Please help inspire me to get rid of old junk!

stefania

la vie en rose
Sep 10, 2006
1,381
0
I really need help! I am a horrible procrastinator and pack rat! I have a bedroom in my house that looks like a storage space. It is filled with boxes and bags of old stuff I never unpacked since I moved here a yr and a half ago! It is really awful and embarrasing too. I finally have some time off (my excuse for not doing it before was no time off) and I haven't gotten started. How can I inspire myself? And how to I part with the stuff, even though I obviously dont need it? I saw this issue on Dr. Phil a while back. I hate living this way but I dont know where to start. Any ideas? BTW, I want to sell the stuff on ebay that's good and donate the rest to Goodwill.
 
The bad thing about me is I am too busy to sell stuff, so last 2 weeks i have thrown TONS of stuff away or giving to goodwill (they pick it up). maybe try a garage sale or cosinging or yep Ebay....Good luck. Oh, and my only motivation is i am moving and have to do this...I don't want to lug stuff i don't use to another state..
 
You are not alone! Just start one corner at time and start sorting...trash, donate, sell, keep, etc..

I have to help my BF do this because we need to sell his townhome. It's overwhelming because he has accumulated 17 years of sports stuff that I just want to toss-but I know it's valuable to him and other sports people. Hang in there!
 
I could have written this post. :yes:

I've been looking around my house, at all of the STUFF I have, some of it is more than 20 years old, stuff I got when I was a teenager. Today my husband and I dumped of 6 bags of stuff to the Salvation Army, and there is a ton more that should go. I keep thinking how horrid it would be if I died and left all of this junk for someone to sort through. And alot of it is junk.

Don't feel bad, we moved into this house in 1998, and there are boxes up in the closet that haven't been emptied yet. Most of those will be donated or trashed soon.
 
I have been doing this too, so I know how hard it is. I try and get rid of 1 bag or box out every day. Any money I earn from ebay or selling stuff goes in an LV fund...plus I 'pay' myself for getting the boxes out.
 
I heard the best way to do this is by using a timer. Set it for however long you like -- 15 minutes, 1/2 hour, etc. and at the end of the time, stop. This will make the task less daunting. Or, work on one section at a time. Maybe start clearing off one table, or one shelf in a closet. Do a little each day. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Maybe you can take before, during and after pics for us!
 
MMM..Don't hate me...I'm really not the one to ask...It is not hard for me to get rid of things AT ALL.....I can't stand clutter and am constantly tossing..For example..I just got a new lamp for my living room..I tossed a plant, a small table..placed the pic I had on the table somewhere else...moved the candle I had where the picture is NOW somewhere else and threw out what the candle replace..I'm sorry but I don't have the time to clean extra stuff nor do I like living in a cluttered home...My home is my sanctuary and when I come home at night I can breathe..I am home..And it is neat & clean after leaving my chaotic day behind me...Last year I started room by room redecorating...You wouldn't BELIEVE what I tossed as I was making room for new...and you know what? It was refreshing ..Out with the old they say!! And I don't miss one thing..I went through every drawer, every closet..you name it...and sh*t I knew my husband didn't even remember was there I brought to WORK and threw out b/c he would have a coronary if he saw them in the trash....If we had to move tomorrow we could..in a pinch!! I've even gone through all our dishes, glasses, coffee cups etc....If you just START..maybe you'll get the fever like I did..You'll notice an immediate difference and that is a motivation to keep going...Why don't you take everything out of the room, and only put BACK what will look nice? Then you will have no choice but ditch what is left over....Good luck!!
 
Very good advice! Thanks. I like Tink's idea of paying myself. I think I will start selling and create a new LV bag fund! I love the idea of having an uncluttered, clean home.
 
Star slowly...one room at a time. Have you ever seen that clean sweep show on TLC. Well he was on Oprah and gave some good tips. Like get a box and put all your kitchen tools in there. And for a month whatever you use you put back in the drawer and whatever you don't it gets donated. And clothes that are on hangers, have the hook all go in one way. And everytime you wear a piece turn the hook in the opposite direction, after a couple months donate whatever clothes you still hadn't used. I'm crazy when it comes to my home, and I'm also a minimalist. So I go through the house once a month and clean out whatever I haven't used in a while.
 
MMM..Don't hate me...I'm really not the one to ask...It is not hard for me to get rid of things AT ALL.....I can't stand clutter and am constantly tossing..For example..I just got a new lamp for my living room..I tossed a plant, a small table..placed the pic I had on the table somewhere else...moved the candle I had where the picture is NOW somewhere else and threw out what the candle replace..I'm sorry but I don't have the time to clean extra stuff nor do I like living in a cluttered home...My home is my sanctuary and when I come home at night I can breathe..I am home..And it is neat & clean after leaving my chaotic day behind me...Last year I started room by room redecorating...You wouldn't BELIEVE what I tossed as I was making room for new...and you know what? It was refreshing ..Out with the old they say!! And I don't miss one thing..I went through every drawer, every closet..you name it...and sh*t I knew my husband didn't even remember was there I brought to WORK and threw out b/c he would have a coronary if he saw them in the trash....If we had to move tomorrow we could..in a pinch!! I've even gone through all our dishes, glasses, coffee cups etc....If you just START..maybe you'll get the fever like I did..You'll notice an immediate difference and that is a motivation to keep going...Why don't you take everything out of the room, and only put BACK what will look nice? Then you will have no choice but ditch what is left over....Good luck!!

I have a feeling that we're either born with 'pack-rat-iness' or the opposite! :smile: Don't you all think...just look at everyone you know and it seems most are divided as people who have trouble parting with stuff and those, who are as you said, 'refreshed' by it.
I'm like you...my dh and I both are not packrats. I find it incredibly cathartic to rid my space of anything that is not being used.
Quick funny...OP, I hope you don't mind...my dh gets so bad that I distinctively remember one yard sale we had, we were raking in the money and he got that look in his eye and started searching the house for more and more stuff to sell.
About a week later, I went to make toast and couldn't find the toaster...I was like, 'hmmm, honey...where's the toaster?' He said he sold it because a customer asked him if we had one for sale, so he went in and got ours and sold it! THere was another everyday item he sold that sale too, but can't remember!:rolleyes: Crazy man...have to watch him...but I'm the same way...love to cleanse and purge!
Ok OP...back to you...;) I like TInk's idea too. Make yourself a wish list of items you're pining for, then every cent you make off of items you sale from eBay or yard sale, consignment shop...whatever, put into your wish fund. Good luck!:yes:
 
Oh goodness this thread was made for me. I have a third floor - an attic conversion - 2 rooms packed with stuff. Recently I did a tidy up but I just put things into bin bags & couldn't actually dump. There are like dozens of bags up there with clothes, shoes, etc. :wtf: I keep saying "Perhaps I will wear that again"
A stack of expensive Christmas decorations that I really never want to put up again it is so much trouble, putting up & down but there is a room almost full - trees etc.
Old curtains, bed linens all really good & I say "Well maybe the kids will need when they are getting started in new homes"
In the eaves I have all their expensive toys which I am keeping for grandchildren!
It is crazy!! I would love to hire skips & dump the lot but I just cannot! there must be a fortune of money up there! Madness!
I am sure there is a psychological thing to this as I do find it difficult letting go of the past in every way!!!!!!!
The one good thing is that I keep it all hidden away in the "attic" I cannot stand clutter in my living space!
 
I want to sell the stuff on ebay that's good and donate the rest to Goodwill.

Find an eBay seller who will come to your house and sell the stuff for you.
They take stuff away, put it up on eBay with photos, and sell it.
They get a cut of the sales price.

Motivator:
Start looking for a purse to buy using the eBay money :P
 
I don't know if this is inspring enough but I too was a pack rat and after my mom had renovated our house, I left my room really BLAH for a whole year. When I moved back from San Francisco, I was unemployed for a month and decided I really needed to clean up and just get rid of things I didn't need. Once I started, I couldn't stop and I rewarded myself buy buying stuff to decorate my room with from the money I got from selling some things off. Now, I LOVE going into my room to relax and unwind. I just feel like it's so serene and peaceful without all the unnecessary clutter that use to be everywhere.
 
Oh goodness this thread was made for me. I have a third floor - an attic conversion - 2 rooms packed with stuff. Recently I did a tidy up but I just put things into bin bags & couldn't actually dump. There are like dozens of bags up there with clothes, shoes, etc. :wtf: I keep saying "Perhaps I will wear that again"
A stack of expensive Christmas decorations that I really never want to put up again it is so much trouble, putting up & down but there is a room almost full - trees etc.
Old curtains, bed linens all really good & I say "Well maybe the kids will need when they are getting started in new homes"
In the eaves I have all their expensive toys which I am keeping for grandchildren!
It is crazy!! I would love to hire skips & dump the lot but I just cannot! there must be a fortune of money up there! Madness!
I am sure there is a psychological thing to this as I do find it difficult letting go of the past in every way!!!!!!!
The one good thing is that I keep it all hidden away in the "attic" I cannot stand clutter in my living space!

Oh Roz...I'm just itching to come to your place and give it a go!! Oh why can't we be neighbors and friends???!!! I'd have so much fun helping you out!! You too, Stefania!! 'Call me'!;)