I am at a point in my "uncluttering journey" where I am using up items I no longer want and am actually getting to replace worn out clothes with ones I love. There isn't a lot left to do, however, I still have a few items that I am having trouble getting rid of. I know that I don't NEED to get rid of them, but deep down I know I don't want them, they are just a bit sentimental.
Which items are troublesome for you? And how are you dealing with them?
Definitely sentimental stuff. I have Rubbermaid boxes in my attic with misc. things of my parents. Mom's wedding suit, Dad's sweater he loved to wear and their personal items. Also, my 4 sons baby and school keepsakes. I could pass them on to my sons but I'm worried they will toss everything.
It is only stuff and without it I would still have my memories....but my heart doesn't know this yet.
Same thing with inherited furniture. I have given pieces to my sons and they don't want anything else so either I keep it or sell it.
decisions, decisions....
I end up regretting keeping any of this stuff in the first place. There are so many things I held on to "just because" and now I use the excuse "but I've kept it for so long!" I should have listened to my mother when she told me to get rid of these things!
I allow myself one tote which now about 3/4 full of heirloom stuff. That is in the attic, and it's the only thing in the attic that isn't used. I'm not pressuring myself to get rid of it any more because I figure that, some day, I'll know what to do about it. Until then, I'll finish my list and remain diligent about not letting clutter build up again.
Within the next few years. I will be facing the problem of having to clear out my parents apartment when they are either gone or have moved into a facility. One bin might turn into 2, but that's ok. I can always get a booth at the antique mall and sell everything.
intersting question, themisiclivez! i am having troubles with uncluttering concerning the things that need action, things that need to be done:
- stuff that should be sold
- cloth that should be sewed
- building supplies that should be used to renovate the flat
- photoalbums that should be scanned
*sigh*
i am just trying to be patient. i just can´t do everything at once. so i do one task a weekend. that´s it. like ATAD, but one thing a weekend. it´s needs more time to be done. sometimes it seems to be a neverending story but i remind myself that i can easily define the cloth as rubbish. or define the photoalbums as things i love that don´t have to be scanned. but i want to do it. so i do one thing a weekend. :)
Furniture. I have a 5 year old and also my partner is super messy/unconcerned with things (like he ruins all the butter knives using them to pry stuff instead of going and getting a screwdriver or scraper).
So some of my stuff from my grandma is packed up in the attic, where it's safe. She's been gone 5 years now and I've let go of some things, but there are a few that I really care about that I just don't trust them with. Maybe someday.
Thank you for all of your comments - it helps me to read them! I need to keep asking myself the question, "If this item were to get stolen/lost would I care?" Usually that helps me decide if something is worth keeping. I might need to take the "a thing a day approach"!
Books (several thousand). Need to scan and OCR the sixty-year-old disintegrated science-fiction paperbacks.
Cloth and sewing projects. Have been decluttering these for years, still a ways to go.
Dissertation materials should be scanned and OCRed, or typed up. I may never finish the dissertation, but I should donate the materials to the university library, as I am certain they will be of use to someone someday.
I'm still having trouble with the sentimental paper stuff, photographs, and albums and cassettes.
Oh gosh, so many things! Sentimental items have already been mentioned, but I'm having some trouble parting with regretted purchases. I know, the money is gone, and having the item is just reminding me of how silly I was to buy the thing...but somehow, they manage to linger on. "Aspirational clutter" is a big one for me, although I'm finally beginning to see it for what it is.
Also, stuff I want to sell, but that takes me a long time to get around to actually selling. And things which have no clear means of disposal.
My biggest problem is saved papers that I've stashed in bags "to deal with later". Everything has to be looked to make sure I'm not throwing out a piece of paper I will need.
Junk drawers slow me down too because there's a lot of mini decisions to make: where to recycle the batteries? Is this part from old camera or new? Etc. I end up closing the drawer or putting bag away.
Furniture is difficult too, there are days when I could cheerfully throw out everything but the bed and the tv and then I back down from such a radical solution! ( which might be just a response to having a hoarding parent)
I'm having trouble releasing items I've earmarked to sell on eBay. Last year I was really on a roll as an eBay seller and I enjoyed it. But when I moved I took a break, and now a year later I still haven't been able to get myself back on track. I'm sure there are new rules by now, and I'll have to review everything again. Also, so much time has passed, by now I've lost my Top-Rated Seller status, darn it. It's not so much a problem of letting go of these items... I don't want them at all and they would generate some nice income. It's more of a procrastination thing.
I am dealing with that procrastination thing, too, Ella!
I'm doing so much better than I was at this. Instead of closets full of things, it's now down to a couple of random boxes. Lots of high school things went, but I still have my high school yearbooks, packed away in a box I'll probably not move off the shelf until I move to a new place. Same with some old family photos still in frames. I scanned boxes and boxes of pics, but some of the really old ones, of great-grands, etc, I'm having trouble letting go off, even though I don't want to display them. If I print out a scanned copy of something from the 80's, you can't really tell the difference. Even the 70's stuff looks the same. But stuff from the 50's and earlier just don't look the same printed on thin paper, no matter what I do to them. But if I don't want to display them now, will I ever? The circle is endless, so I've just got them in a single remaining box.
Then there's the wedding pics. I tossed all the big ones with the ex husband, but I've still got the book of proofs. It's not about wanting to remember the marriage, but there are some fabulous pics of family and friends in there that I'm loath to let go of, and it was too hard to sort, so the whole book is packed away. What do you do with all the flotsam and jetsam left behind when a marriage sinks?
Claycat....I've been divorced for 21 years and just last year, I finally got rid of the dress and ring. I don't know what I was keeping them for but I'm glad they are gone!
So what do you do with all the flotsam and jetsam left behind? Unless there are children that may want certain things, let it all go. It's negativity.
ojorojo - if you live in the US, Radio Shack and Batteries Plus, and I'm sure other places, recycles NiCad and similar batteries. Alkalines can be tossed in the garbage.
I'm stalling at the moment with the transition from easy surface clutter to tackling the cupboards or drawers full of stuff.
I seem to have to pull everything out and then put things back gradually as I can't quickly rifle through for my 'a thing a day' unless the stuff is out in the open.
It's interesting seeing other peoples problem points here, they will probably be stages I'll go through and I'll use your advice.
@ojorojo: If you're in the EU, every seller of batteries is required to have recycling arranged for, as well. Bigger ones, like car and boat batteries, are of course problem waste and can be delivered to specific places that collect such waste.
My most troublesome items waiting to be decluttered are those that I want to sell. I can't bring myself to dealing with them and yet I still don't want to simply donate them either. I hope once I'm done with this batch, it will be the first and last, after which I'll be smart enough to go into donation mode immediately.
I struggle with electronics and all the gumph that goes with them, mainly because I lost track a long time ago of what charger went with what, and what the cables are for so I worry about getting rid of something 'useful'! In reality, I rarely get anything out of the charger draw which should tell me something!
Real d'oh moment, thanks for reminding me about Radio Shack! The gadgets the batteries were for are long gone or lost so I'll bundle them up. Who knows? This might get me over the hurdle.
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