Letting go!

[mpeel]

The biggest obstacle in decluttering is letting go of stuff I spent money on or was given to us or might be special or I might need one day. Any ideas on getting past that? I have so had it with the clutter but when it comes down to the one by one sort . . . .

[Ruthla]

A few ideas:

Things with sentimental value: take a picture of the item, save the picture, give away/sell the item. Obviously, you're going to keep some of the sentimental items, but you don't need to keep ALL of them.

Things you spent money on: resell them.

Things you might need someday: I like giving things away on Freecycle. Then, if I ever need something, I don't feel guilty about posting a "wanted" item on Freecycle and getting the stuff I need for free. I recently freecycled a ton of stuff when I decluttered my house, and I received a working alarm clock when mine broke and some "new" bathmats.

If you're not sure if you're going to miss some items, put them into a box in an out of the way place for about 6 months. If you need the item during that time, take it out of the box. When 6m (or 3m or whatever cutoff date you're using) goes by, give away or sell whatever's left in the box. I personally like to just give things away- it's less stressful and I can declutter faster.

[darkstar]

Yes I tend to agree...put the stuff away for awhile and see if you really want/need it. Also, different things have different sentimental values. Like just becuase it was a birthday present from grandma doesnt mean that it is "special" if it doesnt get used. YKWIM? We have been super decluttering with the baby comming so soon. Good Luck

darkstar

[KariM]

We've tended to move fairly frequently (about every 3 years or less) and after moving unopened boxes several times we're finally starting to declutter.

It was hard for me to part with expensive items that weren't being used but I finally realized that we were wasting the money spent on the item anyway since the item wasn't being used. Giving it away at least puts that money to good use for the charity that resells the item.

It's been a LONG process for us because we accumulated so much but the decluttering process has been very cathartic for me and cleansing for the household.

--Kari