Need some moving/decluttering help. (Kind of long, so thanks in advance)

[CrazyCatLady]

We moved every year as kids and I learned young how to purge and de-clutter stuff.  I am so not a stuff collector, but I am having a few issues here that I could use some help with.  A couple years ago I lived in a good sized house with my husband, now I am in a small studio apartment with lots of storage in the garage.  Soon though my daughter and I will be sharing a very tiny two bedroom apartment with another person.  I need to get rid of more stuff than I ever have and I am confused about what should go.  I've done pretty good, but I am stuck on a few things.  All my stuff is well organized in plastic containers and I'm not emotionally attached to any of it.  I just don't know what's practical to keep and what isn't.

-Kitchen stuff.  I have a good size collection of dishes, pots, pans, etc.  There will be no room for most of it in this new place but maybe someday I will have a house again and appreciate having it.  Is it worth keeping in storage or should I purge it down the what we can use right now?  None of it is expensive or terribly high quality stuff.  But I have it and it would suck to just have to buy more later.

-Job stuff.  This is the big one.  I have stuff from all my various careers.  Dog grooming, nursing, modeling, personal training, child care, massage therapy, etc.  The clothes, books, equipment, toys, and so on.  I have no idea if I will ever do any of these things again.  But is it worth getting rid of this very expensive/useful stuff if I would need it again in the near future?  Is this the kind of thing worth holding on to?

-Books.  Heavy sigh.  This one is more emotional than anything I guess.  I used to have a insane collection of spiritual/pagan/philosophy type books.  I freecycled 70% of them a few months ago and that was fine.  But I still have too many.  It's so hard to know which ones to keep and which ones not too.  I've had most of them since my teens.  Having a hard time slimming the collection down more.

-Blankets.  I have tubs and tubs of blankets.  Many of them homemade by my grandmothers and other family members.  I also have tons of other bedding.  I like having extra for when people want beds on the floor, etc. but this is just ridiculous.  I live in Los Angeles, it's never even all that cold here!  How do I know how much is a reasonable amount?  I swear I keep donating them and I still have tons.  Is it ok to get rid of all these homemade blankets?

Thanks so much if you made it through this and can help any.  I've been struggling with some of this stuff for years.

[tree_hugger]

odod

Originally Posted by CrazyCatLady 

-Kitchen stuff.  I have a good size collection of dishes, pots, pans, etc.  There will be no room for most of it in this new place but maybe someday I will have a house again and appreciate having it.  Is it worth keeping in storage or should I purge it down the what we can use right now?  None of it is expensive or terribly high quality stuff.  But I have it and it would suck to just have to buy more later.

Because you say they're not expensive or high-quality stuff, I would get part with all but the ones you use everyday. They'll be easy to replace via Freecycle or Craig's List when you need to.

-Job stuff.  This is the big one.  I have stuff from all my various careers.  Dog grooming, nursing, modeling, personal training, child care, massage therapy, etc.  The clothes, books, equipment, toys, and so on.  I have no idea if I will ever do any of these things again.  But is it worth getting rid of this very expensive/useful stuff if I would need it again in the near future?  Is this the kind of thing worth holding on to?

YMMV, but I would consider - did you enjoy any of these jobs? Were any of them your true calling? I would find holding onto a bunch of stuff from a job that I hated or didn't suit me very depressing.

-Books.  Heavy sigh.  This one is more emotional than anything I guess.  I used to have a insane collection of spiritual/pagan/philosophy type books.  I freecycled 70% of them a few months ago and that was fine.  But I still have too many.  It's so hard to know which ones to keep and which ones not too.  I've had most of them since my teens.  Having a hard time slimming the collection down more.

Sorry, I am no go with decluttering books. The only ones I part with a really dated texts or fiction that I won't re-read.

-Blankets.  I have tubs and tubs of blankets.  Many of them homemade by my grandmothers and other family members.  I also have tons of other bedding.  I like having extra for when people want beds on the floor, etc. but this is just ridiculous.  I live in Los Angeles, it's never even all that cold here!  How do I know how much is a reasonable amount?  I swear I keep donating them and I still have tons.  Is it ok to get rid of all these homemade blankets?

Do any of your family members want any of the homemade ones? If not, I would offer them on FC orCraig's List - specify that they are handmade - handmade and vintage are popular right now so hopefully they will go to someone who will appreciate them. I generally keep enough blankets for our family to use + one full set for the spare bed. That's it.

Thanks so much if you made it through this and can help any.  I've been struggling with some of this stuff for years.

Hope I've helped a little!

[CrazyCatLady]

You helped a lot.  Especially with the kitchen stuff.  It's what I have been on the fence the most about and like you said, I can always get more later.  Most of this stuff I got for free when working at a thrift store anyways.  And hopefully I will be able to replace it all slowly some day with much better quality stuff.  Getting rid of most of it should get rid of at least three large storage containers worth of stuff.

The job thing is still hard.  I liked all my jobs and could easily see myself falling back into any of them if I needed too.  I better do some serious pondering about it.