Pack-rat, Clutter-bugs can be reformed!

[accountclosed3]

for years, i have lived with a pack-rat clutter bug.

getting him to purge was a nightmare. it took forever. he would spend more time reading and thinking about each inane item that he was holding on to (random pieces of paper from the early 90s), then feel overwhelmed and give up. and god forbid i go through it myself.

fast forward to 2009. we decide to move to NZ.

we purge down to 12 bags to take with us (clothes, shoes, baby's things, etc), and 25 boxes of books (in storage) and one chair (that i just couldn't let go of).

before we purge down this small, we live in our house for two remaining months (it took that long to close because of repairs they demanded). so, we live in our house in a way that is spotless. minimal furniture, minimal kitchen supplies, minimal everything.

everything that comes in (mail, personal papers, etc) gets filed, recycled, or what have you.

and guess who falls in love with the lifestyle of the simplicity, clutter-free lifestyle?

you guessed it: my pack-rat clutter-bug!

over christmas, he said to me when we were at his mother's, at our friend's, at my parents---this place is too cluttered, i can't wait until we're in our clean space again.

and now that we've moved out of our house (and in with friends who have a lot of things), he's so happy that we're in an empty back room with just our few things (12 bags) around us that we are taking with us to NZ.

and he said "when we live in NZ, can we continue to live clutter free and minimal stuff?"

YES! we can!

i've only wanted to for 12 years. LOL

Moving to another country helps. LOL

[echospiritwarrior]

yay!

there's hope for me

[accountclosed3]

definitely.

my dh said it was two things--what do you really need, and once living simply, you just can't go back.

he's even considering letting go of his entire star wars collection (he let go of 2/3 of it!). *gasp!*

[honeybunmom]

Note to self . . . start giving subtle hints to hubby about moving out of the country . . .

My darling dear has BAGS of clothes in the storage spaces, yet complains he has nothing to wear.

And his filing system . . . and yes, he "knows" where everything is, just never produces it . . . plastic grocery bags.

[MamaFern]

very inspiring!

[accountclosed3]

my DH was a piler. he loves PILES. i taught him first to put his piles in boxes (nice, storage ones from ikea), and now he actually files in those boxes.

it started with the boxes having labels "house stuff" adn "writing stuff" and so on. then, he would go through and put rubber bands and cover pages around each grouping within that "house stuff, bills" and "house stuff, receipts" and "house stuff, important papers" and so on. and now he uses files within the boxes.

and, he has honed himself down to three boxes: house stuff, misc important papers, and current writing notes. i also have a box for taxes.

my husband also used to complain about nothing to wear, and how i always looked good and had good clothes. i told him it's because i fold and put them away, rather than keeping htem in a pile on the sofa. with this, i have fewer items of clothing, so it's easier for me to pick and choose what i want to wear.

it makes it so much easier. when he saw how easy it can be, he got on board.

[honeybunmom]

Originally Posted by zoebird

my DH was a piler. he loves PILES. i taught him first to put his piles in boxes (nice, storage ones from ikea), and now he actually files in those boxes.

it started with the boxes having labels "house stuff" adn "writing stuff" and so on. then, he would go through and put rubber bands and cover pages around each grouping within that "house stuff, bills" and "house stuff, receipts" and "house stuff, important papers" and so on. and now he uses files within the boxes.

and, he has honed himself down to three boxes: house stuff, misc important papers, and current writing notes. i also have a box for taxes.

my husband also used to complain about nothing to wear, and how i always looked good and had good clothes. i told him it's because i fold and put them away, rather than keeping htem in a pile on the sofa. with this, i have fewer items of clothing, so it's easier for me to pick and choose what i want to wear.

it makes it so much easier. when he saw how easy it can be, he got on board.

Well, I know I'm half way there. We've been married for 6 years. Only 6 more to go!

[simonboy'smommy]

Better not let my husband see this-he might start plans for us to move out of the country. I know I would like it and could function better if I could minimize. It's just getting there that kills me. And it doesn't help that everyone keeps giving us stuff all the time....