Downsizing
02-25-2019, 08:43 AM
#21
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Ranger, Texas
Posts: 788
Scraplady, I understand keeping too much stuff, but how it weighs us down. My mom, in the last few months of her life, wasn’t able to go to the grocery store so she sent my dad with a list. Apparently she listed any sale food items, because the freezer was jammed with food they prob wouldn’t even eat. No telling how much we had to toss after her death due to freezer burn, etc. I’m working to clear my house of non-food clutter. I don’t keep a huge amount of food on hand. My freezer went out in Sept & I had to toss a lot of food that may have been past its prime anyway.
02-25-2019, 10:23 AM
#22
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Southwest
Posts: 735
I've always said - we spend the first half of our life getting stuff (cars, furniture, houses, clothing, dishes, etc.) and the last half of our life getting rid of stuff! I guess that's the normal cycle......getting stuff to raise a family and have a busy life (sporting goods, etc.) and then when the family is raising their own family.....getting rid of the stuff! I think it's a constant effort of keeping that "balance" and as lour lives change...that balance also changes.
03-30-2019, 01:02 AM
#24
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Blue Ridge Mountians
Posts: 7,076
it drives me crazy when the kids don't want it, but they don't want us to get rid of it either. So I stopped asking them and now I take a box over to their house every now and then and say, "toss what you don't want, I no longer have an emotional attachment to these things". Surprising how fast it goes to the dump or goodwill.
PS. The things I do have an emotional attachment to, I take a photo of. Keeps the memory alive!
PS. The things I do have an emotional attachment to, I take a photo of. Keeps the memory alive!
05-22-2019, 07:20 PM
#25
Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 21
Originally Posted by cindynvb
I haven't watched the show. I did read her books but felt she was a little too extreme. I love my books and she made me feel guilty for keeping them. I'm interested in the clothes folding, tried it when I had the book but wasn't sucessful. Maybe I should watch the show.
The charities seem to want perfect items, no upholstered furniture, and nothing with older style non-grounded plugs.
And forget throwing them in the trash---when I threw away an old ironing board, our trash pickup service charged us $10 for the metal ironing board (to dispose of it!!!).
05-22-2019, 09:12 PM
#26
Power Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,391
Originally Posted by Stitchnripper
your last comment about the kids not wanting it either is so true. Maybe it will skip a generation and the grands might want something
05-23-2019, 07:36 AM
#27
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Mendocino Coast, CA
Posts: 4,827
Originally Posted by Rhonda K
It sounds interesting. Is it a new concept or a repeat of other methods?
DH and I have completed cleaning out closets, the garage, and our shed. We have sent piles of "stuff" out of here and donated most items to others. It is freeing to not worry about "stuff".
DH and I have completed cleaning out closets, the garage, and our shed. We have sent piles of "stuff" out of here and donated most items to others. It is freeing to not worry about "stuff".
~ C
Last edited by QuiltnNan; 05-24-2019 at 02:53 AM. Reason: shouting/all caps
05-23-2019, 07:40 AM
#28
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Mendocino Coast, CA
Posts: 4,827
Originally Posted by NikkiLu
Our town has a "free store" - really! Everything is donated - it is like a giant garage sale - used furniture, clothes, junk, building materials, etc. - the churches in our little town all tried to have a little clothing bank or resale shop in their churches but just couldn't maintain the volunteers, or inventory - so they all chipped in about $25.00 a month for utilities and a local business donated their building. It is only open Tues, Thurs and Sat. - run by volunteers - and anybody can come in and get anything that they need - no questions asked, no proof of income - just free. So, it is a wonderful place to donate anything that we have lying around the house that we don't need. We live way out in the country at the end of a dirt road so having a garage sale is out. So, we just have a big bird feed bag sitting out in the junk room and everytime that we run across something that we don't need, we toss it in the bag and when the bag is full we take it to the free store. How many pie pans does one old couple need? Half burned candles might help light a home in an emergency, etc. Old Tupperware, etc. gets put into the bag.
~ C
05-31-2019, 05:39 AM
#29
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 1,226
As several have already mentioned, I, too, do not want my children to have to deal with disposing with lots of "stuff" that I can take care of now. In 2017, all the family pitched in to clean out my Mother's house so we could sell it and use the funds for Assisted Living. Me, my sister and my daughter did most of the work and it was a very tedious task. Now I'm helping my 89 yr. old aunt make repairs to her house so she can move back home. (She cared for her brother at his house for years.) Once I get her moved, then we have the brother's house to clean out and sell. Plus I still have a quarter of my basement and a third of my garage full of Mother's things that family wanted but still hasn't picked up. Sooo ... needless to say ... I'm completely overwhelmed with where to start on decluttering my own house. LOL. I'm determined to do this and my DH has offered to help. Unfortunately, he doesn't see the value in a lot of things like I do ... it's all trash to him. I have some things of Mother's that I'm sure I can sell to antique dealers and/or collectors and we have a large antique mall about 15 minutes away. I keep saying I'm going to take pictures of items to see if any of the dealers might be interested. Oh welll, some day. Ha.
06-02-2019, 04:59 PM
#30
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: USA
Posts: 143
I read it and agree with the principle. My relatives are dealing with this now. Unfortunately, their parents never downsized. I started decluttering a couple of months ago and it’s very liberating. I’m not a minimalist but I appreciate the aesthetic and air quality improvements that come with less belongings. Plus cleaning is a breeze.
I didn’t have a lot to toss and never had a stash to contend with. I plan my sewing projects and I’m applying a similar approach to quilting to alleviate excess.
I didn’t have a lot to toss and never had a stash to contend with. I plan my sewing projects and I’m applying a similar approach to quilting to alleviate excess.
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