Hoarding - A New Start

whitewing

DH will be doing a clothes cull today hopefully. Getting him started is the worse, once he's into it then he is really good.

GreyQueen

All my clothes fit (just!) in a 5 drawer chest-of-drawers and a 3 ft hanging rail. Even so, there are things in there which I feel ambigious about, mostly because I've allowed myself to become very overweight in the past 3 years and some of them don't fit at all, and some I can squeeze into, but the emphasis is on squeezed and I look a fright in them. Too frightful to be seen out, I mean.:o

Howsomever, I'm now on a diet and have already dropped off a couple of pounds in 4 days (stopped the chocolate) and will review the wardrobe situation once I have shed a substantial amount. I expect to be down 2-3 stone by mid-summer.

Some people may feel that I should declutter the lot now and re-buy fresh stuff once I've reached my fighting weight.

I'm not going to do this because the recentness of my weight-gain means that none of these clothes are very old at all, so won't look naff in a year or so when I can get back into them. I don't have anything I can think of which is older than 5 years, with the exception of one jacket and one coat and they are classic cuts. Jacket's too tight at the mo but coat is fine.

When I can fit into them, I want to make some selections based on looks, utility for my lifestyle and not just whether I can get a particular pair of trews over my a$$ on any given day. Some of the things I can currently fit into aren't my faves and most of my faves, I can't currently get into.:mad:

I had a pootling-around-at-home day yesterday and did some chores and went into some areas for fiddly tidying and dejunking. There aren't any big things to get rid of, or unchartered areas like spare rooms or lofts in my tiny flat, and both the bike shed and the lottie shed have been turned over and decluttered in the past few months and are in good nick.

There are however, little flurries of things, such as the through-put of stuff being consumed and then either recycled or binned. I have to say that my love of taking stuff to the recycling bins is probably a bit abnormal but there could be worse things and the bins are on the street outside or on a nearby supermarket carpark for some stuff like textiles.

I've discovered that I have a weakness for hardcover notebooks in pretty covers which I use a little then sit on a shelf. Have to steer myself away from acquiring any more of those little beauties. Stationery is so addictive.

I'm also kicking myself last year when I went out to buy a ream of paper and ended up buying two because there was a slight saving over buying two separately. I don't use a vast amount of paper and it takes me some considerable time to use one ream, so the other is sitting around in a cupboard waiting its turn. Won't do that again.

I came through Xmas quite handily without cluttery stuff to find a space for (just got consumables and cash) and was very relieved about that. I also tried to give likewise gifts to others as we all seem to be struggling for living space in the extended family.

Broomstick

After all that packaging talk I took another look at my cardboard box full of recycled padded envelopes, rolls of brown paper etc and have sorted it and culled the rubbish and surplus. Everything is now ready to use and it will be used. There are also two part-used rolls of pretty wrapping paper for next Christmas. I have always kept one A4 file of misc bits of wrapping paper: new and used, but it was bulging at the seams and I've now got rid of the bulk of that too. I don't need more. I think that, for me, knowing that I have enough wrapping for the year ahead is plenty.

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious again but one's wrapping paper needs change (why hadn't I realised this - I thought I'd got this one sorted?!) This year many of the presents we gave were tiny. Teenagers in our family seem to be being given money or tokens more and more. You don't wrap money or tokens!

I also tackled that recipes 'file' ie a large ring binder enclosing a massive heap of random paper and cuttings, not sorted and mostly not used. This is about the fourth go at culling recipes in the last 20 years (recipes definitely fall into 'aspirational' for me). I have now gone through them chucking out everything that looked unnecessary and keeping a little pile of ones I intend to try over the next few months. I am sticking them into an old A4 book which will also go on the kitchen shelf. There will be no more loose leaf pieces of paper in our kitchen and there is now a place to save the definite 'will try this' recipes! What astonished me was that, in the file were things relating to me and my children 15-20 years ago eg. notes on how to keep iron content in my veggie diet sufficiently high for breastfeeding, or 'fun' baking recipes to use with toddlers - bit out of date!

Yet again, stating the obvious , one's needs change. :doh: Tackling hoarding and decluttering are, amongst many other things, about adapting to change, and making the space for this to happen.

B x

Brighton_belle

Broomstick wrote: »

one's needs change.

So true. Every so often I like a fresh look at how our rooms are organised because our needs/priority interests do change. Once I realised I never actually usd by 3ft x 3ft square craft table in the corner of our sitting room, but used a tray on my lap, then it had to go. Once I admitted that after 10 yrs, we never ever used the dining table and chairs, and we were never going to be the sort to 'entertain' I got rid...

Re the clothes/shoes discussion, here is a very interesting article that explains better than I could the value in the project 333 that I took up last year :article links to Project 333)
all the benefits he has found I have too.

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/declutter-the-closet/

I know this project will be a step to far for some, but it is still worth a read. I have found the release from stress over 'what am I going to wear' when faced with a crammed wardrobe and the pressure release from obligation to shop because - 'I might see a bargain I need' when actually I know for sure now I don't need anything more for this season is wonderful. I have also had more compliments on my clothes in the last 6 months than in the last 5 yrs put together.

cyclingyorkie

Good afternoon - I am back from my mother's where de-Richarding has begun! My sister and I cleared the garage and we were gobsmacked by what we found in there! There were 11 bottles of fruit - bottled in 1980! There were 6 bottles of wine brewed by my sister and then boyfriend in 1982/3! And there was a whole box of my dad's 'railway trivia' ie a collection of little timetable leaflets..... Manchester to Coventry 1975 anyone? The really incredible thing was my parents moved in 1985 - so all this c*** moved house with them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And most of it went in the skip! The railway timetables are going home with my sister ( and thence onto Ebay). The wine and fruit was opened, inspected and then binned as were 2 bought bottles of wine from the same vintage! All hideous - and not a good colour!

We then emptied the loft ( at least we know that mum, at 84, will not be able to put stuff back in there!

We have left the ball in her court - she has to sort some boxes that came to light whilst we were sorting.....

i am mentally exhausted!

yellowdots

Hello and welcome to all the newcomers :j

Happy new year everyone! Lets hope 2013 will be a great year for us all and our families xxx

Popped on while I was catching up on the thread (avoiding starting in the garage of doom more like!).

Wanted to post while a couple of thoughts came to me.

1) Xmas wrapping paper - I really want to take my unused rolls to the charity shop but whats stopping me?! My eldest son gave me a light bulb moment on xmas day when he said he had no intention of keeping his left over xmas paper until next year, why would he want to keep it for a year when it was only a pound for 2 rolls anyway.

I am still using up the same few rolls of paper from the year before and have put them away to use up next year too! That will be 2 years keeping xmas paper rolls which actually do take up space ... arrgghh.

2) Jam jars - I don't actually have a problem with jam jars. I never used to save/keep them anyway ..... until the year I decided to use up my plums to make jam and didn't have enough jars so had to waste the plums! Thats what started it off lol. Thats what started the need to keep and wash and store the jars and lids

Its all good though because I don't get emotionally attached to jars, so I've allowed myself a pull out ikea basket shelf and that is full ready for when I will make more jam and/or chilli relish

What doesn't fit in there is not kept.

Still loving reading peoples reasons and views :T

Byatt

Hello to all newbies, all your posts are helpful and useful, and I've been glad to read them. :T

A friend unexpectedly dropped in this morning, and not only could I invite her in, I let her go into the kitchen and bathroom!

All this talk of clothes reminded me I had stored winter clothing in a storage bag, so have trawled through and most is going to the CS. Cardi's that make me look like an old washer woman, not that there's anything wrong with old washer women , a jacket a friend gave me and I have felt guilty about getting rid, but tried it on again, and it doesn't make me look any better than it did when last tried on. So, that's to the CS too.

Cyclingyorkie, it is exhausting, so well done! :T

To everyone else, your posts, comments, insights are always welcome and I for one am very grateful for them, and for not feeling alone in my journey.

lostinrates

Re cleaning rubbish.....my bin men will not take recyling I cleaned. This grates because it must get cleaned as part of the recycling process. Here I feel stingy, but I hate cleaning what gets put in a box to ge dirty to ge leaned again iyswim.


Re shoes. Not commenting yet. The one thing I miss about being more profoundly I'll...I could still wear high heels as I was in a chair, dh rekons high heels combined with walking stick confuses people a lot so I wear shoes occasionally, swapped at the door of a restaurant, not around the corner. For me giving up on the shoes is a step too far and too personal.


Re toiletries, I was ont he very first of those threads! They were fab. My cosmetics have been under control every since. Toiletries in general I think I have ok, but.....common theme,......dh buys LOTS, often because he thinks I like something, often because he just likes buying things I think. This hoard has been id'd my be as needing curbing and dh and I will be having a chat, Tbc, it suits us to have stuff to hand, but....a half dozen where we have a dozen often enough.

Goldiegirl

VJsmum wrote: »

The clothes thing is interesting. I have far too many clothes. I sometimes wear something I don't like to "save" something i like - what is the point of that? .

I've been thinking about clothes as well, and the point about 'saving' something, struck a chord with me.

If I buy something new, I feel that I have to 'save' it for a special occasion. So it means that I have clothes never worn because the special occasion hasn't come up yet

I also like to have 'work' clothes, 'home' clothes, 'going out clothes' and 'cruise' clothes.

My work wardrobe is quite minimalist. I work Thursdays and Fridays and have a few blouses and a pair of black trousers and a pair of jeans (for dress down Fridays). I intend to work for another three years, and may buy a couple of bits off eBay, but don't intend to get many more work clothes at all.

My cruise clothes are the posh frocks. I keep those for several years and aren't the type of thing I'd wear anywhere else, so I think that part of my wardrobe at an acceptable level.

My home clothes are the ones I get most wear out of. They are comfortable and often quite old. When I've eventually done with them, they go to the clothing bank, they aren't fit for the charity shop or eBay.

The problem area is 'going out' clothes. These are the new clothes which are barely worn. Some of them are worn on cruises, but many, especially winter clothes don't get worn enough. Most are casual clothes, so what I need to do is start wearing them at home - but then this thought of 'saving' them for best starts to kick in.

I have culled a lot of things from my wardrobe, but I've got things hardly worn, which I really like, just sitting there waiting for me.

So i'm going to work on using all the clothes in my wardrobe and not just stick to the ones I wear all the time at home.

Also, packaging. I've used a box this afternoon for something I've sold on eBay. But I got two boxes in this morning!

So, as another poster mentioned, I'm going to sort the boxes and get rid of the ones I don't need. I've noticed that I mainly use boxes of a certain size, so ones that are too big or too small will go to recycling.

Currently, my recycling box is full up, and it's not collected for another 10 days, so will have to get to the recycling centre ditch the boxes

whitewing

DH has sorted out the understair cupboard and airing cupboard. We now have approx 2 shelves free in the airing cupboard and they will be used for 'in progress' sorting thro the year.

I have got rid of a pile of stuff from my desk.

Some cardboard packaging has gone, my jumpers. I haven't got many clothes at all in my wardrobe now. My weight is fluctuating.

Also chucked out some old foam cushiony things. Feeling a bit of a pang but the foam was brittle. A couple of electrical items have gone to new homes.

This thread has made a real difference - I wasn't particularly intending to do that much in January but it is really good to have done it. Housework is so much easier without the clutter.