Downsizing and decluttering your life!

[Baz]

I don't know about you folks......but I have too much stuff!

I know I need to work on this and am trying to figure it all out.

Some YT vids to provide inspiration and info......







Plenty of more on YT......but at some point you already know what you have to do....lol.....

[NY65912]

We have been decluttering and getting rid of stuff for a few years. I used to look at stuff and not want to get rid of it. Now, it's like, ok, haven't used it in a while, gone. Fees liberating.

Look up Swedish Death Cleaning

[Evans, Marv]

I think I'm in the early stages of decluttering. I'm making an attempt to clean up some things around the outside of my place - things I've hung onto thinking I might have a use for them. I've done a good job of usiing up some of it, but now it's time to clear out the rest. After that, Who knows?

[wdfifteen]

At about the 1 minute mark the 3rd video finally gives us some methods for decluttering and downsizing. If you don't care to hear some random guys' life stories, skip the first two videos.

One year we used a method to get rid of clothes that worked pretty well. We designated one area of the closet rod for clothes we had worn. After wearing something, it would go on that part of the hanger. After a year, we got rid of all the clothes that we had not worn. Pretty simple, and helps overcome the "Oh, I might want to wear this someday" trap.

[masraum]

We did a MAJOR job of that 10 years ago. We were empty nest, and decided to make a change. We sold our moderately sized 4br home in the 'burbs and moved to a 2br apt for 8-9 months, then we got rid of more stuff and switched to a 1br apt. It was tough to get rid of all of the stuff that we got rid of initially. After some time to aclimate, we were able to get rid of some more stuff. We did/do still have a storage unit with some stuff. We are back in a home, but it's smaller. We still have a storage unit that will eventually get emptied, at least, that's the plan.

It was nice to declutter. I got rid of some stuff (tools mostly) thinking, "if I need those again, I'll just buy them." Yes, I can and have and will continue to, but a lot of the stuff has increased dramatically in cost. But it still wasn't the wrong decision, I don't think.

[ErrorMargin]

Originally Posted by Baz

I don't know about you folks......but I have too much stuff!

I know I need to work on this and am trying to figure it all out.

I've been working on this with my parents quite a bit. They are in their 80s and have way too much junk. I've offered to help them clean up a few times over the years, but they did not want any help.

I'm currently in between jobs, so I went to my father and said that I have plenty of time right now, let's work together to clean out his study and the garage. He surprisingly agreed. I told my other siblings that they should mostly stay away because my father did not want a bunch of different voices and ideas coming at him, and asked my siblings to take the lead on other parts of the house once we had finished these first two.

We started with his study and went through every single thing, about 20 hours of work. we found a bunch of stuff to donate and even more to trash. I was patient and only had to challenge him a few times on stuff that he should get rid of...like all of his worn out shoes.

He complained a lot but was very happy with the result. When we started talking about doing the garage next he told me that I would need to get a large dumpster and some day laborers....when he brought up those points I knew he was invested in the idea and looking forward to a cleaned out garage.

Between my dad, me, my kids and a few day laborers we had a total of about 125 man hours into the garage. We filled a 40 yard dumpster, donated a dozen car loads of stuff and did a bunch of cleaning.

After all that, he is now at the point where the spaces are organized and workable, but he still has far too much stuff he will never use. I'm not pushing him on that...he has the space now to work with what he has.

Here is the garage after the cleanup:

[jcwade]

When we got married, we moved a lot of stuff into the garage. So much that we could barely get in it.
After 3 weeks of decrapifying, we were able to get two cars in.

[oldE]

Baz, I want to say something about, ah, er, motorcycles, but that would be the pot calling the kettle black.
I am pretty sure I have clothes I haven't worn in a decade. I like the used-not used side of the closet idea.
Does this mean I should get rid of some of the metal pieces I have saved for projects?
I guess if I have to ask I already know the answer.

Best
Les

[Scott Douglas]

Ever since buying our house back in '85 I've always been adamant that cars should be and will be parked in our garage. Lucky for me I found a house that had had an extension put on the garage when the family room was added too. I need to dejunkify my space too but it's hard to do having grown up with a Dad who was a child of the depression and made use of a lot of 'stuff' others were tossing out.

[fintstone]

I do not like clutter, but I do not want to get rid of my things...and am still accumulating more. It seems to me that one can have lots of crap (some that they do not even need) without necessarily having clutter. As long as one can afford not to do so, why would "downsizing" be desirable? Too far to walk to the front door to answer it? Too much to clean/upkeep? I would be more inclined to buy a bigger home and/or a bigger garage for more cars/tools than the opposite.

One thing I do see as a pain is simply maintaining a lot of cars, getting an annual inspection on each, driving each enough to ensure they run ok, etc.

[onewhippedpuppy]

My wife and I use the six month rule. If you haven’t used it for six months, it’s time to donate or trash it. I’m more liberal with tools, just because you don’t use every tool for every job. But we are both pretty OCD about organizing and having a designated place for everything, so there’s never stuff just laying around.

[rwest]

I have way too much stuff, mostly wood working tools, but they have a lot of value, so to get rid of them, I need to go through the hassle of listing on eBay.

The other issue, is they are mostly small, so getting rid of a few doesn’t get me much extra space, so I have put in a lot of effort to make a dent.

[KFC911]

I remember moving into my parents' house 60 years
ago... it was a Tuesday (I ain't lyin..) election day... we ate Kepley's BBQ at the bar after they voted ....

I am clearing out stuff from back then ... I have stories.... and under great protest from mom

My clutter is only half that old .... and 99% less of it.

Just threw out boxes of Top Secret IBM data communications stuff ... and every doc since....1984

I'll be purging more too!

...and not look back

edited: My great-grandfather built a barn about 100 years ago I still see ... the other side had even more barns and land ....

Southerners with land and barns keep stuff ... it's in our DNA

[GH85Carrera]

When I emptied out my parents house, I found canceled checks that the bank sent back to my grandmother from the 60s and 70s. They had all sorts of just useless crap.

We have done a few purges, and today I purged a lot of accumulated bit of paperwork. I threw away the instruction manual for the waffle iron we threw away about 32 years ago. Some furniture purchases on furniture we donated years ago when we bought new furniture.

I do need to get up in my attic and toss out a bunch of stuff that has not bee used in over 30 years. It is just the effort of going up there before it gets hot and starting the process.

[Bill Douglas]

Me too Glen.

When I packed up my mom's stuff I put it in the attic at my place 22 years ago and haven't looked at it since.

[Racerbvd]

[flatbutt]

So why can't I bring myself to get rid of years of Playboy mags?

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

So why can't I bring myself to get rid of years of Playboy mags?

It takes a while to get through all those great articles!

[CurtEgerer]

About 9 years ago, we did a major downsize and declutter. Pretty much got rid of everything - personal property, house, business, collector cars, etc. It took 2-3 years to get rid of it all. Really, just wanted to jump off the daily hamster wheel and do a hard reset. Bought a 1-ton dually and a 40-foot 5th wheel and lived stress-free for 5-6 years. Eventually, we decided to sell the travel setup and buy a small house. We have been re-cluttering ever since but our foresight in buying the smallest house we could tolerate acts like a governor. If something goes into the house, something else must go out.

[porsche930dude]

Iv been going through stuff the past 2 months my garage is getting pretty full. I could have a garage sale but probably just put it all out for a curb alert when the weather gets better. Each area I clean I dont really get rid of much but organizing it reduces the clutter significantly and now I know what I have. Better stuff goes on ebay and I made like 3k on that stuff so that makes up for the nickel and dime junk im going to give away.