My house is out of control AGAIN

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop. Buying. Crap.

This fixes most issues with clutter. Then throw out stuff when it brakes or gets holes in it. Easy peasy. No clutter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have ideas about why stuff keeps accumulating? I know I hate to waste stuff, so I can't make myself throw out a perfectly good whatever and I don't always know where to donate things. Joining Buy Nothing and keeping an eye on Freecycle helps me keep things flowing out the door

"I don't always know where to donate things."

Like what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have ideas about why stuff keeps accumulating? I know I hate to waste stuff, so I can't make myself throw out a perfectly good whatever and I don't always know where to donate things. Joining Buy Nothing and keeping an eye on Freecycle helps me keep things flowing out the door

"I don't always know where to donate things."

Like what?

Not my point. There is always something that needs a new home, and *for me* it works better to have that stuff pulled out the door by someone looking for Y than for me to push it out the door and into the hands of whatever organization I've found that will take it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have ideas about why stuff keeps accumulating? I know I hate to waste stuff, so I can't make myself throw out a perfectly good whatever and I don't always know where to donate things. Joining Buy Nothing and keeping an eye on Freecycle helps me keep things flowing out the door

I think it’s:
1) clothing. We don’t buy a lot, but it still accumulates.
2) projects/unfinished projects, sometimes kid and sometimes adult. Like someone gave us this suitcase thing full of markers that doesn’t fit in the art area and it’s just been floating around since Christmas. Getting regular use, but without a real home. Or like DH got a little Polaroid as swag and gave it to a kid, who used all the film. Now we have all these little Polaroids and a camera with no film. Make it a home? Buy more film? Throw it away? It’s like that kind of decision times 472.

3) I have no idea. At one point I organized the pantry really well but now it’s full and three little bin things are living on the counter. We have a carpet cleaner machine I need and use regularly but I don’t have a place for it to really go so it’s just been on the floor of the laundry room for three years. Sometimes I hang clothes on it. Etc etc.

[Anonymous]

I’m right there with you. No tips, just sympathy. I’m trying to donate as much stuff as possible-like at least 35-40 percent of it.

[Anonymous]

My advice is to start by cleaning / decluttering just one thing that doesn't get captured by everyday chores or cleaning. Open one drawer, empty it, throw away trash, organize the rest. That, or set a timer for 15 minutes, sit in a room with a trashbag and a "to donate" box and just go through as much as you can in just 15 minutes. Once you start, it feels less overwhelming. Commit to doing the equivalent every day for a week and then build on the momentum. A good trick someone taught me was to address one thing in every room you enter - always and every time. So if there's an empty soda can on the coffee table, make sure you grab it as you leave. Or if you see something on your kid's floor as you're walking out, just grab it and put it where it belongs. You don't need to tackle the whole space at once to make a difference with small consistent habits like that.

[Anonymous]

I know. I’m right there with you. I’ve always had a clean, showcase home. Then kids. Then life. Granted, it’s a home where kids spend a lot of time and we actually live in the space. I know some people are gone a lot or eat take out etc.
I think it’s the price for creating a home.

[Anonymous]

OP I have the same issue with clothing and off-season. It's not overbuying; it's that everyone has four seasons of clothes plus sports clothes, etc etc. It's just a fact of living in this area. I'm searching better ways to rotate and have designated bins for swapping but it's very very very difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have ideas about why stuff keeps accumulating? I know I hate to waste stuff, so I can't make myself throw out a perfectly good whatever and I don't always know where to donate things. Joining Buy Nothing and keeping an eye on Freecycle helps me keep things flowing out the door

"I don't always know where to donate things."

Like what?

Not my point. There is always something that needs a new home, and *for me* it works better to have that stuff pulled out the door by someone looking for Y than for me to push it out the door and into the hands of whatever organization I've found that will take it.

You need to get over the desire to get rid of things in the most perfect way. I am the same way and they give away piles take up way too much room in my house. This summer, I am going to be ruthless and just get rid of it. Don't let perfect be the enemy of the good.

When cleaning one room, have baskets for things that belong elsewhere as well as a big bag for trash and another box for donate. When that room is done, go to the next room. When cleaning a room, focus on a particular quarter of it so you don't get side tracked. I also focus on the most public spaces and then go from there.

[Anonymous]

Mike got so bad I had to hire a personal organizer to help. So much better now. I’d consider it. I could never have gotten through everything on my own.

That said, I would pick one area to try to clear so you have a staging area. Then you can use the one clear space to sort through other stuff. Be very aggressive in throwing stuff out. Or donating. Don’t overthink it. Just get it out of your house. You’ll feel better after. If you need more storage, have that put in. Everything needs a home so you need to make the homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mike got so bad I had to hire a personal organizer to help. So much better now. I’d consider it. I could never have gotten through everything on my own.

That said, I would pick one area to try to clear so you have a staging area. Then you can use the one clear space to sort through other stuff. Be very aggressive in throwing stuff out. Or donating. Don’t overthink it. Just get it out of your house. You’ll feel better after. If you need more storage, have that put in. Everything needs a home so you need to make the homes.

The only thing worse than doing this myself would be to have someone standing over me doing it and I have to pay them?

[Anonymous]

Stop trying to latch on to some trendy method. It’s easy - purge and have less stuff and then it will all have a place. I constantly have a large box in our main floor hall closet, and it’s a donation box. Once I fill up 2 or 3 of those, i schedule a charity pickup to get rid of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mike got so bad I had to hire a personal organizer to help. So much better now. I’d consider it. I could never have gotten through everything on my own.

That said, I would pick one area to try to clear so you have a staging area. Then you can use the one clear space to sort through other stuff. Be very aggressive in throwing stuff out. Or donating. Don’t overthink it. Just get it out of your house. You’ll feel better after. If you need more storage, have that put in. Everything needs a home so you need to make the homes.

The only thing worse than doing this myself would be to have someone standing over me doing it and I have to pay them?

That’s how bad it was.