I think i have a purging problem - Page 3

[Danidama]

heh-heh, I love that book so much that it is one that I feel I must have irl. I've gotten my book "collection" down from almost 300 books to 23 (my own books, not dh's or dd's), and am very proud of that... but It's All Too Much is one of my favorites, and I like to have it in my hands to read it. Every time I get on the pooter I'm always surprised about it because I spend so little time on it (my dd is 27 months)- so it's easier for me to have my favorite reading stuff irl. So my point is that I need to work on purging my rambling babbles, and then my posts would be oh so nice and simple, yay. :-p

[hellyaellen]

i've actually tackled a few problem areas at work. i did the breakroom and the food cabinet.

[akmeg]

I'm so jealous of all of you! I'm in the middle of getting ready for a move in two weeks, and since I'm packing I'm also trying to purge at the same time. My problem isn't usually deciding what to get rid of, it's what to do with it once I've decided. Right now I have a huge pile of old books, textbooks, and manuals that I know no one will want. What do I do? I freecycle some things, but I get so frustrated with people not showing up and taking forever to pick up their things, sometimes it feels like it's not worth it. Do you all just dump stuff off at goodwill? Do you just give in and toss some of it? What's the best and fasted way to get rid of things once they make it into your purge pile?
Thanks!!

[mamamelia]

i suffer from the purging too much disease too.... we don't even have a dining table to sit at.... i have sat there at other people's homes looking around at stuff that i think would totally go in a minute if it were at our house. this after i'm bored with the conversation and have just drifted off into space....

it's sick and i don't know how to stop myself. my dh tells me that i just want to get rid of everything in sight. LOL. i'm working on it though. were getting another dining table soon....... only this time it's going to be small and simple. the one we had before seated 8 ppl which was just too much at the time.

i'm not a labeller though.... i think my dh would have a fit if i also started labelling what few possessions we still had. LMAO @ the sock drawer being labelled.

[hellyaellen]

i do just dump a lot at good will. (and um sometimes i do toss stuff in the garbage.... ) :

in the case of books what i would do is see if theres a used bookstore that will give you cash for them. probably not more than a dollar or two for a hardback in good condition but stilll.....

[lillydilly]

I take ours to what they call a Tender Centre, that we have here in Aust. People put tenders in on your stuff, like a silent auction, and what doesn't sell, you can leave there to be donated to charity, or pick it up.
They take a fair bit of commission, but they also do all the work for you. I just leave what doesn't sell for them to donate.
Clothes and books I donate straight to our Thrift shop, after my friends and family do a scrounge through.
I have one bag for clothes and one box for donations in an empty closet, that I just add to as I find stuff I don't want, and when they're full, out they go.
When our family comes home to visit, they just go through and take what they need from the "Give away Box".

[SAHDS]

Originally Posted by mamamelia

i have sat there at other people's homes looking around at stuff that i think would totally go in a minute if it were at our house. this after i'm bored with the conversation and have just drifted off into space....

I do the same thing. My cousin has me come over every so often and go through her house to get rid of things for her. I love decluttering and purging! I hate clutter, 'stuff' and waste. Messy houses drive me insaaaaaaaane.

As for what I do with the stuff, I donate it to Value Village. Actually, I donate it to a charity that sells the items to VV. I shop there too so it's a win-win

Actually, a charity just left a bag on my doorstep last week to fill up. We're moving in a week, so they really hit the jackpot with us. I need to leave that at the curb tomorrow morning...

i'm not a labeller though.... i think my dh would have a fit if i also started labelling what few possessions we still had. LMAO @ the sock drawer being labelled.

I'm not a labeller either, that seems like clutter to me

[Danidama]

In the past two years, since I started getting rid of everything I didn't want or need, I have donated everything. I don't drive, so I've had salvation army and vietnam veterans (vvapickup.org) pick it up with their trucks every few months (they have scheduled pick-ups in nova, and I would get 'flyers' in the mail; that's how I found out about them). We just moved to Arlington last weekend, and in the past couple months I've also just left things out in our driveway with FREE signs and -everything- was carted away by neighbors! I always hear of craigslist and freecycle and whatnot on here, and that obvs works for some ppl, but I don't have the patience for that-- I don't even have the patience to wait for the donation pick up trucks now! This year I just started putting things out by the street, like I said, and that is because I couldn't stand to have donation stuff waiting inside my house for whatever date guys were supposed to come pick it up. So I guess that's all I have to say about that.

have fun

[aweynsayl]

ahhh, great thread! i think i may have started a similar one a year or so ago... if not, i sure thought about it. i worried for a while what would happen when i ran out of things to get rid of! i would OBSESS about what was next, and have dark thoughts that some secret box of stuff was hiding somewhere waiting to reveal itself to me (in other words, that i wasnt really done decluttering!).... shortly after that, a secret box did reveal itself (from mom's house.. deep dark depressing depths of clutter......)! some day, i do have mom's house and dh's folks house to ... "look forward to...."

for now, though, i actually am "done"!

[Danidama]

Originally Posted by aweynsayl

i worried for a while what would happen when i ran out of things to get rid of! i would OBSESS about what was next...

for now, though, i actually am "done"!

TOTALLY. That is exactly how I feel. And for the past few weeks, since there's been nothing else I could possibly do over again (for the sixth time), I've just wished there was, because it just makes me so happy, heh. Are we weird? For sure. But it's a good weird, 'cause we just love to have our homes in perfect, simple order. I've become a total minimalist and I love it. I now know exactly what we own and could tell someone exactly where any one thing is! That's a good feeling. I don't have a bunch of little random things in our home anymore. No rubberbands or wee emergency band-aid kit from the drugstgore, or pens out of place. The miscellaneous drawer went bye-bye about a year ago (my daughter was almost 1; coincidence? Nah. :-p But also, I read in It's All Too Much - no junk drawer! heh.). Everything we have is something we use almost every day. And there is nothing "out"- everything has a (pretty much empty) cupboard or drawer to go in.

Side note, I love the Zenhabits site that ppl have linked to on occasion. Great start for reading about minimalism and decluttering, etc. :^)

[mumkenna&lucas]

Originally Posted by Toady

I wish I had you problem!

Thats definately what I was thinking!