Giving it Away.

[rvijay]

Every year arrange all the things you have not used in the last year to two years in a box. Specially, those items with a initial purchase price of $100 or less. Think carefully and see if you see yourself using these in the next 3 to 5 years. If you genuinely feel no then give it away. Give it to a local charity/library or to someone in your community who may use them.

Trying to sell old items is not efficient. Some say they entered E-Bay hell due to this for eg., Giving it away has a spiritual significance and also makes the local community more friendly/brings in good-will.

Clutter is unfrugal, complicates life, wastes time and in extreme cases can be a health/fire hazard.

Best Regards,

Vijay

[spud]

I'd need thirty boxes, I'm a clutterholic. But I've taken 70 books and a few boxes of nice nicknacks to the cat society recently. I'm trying to keep to a rule i made - equal amount goes out the door to what comes in it. It's hard - I find things. Curious wood, pebbles, things. I'm drowning in things. My office has just a narrow path from the door to the desk between piles of things. The attic has things in it untouched for seven years. Sometimes I think I am going to need assistance to get on top of all of it...

[IamJen]

You could also try www.freecycle.org. There's another thread open about this, but it's a great system, so I'm going to plug it again.

[rvijay]

I'd need thirty boxes, I'm a clutterholic. But I've taken 70 books and a few boxes of nice nicknacks to the cat society recently. I'm trying to keep to a rule i made - equal amount goes out the door to what comes in it. It's hard - I find things. Curious wood, pebbles, things. I'm drowning in things. My office has just a narrow path from the door to the desk between piles of things. The attic has things in it untouched for seven years. Sometimes I think I am going to need assistance to get on top of all of it...

Welcome to alt.recovery.clutter on the Usenet Forums. Discuss your problems, get support and share your progress. The most friendly forum on the USENET in my opinion.

Vijay

[spud]

Thanks for the link.
My mum gave me a two cassette box called "organize your life and get rid of clutter" by ab jackson. I haven't listened to it yet though.
I had a great aunt who was so bad she sealed up one room and pretended it didn't exist because the door wouldn't open anymore. Maybe it's hereditary.

[IamJen]

OT: but each time I've seen this thread's title, I start singing the Red Hot Chili Peppers song.

<<<jamming
giveitawaygiveitawaygiveitawaygiveitawaynow :D

[SystmDwnGrl2]

OT: but each time I've seen this thread's title, I start singing the Red Hot Chili Peppers song.

<<<jamming
giveitawaygiveitawaygiveitawaygiveitawaynow :D

haha I did that too.

[zoebird]

i usually purge twice a year and give away all sorts of stuff. This year, particularly, had a lot to do with various clothing items that i would not, and was not, wearing. we also had to "toss away" a lot of things that were worn thin and unable to be repaired. So, there was that aside of it too.

the clutter in our house is not really objects, so much as writing materials. ryan and i are both readers and writers, and we keep a lot of the things that we write and print out. we have loads of journals and notebooks and magazines and newspaper articles and other paper items everywhere. we only purge these every few months--so things get kinda cluttered. we organize as best we can, but that doesn't often go too well. :)

[rvijay]

OT: but each time I've seen this thread's title, I start singing the Red Hot Chili Peppers song.

<<<jamming
giveitawaygiveitawaygiveitawaygiveitawaynow :D

This song is a real favorite.

Vijay :)

[SaraG-N]

I purged tons when we moved into our new home. I consider myself a minimalist. I have the basics and a few nice things that I enjoy. Clutter free living has improved my life. I agree. Clutter does cause stress and wastes time. It's not for everyone as many people LOVE stuff, but there is freedom in letting go.

[spud]

I'm an aspiring minimalist but I hate wasting anything. Anything at all, I save and stash. Maybe I'm a reincarnation from during the last war shortages.

[zoebird]

my main thing is paper--and most of it isn't mine. Aside from my own journals (about 8 to 10 of them), the rest of the paper cluttering up our environment is my husband's.

my in laws always blame me that our house is "messy"--which it is. But the problem isn't me, it's the TONS of papers that ryan REFUSES to go through and/or file away. so, what can i do? i just live with all this paper. Is it stressful? yes. is it a pain in the ass to be blamed for a mess that isn't mine? yes. but then, he learned it from his parents too. They're also very cluttered.

[rvijay]

I have just one word for paper clutter that is consistent - Scanners. Buy a good one and use it well. Burn a CD of all the papers scanned as well. This also gives better storage, security and easy search capability.

Vijay

[spud]

Last night I sorted out five bags of used clothing to donate. It came from my father in law's wardrobe, he died this year. One suit had dry cleaning tags pinned to it, dated 1995.

[zoebird]

rivjay:

leads me to the same problem though: it's my husband's paper. he would have to go through it, scan it, make the cds, etc--so that he knows where everything is. since he doesn't do this, i'm still at square one. you see?

good idea, not necessarily frugal, but not feasable until he wants to go through his stuff.

[rvijay]

You can buy a scanner. He can tell you what to do. He can set everything into major categories. Then you can do the job of scanning them etc., Make every step easy for him, get interactive, show him that you wish to assist, show him the benefits of doing this long term.

Vijay :)

[spud]

I gave a sack of winter skirts away today. My wardrobe looks almost normal.

[zoebird]

rivjay:

i'm not stupid. i've asked him a number of times to put things in major piles, to go through things, whatever. he won't do it even if i do help him. he doesn't have time, or doesn't want to or whatever.

it's not like i'm ignoring him and yelling at him and saying 'you clean this up!" and running off to watch movies and eat bon-bons. i am usualyl going through my things and doing other cleaning and more than willing to help him with whatever. it just doesn't happen.

and there's really nothing else that i can do, because it's a motivational thing--and soemthing that he's comfortable with and doesn't want to do. so, there's nothing left but learning to accept it.

[Marie]

zoebird - Get some stack box things and toss everything in there. :)

http://www.organizes-it.com/plastic.php

[rvijay]

rivjay:

i'm not stupid. i've asked him a number of times to put things in major piles, to go through things, whatever. he won't do it even if i do help him. he doesn't have time, or doesn't want to or whatever.



As a senior member I am sure that you are wise. I was just covering some points. If you are already familiar with them then feel free to ignore them.

Vijay

[zoebird]

you can't imagine how many boxes full of paper thta i have. i have at least ten or twelve large boxes full of paper. just paper. and more paper. and then i have file cabinets full of paper, folders full of paper, and table tops covered in paper. he's a rpolific writer and a prolific horder. once the rabbit gets to it, we consider it "gone" and i'm allowed to pitch it. unfortunately, there's only one october j, and he prefers to steal magazines.

[spud]

once the rabbit gets to it, we consider it "gone" and i'm allowed to pitch it. unfortunately, there's only one october j, and he prefers to steal magazines.

:D :D I need your rabbit here.

[spud]

Ok, today I started on the attic. It's worse than I thought - I'd compressed things to make the heap look smaller. So far I've shifted one sack of jeans and pants, one sack of cotton skirts and tops, and one sack of curtains and throws. It's agony, some of those clothes are gorgeous. If only I could shrink by 40lbs and 15 years I'd be wearing them. There are two sacks of deep red cotton velvet curtains waiting to be shifted, I must have had them 30 years waiting for the time that I get to live in a huge old gothic house.

Thinks - you know how the moment you chuck things away you need them... maybe the old gothic house will come my way if I give the curtains away...

[spud]

Clutter is unfrugal, complicates life, wastes time and in extreme cases can be a health/fire hazard.



I keep repeating this over and over again. :sweat:

[rvijay]

I keep repeating this over and over again. :sweat:

Let it motivate you to take the right action, however don't let is stress you.

To add to that, I have read about some people who have had old decompsed food in their home for some time. This is a biological hazard.

Vijay