How much to live on

helensbiggestfan

Wednesday2000 said:

My husband got medically retired last year and he got a letter from HMRC saying that he paid too much tax last year so we can claim a refund of almost £4,000. I told him that I thought they had worked that out wrong last year. I should have pushed him to check himself. Oh well.

Better late than never.  😁

helensbiggestfan

The great purge has begun.!!!  

Not just a declutter this is will be an M&S declutter, (aka Swedish Death Cleaning). Excess furniture, household goods, kitchenalia, clothes, books. I might even part with some coats, 😱🤣😂.

  Need to improve my home's Feng Shuey.  Lol. More space, more light, encourage health, wealth and positive vibes. 🤪

I know it's perhaps a bit lazy but I've decided to donate most of it rather than sell.  Quicker and easier.  

louby40

helensbiggestfan said:

The great purge has begun.!!!  

Not just a declutter this is will be an M&S declutter, (aka Swedish Death Cleaning). Excess furniture, household goods, kitchenalia, clothes, books. I might even part with some coats, 😱🤣😂.

  Need to improve my home's Feng Shuey.  Lol. More space, more light, encourage health, wealth and positive vibes. 🤪

I know it's perhaps a bit lazy but I've decided to donate most of it rather than sell.  Quicker and easier.  

Can't beat a good declutter. When I downsized my local charity shop and I were on first name terms.
Its a great feeling.

Smudgeismydog

helensbiggestfan said:

The great purge has begun.!!!  

Not just a declutter this is will be an M&S declutter, (aka Swedish Death Cleaning). Excess furniture, household goods, kitchenalia, clothes, books. I might even part with some coats, 😱🤣😂.

  Need to improve my home's Feng Shuey.  Lol. More space, more light, encourage health, wealth and positive vibes. 🤪

I know it's perhaps a bit lazy but I've decided to donate most of it rather than sell.  Quicker and easier.  

Good for you, sounds like it’s going to be a very positive, therapeutic process  

carboot_karaoke

helensbiggestfan said:

The great purge has begun.!!!  

Not just a declutter this is will be an M&S declutter, (aka Swedish Death Cleaning). Excess furniture, household goods, kitchenalia, clothes, books. I might even part with some coats, 😱🤣😂.

  Need to improve my home's Feng Shuey.  Lol. More space, more light, encourage health, wealth and positive vibes. 🤪

I know it's perhaps a bit lazy but I've decided to donate most of it rather than sell.  Quicker and easier.  

Oooh exciting!! I thought l was brave getting rid of one item every day for September (a little challenge ive set myself) 

Your plans are next level.  I think donating will bring instant satisfaction as opposed to trying to sell. Then if something doesn't sell changing my mind and keeping it 🤭😂

Nebulous2

helensbiggestfan said:

The great purge has begun.!!!  

Not just a declutter this is will be an M&S declutter, (aka Swedish Death Cleaning). Excess furniture, household goods, kitchenalia, clothes, books. I might even part with some coats, 😱🤣😂.

  Need to improve my home's Feng Shuey.  Lol. More space, more light, encourage health, wealth and positive vibes. 🤪

I know it's perhaps a bit lazy but I've decided to donate most of it rather than sell.  Quicker and easier.  

We had to clear a house during covid, when the charity shops were closed, and the local recycling centre was operating very limited hours and a strict booking system. 

Strangely enough we found that selling things for a very modest price worked better than giving them away. Offering stuff for free we were asked to keep them until a certain date, to deliver at some distance, or people made appointments and didn't turn-up. While some people were lovely, a lot of them messed us around. 

Putting something on facebook or gumtree for a few pounds seemed to have a commercial edge that people respected, turned up rapidly - afraid it would go to someone else, paid their money and left. 

We also got some pleasure from leaving children's stuff, toys, games, books etc on the low wall in front of the house with a sign saying 'free to anyone who can use them, help yourself.' It was good to see children on their way to or from school with their parents, sifting through stuff, picking one or two items, and leaving the rest. No-one took advantage and grabbed as much as they could carry. 

annielyn

helensbiggestfan said:

The great purge has begun.!!!  

Not just a declutter this is will be an M&S declutter, (aka Swedish Death Cleaning). Excess furniture, household goods, kitchenalia, clothes, books. I might even part with some coats, 😱🤣😂.

  Need to improve my home's Feng Shuey.  Lol. More space, more light, encourage health, wealth and positive vibes. 🤪

I know it's perhaps a bit lazy but I've decided to donate most of it rather than sell.  Quicker and easier.  

Well done HBF. I would really like to do this. Unfortunately I have a DH who is an avid collector and simply refuses to part with many of the 'treasures' he's collected over the years.

I can see how decluttering can make for a much simpler life, not just for the way we live now but also for our family in the future who will have the daunting task of sorting it all if we don't. 

When my FIL passed last year my MIL had a major purge on her house which helped to keep her busy but also meant that the things she now has around her are those that she has chosen and have a meaning to her rather than just 'stuff' that's accumulated over the years.

When we are at our caravan we find that life is a lot simpler. We don't have loads of stuff there cluttering up the space, everything has a use and we find we have less choices to make. It just goes to show how we can actually manage with a lot less.
 

helensbiggestfan

carboot_karaoke said:

helensbiggestfan said:

The great purge has begun.!!!  

Not just a declutter this is will be an M&S declutter, (aka Swedish Death Cleaning). Excess furniture, household goods, kitchenalia, clothes, books. I might even part with some coats, 😱🤣😂.

  Need to improve my home's Feng Shuey.  Lol. More space, more light, encourage health, wealth and positive vibes. 🤪

I know it's perhaps a bit lazy but I've decided to donate most of it rather than sell.  Quicker and easier.  

Oooh exciting!! I thought l was brave getting rid of one item every day for September (a little challenge ive set myself) 

Your plans are next level.  I think donating will bring instant satisfaction as opposed to trying to sell. Then if something doesn't sell changing my mind and keeping it 🤭😂

Good luck with your September challenge.  

Yesterday my sister said that surely I can't have much left because "you are always decluttering". It's true, I seem to have been doing it for years and yet I still feel overwhelmed with "stuff". Hence my need for the "great purge".  A real Marie Kondo style reset so I can jump start a new life, free of the burden of feeling overwhelmed and "stuffocated". 

Don't want to derail the thread into a discussion about decluttering when it's supposed  to be about money and retirement but if I'm honest I think one of the reasons i have found it so hard to part with things is guilt.......All that "stuff" cost money at some point, whether I purchased it myself or whether it was gifted.  Sounds daft but the guilt is real.  That's why I'm donating as much as I can. 

 I also want to try and lessen the burden for my family when the inevitable happens. It's so terribly difficult and painful having to deal with a deceased loved ones estate so I just want to "get my house in order" and not leave my sons with the kind of headaches I had to deal with when my parents had to downsize. What was a painful time was made so much worse because my father was a terrible hoarder. 

I didn't mention it but I had a minor health scare a few weeks ago.  Nothing to worry about, all is well, but I guess it made me stop and think......😉. And anyway, if I have less stuff it will mean less to maintain, easier to keep my house clean etc. A streamlined house, simple, elegant and refined.  Well that's the goal. Less work, more fun.  

I do sometimes shudder at the amount of money I have wasted on "stuff" but I am just going to chalk that up to experience. I'm not going to torture myself by adding it all up, that way lies madness. 

 There's also the mental/emotional load. Even when things are hidden in cupboards, attics and garages I am still always conscious of it. It weighs heavy, always at the back of my mind, a task I kept on the back burner.  It definitely feels therapeutic to finally be facing up to it.   I am aiming to more or less get it all done by Christmas.  🤞

Today starts the months ending with "ber". My favourite time of the year.  Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness and all that...... 

dreaming

helensbiggestfan said:

carboot_karaoke said:

helensbiggestfan said:

The great purge has begun.!!!  

Not just a declutter this is will be an M&S declutter, (aka Swedish Death Cleaning). Excess furniture, household goods, kitchenalia, clothes, books. I might even part with some coats, 😱🤣😂.

  Need to improve my home's Feng Shuey.  Lol. More space, more light, encourage health, wealth and positive vibes. 🤪

I know it's perhaps a bit lazy but I've decided to donate most of it rather than sell.  Quicker and easier.  

Oooh exciting!! I thought l was brave getting rid of one item every day for September (a little challenge ive set myself) 

Your plans are next level.  I think donating will bring instant satisfaction as opposed to trying to sell. Then if something doesn't sell changing my mind and keeping it 🤭😂

Good luck with your September challenge.  

Yesterday my sister said that surely I can't have much left because "you are always decluttering". It's true, I seem to have been doing it for years and yet I still feel overwhelmed with "stuff". Hence my need for the "great purge".  A real Marie Kondo style reset so I can jump start a new life, free of the burden of feeling overwhelmed and "stuffocated". 

Don't want to derail the thread into a discussion about decluttering when it's supposed  to be about money and retirement but if I'm honest I think one of the reasons i have found it so hard to part with things is guilt.......All that "stuff" cost money at some point, whether I purchased it myself or whether it was gifted.  Sounds daft but the guilt is real.  That's why I'm donating as much as I can. 

 I also want to try and lessen the burden for my family when the inevitable happens. It's so terribly difficult and painful having to deal with a deceased loved ones estate so I just want to "get my house in order" and not leave my sons with the kind of headaches I had to deal with when my parents had to downsize. What was a painful time was made so much worse because my father was a terrible hoarder. 

I didn't mention it but I had a minor health scare a few weeks ago.  Nothing to worry about, all is well, but I guess it made me stop and think......😉. And anyway, if I have less stuff it will mean less to maintain, easier to keep my house clean etc. A streamlined house, simple, elegant and refined.  Well that's the goal. Less work, more fun.  

I do sometimes shudder at the amount of money I have wasted on "stuff" but I am just going to chalk that up to experience. I'm not going to torture myself by adding it all up, that way lies madness. 

 There's also the mental/emotional load. Even when things are hidden in cupboards, attics and garages I am still always conscious of it. It weighs heavy, always at the back of my mind, a task I kept on the back burner.  It definitely feels therapeutic to finally be facing up to it.   I am aiming to more or less get it all done by Christmas.  🤞

Today starts the months ending with "ber". My favourite time of the year.  Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness and all that...... 

I am a serious de-clutterer, and currently going through another purge due to having to shift furniture for some works to be completed. I never feel guilty about the money I have spent on things as a) it would have been a considered purchase at the time, as I am not particularly impulsive, and b) the "thing" obviously gave me pleasure at the time so it was worth the money for that alone. I turned 70 3 days ago and received some lovely cards, but apart from 2 special ones the others will be either used for crafting, cut up for shopping lists, or put in the recycling bin. It doesn't, as one person accused me of, mean I am unappreciative of others' good wishes.

[Deleted User]

If something has bought enjoyment or helps one to recall happy times the money has not been wasted. 

In my opinion there is nothing wrong with having stuff.

Furniture, objects, photographs and documents can provide a wonderful timeline of your life, family events and friendships. 

For example, I have hundreds and hundreds of letters and postcards people have sent me for the last 50 years or so! They do not take up that much space. 

A few weeks ago my mother and I had a great time re- reading the letters that she sent to me when I was at University in the 1970s ! 

Another collection I have is of letters my grandmother received from my grandfather from the battlefields in the Second World War. He was killed in action in 1943. I found them in a box when my grandmother died aged 102 in 2017. I have now carefully protected them in files and plastic covers. The younger members of the family have found them fascinating.

I also have all my A Level notes and University files, complete with my final examination papers lol! They stimulate many memories!

I am not a hoarder, but have kept things pertaining to the family history and my life story.