Enough is enough - the great declutter

r.mac_2

having a day off decluttering today. running erands and visiting friends instead!

jellymid

Living with a hoarder

I would love a major declutter, but how do I change habits when I'm married to a hoarder? For every piece of stuff that is disposed of, another two seem to take its place. Come on folks - help please! I'm so tired of trying to dust & vacuum around floors and surfaces which are piled with stuff. Every so often we do manage to do a car boot sale, but how do I change a mindset from "hoarder" to "minimalist" without evoking the reaction "These are parts of my life which you want to throw away?"

Primrose, you have my sympathy. My husband's hoarding drove me to distraction and the house was a mess, really difficult to clean. It was a huge battle just to throw something small away...'it might come in useful' was the constant reply. The word 'skip' was a swear word in his book, but it was what we needed.

I decided to do it by stealth. I cleared one room - relocating his stuff - not throwing it out. This showed him how much nicer (and cleaner) it was. Then I helped him tidy the garage, to give him space to do his 'projects'.
Then every room that I tackled - I said he could keep any stuff, but he had to keep it in the garage. The garage is now officially his 'space'.

I think he had a bit of a lightbulb moment, and although he still struggles, life is far, far better for all of us.

My greatest ally is a digital camera. We take photos of anything sentimental and then let them go. This works brilliantly for the children's "works of art", too. We don't print the photos (storage!) but they are easily accessible to look at using the brilliant free software Picassa.

He also gets a real buzz from freecycle - helping nice, grateful people gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, and letting go is easier if you know someone else wants it.

Hope that helps. If all else fails, keep one room clear, just for your own peace of mind.

Good luck,
Al

Penny-Pincher!!

Got 2 charity bags through for collection on Friday, and have already filled them up with old PJ's, jumpers that are mis-shaped and old shoes.

More junk to go:j :j :j

PP
xx

grunnie

Had 2 bedrooms repainted so 2 bedrooms had to be emptied. I am a neatnik so was sooo surprised at how many bits I had in my wardrobes (all 5) that didn't fit. I had several car loads to the charity shop and I am still trying on bits and pieces. I have decluttered blouses trousers jackets shoes scarves etc. Now my other half has to tidy his heaps of clothes to go back into his wardrobes. I didn't realise how many jumpers I had knitted for him and he has kept them all (in 34 years that's a lot of jumpers). Hope he will throw some out too.Maybe he will even part with some old shirts that don't fit instead of keeping them to slim into:rotfl: You folks on here have really inspired me with decluttering might try my airing cupboard next.

Fruball

Oooooooooooooh having read another post by someone else, don't throw out any jumpers - unravel the wool and knit something else !!!

DKLS

JoeyEmma wrote: »

I'd list it on ebay first and see if it sells. If it doesnt then put it on Freecycle.

I would have done, but seeing as I messed up with the delivery time of new furniture and plasterer finishing bedroom, I needed shut sharpish, I listed the furniture last night at 6.30pm, and it was gone by 7.30pm :j:j:jto a well deserving girl and her kid.

earthmother

Well - the race is on to at least get the house straight if not totally decluttered - we just found out we have our 6-month inspection on Friday morning :eek:


Thankfully got the boot-full of boxes out of the hall and to the organic shop yesterday, and have spent the morning sorting through a load more.

Also just sent a great long list to my Freecycle group (has to go via the mods - hopefully it'll be up this evening) - some of it is stuff I perhaps should be selling (baby bits), but I just don't have anywhere to keep it until then, so I've been a bit brutal.

Fruball

Finally... Instead of just reading this thread I have made a start.

Well that not strictly true - I did sort out all my kitchen drawers but that was a couple of weeks ago now and I haven't got any further til now !

I find that I see it as such an immense task that I never get started so... today I decided to fill just one bag with things for the charity shop.

So I have filled a huge carrier bag with clothes, mine, mr Fs and DDs which is now ready to go.

Now that I have started I feel more motivated so will end up doing this for most of the afternoon :j

floss2

earthmother wrote: »

.....some of it is stuff I perhaps should be selling (baby bits), but I just don't have anywhere to keep it until then, so I've been a bit brutal.

I bet when it's listed, there will be a rush of emails.....do you do 1st email gets it, draw lots or decide on who's the most needy? I have to admit that when I cleared a load of stuff onto Freecycle, I chose the ones I felt were most in need....not the names you always see on the list as taking stuff.

vivw_2

Feeling please with myself as I've just decluttered a whole shelf of binders and mags which I've freecycled