How often do you say "stuff frugality"?

Sally_A

I need a massive tidy up/clear out be it clothes, food etc.

I've been brought up to reuse/recycle/freeze/make do etc. But putting these things aside is not helping me reach my goal.

How often to you say "stuff it" and just chuck stuff out??

(Promise I won't chuck out obviously useful stuff, but there comes a point when I've just got to admit to myself it's junk/too old/I'm never going to cook it).

PS. Odd socks are great for a last bath/tile/worktop clean - then chuck.

meritaten

not often, but when booking a holiday for OH and myself I think - stuff getting the cheapest smallest caravan - I want the big luxury one - and still think I am 'roughing it'. its just OH LOVES caravan holidays - he hates B&Bs or Hotels. the compromise on HIS side is he takes me out to lunch somewhere nice every day!

rinabean

I've started saying it more often. I don't want to live in a house full of rubbish. I don't want my grandkids some day clearing out skips and skips of rubbish to be able to find the photo albums (or me!) You might not think it's that bad but nobody sets out to live that way, it creeps up on you and with good intentions.

I'm chucking out "obviously useful stuff" all the time now and it's great. Having all this 'just in case' stuff around didn't make me feel more secure in my future, it created anxiety.

Odd socks are also great to throw, clean, into the textile recycling bin. It's not wasteful to throw things away if you do it responsibly and you don't buy more to replace them (and therefore throw away again and again). It's wasteful to waste your storage space, your cleaning time and your mental energy on things that don't belong in your house. And wasteful when once good things become too old, go mouldy or damp, get eaten by moths or whatever.

meritaten

sorry - meant to add - I also try not to 'hoard'! if I haven't worn it or used it in a couple of years, then I wont miss it and its either recycled, given to someone who needs it or given to charity. apart from 'inherited' items that is. which are kept to be passed down to the children or grandkids.

themarsbargirl

Sally_A wrote: »

I need a massive tidy up/clear out be it clothes, food etc.

I've been brought up to reuse/recycle/freeze/make do etc. But putting these things aside is not helping me reach my goal.

How often to you say "stuff it" and just chuck stuff out??

(Promise I won't chuck out obviously useful stuff, but there comes a point when I've just got to admit to myself it's junk/too old/I'm never going to cook it).

PS. Odd socks are great for a last bath/tile/worktop clean - then chuck.

If it is canned food/unopened toiletries and within itms best before date then donate to your local foodbank and use ujt to help someone in crisis rather than waste it.

tizerbelle

themarsbargirl wrote: »

If it is canned food/unopened toiletries and within itms best before date then donate to your local foodbank and use ujt to help someone in crisis rather than waste it.

Speaking as someone who had tinned soup that was 4 years after the best before date for tea last night (it was lovely) the assumption that after its best before date it would be thrown out/wasted makes no sense to me.


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[Deleted User]

I try more to find a new home for stuff if I really can't use it.I am probably the worlds best recycler and will find a new home for almost anything.My friends all know if they give me something i can't use I will find someone who can use it :)I am like the 'middlewoman 'for lots of bits.
My DD hates the hanging straps on almost all new clothes and she cuts them off and gives them to me I save up till I have a few then pass them on to my pal in Dartford who in turn passes them on to another friend who uses them in crafting :):)Nothing can't be found a home for at somepoint.If its really useless then the last resort is the recycling bins at my local tip.

FairyPrincessk

Can't quite believe I'm going to say this, but probably not as often as I should. Sure, there are plenty of ways I could improve my frugality, but there are also times when I overdo it. My OH is great for balancing me out. I'm getting better about acknowledging that it is ok to have a takeaway a few times a year or to have a coffee out. Sure, we have long term savings goals, but the odd 'stuff it' moment is probably healthier than trying to achieve frugal perfection.

I don't really have a lot to declutter--moving regularly helps with that! My system on that is to keep a small basket to one side and items go in there. We walk past a CS on the way to do our shop so if there is stuff in the basket I just drop it on our way to do the shopping. For furniture we've found a local charity that will come and collect things, which is easier than us taking it to the tip without a car. There have, however, been a few things I've thrown- A broken vacuum cleaner comes to mind. If I'd looked around enough I probably could have found someone to recycle it or strip it for parts, but we had a lot on at the time and I really just needed to get it out of the house so FIL took it to the tip for us and followed their guidelines-sometimes it is ok to take the easy way out to get a big, overwhelming job done. The key is to ensure it doesn't become a habit and when you're on top of things again try to make a plan to keep yourself from having to resort to that way again.

Last time I checked self-flagellation wasn't in the OS rulebook.;)

Cheapskate

We've just started a MAJOR declutter - the house is full to the rafters of so much stuff! I try to re-home things, CS, other people, textile bins, etc., and keep kids' drawings, but there comes a point where you have to say 'enough's enough', and be ruthless about chucking. If it's truly re-useable then it goes to the appropriate place, but now I'm making myself bin more - adult son is coldly clinical about what he perceives as 'rubbish' - I guess he's the product of a cluttered home - and wants to throw everything in sight.

Think it's safe to say I'm a bit of a hoarder, but it's getting a bit silly now, so if a thing hasn't been used/worn/recycled then it's out of my home, and sent to another one!

A xo

Goldiegirl

I don't see myself as a frugal person.

I like to like modestly most of the time, and get value for the money that I spend. I do this so that I can have my cruise holidays, which are important to me.

I've worked hard to retire early, and at this point in my life, I'm not going to deny myself some treats, just because of 'being frugal'

Over the last few year we've been de-cluttering on a big scale, and we are very nearly done. All the just in case 'crud' now left the house. We've just got a little bit more to do, and then it's finished. If something has been stuck in the loft for 20+ years! then it isn't suddenly going to find a use - it is better to pass it on to someone who will use it, or send it to recycling or the tip.

In answer to the question, I never think 'stuff frugality', because I think I've got the right balance between saving and spending, and I'm happy to spend when I feel it's right for me

As Fairy Princess says, self flagellation is not in the OS rule book, so I never beat myself up about spending a bit of money.

gayleygoo

I occasionally have bursts of energy which result in decluttering, if I didn't then we'd have nowhere to sit in the house. I hate to throw things out in case one day they might be useful, or because they have some sentimental value, but sometimes you do just have to say "stuff it"!

The other day I sorted our odd sock basket. It's a huge basket, meant for storing logs by the fire, so it took up space in our bedroom. I ended up with dozens of pairs of socks, but half the basket was still odd socks! I kept very few in the hope that their pair would turn up, but most of them went straight in the bin. I didn't even keep any to clean with, as I'm not short of old towels and torn bedsheets to do the cleaning.

This morning I threw out several frying pans that had a lot of the coating come off and we were avoiding using them. Away went the very sprouted onions, shrivelled potatoes and all the other rubbish in the saucepan drawers.

If everything I keep I think is useful, then in theory my house should be full of useful things! But it's not - we don't have a lot of extra space and many of the things we use often are simply stored in sight or in a pile, because there's nowhere it can really fit. What good are cupboards and drawers if you never use them because they're already too full or you can't find anything? The stress from being surrounded by clutter can have an effect on your mood. I don't mind it so much, since most of it is my clutter, but my OH hates it and has told me I've taken years off his life because of the stress