De-cluttering, the never-ending process

What could I do with old videos still got old video recorder/player don't know how it works?

MayBee70

Being obsessed with history I find it difficult to throw away things like eg old pay slips that show how little we lived on in our youth. I know I should go through things like that and make a little folder of one of each thing but even that seems like a mammoth task.

I have 3 sections left after 4 years decluttering at my own pace.
Paperwork, sentimentals, and loft.

I dont have that much sentimental stuff. So hopefully that wont take very long.

I have had a few goes at the loft over the years.

It is paperwork that is the biggest job left.

re cds and dvds. I did buy a small dvd.cd player, still in its box. It will link to my laptop via usb, future proofing

Nan231

We have a plethera of unopened DVD's. just been saying to hubby,we ought to get rid of them.
This weekend my intention is to declutter kitchen items. Things such as rolling pins,why have i got 3 when i always use the same one.

Ever since I had the facility to record things on videos or then buy dvd’s I’ve had this problem that I then feel that they are then some sort of extension of my brain or memory and I don’t get round to watching them. Then, if a film I have on dvd is on tv I make a point of watching it on tv. I do have some amazing things that I’ve video’d over the years that don’t seem to be on utube that I’d like to put on the internet myself but I’m not sure about copyright.

Mamma same here re spending habits. I have completely changed my ways and no longer need the endorphins

There is such a lot of psychology involved on most posts and some posts are very sad. What I am admiring is the sheer willingness to get out of that stuck position, I know it is very hard. mentally and physically but the determination to move forward is very heart warming and personally, I feel a lot of support from kindred spirits

Re ebay, I used to be an ebay trader ie buying and selling, just prior to the millenium. It was good and I made enough money but my dining room was filled with packaging and there was the sheer hassle of getting everything packed and posted. I am not going that route, not ever again.

I did some clearing this morning, I always stop by lunchtime. Today I combined it with that spring cleaning of just one shelf in a kitchen cupboard and consequently with a bit in the garage. Some more is binned, rolser trolley number two is in the hall waiting to be filled for the cs, that one has a bit of fraying but is perfectly good. I decided to keep rolser trolley number 1 as it is so sturdy, the old rare cow print. Rolser 3 is folded quite small on a shelf and is good for the car

I have thrown stuff out, saved stuff for cs and ended up with more empty space and two more empty really useful boxes

At lunchtime, I had that lightbulb moment, sitting in my living room which is 20 x 11 feet with a chimney breast. Imagining me in a 12 x 11 and working out what I could take and what I would re-home with AC. It was a re-assuring moment, very do-able in the future, if needed.

We are going through a huge declutter, gradually condensing our belongs and those of my late parents. I am probably about 85% of the way through. It has taken two years. The thing I have noticed in the last three months or so is the extent to which it has changed my spending habits. I only buy things we actually really need and tend to work on, ‘one thing in, one thing out’. It has been transformational

If I seriously have to declutter, the first thing out would be chief clutterer, DH, who has piles of magazines her thinks he will have time to read, piles of papers mostly on the floors. If I put a letter down, he will decide that is a good place for another pile, so the letter disappears (nothing to do with him)!

We have a plethera of unopened DVD's. just been saying to hubby,we ought to get rid of them.
This weekend my intention is to declutter kitchen items. Things such as rolling pins,why have i got 3 when i always use the same one.

Being obsessed with history I find it difficult to throw away things like eg old pay slips that show how little we lived on in our youth. I know I should go through things like that and make a little folder of one of each thing but even that seems like a mammoth task.

When my mum had to start sorting her home out after my stepfather's mostly unexpected death, I used to tell her just to see sorting out his office as a series of small steps, and not to look at the office as one huge project.
It worked - she tackled one shelf at a time and it didn't overwhelm her doing it like thst.

Sar53 l know how you feel, same either my DH l begged him to sort out the garage before we moved to a bungalow, l said you sit on a chair and I'll sort stuff out, but to no avail, it all moved with us, now he's gone l have it all to sort out, I'm waiting for a lovely sunny weekend so it doesn't feel so much of a chore

When we moved in 2013 we carried out the promise we made each other when we had had to clear my parents¨ house after my father's death in 2009.

It was brutally straightforward: only to keep things that were in use, or had great sentimental value, or that we realistically foresaw a need for in the IMMEDIATE future.

The few years that passed after burning 25 years of Inland revenue forms, receipts, old Christmas cards received from friends and equally old ones that had never been used, plus a dress suit from before the second World War, a St Andrew's University undergraduate's gown etc. etc. etc. made us relatively hard-hearted when it came to our own stuff.

Since we moved, I destroy the four year old receipts and tax papers at new year, when the financial year ends here, and I put the new lot away.

We have stopped buying "stuff" because it would be nice to have, limit ourselves to one new Christmas bauble or Easter decoration a year and only keep books we know we will re-read.

I have also gone through old photograph albums, passed those from my father's side of the family on to my cousins on that side who have children who are interested in old photos of relations they never knew. Photos from my mother's family have been culled, as no-one will want them after I am gone.

I regularly estimate how many old jam jars I need, as it took three or four trips to the nearest bottle bank to dispose of those my mother had kept for years after she stopped jam-making, and heresy of all heresies in my family THROW THE REST OUT (recycle them).

Like everything else, starting is hard, especially if you do it immediately after a bereavement, but the process does become easier once you get used to seriously considering what you need or really want to keep.

Warm winter coats are welcome at the Care4Calais charity in the Reading, Henley area

We have had a massive clear out as we are moving. The worst area was the garage, why do we keep things "in case". It has been exhausting both mentally and physically but we are looking forward to going back to what we know as home.

I am decluttering. My wonderful husband was a great help. Sadly he died last week so it’s all down to me now. We always donated clothes to the Sally Army and other stuff to our local hospice. I’m carrying on but have a dilemma- I don’t have anyone who would clear the house when I die, or would even know that I have died. I have a daughter but we’re estranged ~ her decision. I don’t know where she is anymore. Tony and I wanted all of our assets (including the house) to go to the RNLI.
In Scotland you can’t disinherit a child, so they get a proportion of any monies left behind.
I am seeing a solicitor about a will next week, perhaps she will be of help.
What do I do about next of kin? Is there an organisation that will phone every day or so to check that I am still alive? I have a funeral plan so that is taken care of.
I don’t have any health concerns but who knows what the future holds. I would hate to think that the cats are left to starve if I couldn’t feed them. I will sign up to Cat Guardians, but they would have to be informed.
Any suggestions welcome.

We've lived in the same house for 48 years, so you can imagine the amount of clutter we have accumulated. During lockdown we sorted out the utility room and the cupboard under the stairs and since September we have attacked the attic.
We have general rubbish collections once a fortnight and, because we recycle so much rubbish, we have room in the bin. We go up to the attic once a fortnight and find enough rubbish to fill it up, plus more cardboard boxes to recycle!
It has made a big difference, you can now see the floor in places, and it spurred us on to make a trip to the tip with a mattress and a few bigger items.
Photos are my DH's biggest moan, I inherited albums and loose photos from both grandparents, my DH the same. I have some of our own on CD but I worry that this form of storage, like the floppy disc, will one day become obsolete. When I last bought a new laptop there were very few models that had a disc drive in them and I do enjoy looking back at old photos. Also I have some of the really old plate photos that can't be exposed to bright light or they will fade- how could I ever reproduce those?

The cost of postage and worry over delivery/payment put me off trying to see things via Ebay.

I am on my tenth move. This is a small new build house and, be warned, they usually have poor storage and sockets and radiators that are all in the wrong places in terms of placing furniture.

So, I gave away furniture, books and clothes to charities.
I suggest taking it slowly, in case you realise you've given away things that you now regret.

Examples: The Complete Works of Shakespeare, a collection of clothes with Biba and Mary Quant labels, embroidered tableclothes
and 'brown' solid furniture which was snapped up by dealers the next day because there is still a market for it in cottages/country houses. It didn't go to the needy.

I kept all my photograph albums because there are difficult choices still to be made.

MerylStreep

Casdon
I’m afraid there isn’t an answer. We have a HUGE problem with too many clothes being produced and thrown away.
Charity shops just don’t have the room to store a large amount of clothes.
My friend is a manger of a very well known charity. At the end of every day all remaining clothing is bagged up for rag, why? because they know the next day more and more donations are coming in.

That’s quite depressing, I’ve never got into EBay, Vinted etc., but it does make me think the good stuff I want to get rid of would be better sold than donated now.

I do love the sally army and their collectors, ever since they used to appear in the pub across the road where I lived in the 50s and their bands, so full of goodwill and cheer.

No doubt they get a lot of rags but not all charities can be tarred with that brush of yours Meryl. I will continue to use the salvation army bank for all my good and useful wearables. I make sure that they are folded and neatly bagged

I am back now, only a 15 minute round trip, walking

Coffee now and then a kitchen cupboard, I think I will start to release all my sourdough equipment, bannetons etc. I have a lot but I need to go with the flow of getting older. She who bends does not break

I meant to say, the rag industry is estimated at 5billion £/$ worldwide.

Casdon
I’m afraid there isn’t an answer. We have a HUGE problem with too many clothes being produced and thrown away.
Charity shops just don’t have the room to store a large amount of clothes.
My friend is a manger of a very well known charity. At the end of every day all remaining clothing is bagged up for rag, why? because they know the next day more and more donations are coming in.

Do you think there is a better way to donate clothes to ensure they are re-used MerylStreep? I think a lot of us would be interested if there is.

KarmaLady
This is the second link put up that is from the Salvation Army.
Of course they are going to paint an ethical picture. They aren’t going to tell the truth of where the vast majority of their clothe donations go.
It might look as if I’m singling out the Salvation Army, I’m not, they all do it.
As I said above: I’ve been talking to rag collectors for years in the charity shop where I sort clothing.
People need to take the rose coloured glasses off where charities are concerned: it’s business.
Not that it means anything to anyone here but no one gets in our shop.