de-cluttering

I am a terrible hoarder keeping things in case, in case i loose weight( have been saying that for years and years!)in case i have grandhildren, in case etc. now it has come to the point that my rooms are a mess and have to think rationally! clothes which are too small for me will be given away and if i ever get to size 12( some hope!) i will buy new clothes! and if i ever have grandhildren buy new ones etc.problem was i lived in bigger house before moving to the present house after divorce and i think buying things were retail therapy and some of things i dont really want or need so time for thinking before buying more stuff and cluttering up the hosue even worse!i think it is also a security thing when having lots of things feel rich which is silly and materialistic. never mind i did well getting rid of 4 bags of books that were on bookcase for 6 years and hasnt been read which proves that soem things are not meant to be in my house! onward i go with more decluttering!! good luck:001: to you all!!:dft005::dft001:

love and light,

Amethystfairy:013:

I am quite a book hoarder but was very brave last week.... i relinquished control of 20 of them to the local charity shop....and I havnt mssed them one bit;). Not ready to part with the clothes though that are way out of my reach.......... for now..........still being optimistic. :005:

Oh dear, maybe i should look into books, then i have trouble in parting with them, trouble is i only read them once. I should pass them on and let someone else enjoy.
I read (ha read!) somewhere that you should do this 'pass it forward' with a book, leave it somewhere and let someone pick it up..i wonder if it works.

thats called bookcrossing! it is fun! i do this but lately havent had time for this though!

it is on websitewww.BookCrossing.com

Amethystfairy:D

Hello everyone

How is everyone doing
I need to get back to some decluttering, not as bad as last year but its certainly not all gone.

Rosie - I hope you ar estill here and apologies for not getting back sooner. But yes in reply to your question the rest of your life can include clutter i do have a book on it on my bookshelf about the subject

I have regularly left books for others, it all started when I was a child on holiday with my parents, I found a book that had been left behind by a previous user of the chalet we were staying in. Inside was a note from the girl who had left the book, she gave her name and mentioned one or two things in the book and asked that it be left behind again by whoever found it.

I have kept with this tradition in every place I have visited since, name date and a message to pay it forward on reading it.

However my own booksheleves still groan under the weight of the books I have collected over the years and can't seem to part with...perhaps a round the world trip to redistribute them is in order:)

i like to declutter every so often, i also like to pass things on to others, i always feel that we only lend things they are not ours, we cannot take them with us, so i like to share, wether it is my time or what i do. but i do love a declutter, the feeling i get when i get rid of junk, infact my youngest son did his bedroom between christmas and new year, i now have a few things to pass on to others and got rid of a few at the tip

:(De-clutter, I decided to have just a quick sort out the week before xmas and threw away 4 scrap books that I started when I was 14 & completed in my early 20's. Each time I've sorted through things I've put these back in the box but I was brave this time and cast them aside. 🙁
I've lots of new interests built up over the last couple of years so they just had to go!
Out with the old and in with the new as they say!:)

I love decluttering, it's really great fun and so worth it. I always feel like i've made a change after throwing things away that aren't needed. 🙂

Mmmmm! I have been reading all these posts with interest and feeling increasingly useless. It all depends on an individuals perception of clutter. Is it a couple of things on the worktop and a toy on the living room floor, or is it (as is my case) so much stuff you are no longer sure there is still a carpet underneath and you have to move stuff to get into bed?

I was ill for years and during this time the house got worse and worse. Hubby was not helpful and just grumbled about the mess! He is a fine one to talk!! Lol!! He still has loads of scrap metal, wood and things filling our large garden shed and garage from the farm he sold 30 years ago when his first wife died. Bless him!

Now I want a tidy house but find it so difficult to get motivated. I've tried websites such as Fly Lady but cant keep up with the tasks or the vast number of emails. I still don't have that much energy. I am trying with the 15 minute slots which works for me, but, by my reckoning, it will be about 25 years before I have finished if I continue at that rate!! What I would like is for someone to come and help me to sort it all like that lady who used to have a programme on TV, though I wouldn't like my house to be seen by millions!! Cost is the problem here!

Happy decluttering to you all!

Maggie

fly lady is good if you go for baby steps do little a day. i am still cluttering:eek: up my rooms where it get to the point i am too embarrassed to have visitors in, my sister has toldme about cluttergone and it is a firm where you pay for them to come and help you with your stuff and i was so impressed with that so think i will ask for help in february it is not cheap but will make me feel better and less fed up.has anyone ever tried them?

Amethsytfairy:o

Hi Amethystfairy,

I have just looked at Cluttergone. It is a pity they don't come down to my neck of the woods, but it has given me some focus. Thanks. There must be companies like that down here.

I suppose I could make sessions cheaper by getting rid of known rubbish prior to the session. Having booked a session would give me the motivation to do this.

I'd better get saving!! I will need a lot of sessions!:o

I too would love to hear from anyone who has used these services.

maggie xx

mmm clutter! the story of my life it seems..!! But this year, I've decided that I'm going to get myself organised and decluttered 🙂 I've set myself a to-do list every day and even though sometimes something else get's in the way I've been able to juggle things around and slowly but surely I'm getting through my clutter.. whether it's the stacks of concertina files I have with bills/receipts going as far back as 1995 and for some reason had also kept my mobile phone bills from when I bought my first one back in 1997.. I've had great pleasure the past couple weeks filling up bags of shredded papers in my recycling bin! Tonight's task is to go through one of the small boxes I've not unpacked from my move back in April last year. It's mind-boggling what I've managed to hoard over the years.. but no more! Clutter be gone and I seriously can't wait to get my life back in order!!

well i have now emailed cluttergone! help! dont want it really but have to!as it will make me feel better and motivate me to do more in the house! i have got cant have anyone over syndrome, embarrasing as someone came over three weeks ago had to tell her sorry it is bit of a mess at the moment( lot mess really but not telling her that!)so chatted with her on the doorstep!will let you know how i got on with cluttergone gulp!

Amethystfairy:023::023:

well cluttergone:1kis::1kis: has been and gone! i am stiff and sore from bending down and up a lot so hope have lost weight( will be annoyed if i havent lol!) 2 days of it for my lounge( two rooms) bin full up,recycling bin full up, bags of recycling out in the garden and rubbish as well.9 big bags for charity, 6 carrier bags for charity, lots of books to be given away when i have read them but might cull them when i have time,lot of presents that i have bought and wont buy anymore went in the box for future birthdays. far too many candles so no need to buy more, might have to cull them too.it looks loads better it will be even better when the bags etc are gone to charity! so all in all it was worth it, i know it was lot of money but i cant complain as it has put the motivation back in me to carry on.

Amethystfairy:nature-smiley-008::027::045:

Well done! Now just keep celebrating, hoovering & admiring your new-found luxurious space!

I know how that feels, from when my children were small & we lived in a big house that just filled up with enormous amounts of stuff (books, music, unwanted gifts I felt guilty to part with, & clothes I was too sentimental to throw away as they grew!)

Finally, it all got too much when I realised I felt too embarrassed by "hoarders' guilt" to feel comfortable having friends round. I found myself launching into lengthy & boring explanations, excuses & apologies to my children's friends' mothers when they came to drop them off or collect them ... so I realised what a pain it all had become - by then far too much to tackle alone with a bad back.
So, I hired cleaning ladies to help me de-clutter ... expensive (but my feeling of shame was worse!) but SO worth it! Oh, the joy!

I hope I've learned my lesson & never let things get so muddled again. Though it's easy now that I live alone.

Anyway, hope this helps you feel understood & keeps your "high" going.
Treat yourself to some lovely fresh flowers & invite someone over quick! Enjoy! 🙂

Thanks starshower,

yeah might do that buy myself flowers now that i have got the space to have few vases full of them! aslo might treat myslef to some pampering maybe a facial!

yes i know what you mean by excuses,i am the same when i look back my excuses were really pathetic! i need to do the last bits in the two rooms then on to the kitchen and bathroom before i can have visitors but it wont be long.I will have cluttergones help again prob in aug/sept for the garage as there are things in there that i dont want or cant remember but know there are some things i want to keep! then about in november help for the loft! friend will help me with bedrooms.

onward i go!

Amethystfairy:cool-smiley-027:( on high)

I love de-cluttering! Although I still accumlate 'junk' but about once a month I have a sort though. I have found that I am in the mood to have a good sort out dependant on my hormones! 'That time of the month' I clean, throw away, clear etc...the rest of the month it just accumulates. But I have to say just recognising the pattern is of tremendous help. Now when I start...I really am a tyrannt...I think I may as well clear out as much as I can so I dont have so much next time. Its great and I love it!!!

Glad to hear I am not the only one. I moved in with my boyfriend over a year ago and most of my stuff (clothes and papers, etc) are still in the big Ikea bags in the two hall cupboards. There is nowhere to put these things and as I have not used them for so long the time has come to get rid off them.
My problem is I am a perfectionist (sp) so want to go through it all into keep, donate and rubbish instead of just letting go. I have a real green ethic and would feel bad about it all otherwise.
I am also working on the emotional stuff. I had my mum and sister take my old wedding dress to a charity shop. I still have to decide what to do with the wedding album (I nearly typed 'my' there lol) as it has cherished photos of people who have past and I feel it is still part of me though I am currently planning the wedding with my wonderful new partner.
I have started following the Flylady principles (mentioned above a couple of times) and this is really helping by keeping me down to 15 minutes bursts that get me started and then if I see the end in sight I keep going at that point. Incidently it is also getting me through my housework phobia so win win on that front.
I have a ways to go as alot is tied up with redecorating and refurnishing rooms so that there will be places to put things. I am bringing my other half round to the clothes thing - he has more clothes than me and we don't have enough space to store them let alone mine. So i have been going through his clothes throwing out the worn out and holey stuff - very satisfying. And handy practise for when I get to my own clothes 🙂
Wow that was both cleansing and motivating as I need to get on and do things rather than just talk about them.
Did I say I am also a procastinator! 🙂
Lynn x