotfl: