Your Stuff--baby rant about my stuff!

[FarmerChick]

while you are running reinbeau don't be tripping over your stuff...you be careful...






hey, the ad at the bottom is for teapots! wild

 

[TanksHill]

Notice I am lying down while I laugh. It's because I have more room now.

 

[punkin]

I'm like reinbeau. Most of my stuff has sentimental value. I have things that I need to get rid of like excess Christmas decor, clothes, old computers, comic books and lots of novels (I'm thinking Ebay)

Alot of stuff I won't ever part with like Andy's Legos, alot of diecast cars, hot wheels and Lincoln Logs. I used to have my DH's grandfather's china displayed in the hutch in the kitchen. The china was used in the German Embassy during WWII. I needed the space so I carefully packed it up and sent it up to the attic. I will never part with that either.

Most of our stuff is in the attic or bonus area above the garage. Andy has a gazillion tophies from BMX up there. I really should declutter it good and make it more of an "organized" storage space.

 

[sufficientforme]

I am always in the mood to clean and declutter after the holidays. I too struggle with getting rid of the collectibles. I have stopped purchasing any additional items for about 2 years but still love what I have, even though I don't really NEED them. I collect honey jars and some polish pottery. I have gotten rid of all others collections (including teapots )I keep all interests and likes to myself otherwise my family feels the need to buy me STUFF. Family pawns are really annoying me right now, I have inherited a full bedroom suite I do not have room for, a desk and chair, a dresser, a buffet, a twin bed and a full bed (they are antiques and I feel obligated, but I have young kids who are hard on furniture). I do not have any room for these items and the drama starts when I mention this to family.
I need to get on the wagon again and start decluttering and organizing again just to fit them in the house.

 

[enjoy the ride]

I did manage to "dispose" of one group of things- actually sweet revenge on my sister. I got boxes of photos from both my Mom and my one sister. She had obviously been thinking of doing an album because there were a couple of archival type albums and misc supplies.
So I made a family photo album- took me a couple of years as my emotions were not always up to it but I did it through my generation then sent it to my sister for her family to finish with their own photos.
I used lots of things in this album like the birth announcement of my mom from 1911, my father's D-day letter to my Mom, etc along with typed narratives of stories my parents had told me. I boxed this up and mailed it with the remaining photos and sent them to my one last sister as the only girl of the most recent generation lives there.
You can put marriage certificates, death certificates, and other documentation too. Took awhile but organized those things for the first time in my families history- there were just jumbles of boxes til then.
It was a real relief to me to have it taken care of yet gone.

 

[poppycat]

Oh yea! This thread is speaking to me. I have been trying to de-stuff my life for about a year. I fell off the wagon about three months ago but I'm trying to get back on. Once I get started it is great though. I jut re-homed a musical instrument that I haven't played in years, and the girl who got it was thrilled to have it. And to think it had been sitting on a shel for the better part of a decade! Shame on me!

 

[prairiegirl]

Stuff - crap - treasures........we have plenty around here, too. We started decluttering 3 years ago when we moved. We are still working on it. Items that hold sentimental memories are the most difficult. But, sometimes one has to descern who and what that sentimental attachment really is. Sometimes, we just can't let it go so we decide to get rid of something else.

We also struggle with the "what if I need it" or "I'll use it someday" and it's a given we probably won't have the money or want to spend any to get that particular item. As luck would have it, we have actually used these things many times.

I will never, ever have another garage sale. Just not worth the trouble. We always joke "who would want our junk?" but, seriously nobody does. Of course, they'll take stuff for free. So, we give it away. Throwing it in the trash is a last resort - just want to keep things out of landfills if possible.

Since this is a problem for us, I work on getting rid of one box a week. It's not much, but it's something and sometimes it's more than one box.