That's a great article, Renza. Nostalgia really gets me sometimes - I held onto a broken ipod for years because DH bought it for me... I only threw it out a few months ago.

Originally Posted by Aurify

That's a great article, Renza. Nostalgia really gets me sometimes - I held onto a broken ipod for years because DH bought it for me... I only threw it out a few months ago.

Haha, I kept an ipod for the same reason! DH was hoping I could get it fixed but I didn't think it would be worth it, so I never did it. I wanted to throw it out in our last round of clean-outs but he insisted that HE will keep it as part of his stuff, so oh well. At least it's small.

As for keeping things for nostalgic purposes, I think it's great to keep some things just for nostalgia. Rubin actually advocates keeping a few items for nostalgia (your favorite college t-shirt for instance, even if you don't wear it) but I have to admit to being disturbed by her throwing out her kids' drawings and just keeping scans of them (she talks about this in her book). I don't believe in keeping EVERYTHING but it is so great for kids to have a sort of treasure trove of mild mess that they can look at when they get older. My mom found some old cards/drawings we had made for her as children, and it was so exciting to look at them last Christmas.

They had a recall on IPods from a certain year. Type in IPod recall. My son saved his old one and I did a return page on the recall website and the send me a return abel to mail in the old IPods and send me a new one. This was about four months ago.

^I checked but it looks like it was the iPod Nano that was recalled--I had a full-size one. Oh well.

I watched Hoarders for the first time last night (on Hulu) and I don't think I'll be watching again except out of complete boredom. I know others have said it makes them want to clean, but I just found it so depressing and stressful to see these houses and how torn up people were to let go of trash.

I've been re-decorating and de-cluttering my room this summer. Three things that motivate me to de-clutter:

1. Working on small areas at a time and then a) admiring how nice and neat it looks and b) vowing not to re-clutter it as I de-clutter the other areas. i.e. my dresser is a finished area so nothing goes on there but a handful of carefully selected items.

2. Having visitors

3. Seeing a bug . Less clutter = less room for them to hide.


I've also started getting rid of my containers. . . years ago instead of de-cluttering I just put everything in a lot of nice boxes

[QUOTE=jillybean307;19622634]

2. I'm a grad student who wants to be a professor so I have about 12 years worth of notebooks, papers and folders floating around my house. I'm scared to get rid of this stuff because those notes are definitely things I'll want to reference in the future, but it just feels like clutter. I've thought about filing cabinets, but I don't have an office in my apartment and my bedroom isn't big enough for them.



organize your papers,put them in some kind of banker's box...set them aside. i honestly doubt you will ever use them.

Originally Posted by .:Sprigged:.

I just wanted to share this article I found...the way this woman organized is amazing and gorgeous - for free! http://www.xojane.com/diy/how-organi...ding-any-money

good advice for blankets I never thought about rolling them that way.

Originally Posted by ecmf

^^ I've started cutting out pages from mags. for years I was too scared to lol. but now I just keep the pages I want and recycle the rest. I keep all the pages I keep in a plastic sleeve and everytime I add some more I look at the old pages and sometimes I'm ready to remove them. now I'm at the point that I have removed everything of mine that I don't use or need but still working on the mother. she has come a long way but still can't let go of somethings. like we have an aircooler in the cupboard taking up half a shelf and I want it gone. we paid almost 5k to get aircond put in so we don't need it but all she says is " what if the aircond doesn't work one day and it's hot" and the picnic rug in the boot of the car we haven't used in atleast 10 years "well if the car breaks down we may want to sit outside whilst we wait for the nrma. aaaahhhhhhh.

Your quotes are so funny I have tears running down my face. I now need to go and declutter my home.
I really like the idea mentioned on page 1 #13 by Tammy518 about removing one item a day for a year. I'm going to try this.
Great thread...;-)

I’ve read this whole thread and loved it all.

My parents were borderline hoarders. My father hoarded paper – magazine articles and documents from his working life. When he passed away, he had SIXTEEN four-drawer filing cabinets (overstuffed), plus two conference tables that were covered with stacks of papers. My mother cannot bear to part with any decorative item (e.g. she has over 500 Dept. 56 Dickens Village houses). She also hangs on to furniture: She has six dining room tables and eight couches. I remember having only one dining room table until I was 12 years old. Then she decided to buy the second dining room table, and she moved the old table over a few feet, and put the new one right next to it.

OK, leaving my childhood trauma behind…

When I was in my 30s, I found myself living in a cluttered, disorganized apartment. I wanted to blame my then-DH (he collected a huge number of vinyl records) but part of the problem was me, too. I had over 1,000 books and hundreds of videotapes. I spent uncounted hours building databases to catalog what I had accumulated.

Then I read the Peter Walsh book (the one with “Stuff” in the title) and it was a revelation. One of his key points was (paraphrasing): “You only have the space you have. If you have room for 12 videotapes, and you have 20, then your videotapes are clutter.” He also recommended keeping items in the room where you need them – cookbooks in the kitchen, not in the bathroom; videotapes in the TV room, not the office. To my horror, I realized that I had a bookcase full of videotapes in my kitchen, and my cookbooks were in my bedroom. As soon as I moved those things to the proper location, it became clear that a lot of them had to go. Now I only have five cookbooks, which is what I have room for in the kitchen. And I only have about 30 DVDs, because that’s all I can store in my entertainment center.

I still have a tendency to hang onto items that I find beautiful. I especially love old glassware and scarves. But I keep a strict limit on how much space those items can take up. E.g. I have a small dresser for my scarves, and I don't let myself put them anywhere but in the dresser, so now that the dresser is full, I have a one-in, two-out policy.

I get stressed out when I see clutter around me. It’s like everywhere I look is a guilt trip: Oh, there’s the ironing board; I should do laundry. Oh, there’s that pile of magazines; I should read one. Removing the clutter makes for a more relaxed life.

Originally Posted by .:Sprigged:.

I just wanted to share this article I found...the way this woman organized is amazing and gorgeous - for free! http://www.xojane.com/diy/how-organi...ding-any-money

Thank you!!! The "filing your t-shirts" tip has seriously been life-changing for my shirt drawer. Even if I still can't fold perfect squares...

Thank you to whoever first bumped this thread. I find reading about decluttering really inspirational! I'm currently going through a huge wardrobe overhaul--I set aside the basics and am getting rid of everything else one item per day. I am down to under 60 items total (well, not counting accessories or underwear--but the 60 includes shoes and bags!) and it feels awesome.

Other clutter is a bigger challenge for me. I have tons of magazines because I read blogs that announce when free subscriptions are available. I have magazines I don't even have any interest in reading (like Newsweek) but get because they were free. I need to call and cancel some. Kitchen items are also an issue. I guess I have trouble getting rid of things that are purely functional. Decorative items or the eighth pair of jeans aren't a big issue for me, but the mango cutter is hard to let go.

I love what someone posted upthread about decorating a room at a time--take everything out, paint, redecorate, and only let back in what you really want in there.

With the mango cutter and other- why don't you put all your kitchen gadgets in a box, and when you need them, pull them out of the box and put them in the drawer?

If you are using it several times a month, or even just using it once a year to process several pounds of mangos - it's worth having. If you only use it once a year or less, it's clutter.

One thing that helped me with magazines -- I no longer subscribe. I read one at a time. And when I'm done with that one, I buy another. That way I never have more than a couple in the house, and they don't guilt trip me by piling up.

Magazines are an area where my frugality interferes with my minimalism. I am too cheap to pay $4-5 on the newsstand when an entire year's subscription costs $12-20 (or even free). I think I need to try some kind of in/out system where if I haven't opened the magazine after a week, it goes.

Originally Posted by NCC1701D

Magazines are an area where my frugality interferes with my minimalism. I am too cheap to pay $4-5 on the newsstand when an entire year's subscription costs $12-20 (or even free). I think I need to try some kind of in/out system where if I haven't opened the magazine after a week, it goes.

Gotcha.

I put my hatred of clutter above cash.

I never read more than 5 magazines a year.