Clutter free help please

I take your point Lupatria but having cleared out my MIL flat and helping an elderly neighbour with her house there is no way I'd leave everything to my daughters to do. Its quite upsetting apart from time consuming
Am gradually minimising Present task is scannning photos and reducing the ridiculous number of albums of people and places the FEd won't want when I'm gone
One article I read suggested you photograph things-e.g cards before you ditch them .

I really want to empty my loft I don't have much up their of my own but my son who now lives permanently abroad has several large plastic boxes of school and UNI 'stuff' up there , he often says I must sort that stuff out next time I come but he's been through it twice and has got rid of some stuff but his school/UNI stuff and some of his deceased Dad things are still there I'd feel bad getting rid of it but what the heck am I supposed to do with it? I can't send it to him it would cost a fortune.
Any suggestions gratefully received. Some really good suggestions for decluttering here I must say. Sorry maybe I should of started my own thread.

If in doubt........Chuck it out. Works for us.

I am really untidy but in my head I long to be tidy. Desperation has set in. I have just purchased a book on Amazon called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: The Japanese Art. I must be serious as I purchased the hard back version.

Thank you loopylou for the information.

A new book???? More clutter!!!!

Just sat down for a cup of tea and a ' quick ' Look in here and had to smile at this thread. I have spent the morning having a good old sort out. Day in day out I wear the same few outfits. I have a large amount of clothes that fall out of the wardrobe when I open it - so I don't. However woke up this morning and thought today is the day. Took out everything that was piled up and sorted summer/winter. Boxed up everything I still love but doesn't fit (dieting at the mo ! ! It will fit soon...... honest ! ) And everything I am indifferent too (even new still with tags ) will be off to the charity shops. I can now get into wardrobe which means access to my clothes = result ! On a roll sorted out the airing cupboard so more donations.

Yes must start the clear out. You are all an inspiration. Must also lose weight. Have just looked at last year's summer clothes and they filled me with depression. Will make a start today. Promise.

Have you tried Freegle? Most towns have one - just Google "Freegle" + your town. You can enter the things you want to give away, or answer some of the "Wanted" notices. Its aim is to encourage recycling rather than sending things to the dump. You don't given your address away until you are satisfied that someone really wants what you are advertising.

Whilst I am still able to get out and about I have a full diary of classes, hobbies, clubs, social dinners, holiday abroad, visits to relatives and friends etc. I seem to only have time to correspond, buy flights, various types of tickets, etc and no time to sort.

I decided the best thing to do was to get into some good habits. So now I give away to people with families any large kitchen dishes which I would only use occasionally, I make sure if I buy new clothes I put an equal amount into the charity bag etc. So basically I am trying for a status quo and no increase in volume.

Once a year I have a professional declutterer come for 4 hours, we go through the house, choose what to tackle and get on with it. I try to have her visit a day or two before my cleaner is coming so that I have someone to help me finish up.

Last time we did souvenirs from travels abroad that I was not displaying and would not need. We put these in boxes for a charity for their raffle or tombola. On one occasion I did clothes on another one books. Once, one area of type of thing and thats me for the year.

We did it almost 3 years ago and it was an awful experience. Having said that, I'm glad we did it now so that we won't be in my parents' positions if, like them, we make it into our 90s. We have lost a few things which I'm sorry about but in the grand scheme of things they won't matter.
One of the things I found most difficult was getting rid of things I thought might be of value. I found auction houses were quite happy to advise and eBay was another good source to give an idea of value. Anything under £30 went to charity shops, and no, I didn't have anything which will appear on Antiques Roadshow in the future.
Grit your teeth, it will all be worth it.

We now go through the flat every 2 or 3 months so that things don't get out of hand and we try to adopt a 1 in 1 out policy.

DH is my problem. He won't get rid of anything!! He has clothes he has had for years and never wears; we have horrible pieces of furniture cluttering our smallish lounge that we have regular rows about because he won't get rid of them. They perform no function, other than gather dust and accumulate more clutter. I said not long ago I didn't like the way our lounge had everything in a row with no real shape to our room and he said it was the only way he could 'get it all in'. Surely that's not a good reason to keep things? Try as hard as I might, he won't listen to me and do anything about it and what he doesn't realise it really gets me down. I am about to sit him down again very soon and talk to him about a makeover for the lounge, but I'm guessing we will end up warring. Any ideas how I might be able to get him to shift his position?

I can't do this. For some strange reason as soon as I throw something out something happens and I need whatever has gone. I hunt around thinking i know I have so-and-so somewhere, and then remember it has been thrown out! Of course as long as I hang onto things I never need them!

I don't know if anyone has already mentioned it, but if you have a lot for a charity shop they may send a van to collect it. This happened when we were getting a new kitchen and had tons of stuff to give away.

trisher I thought that was normal!

We moved recently and have spent a long time decluttering. I gave so much away to friends as well as to folk we didn't know. Much went to charity shops and homeless shelters and a fair bit went to the tip. It is such a relief not to be burdened by an excess of possessions!

We took as a warning to ourselves the predicament of an elderly friend, now in her nineties, who has never disposed of anything since "it might be useful to someone else if not to me" but she didn't pass anything on and has kept stuff so long that much of it is ruined because she didn't store it well. Now she is less able she can't deal with it herself and so others are having to do the job for her and she is full of regret about the waste.

Mermaid if all else fails perhaps you need to do some 'disappearing' now and again. Careful rearrangement is needed but it does work!

I am just remembering a favourite aunt who used to go off down the garden with newspaper and matches and regularly set fire to stuff including large pieces of furniture. She also took a hammer to the 'hated heirlooms' and now we often wonder if she rid us all of some fabulous treasures although at the time we just giggled, thinking it really funny.

It was obviously therapeutic!

I would just like to endorse Conni7's suggestion of freegle. If you can't find a local freegle group, you may find something if you search for freecycle. It's a great way to get rid of unwanted stuff knowing that somebody else is going to be delighted to receive it.

anniebach I am like you, I do want to get rid of a lot of stuff, then I look at it and think 'so and so gave me that' or 'that belonged to my mum/mil/aunt/dad' etc.
However, I have just thrown out 3 or 4 pairs of old curtains (perfectly good, not worn or faded), when we decorated I made new ones and room by room they got put in a box in the attic. I kept thinking, I may use these again but I never will! Plus all the baby stuff we accumulated for the DGD (youngest is now 4). It's all going to the charity shop tomorrow, a few bits to a friend.

Some charity shops will collect larger items, furniture etc.

Our loft needs sorting - again

DD's partner's mother has a firm which helps people to declutter (not in this country). I wonder if she knows that DD has left most of her junk possessions at our house but is probably busy acquiring more? They are two opposite ends of the spectrum

Declutter was my New Years resolution this year. We started at the end of last year. I have our belongings and various elderly family members belongings. We boxed everything up as it all needed cleaned before it could be dealt with. For a number of years now we have lived with piles of boxes that are moved about as space is needed. It feels quite overpowering at times. Last year the declutter began but at times felt quite overwhelmed with it all. But, a wonderful feeling seeing cleared areas.

Still have difficulty clearing out books but there is plenty other clearing out which can be done. Emotional ties to objects have caused the most difficulty. If I die daughter is going to have to deal with it all - that thought helps give me clarity at times.

We have a rule - 2 things out each day. It's working and most days more goes out.

Do you have a local selling site (maybe on Facebook)? I've made a few pounds by selling things I didn't want. People will usually collect, so you don't need a car and you don't need to stand around in the cold like in a car boot. I've keep the money separate and buy myself a treat every so often. I have a rule to get rid of something every time I bring something into the house (admit I don't always keep to it).

I am overwhelmed with it all @ the moment. Paperwork is my biggest problem I walk into my living room & I don't know where to start. I just move things from one place to the other. My shed & spare bedroom also want sorting out.

Lots of our stuff is boxed up because of refurbishing.

I am not going to unpack it all when we have finished.
Repeat
I AM NOT going to unpack it all

I may convince myself soon

I read somewhere if it won't cost more than £20 and take more than 20 minutes to replace it, just ditch it .I have got rid of a couple of things and wished I hadn't, but on balance nothing really important and it's not hard to buy a new red jacket !
I like the William.Morris diktat
'Keep nothing in your houses unless you know it to be useful or believe it to be beautiful (to which I would add 'or has great sentimental value ') Regarding the latter ,again I took the advice to buy a beautiful box and prune your collection to a size which would fit it .Have managed to throw away over well over 100 wedding cards.I kept a few which said especially nice or touching things Can't quite do the baby ones yet though .
Marie Kondo has made a fortune from her book but I'm not sure she's saying more than the above .You are supposed to thank items for the use/pleasure you have had from them before discarding anything which does not 'spark joy'It's a bit woo for me .....