De-cluttering, the never-ending process

I rest assured that my clothing to salvation army will be sold for re-use

www.salvationarmytrading.org.uk/donating/what-happens-to-your-donations

Calendargirl. it starts with sorting and recording paperwork and details in an accessible file. Lots of shredding of other papers. I think that is the basis to `dying tidy` and immediately the load starts to lift. My file is in a small handy case in my wardrobe and my executers know about it

Then a bit at a time, maybe just a drawer or a kitchen cupboard, I intend to do that today. Not a lot but the upside is that it is also tidied and cleaned and yes, like a mini spring clean every time

Rosie51

karmalady

MerylStreep

Not the Salvation Army bins. That goes straight to the recycling companies.

Arghhh, I have put a lot of good warm clothing and shoes into the local salvation army bin. That is gutting

I too did the "Arghhh" but have googled and found this link, so we can breathe again

www.salvationarmy.org.uk/clothing-bank

A million times thank you for that link Rosie. It brought tears to my eyes, all those warm hand made jumpers that I made for my husband and for me, wrapped and put into the bank. Now I will be able to let go of a nice warm practical coat with big pockets and a hood. To do this to the loved sally army, is a biggie for me

I lay in bed last night thinking about this thread.

I mentally went through the rooms in our house, thinking about what it would be like for my family to sort if I died suddenly.

I still have a lot of stuff I suppose, but not much that is unused or unwanted really. The garage would be a worry if DH went. It’s tidyish, and he knows where things are, but so much ‘stuff’, tools, nails and screws, man type things.

It would be a nightmare.

Then thankfully I fell asleep.

😴

Humbertbear

I spent several years sorting out a lifetime’s photo albums. I saved photos of people and mounted them in chronological order in three albums, Every photo is labelled and the albums are accompanied by a family tree. I gave them to my DS and GD. I threw away thousands of pretty (and not so pretty) pictures of all the places in the world we have visited. I did also give away over a thousand books but it made little difference to the bookcases. We don’t buy Knick knacks but my collection of books on Polar Exploration is way out of hand.

I think I’ve got a book on Polar exploration that you need to have! I can’t remember who it’s by but it was a typical purchase made having gone to a talk given by the man who did it. I never got round to reading it I’m afraid.

Rosie51
Don’t believe the people who want you to believe, dig a little deeper. I’ve been speaking to Rag collectors for 7 years.
There’s no point in me relating anecdotal conversations but here is an article from an ethical organisation who do know

what’s going on.
If you don’t wish to read the whole article scroll down to the picture on the left ( bales of clothing)
The paragraph that starts As the book Clothing Poverty

www.consciouslifeandstyle.com/what-happens-to-donated-clothes/

Thanks, Karma. I’ve gone down a CD/DVD storage rabbit hole now.

IKWYM about the nostalgia for items. I had a very nice Maslin pan which I dithered over even though I knew in my heart of hearts that I was most unlikely to ever make jam or marmalade again, or even really ever want to make them. It was still hard to say goodbye to it.

I hope I'm not going to sound morbid, but having been an executor 3 times (all very different circumstances), I am determined not to leave too much 'stuff' for anyone to sort out when I am gone.
It's so easy to accumulate things these days, isn't it?!

karmalady

MerylStreep

Not the Salvation Army bins. That goes straight to the recycling companies.

Arghhh, I have put a lot of good warm clothing and shoes into the local salvation army bin. That is gutting

I too did the "Arghhh" but have googled and found this link, so we can breathe again

www.salvationarmy.org.uk/clothing-bank

I am quite good at recycling things that are good quality; I have several charity shops I can take them to. But I have great difficulties with, say, chipped/stained/damaged items or clothes not good enough to donate. I have the ghost of the landfill sitting on my shoulder, filling me with guilt if I throw something away, even when it is no longer of any use! I do a lot of upcycling, finding ways to reuse things in the garden etc., but still keep far too much just in case I can use it one day. I just don't know how to get out of this mindset.

Sue I got mine from amazon. read the measurements carefully. I had to send one back as it was too small. It is called caselogic cd wallet. I have 4 and they are good quality

I have lovely nordic ware tins, bundt tins, shortbread tins and several others. Once upon a time, I used them. I know they should go. I can`t do it, even though they sit unused in top cupboards in my kitchen. Grhh, it really is hard to let go

Those CD cases look good, Karma. Dh won’t countenance them but I’d use them for my music. Where did you buy yours? I couldn’t find anywhere that sells them.

Decluttering is a perpetual activity nowadays, I suppose because it’s so easy to buy more things nowadays. We did a huge declutter to move last year and had to be quite ruthless as we were going to a smaller house. We’ve moved many times over the years, well into double figures, but that was the longest time we’d lived anywhere and had acquired a lot of stuff. It was a hard-core declutter!

In many ways, it’s a relief to have fewer belongings - decisions have been made and that’s that. I think from now on I’ll regard decluttering more as Spring cleaning, which to me seems less onerous. My mum spring-cleaned all year round so has never had to declutter. I didn’t inherit her minimalist genes.

We take anything worth having to Headway. We get space and they get some income.

We chose Headway as they were fantastic when DS1 had a stroke.

karmalady

would you recommend charity shop or salvation army bin for a very good quality rainproof warm winter coatwith a hood? It will be going but I am not sure who to

Sell it on eBay and donate the money instead

MerylStreep

Not the Salvation Army bins. That goes straight to the recycling companies.

Arghhh, I have put a lot of good warm clothing and shoes into the local salvation army bin. That is gutting

When I decided to move probably into a flat, I spent a good five years decluttering. Was quite fun. Sold lots on local Gumtree and 'found' things I did not even know I had lost!!!!

When I discovered two packing boxes still taped up that had come in my previous move several year earlier from the family house. I began to realise how easy it was to just collect things.

So I moved into my flat - not quite minimalist- but with little clutter. Three and half years here and ch clutter I have collected again. Having got rid of my car I have a lovely big garage in which to 'store' it, Every so often I have a splurge and have sold on quite a few items (using Gumtree or local Marketplace). Before I moved I got rid of my entire, large stash of knitting wool to local knitting group, Have now an even large stash!!!!!!

Not sure why I am keeping so many of my favourite books - I find print hard to read these days, prefer audio books. Photos........well, like all of our age group, far too many of these. Once a year do a local car boot sale with my daughter, and really do work hard to get rid of stuff in my garage then. Know that what is there will just be thrown out when I am no longer here. As my g.kids go off to Uni, etc I do love it when I am able to pass on to them some of this acquired stuff - so two of them have had microwaves from my garage, another has had a food processor, a juicer, etc. etc.

karmalady

would you recommend charity shop or salvation army bin for a very good quality rainproof warm winter coatwith a hood? It will be going but I am not sure who to

I volunteer in a charity shop and they are quite fussy about the condition of clothes. However if they are not in good condition they go in a textile recycling bag and will still get money for the charity.

Not the Salvation Army bins. That goes straight to the recycling companies.

would you recommend charity shop or salvation army bin for a very good quality rainproof warm winter coatwith a hood? It will be going but I am not sure who to

I plan on getting rid of at least half of my clothes this summer. Good quality will be sold on ebay. Three years ago I made enough for three months groceries doing this. The rest will go to charity.

Thanks for you advice Maw, based on experience and wisdom x

like this one

www.caselogic.com/en-gb/electronics-cases/cd-wallets/case-logic-224-capacity-cd-wallet-_-caselogic_85854016704

re dvds and cds, I took every one out of its case and bought caselogic cases that store neatly side by side on a shelf. I printed a label for each case and just gave the outline genre such as classical, new age etc

I have actually moved 11 times in all, most were up the ladder and to do with work. Moving bigger is easiest, moving to smaller and smaller is very much harder in all ways

Iam, I truly empathise re your photos. My husband actually spent a very long time getting every photo onto dvds and usb, now the AC each have the full set and he made sheets showing all the photos in miniature. I kept only very few of the most precious original photos, a shoe box worth and got rid of the rest and there were a lot. My siblings dumped all the family photos on me when mum passed. If that was me now, with so much more adaptation to being widowed, I would take the lot to a professional and s*d the cost. Each one had to be scanned or photographed and then edited and stored

Truly, doing the photos was the hardest part and would be so upsetting to do as a widow.

I'm in the middle of a big de-clutter and it seems never ending.
How did I accumulate so much stuff?
I'm going to the charity shop again today.