Discussion
Promoted by another thread, I wrote the below.
Having seen a few friends develop a real problem with hoarding, have you found any ways and tips to live with less?
I’d like to suggest you look up “the minimalists” on the web and download their free pdf if your looking to manage clutter or help others that have an issue with it.
I’ve used them to help me shed around 2/3rds of my belongings so far but you have to be into the process to get the best effect, or just see what small improvements you might make by listening in.
I’m hoping to end up with around a 90% reduction in possessions at the end of the process and not build back up, which sounds a huge amount, but when you do grasp what is actually superfluous in making your happy versus what you actually need to live, it starts to make sense.
I’ll not steal their thunder but acquiring possessions has very deeply routed psychological foundations and the same process that leads to their acquisition can also be a real burden on mental well-being when you own them.
They discuss the 20/20 rule among many other suggestions.
If it can be replaced for £20 within 20 minutes locally, give yourself permission to let go.
A large proportion of your stuff will fall into this category.
Donate to charity (try not to just tip everything) and see the good come of your decluttering.
For example, Age U.K. will email you every time they sell an item you’ve donated so you can see the good your own work is doing in terms of £ raised.
Locally we have a charity that will take any old tools and paint etc to help community projects, better than the stuff rotting in the (packed) garage. Most towns will have similar.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy when you do find a bit of wood or the right washer to fix something from the huge amount of spares you need to carry to achieve this statistically, and your brain is tricked into giving you comfort in the fact you own way too much stuff as a result.
The storage industry is also one of the fastest growing in the world, better storage solutions aren’t the answer, they are just a symptom of the real problem (which is advertising) for us to constantly buy more “stuff”. The world economy literally depends upon over consumption to function and we will eventually exhaust the resources needed (another story!)
When my dad died we had a lot to go through, I understand this as his generation had nothing so it made sense to keep spares of everything. My mum learned from this and we really declutterred the house afterwards, which means a lot less time is spent on managing possessions and more on enjoying the time she has left.
I’m really aiming to have a small number of decent quality clothes (as opposed to a rammed wardrobe) and reduce down the numerous storage boxes of stuff we have in the garage to the very core.
We moved last year and we had to put all our possessions in storage for 3 months, it was amazing how little we actually missed which prompted me to start to really reduce down the stuff we owned and simplify where we could.
Even before we packed up, we had to be really mercenary to fit into 6X storage boxes they provided, the original quote was for 9 so we hit the ground running.
We are also very critical about what (if anything) we bring back into the house now, I’m more ruthless than my wife still though.
I had a large number of books as a big reader, I took photos of them in batches of 10 and then donated any that weren’t signed copies or special out to charity promising myself if I couldn’t live without, I’d buy a copy back (haven’t done so far but make great use of the local library).
We eventually got everything into 30X plastic “really useful boxes” so that we can now pull a box at random, empty it and try and get rid of as much content as possible. Eventually I hope these boxes too can be resold once they are emptied (or they’ll go to charity).
House we moved into was filled with the PO’s junk they didn’t want to take with them, so I then had to spend 3 months moving all this stuff out to charity or to the tip as an added bonus to my own stuff.
I give myself a pass out for cars (this is Pistonheads!) but selling one car recently has also opened my eyes to how much effort it takes to keep a couple of hobby cars going in terms of juggling the logistics and finances, so end result might be just one decent older car I can tinker with.
I think age also plays a part, I don’t want my kids to have to go through what I did with my dads stuff and I’m hoping it will be a clean transition for them once I die with very little material stuff to sort having done this first hand for others that have died.
It is very motivating and seems spiritually cleansing to go down this path with your own possessions, akin to a big spring clean.
It’s not meant to eradicate nice things from your life, if anything, you end up appreciating the stuff you do decide to keep more as it either has a very defined function or is beautiful (a piece of art for example) that is no longer lost in other clutter.
The guys referred to above have a saying which seems apt, “use things, love people, and not the other way around”, which is great because less does allow you to focus more on what’s important such as friends and family
Having seen a few friends develop a real problem with hoarding, have you found any ways and tips to live with less?
I’d like to suggest you look up “the minimalists” on the web and download their free pdf if your looking to manage clutter or help others that have an issue with it.
I’ve used them to help me shed around 2/3rds of my belongings so far but you have to be into the process to get the best effect, or just see what small improvements you might make by listening in.
I’m hoping to end up with around a 90% reduction in possessions at the end of the process and not build back up, which sounds a huge amount, but when you do grasp what is actually superfluous in making your happy versus what you actually need to live, it starts to make sense.
I’ll not steal their thunder but acquiring possessions has very deeply routed psychological foundations and the same process that leads to their acquisition can also be a real burden on mental well-being when you own them.
They discuss the 20/20 rule among many other suggestions.
If it can be replaced for £20 within 20 minutes locally, give yourself permission to let go.
A large proportion of your stuff will fall into this category.
Donate to charity (try not to just tip everything) and see the good come of your decluttering.
For example, Age U.K. will email you every time they sell an item you’ve donated so you can see the good your own work is doing in terms of £ raised.
Locally we have a charity that will take any old tools and paint etc to help community projects, better than the stuff rotting in the (packed) garage. Most towns will have similar.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy when you do find a bit of wood or the right washer to fix something from the huge amount of spares you need to carry to achieve this statistically, and your brain is tricked into giving you comfort in the fact you own way too much stuff as a result.
The storage industry is also one of the fastest growing in the world, better storage solutions aren’t the answer, they are just a symptom of the real problem (which is advertising) for us to constantly buy more “stuff”. The world economy literally depends upon over consumption to function and we will eventually exhaust the resources needed (another story!)
When my dad died we had a lot to go through, I understand this as his generation had nothing so it made sense to keep spares of everything. My mum learned from this and we really declutterred the house afterwards, which means a lot less time is spent on managing possessions and more on enjoying the time she has left.
I’m really aiming to have a small number of decent quality clothes (as opposed to a rammed wardrobe) and reduce down the numerous storage boxes of stuff we have in the garage to the very core.
We moved last year and we had to put all our possessions in storage for 3 months, it was amazing how little we actually missed which prompted me to start to really reduce down the stuff we owned and simplify where we could.
Even before we packed up, we had to be really mercenary to fit into 6X storage boxes they provided, the original quote was for 9 so we hit the ground running.
We are also very critical about what (if anything) we bring back into the house now, I’m more ruthless than my wife still though.
I had a large number of books as a big reader, I took photos of them in batches of 10 and then donated any that weren’t signed copies or special out to charity promising myself if I couldn’t live without, I’d buy a copy back (haven’t done so far but make great use of the local library).
We eventually got everything into 30X plastic “really useful boxes” so that we can now pull a box at random, empty it and try and get rid of as much content as possible. Eventually I hope these boxes too can be resold once they are emptied (or they’ll go to charity).
House we moved into was filled with the PO’s junk they didn’t want to take with them, so I then had to spend 3 months moving all this stuff out to charity or to the tip as an added bonus to my own stuff.
I give myself a pass out for cars (this is Pistonheads!) but selling one car recently has also opened my eyes to how much effort it takes to keep a couple of hobby cars going in terms of juggling the logistics and finances, so end result might be just one decent older car I can tinker with.
I think age also plays a part, I don’t want my kids to have to go through what I did with my dads stuff and I’m hoping it will be a clean transition for them once I die with very little material stuff to sort having done this first hand for others that have died.
It is very motivating and seems spiritually cleansing to go down this path with your own possessions, akin to a big spring clean.
It’s not meant to eradicate nice things from your life, if anything, you end up appreciating the stuff you do decide to keep more as it either has a very defined function or is beautiful (a piece of art for example) that is no longer lost in other clutter.
The guys referred to above have a saying which seems apt, “use things, love people, and not the other way around”, which is great because less does allow you to focus more on what’s important such as friends and family
President Merkin said:
Why is your post so long?
I think your question relates to my observation on the issue. Cut things down to what's important. No offence meant to the OP. I am gradually cutting down on the amount of stuff in my home following the death of my father a couple of years ago. He left all sorts of junk and a few really nice things.
So my tactic is to work out whet the genuinely nice things that I have are and get rid of all that gets in the way of enjoying those things. And that includes little things like CDs (I'm old school) and photos. One great photo album is a joy.
A really interesting post OP, thank you.
Whilst we are not in the realms of folks who appear on the 'Sort your life out' telly programme, I do think that a de clutter is a very worthwhile thing to do every so often.
I find it is the starting the job is the problem with me, I guess I am just too knackered after work/lazy so I need to get over that first.
Whilst we are not in the realms of folks who appear on the 'Sort your life out' telly programme, I do think that a de clutter is a very worthwhile thing to do every so often.
I find it is the starting the job is the problem with me, I guess I am just too knackered after work/lazy so I need to get over that first.
It's something I need to do. I admire anyone who can live out of a suitcase for most of their life. I also like Jack Reacher's lifestyle (he just owns a toothbrush, a passport and the clothes on his back). But I also like stuff. 
Like that 20/20 idea. I mean, there's a whole world of useful stuff that I could buy at Poundland should I need to, I guess.
Since helping my mum to clear out her crap, I decided to embark on a "death clearout" even though I'm in my early 50s. Might as well get on and start now rather than later. Snag is, it's about 1% done. Also, helping my mum to clear out her crap has resulted in more crap appearing in my house that I now need to sift through. For a month, I had to climb over boxes to get from my front door to my kitchen (most of that's been donated or binned before you comment!).
What's annoying is that
1. it's a boring activity
2. I don't really see the benefit in a clearer space (there's little clutter in my mind so I'm pretty happy)
3. I MIGHT NEED THE STUFF! Very often I find myself thinking, "Glad I didn't chuck that out!"
Like that 20/20 idea. I mean, there's a whole world of useful stuff that I could buy at Poundland should I need to, I guess.
Since helping my mum to clear out her crap, I decided to embark on a "death clearout" even though I'm in my early 50s. Might as well get on and start now rather than later. Snag is, it's about 1% done. Also, helping my mum to clear out her crap has resulted in more crap appearing in my house that I now need to sift through. For a month, I had to climb over boxes to get from my front door to my kitchen (most of that's been donated or binned before you comment!).
What's annoying is that
1. it's a boring activity
2. I don't really see the benefit in a clearer space (there's little clutter in my mind so I'm pretty happy)
3. I MIGHT NEED THE STUFF! Very often I find myself thinking, "Glad I didn't chuck that out!"
Minimalism is great if you're happy to pay trades to fix everything for you because you have no tools or equipment. That comes with its own issues. I've lived in a motorhome so you're forced into being minimalist whether you want to or not.
My general rule of thumb is to look at stuff and ask myself if I'm going to use it again within 6 months. If the answer is no then it goes. That stops drawers and cupboards being full of old phones, cables, laptops, satnavs, surplus fixtures and fittings and all manner of other crap that you have a tendency to keep "just in case" but realistically never sees the light of day again. Just bin it or flog it. In the rare event that you do actually come to need one again a year later, more often than not you can pick one up off Ebay for buttons.
My general rule of thumb is to look at stuff and ask myself if I'm going to use it again within 6 months. If the answer is no then it goes. That stops drawers and cupboards being full of old phones, cables, laptops, satnavs, surplus fixtures and fittings and all manner of other crap that you have a tendency to keep "just in case" but realistically never sees the light of day again. Just bin it or flog it. In the rare event that you do actually come to need one again a year later, more often than not you can pick one up off Ebay for buttons.
Having excess stuff really has a big impact if you are moving and also if you are renting.
Wife and I are about to move for the 26th time since we got together! In the early years it was fairly easy as we don’t own much but it has got progressively more difficult and more expensive over the years as we have accumulated furniture. It has also made it more difficult to rent, as well as more expensive, as we have to rent big flats or houses to accommodate all our stuff.
I have a plan to cut down drastically so that we can downsize when we move again.
Two years back I moved alone to Denmark, living in a small furnished apartment, waiting for the family to join me. All I had was what I could fit in two suitcases. It was very liberating. Unfortunately my wife doesn’t quite share that sense of minimalism and is attached to quite a lot of stuff we have accumulated over the years.
I would love to have a collection of cars and bikes but don’t think I could be bothered to deal with the hassle and costs of keeping them all running.
Wife and I are about to move for the 26th time since we got together! In the early years it was fairly easy as we don’t own much but it has got progressively more difficult and more expensive over the years as we have accumulated furniture. It has also made it more difficult to rent, as well as more expensive, as we have to rent big flats or houses to accommodate all our stuff.
I have a plan to cut down drastically so that we can downsize when we move again.
Two years back I moved alone to Denmark, living in a small furnished apartment, waiting for the family to join me. All I had was what I could fit in two suitcases. It was very liberating. Unfortunately my wife doesn’t quite share that sense of minimalism and is attached to quite a lot of stuff we have accumulated over the years.
I would love to have a collection of cars and bikes but don’t think I could be bothered to deal with the hassle and costs of keeping them all running.
996Type said:
Promoted by another thread, I wrote the below.
Having seen a few friends develop a real problem with hoarding, have you found any ways and tips to live with less?
I’d like to suggest you look up “the minimalists” on the web and download their free pdf if your looking to manage clutter or help others that have an issue with it.
I’ve used them to help me shed around 2/3rds of my belongings so far but you have to be into the process to get the best effect, or just see what small improvements you might make by listening in.
I’m hoping to end up with around a 90% reduction in possessions at the end of the process and not build back up, which sounds a huge amount, but when you do grasp what is actually superfluous in making your happy versus what you actually need to live, it starts to make sense.
I’ll not steal their thunder but acquiring possessions has very deeply routed psychological foundations and the same process that leads to their acquisition can also be a real burden on mental well-being when you own them.
They discuss the 20/20 rule among many other suggestions.
If it can be replaced for £20 within 20 minutes locally, give yourself permission to let go.
A large proportion of your stuff will fall into this category.
Donate to charity (try not to just tip everything) and see the good come of your decluttering.
For example, Age U.K. will email you every time they sell an item you’ve donated so you can see the good your own work is doing in terms of £ raised.
Locally we have a charity that will take any old tools and paint etc to help community projects, better than the stuff rotting in the (packed) garage. Most towns will have similar.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy when you do find a bit of wood or the right washer to fix something from the huge amount of spares you need to carry to achieve this statistically, and your brain is tricked into giving you comfort in the fact you own way too much stuff as a result.
The storage industry is also one of the fastest growing in the world, better storage solutions aren’t the answer, they are just a symptom of the real problem (which is advertising) for us to constantly buy more “stuff”. The world economy literally depends upon over consumption to function and we will eventually exhaust the resources needed (another story!)
When my dad died we had a lot to go through, I understand this as his generation had nothing so it made sense to keep spares of everything. My mum learned from this and we really declutterred the house afterwards, which means a lot less time is spent on managing possessions and more on enjoying the time she has left.
I’m really aiming to have a small number of decent quality clothes (as opposed to a rammed wardrobe) and reduce down the numerous storage boxes of stuff we have in the garage to the very core.
We moved last year and we had to put all our possessions in storage for 3 months, it was amazing how little we actually missed which prompted me to start to really reduce down the stuff we owned and simplify where we could.
Even before we packed up, we had to be really mercenary to fit into 6X storage boxes they provided, the original quote was for 9 so we hit the ground running.
We are also very critical about what (if anything) we bring back into the house now, I’m more ruthless than my wife still though.
I had a large number of books as a big reader, I took photos of them in batches of 10 and then donated any that weren’t signed copies or special out to charity promising myself if I couldn’t live without, I’d buy a copy back (haven’t done so far but make great use of the local library).
We eventually got everything into 30X plastic “really useful boxes” so that we can now pull a box at random, empty it and try and get rid of as much content as possible. Eventually I hope these boxes too can be resold once they are emptied (or they’ll go to charity).
House we moved into was filled with the PO’s junk they didn’t want to take with them, so I then had to spend 3 months moving all this stuff out to charity or to the tip as an added bonus to my own stuff.
I give myself a pass out for cars (this is Pistonheads!) but selling one car recently has also opened my eyes to how much effort it takes to keep a couple of hobby cars going in terms of juggling the logistics and finances, so end result might be just one decent older car I can tinker with.
I think age also plays a part, I don’t want my kids to have to go through what I did with my dads stuff and I’m hoping it will be a clean transition for them once I die with very little material stuff to sort having done this first hand for others that have died.
It is very motivating and seems spiritually cleansing to go down this path with your own possessions, akin to a big spring clean.
It’s not meant to eradicate nice things from your life, if anything, you end up appreciating the stuff you do decide to keep more as it either has a very defined function or is beautiful (a piece of art for example) that is no longer lost in other clutter.
The guys referred to above have a saying which seems apt, “use things, love people, and not the other way around”, which is great because less does allow you to focus more on what’s important such as friends and family
Having seen a few friends develop a real problem with hoarding, have you found any ways and tips to live with less?
I’d like to suggest you look up “the minimalists” on the web and download their free pdf if your looking to manage clutter or help others that have an issue with it.
I’ve used them to help me shed around 2/3rds of my belongings so far but you have to be into the process to get the best effect, or just see what small improvements you might make by listening in.
I’m hoping to end up with around a 90% reduction in possessions at the end of the process and not build back up, which sounds a huge amount, but when you do grasp what is actually superfluous in making your happy versus what you actually need to live, it starts to make sense.
I’ll not steal their thunder but acquiring possessions has very deeply routed psychological foundations and the same process that leads to their acquisition can also be a real burden on mental well-being when you own them.
They discuss the 20/20 rule among many other suggestions.
If it can be replaced for £20 within 20 minutes locally, give yourself permission to let go.
A large proportion of your stuff will fall into this category.
Donate to charity (try not to just tip everything) and see the good come of your decluttering.
For example, Age U.K. will email you every time they sell an item you’ve donated so you can see the good your own work is doing in terms of £ raised.
Locally we have a charity that will take any old tools and paint etc to help community projects, better than the stuff rotting in the (packed) garage. Most towns will have similar.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy when you do find a bit of wood or the right washer to fix something from the huge amount of spares you need to carry to achieve this statistically, and your brain is tricked into giving you comfort in the fact you own way too much stuff as a result.
The storage industry is also one of the fastest growing in the world, better storage solutions aren’t the answer, they are just a symptom of the real problem (which is advertising) for us to constantly buy more “stuff”. The world economy literally depends upon over consumption to function and we will eventually exhaust the resources needed (another story!)
When my dad died we had a lot to go through, I understand this as his generation had nothing so it made sense to keep spares of everything. My mum learned from this and we really declutterred the house afterwards, which means a lot less time is spent on managing possessions and more on enjoying the time she has left.
I’m really aiming to have a small number of decent quality clothes (as opposed to a rammed wardrobe) and reduce down the numerous storage boxes of stuff we have in the garage to the very core.
We moved last year and we had to put all our possessions in storage for 3 months, it was amazing how little we actually missed which prompted me to start to really reduce down the stuff we owned and simplify where we could.
Even before we packed up, we had to be really mercenary to fit into 6X storage boxes they provided, the original quote was for 9 so we hit the ground running.
We are also very critical about what (if anything) we bring back into the house now, I’m more ruthless than my wife still though.
I had a large number of books as a big reader, I took photos of them in batches of 10 and then donated any that weren’t signed copies or special out to charity promising myself if I couldn’t live without, I’d buy a copy back (haven’t done so far but make great use of the local library).
We eventually got everything into 30X plastic “really useful boxes” so that we can now pull a box at random, empty it and try and get rid of as much content as possible. Eventually I hope these boxes too can be resold once they are emptied (or they’ll go to charity).
House we moved into was filled with the PO’s junk they didn’t want to take with them, so I then had to spend 3 months moving all this stuff out to charity or to the tip as an added bonus to my own stuff.
I give myself a pass out for cars (this is Pistonheads!) but selling one car recently has also opened my eyes to how much effort it takes to keep a couple of hobby cars going in terms of juggling the logistics and finances, so end result might be just one decent older car I can tinker with.
I think age also plays a part, I don’t want my kids to have to go through what I did with my dads stuff and I’m hoping it will be a clean transition for them once I die with very little material stuff to sort having done this first hand for others that have died.
It is very motivating and seems spiritually cleansing to go down this path with your own possessions, akin to a big spring clean.
It’s not meant to eradicate nice things from your life, if anything, you end up appreciating the stuff you do decide to keep more as it either has a very defined function or is beautiful (a piece of art for example) that is no longer lost in other clutter.
The guys referred to above have a saying which seems apt, “use things, love people, and not the other way around”, which is great because less does allow you to focus more on what’s important such as friends and family
Spare tyre said:
996Type said:
Promoted by another thread, I wrote the below.
Having seen a few friends develop a real problem with hoarding, have you found any ways and tips to live with less?
I’d like to suggest you look up “the minimalists” on the web and download their free pdf if your looking to manage clutter or help others that have an issue with it.
I’ve used them to help me shed around 2/3rds of my belongings so far but you have to be into the process to get the best effect, or just see what small improvements you might make by listening in.
I’m hoping to end up with around a 90% reduction in possessions at the end of the process and not build back up, which sounds a huge amount, but when you do grasp what is actually superfluous in making your happy versus what you actually need to live, it starts to make sense.
I’ll not steal their thunder but acquiring possessions has very deeply routed psychological foundations and the same process that leads to their acquisition can also be a real burden on mental well-being when you own them.
They discuss the 20/20 rule among many other suggestions.
If it can be replaced for £20 within 20 minutes locally, give yourself permission to let go.
A large proportion of your stuff will fall into this category.
Donate to charity (try not to just tip everything) and see the good come of your decluttering.
For example, Age U.K. will email you every time they sell an item you’ve donated so you can see the good your own work is doing in terms of £ raised.
Locally we have a charity that will take any old tools and paint etc to help community projects, better than the stuff rotting in the (packed) garage. Most towns will have similar.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy when you do find a bit of wood or the right washer to fix something from the huge amount of spares you need to carry to achieve this statistically, and your brain is tricked into giving you comfort in the fact you own way too much stuff as a result.
The storage industry is also one of the fastest growing in the world, better storage solutions aren’t the answer, they are just a symptom of the real problem (which is advertising) for us to constantly buy more “stuff”. The world economy literally depends upon over consumption to function and we will eventually exhaust the resources needed (another story!)
When my dad died we had a lot to go through, I understand this as his generation had nothing so it made sense to keep spares of everything. My mum learned from this and we really declutterred the house afterwards, which means a lot less time is spent on managing possessions and more on enjoying the time she has left.
I’m really aiming to have a small number of decent quality clothes (as opposed to a rammed wardrobe) and reduce down the numerous storage boxes of stuff we have in the garage to the very core.
We moved last year and we had to put all our possessions in storage for 3 months, it was amazing how little we actually missed which prompted me to start to really reduce down the stuff we owned and simplify where we could.
Even before we packed up, we had to be really mercenary to fit into 6X storage boxes they provided, the original quote was for 9 so we hit the ground running.
We are also very critical about what (if anything) we bring back into the house now, I’m more ruthless than my wife still though.
I had a large number of books as a big reader, I took photos of them in batches of 10 and then donated any that weren’t signed copies or special out to charity promising myself if I couldn’t live without, I’d buy a copy back (haven’t done so far but make great use of the local library).
We eventually got everything into 30X plastic “really useful boxes” so that we can now pull a box at random, empty it and try and get rid of as much content as possible. Eventually I hope these boxes too can be resold once they are emptied (or they’ll go to charity).
House we moved into was filled with the PO’s junk they didn’t want to take with them, so I then had to spend 3 months moving all this stuff out to charity or to the tip as an added bonus to my own stuff.
I give myself a pass out for cars (this is Pistonheads!) but selling one car recently has also opened my eyes to how much effort it takes to keep a couple of hobby cars going in terms of juggling the logistics and finances, so end result might be just one decent older car I can tinker with.
I think age also plays a part, I don’t want my kids to have to go through what I did with my dads stuff and I’m hoping it will be a clean transition for them once I die with very little material stuff to sort having done this first hand for others that have died.
It is very motivating and seems spiritually cleansing to go down this path with your own possessions, akin to a big spring clean.
It’s not meant to eradicate nice things from your life, if anything, you end up appreciating the stuff you do decide to keep more as it either has a very defined function or is beautiful (a piece of art for example) that is no longer lost in other clutter.
The guys referred to above have a saying which seems apt, “use things, love people, and not the other way around”, which is great because less does allow you to focus more on what’s important such as friends and family
Having seen a few friends develop a real problem with hoarding, have you found any ways and tips to live with less?
I’d like to suggest you look up “the minimalists” on the web and download their free pdf if your looking to manage clutter or help others that have an issue with it.
I’ve used them to help me shed around 2/3rds of my belongings so far but you have to be into the process to get the best effect, or just see what small improvements you might make by listening in.
I’m hoping to end up with around a 90% reduction in possessions at the end of the process and not build back up, which sounds a huge amount, but when you do grasp what is actually superfluous in making your happy versus what you actually need to live, it starts to make sense.
I’ll not steal their thunder but acquiring possessions has very deeply routed psychological foundations and the same process that leads to their acquisition can also be a real burden on mental well-being when you own them.
They discuss the 20/20 rule among many other suggestions.
If it can be replaced for £20 within 20 minutes locally, give yourself permission to let go.
A large proportion of your stuff will fall into this category.
Donate to charity (try not to just tip everything) and see the good come of your decluttering.
For example, Age U.K. will email you every time they sell an item you’ve donated so you can see the good your own work is doing in terms of £ raised.
Locally we have a charity that will take any old tools and paint etc to help community projects, better than the stuff rotting in the (packed) garage. Most towns will have similar.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy when you do find a bit of wood or the right washer to fix something from the huge amount of spares you need to carry to achieve this statistically, and your brain is tricked into giving you comfort in the fact you own way too much stuff as a result.
The storage industry is also one of the fastest growing in the world, better storage solutions aren’t the answer, they are just a symptom of the real problem (which is advertising) for us to constantly buy more “stuff”. The world economy literally depends upon over consumption to function and we will eventually exhaust the resources needed (another story!)
When my dad died we had a lot to go through, I understand this as his generation had nothing so it made sense to keep spares of everything. My mum learned from this and we really declutterred the house afterwards, which means a lot less time is spent on managing possessions and more on enjoying the time she has left.
I’m really aiming to have a small number of decent quality clothes (as opposed to a rammed wardrobe) and reduce down the numerous storage boxes of stuff we have in the garage to the very core.
We moved last year and we had to put all our possessions in storage for 3 months, it was amazing how little we actually missed which prompted me to start to really reduce down the stuff we owned and simplify where we could.
Even before we packed up, we had to be really mercenary to fit into 6X storage boxes they provided, the original quote was for 9 so we hit the ground running.
We are also very critical about what (if anything) we bring back into the house now, I’m more ruthless than my wife still though.
I had a large number of books as a big reader, I took photos of them in batches of 10 and then donated any that weren’t signed copies or special out to charity promising myself if I couldn’t live without, I’d buy a copy back (haven’t done so far but make great use of the local library).
We eventually got everything into 30X plastic “really useful boxes” so that we can now pull a box at random, empty it and try and get rid of as much content as possible. Eventually I hope these boxes too can be resold once they are emptied (or they’ll go to charity).
House we moved into was filled with the PO’s junk they didn’t want to take with them, so I then had to spend 3 months moving all this stuff out to charity or to the tip as an added bonus to my own stuff.
I give myself a pass out for cars (this is Pistonheads!) but selling one car recently has also opened my eyes to how much effort it takes to keep a couple of hobby cars going in terms of juggling the logistics and finances, so end result might be just one decent older car I can tinker with.
I think age also plays a part, I don’t want my kids to have to go through what I did with my dads stuff and I’m hoping it will be a clean transition for them once I die with very little material stuff to sort having done this first hand for others that have died.
It is very motivating and seems spiritually cleansing to go down this path with your own possessions, akin to a big spring clean.
It’s not meant to eradicate nice things from your life, if anything, you end up appreciating the stuff you do decide to keep more as it either has a very defined function or is beautiful (a piece of art for example) that is no longer lost in other clutter.
The guys referred to above have a saying which seems apt, “use things, love people, and not the other way around”, which is great because less does allow you to focus more on what’s important such as friends and family
I’ve always disliked clutter and really only have things that are needed or useful. A few years ago I moved from London to The EU. I moved out of my three bed house. I didn’t take white goods or beds or sofas but on the move and I was correct what I told the movers. “Bring something like a Luton van” all my worldly goods just about two thirds of the van and that included 12 guitars and a few amps and a dining table (dismantled) couple of other bits like a bureau which I like.
Since I’ve settled here, two bed apartment, I bought white goods, a large sofa, TV .. oh and a couple more guitars.. dammit. The second bed room has guitars/amps, clothes, a bicycle, this n that. Rest of the place is tidy without crap every where. My main bedroom for example has a bed in it.. and that’s it.
Since I’ve settled here, two bed apartment, I bought white goods, a large sofa, TV .. oh and a couple more guitars.. dammit. The second bed room has guitars/amps, clothes, a bicycle, this n that. Rest of the place is tidy without crap every where. My main bedroom for example has a bed in it.. and that’s it.
Hoofy said:
Spare tyre said:
996Type said:
Promoted by another thread, I wrote the below.
Having seen a few friends develop a real problem with hoarding, have you found any ways and tips to live with less?
I’d like to suggest you look up “the minimalists” on the web and download their free pdf if your looking to manage clutter or help others that have an issue with it.
I’ve used them to help me shed around 2/3rds of my belongings so far but you have to be into the process to get the best effect, or just see what small improvements you might make by listening in.
I’m hoping to end up with around a 90% reduction in possessions at the end of the process and not build back up, which sounds a huge amount, but when you do grasp what is actually superfluous in making your happy versus what you actually need to live, it starts to make sense.
I’ll not steal their thunder but acquiring possessions has very deeply routed psychological foundations and the same process that leads to their acquisition can also be a real burden on mental well-being when you own them.
They discuss the 20/20 rule among many other suggestions.
If it can be replaced for £20 within 20 minutes locally, give yourself permission to let go.
A large proportion of your stuff will fall into this category.
Donate to charity (try not to just tip everything) and see the good come of your decluttering.
For example, Age U.K. will email you every time they sell an item you’ve donated so you can see the good your own work is doing in terms of £ raised.
Locally we have a charity that will take any old tools and paint etc to help community projects, better than the stuff rotting in the (packed) garage. Most towns will have similar.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy when you do find a bit of wood or the right washer to fix something from the huge amount of spares you need to carry to achieve this statistically, and your brain is tricked into giving you comfort in the fact you own way too much stuff as a result.
The storage industry is also one of the fastest growing in the world, better storage solutions aren’t the answer, they are just a symptom of the real problem (which is advertising) for us to constantly buy more “stuff”. The world economy literally depends upon over consumption to function and we will eventually exhaust the resources needed (another story!)
When my dad died we had a lot to go through, I understand this as his generation had nothing so it made sense to keep spares of everything. My mum learned from this and we really declutterred the house afterwards, which means a lot less time is spent on managing possessions and more on enjoying the time she has left.
I’m really aiming to have a small number of decent quality clothes (as opposed to a rammed wardrobe) and reduce down the numerous storage boxes of stuff we have in the garage to the very core.
We moved last year and we had to put all our possessions in storage for 3 months, it was amazing how little we actually missed which prompted me to start to really reduce down the stuff we owned and simplify where we could.
Even before we packed up, we had to be really mercenary to fit into 6X storage boxes they provided, the original quote was for 9 so we hit the ground running.
We are also very critical about what (if anything) we bring back into the house now, I’m more ruthless than my wife still though.
I had a large number of books as a big reader, I took photos of them in batches of 10 and then donated any that weren’t signed copies or special out to charity promising myself if I couldn’t live without, I’d buy a copy back (haven’t done so far but make great use of the local library).
We eventually got everything into 30X plastic “really useful boxes” so that we can now pull a box at random, empty it and try and get rid of as much content as possible. Eventually I hope these boxes too can be resold once they are emptied (or they’ll go to charity).
House we moved into was filled with the PO’s junk they didn’t want to take with them, so I then had to spend 3 months moving all this stuff out to charity or to the tip as an added bonus to my own stuff.
I give myself a pass out for cars (this is Pistonheads!) but selling one car recently has also opened my eyes to how much effort it takes to keep a couple of hobby cars going in terms of juggling the logistics and finances, so end result might be just one decent older car I can tinker with.
I think age also plays a part, I don’t want my kids to have to go through what I did with my dads stuff and I’m hoping it will be a clean transition for them once I die with very little material stuff to sort having done this first hand for others that have died.
It is very motivating and seems spiritually cleansing to go down this path with your own possessions, akin to a big spring clean.
It’s not meant to eradicate nice things from your life, if anything, you end up appreciating the stuff you do decide to keep more as it either has a very defined function or is beautiful (a piece of art for example) that is no longer lost in other clutter.
The guys referred to above have a saying which seems apt, “use things, love people, and not the other way around”, which is great because less does allow you to focus more on what’s important such as friends and family
Having seen a few friends develop a real problem with hoarding, have you found any ways and tips to live with less?
I’d like to suggest you look up “the minimalists” on the web and download their free pdf if your looking to manage clutter or help others that have an issue with it.
I’ve used them to help me shed around 2/3rds of my belongings so far but you have to be into the process to get the best effect, or just see what small improvements you might make by listening in.
I’m hoping to end up with around a 90% reduction in possessions at the end of the process and not build back up, which sounds a huge amount, but when you do grasp what is actually superfluous in making your happy versus what you actually need to live, it starts to make sense.
I’ll not steal their thunder but acquiring possessions has very deeply routed psychological foundations and the same process that leads to their acquisition can also be a real burden on mental well-being when you own them.
They discuss the 20/20 rule among many other suggestions.
If it can be replaced for £20 within 20 minutes locally, give yourself permission to let go.
A large proportion of your stuff will fall into this category.
Donate to charity (try not to just tip everything) and see the good come of your decluttering.
For example, Age U.K. will email you every time they sell an item you’ve donated so you can see the good your own work is doing in terms of £ raised.
Locally we have a charity that will take any old tools and paint etc to help community projects, better than the stuff rotting in the (packed) garage. Most towns will have similar.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy when you do find a bit of wood or the right washer to fix something from the huge amount of spares you need to carry to achieve this statistically, and your brain is tricked into giving you comfort in the fact you own way too much stuff as a result.
The storage industry is also one of the fastest growing in the world, better storage solutions aren’t the answer, they are just a symptom of the real problem (which is advertising) for us to constantly buy more “stuff”. The world economy literally depends upon over consumption to function and we will eventually exhaust the resources needed (another story!)
When my dad died we had a lot to go through, I understand this as his generation had nothing so it made sense to keep spares of everything. My mum learned from this and we really declutterred the house afterwards, which means a lot less time is spent on managing possessions and more on enjoying the time she has left.
I’m really aiming to have a small number of decent quality clothes (as opposed to a rammed wardrobe) and reduce down the numerous storage boxes of stuff we have in the garage to the very core.
We moved last year and we had to put all our possessions in storage for 3 months, it was amazing how little we actually missed which prompted me to start to really reduce down the stuff we owned and simplify where we could.
Even before we packed up, we had to be really mercenary to fit into 6X storage boxes they provided, the original quote was for 9 so we hit the ground running.
We are also very critical about what (if anything) we bring back into the house now, I’m more ruthless than my wife still though.
I had a large number of books as a big reader, I took photos of them in batches of 10 and then donated any that weren’t signed copies or special out to charity promising myself if I couldn’t live without, I’d buy a copy back (haven’t done so far but make great use of the local library).
We eventually got everything into 30X plastic “really useful boxes” so that we can now pull a box at random, empty it and try and get rid of as much content as possible. Eventually I hope these boxes too can be resold once they are emptied (or they’ll go to charity).
House we moved into was filled with the PO’s junk they didn’t want to take with them, so I then had to spend 3 months moving all this stuff out to charity or to the tip as an added bonus to my own stuff.
I give myself a pass out for cars (this is Pistonheads!) but selling one car recently has also opened my eyes to how much effort it takes to keep a couple of hobby cars going in terms of juggling the logistics and finances, so end result might be just one decent older car I can tinker with.
I think age also plays a part, I don’t want my kids to have to go through what I did with my dads stuff and I’m hoping it will be a clean transition for them once I die with very little material stuff to sort having done this first hand for others that have died.
It is very motivating and seems spiritually cleansing to go down this path with your own possessions, akin to a big spring clean.
It’s not meant to eradicate nice things from your life, if anything, you end up appreciating the stuff you do decide to keep more as it either has a very defined function or is beautiful (a piece of art for example) that is no longer lost in other clutter.
The guys referred to above have a saying which seems apt, “use things, love people, and not the other way around”, which is great because less does allow you to focus more on what’s important such as friends and family
Spare tyre said:
Hoofy said:
Spare tyre said:
996Type said:
Promoted by another thread, I wrote the below.
Having seen a few friends develop a real problem with hoarding, have you found any ways and tips to live with less?
I’d like to suggest you look up “the minimalists” on the web and download their free pdf if your looking to manage clutter or help others that have an issue with it.
I’ve used them to help me shed around 2/3rds of my belongings so far but you have to be into the process to get the best effect, or just see what small improvements you might make by listening in.
I’m hoping to end up with around a 90% reduction in possessions at the end of the process and not build back up, which sounds a huge amount, but when you do grasp what is actually superfluous in making your happy versus what you actually need to live, it starts to make sense.
I’ll not steal their thunder but acquiring possessions has very deeply routed psychological foundations and the same process that leads to their acquisition can also be a real burden on mental well-being when you own them.
They discuss the 20/20 rule among many other suggestions.
If it can be replaced for £20 within 20 minutes locally, give yourself permission to let go.
A large proportion of your stuff will fall into this category.
Donate to charity (try not to just tip everything) and see the good come of your decluttering.
For example, Age U.K. will email you every time they sell an item you’ve donated so you can see the good your own work is doing in terms of £ raised.
Locally we have a charity that will take any old tools and paint etc to help community projects, better than the stuff rotting in the (packed) garage. Most towns will have similar.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy when you do find a bit of wood or the right washer to fix something from the huge amount of spares you need to carry to achieve this statistically, and your brain is tricked into giving you comfort in the fact you own way too much stuff as a result.
The storage industry is also one of the fastest growing in the world, better storage solutions aren’t the answer, they are just a symptom of the real problem (which is advertising) for us to constantly buy more “stuff”. The world economy literally depends upon over consumption to function and we will eventually exhaust the resources needed (another story!)
When my dad died we had a lot to go through, I understand this as his generation had nothing so it made sense to keep spares of everything. My mum learned from this and we really declutterred the house afterwards, which means a lot less time is spent on managing possessions and more on enjoying the time she has left.
I’m really aiming to have a small number of decent quality clothes (as opposed to a rammed wardrobe) and reduce down the numerous storage boxes of stuff we have in the garage to the very core.
We moved last year and we had to put all our possessions in storage for 3 months, it was amazing how little we actually missed which prompted me to start to really reduce down the stuff we owned and simplify where we could.
Even before we packed up, we had to be really mercenary to fit into 6X storage boxes they provided, the original quote was for 9 so we hit the ground running.
We are also very critical about what (if anything) we bring back into the house now, I’m more ruthless than my wife still though.
I had a large number of books as a big reader, I took photos of them in batches of 10 and then donated any that weren’t signed copies or special out to charity promising myself if I couldn’t live without, I’d buy a copy back (haven’t done so far but make great use of the local library).
We eventually got everything into 30X plastic “really useful boxes” so that we can now pull a box at random, empty it and try and get rid of as much content as possible. Eventually I hope these boxes too can be resold once they are emptied (or they’ll go to charity).
House we moved into was filled with the PO’s junk they didn’t want to take with them, so I then had to spend 3 months moving all this stuff out to charity or to the tip as an added bonus to my own stuff.
I give myself a pass out for cars (this is Pistonheads!) but selling one car recently has also opened my eyes to how much effort it takes to keep a couple of hobby cars going in terms of juggling the logistics and finances, so end result might be just one decent older car I can tinker with.
I think age also plays a part, I don’t want my kids to have to go through what I did with my dads stuff and I’m hoping it will be a clean transition for them once I die with very little material stuff to sort having done this first hand for others that have died.
It is very motivating and seems spiritually cleansing to go down this path with your own possessions, akin to a big spring clean.
It’s not meant to eradicate nice things from your life, if anything, you end up appreciating the stuff you do decide to keep more as it either has a very defined function or is beautiful (a piece of art for example) that is no longer lost in other clutter.
The guys referred to above have a saying which seems apt, “use things, love people, and not the other way around”, which is great because less does allow you to focus more on what’s important such as friends and family
Having seen a few friends develop a real problem with hoarding, have you found any ways and tips to live with less?
I’d like to suggest you look up “the minimalists” on the web and download their free pdf if your looking to manage clutter or help others that have an issue with it.
I’ve used them to help me shed around 2/3rds of my belongings so far but you have to be into the process to get the best effect, or just see what small improvements you might make by listening in.
I’m hoping to end up with around a 90% reduction in possessions at the end of the process and not build back up, which sounds a huge amount, but when you do grasp what is actually superfluous in making your happy versus what you actually need to live, it starts to make sense.
I’ll not steal their thunder but acquiring possessions has very deeply routed psychological foundations and the same process that leads to their acquisition can also be a real burden on mental well-being when you own them.
They discuss the 20/20 rule among many other suggestions.
If it can be replaced for £20 within 20 minutes locally, give yourself permission to let go.
A large proportion of your stuff will fall into this category.
Donate to charity (try not to just tip everything) and see the good come of your decluttering.
For example, Age U.K. will email you every time they sell an item you’ve donated so you can see the good your own work is doing in terms of £ raised.
Locally we have a charity that will take any old tools and paint etc to help community projects, better than the stuff rotting in the (packed) garage. Most towns will have similar.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy when you do find a bit of wood or the right washer to fix something from the huge amount of spares you need to carry to achieve this statistically, and your brain is tricked into giving you comfort in the fact you own way too much stuff as a result.
The storage industry is also one of the fastest growing in the world, better storage solutions aren’t the answer, they are just a symptom of the real problem (which is advertising) for us to constantly buy more “stuff”. The world economy literally depends upon over consumption to function and we will eventually exhaust the resources needed (another story!)
When my dad died we had a lot to go through, I understand this as his generation had nothing so it made sense to keep spares of everything. My mum learned from this and we really declutterred the house afterwards, which means a lot less time is spent on managing possessions and more on enjoying the time she has left.
I’m really aiming to have a small number of decent quality clothes (as opposed to a rammed wardrobe) and reduce down the numerous storage boxes of stuff we have in the garage to the very core.
We moved last year and we had to put all our possessions in storage for 3 months, it was amazing how little we actually missed which prompted me to start to really reduce down the stuff we owned and simplify where we could.
Even before we packed up, we had to be really mercenary to fit into 6X storage boxes they provided, the original quote was for 9 so we hit the ground running.
We are also very critical about what (if anything) we bring back into the house now, I’m more ruthless than my wife still though.
I had a large number of books as a big reader, I took photos of them in batches of 10 and then donated any that weren’t signed copies or special out to charity promising myself if I couldn’t live without, I’d buy a copy back (haven’t done so far but make great use of the local library).
We eventually got everything into 30X plastic “really useful boxes” so that we can now pull a box at random, empty it and try and get rid of as much content as possible. Eventually I hope these boxes too can be resold once they are emptied (or they’ll go to charity).
House we moved into was filled with the PO’s junk they didn’t want to take with them, so I then had to spend 3 months moving all this stuff out to charity or to the tip as an added bonus to my own stuff.
I give myself a pass out for cars (this is Pistonheads!) but selling one car recently has also opened my eyes to how much effort it takes to keep a couple of hobby cars going in terms of juggling the logistics and finances, so end result might be just one decent older car I can tinker with.
I think age also plays a part, I don’t want my kids to have to go through what I did with my dads stuff and I’m hoping it will be a clean transition for them once I die with very little material stuff to sort having done this first hand for others that have died.
It is very motivating and seems spiritually cleansing to go down this path with your own possessions, akin to a big spring clean.
It’s not meant to eradicate nice things from your life, if anything, you end up appreciating the stuff you do decide to keep more as it either has a very defined function or is beautiful (a piece of art for example) that is no longer lost in other clutter.
The guys referred to above have a saying which seems apt, “use things, love people, and not the other way around”, which is great because less does allow you to focus more on what’s important such as friends and family
Some good tips.
In terms of tools, I’ve never given anything away but have multiples now and need to sort through (hammers etc).
These are on the list to be compacted down to a single half / quarter inch kit and decent screwdrivers. Had this shadow boarded at the last place but might make them more mobile here.
Did the same with multiple power drills, gone down to the Makita 18V stuff and just have a driver and drill now in one case and a fresh set of drill bits (as opposed to two shoe boxes of part worn bits!)
I managed to get the racking above years ago from work and some quality boxes as my original post, these are about £15 each.
All the stuff has gone into these with the front labelled and this is what we are now working through. There’s still stuff back to my year of birth in those, every time we go through one we find another batch of stuff. Reckon at the end I’ll have ten of those for everything, that will be it, down from around 40!
The kids get three of these for toys and have to have a clear out if they spill over.
When my dad died we had a bad time going through all the stuff, think the poster above mentioning turning 50 is where my mind is, would like possessions to be minimal and not be sat on a lot of unused stuff when I die, making it much simpler for everyone then and better for me / my state of mind now!
fasimew said:
I find hoarding 'stuff' to be fine, so long as it can be kept organised. If it can't be hidden away and found easily when you need it, it is then just clutter.
This is the truth for me. I don't mind having stuff, so long as it's well organised and we can find what we need. "A place for everything and everything in its place" springs to mind. My wife and daughters are hugely into crafting and it wound me up no end having craft stuff everywhere so I turned our understairs area into the craft store and everything got carefully filed into boxes assorted by activity. Works pretty well for us.
Saying that, I love having a good sort out and dumping useless crap that's been clogging up the house.
Edited by MBVitoria on Monday 11th March 06:50
We're quite minimalistic ...as long as you don't look in the attic :big laugh:
Seriously tho, I'd love to get rid of clutter but the OH seems to be the other way. The neatest we've ever been was when we downsized to a 2 bed new build but its creeping back up again.
The thing is everything looks so much neater and so spacious. When I was tiling the kitchen we had clear out and a bit of a rearrange and we actually have worktop now! But I just know it won't last.
Just one example, On a shelf in our spare room we have a pile of 17 plastic basins left over from when we had a website. They've sat there for 4 years and never been touched. Why?
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