Continued: Getting rid of stuff / Clearing out clutter! PART 2

[Mezzie]

My husband is doing amazing decluttering in the garage!

I just got a new planter/vermicomposter that, in time, should lessen the garbage we throw out and declutter the fridge of greens that get wilted before we can eat them all. This will also allow me to decluter my stash of seeds. :)

[Nancy]

Just read The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson, which I found to be a reflection on how we live and prepare to die and deal with the death of others. It is practical and sweet. It feels like speaking with one’s lucid grandmother and includes the gentle nudges to do things she thinks are important. It's not an algorithm or "How To" detailing the maximally efficient organization/decluttering system that will change your life forever. Her advice is to take one’s time going through possessions, reflect on how items were a part of your story and your life, and then let them go. I like how she talked about a messy house not as a reflection of someone’s mental state or a deep character flaw, but as a simple matter of an organizational system that doesn’t work for you.


“The one thing we know for sure is that we will die one day. But before that you can try to do almost anything.” (ix)

“It is amazing, and also a little strange, how many things we accumulate in a lifetime.” (46)

“When your home is a complete mess, it is very hard to clean it at all. But it is never too late to do something about this problem.” (18)

“You cannot know the places your objects may go after you are gone and that could be wonderful to contemplate.” (103)

“I often ask myself, Will anyone I know be happier if I save this?” 105)

“Before [an item] goes... I have had a moment to reflect on the event or feeling [that arises in me from observing the object], good or bad, and to know that it has been a part of my story and of my life.” (105)

[Bracken_Joy]

(@Nancy, thank you for that writeup. Based on that, I recommended it to my mom, I think she'll really enjoy it)

Husband went through his drawers (literally and metaphorically, haha) yesterday and let a few shirts etc go. It's not like he had an overwhelming amount of stuff, but it's nice to know what's wearing out and whether it needs replaced. 3 of his shirts left, and 2 pairs underwear. I'll need to replace 1 of the shirts, and come summer, get a couple others.

I got rid of a maxi dress that never fit right, a jacket I successfully replaced up thread (SEE? Keeping my promise!), 2 tank tops that are stretched out, 2 stylish shirts that were getting pilled and not worn anymore, and 1 shirt that used to be a favorite but I haven't worn in a couple years (it's too "young" for me now by far TBH). Husband and I also each got rid of a pair of shoes (another promise I made up thread).

Overall, our clothes are getting more functional now. This is re: bringing things in, so not super fitting to this thread, but since we discussed it so much earlier in the thread I thought I'd update this. I did get a new pair of yoga pants. They ended up being mega clearance sale (normally $28, were on sale for $7.99) so after having them a week and making sure they fit well, I went and got a second as a backup. I keep one of those cloth cubes as a "back up bin" for clothes that we like, fit well, were on sale, and hard to replace if you need them last minute. This includes socks and underwear for DH, jeans for both of us (we're both hard to fit), that sort of thing. So long as it keeps to that 1 cube, it really works as a system for us. Anyway, we also got a new light jacket for me to replace the one that was *never* good looking or fitting, and a zip up for DH which has quickly become a favorite. We got me a pair of tennis shoes that I've liked enough I bought a backup pair- they were only $15, and I can rarely find cheap shoes that fit my high arches and narrow feet. So all of that is moving in the right direction. It's nice to reach for something and just know it will fit right, look right, etc.

So an interesting one. DH and I talk occasionally about moving back to the city where we used to live. And part of the conversation is would we even be able to downsize happily to an apartment again if we wanted to? It's interesting to analyze the areas where we would or wouldn't struggle to downsize. Bedroom and bathroom: no problem. Garage/Home Gym: it would be sad, but all of it would go, so that's at least easy in that sense. The big area we would struggle would be the kitchen. We've added a few things that have really enhanced our lives. Our food processor, our soda stream (for sparkling mineral water), our massive spice collection we use, just getting used to having COUNTER PREP SPACE. I really think the kitchen would sting to downsize.

Does anyone else analyze your stuff this way? What you could cut easily, and what would make you miserable to cut?

[mspym]

@Bracken_Joy Good clear out! I am upgrading my wardrobe at the moment, and having to get past the fear of getting rid of [old, unattractive, not-fitting, hole-y] clothes [that I don't even wear!] but getting there.

I have moved house and city and country enough times that somewhere in my brain I keep a log of what I would take and what I would discard at any given time. Yesterday we even contemplated moving to the other half of the duplex we live in and were using it as a sorting device for stuff [ie could we be bothered carrying Thing X] next door or not].  We eventually came down on the side of No due to less bench space but I want to use the same thinking to continue clearing out stuff from where we live now. Now I have another 6 books to take to the street library.

[Sibley]

Emptied out the upstairs spare room closet so I prep and paint it. Also did a bunch of dusting and various other cleaning. Pulled a couple more items for the donate pile, then hauled all of it out to the car. 3 bags! Will drop it off tomorrow.

[Nancy]

@Bracken_Joy Well done on both the clear out and the intake! So glad things are moving in the right direction for you. I also like your backup cube system.

We're thinking of doing some extended travel so I've been thinking about what I'll leave behind/get rid of. I think I'll feel gleeful leaving behind/donating almost all of my clothes and shoes. I'm really going to miss my bicycles.

[HappierAtHome]

Husband threw out some clothes that were unwearable, undonatable and the wrong material for cleaning rags, without any prompting from me whatsoever. He struggles sometimes to let go of items so I am SO PROUD of him.

[Bracken_Joy]

@Bracken_Joy Well done on both the clear out and the intake! So glad things are moving in the right direction for you. I also like your backup cube system.

We're thinking of doing some extended travel so I've been thinking about what I'll leave behind/get rid of. I think I'll feel gleeful leaving behind/donating almost all of my clothes and shoes. I'm really going to miss my bicycles.

Oh yes! I would be very sad if I had to sell my bicycle. If we were to move back, whether I sold it would depend on where we moved. Still, that would be a hard one!

[marty998]

5 bags of garbage and recyclables taken out yesterday.

I have a laundry room that is acceptable to walk inside again now :)

[mustachepungoeshere]

5 bags of garbage and recyclables taken out yesterday.

I have a laundry room that is acceptable to walk inside again now :)

So proud. :D

[halftimer]

Great successes everyone. I liked the review of the Swedish Deathcleaning book - I may have to check that out.
I added 6 more items to my donate box before taking it out, and now there are another 6 items ready from the other person's side of the closet - with no prompting from me! I also decided that all the holey and horrible socks would get one final wash but in a mesh bag so they wouldn't get confused with the good stuff. Now they are stuffing a cushion and out of my closet forever. The cushion has a non-stitched opening so if I need one to patch another sock in rotation I can get it back out. I feel the chances of me remembering to do that are low however so I'm glad they are out of sight and mind now. Feels better, and more environmentally responsible to me than just trashing these items.

Still planning to do a more thorough declutter, and might post a few items for sale. First up - the brand new suede jacket with tags that was given to me but is just not quite right for me. I already have someone interested in it!

[Roadrunner53]

I finally put the 4 expensive feather pillows in plastic bags to donate. They have been sitting around for probably 3 years. I went thru a dresser and found some old paperwork from my last job (2011). A lot of reference material that was good when I worked but since I am retired, I guess it is time to let go. Then I had these three ring binders with old resume's and cover letters from another job I lost in 2005. I flipped thru them to see where I applied and it was overwhelming. I cried to see how hard I worked to get a job and ended up working at a temp agency for a while then had two horrible jobs till I finally landed the last job. All that crap is in a bag awaiting for a shredding event. Hub has some nice books that he is no longer interested in so I listed a bunch of them on ebay. So far, no sales. Books are so hard to sell. There are some professional book sellers on ebay who have the identical books and are selling them for $3.99 with free shipping! So they may be making $1 per book but they sell thousands. These books were each purchased for $35 or more each originally. I may have to lower my prices later on just to get them out of here. Then I have some other books that are not worthy of trying to sell, so they are going in the donate box. So much crap we have accumulated. Built our house in 1975 and have never moved. I have given tons and tons of stuff over the years to Goodwill and other places. It just seems to grow and grow!

[Sibley]

My sister got back to me on the books I'd brought back from parent's house. 2 boxes being added to the donate run today, and 1 box that she wants.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

Sold two items last week, and they are sold/out of the house. Donated another 3 items, and have a book of books (that I got for free at work) ready to go back on the freebie table tomorrow.

I do still want to re-organize my closet today to organize by color, remove extra hangers, etc. I think that will help me understand what I have, what i wear, & anything I don't need.

[Linea_Norway]

I should some time soon bring a crate full og swimming things into our cellar. The cellar can only be entered from outside amd I am currently not in the mood to walk there in the dark and cold. But we haven't been swimming all winter, so the stuff should not be inside the house.

[Mezzie]

I just filled three boxes with things from the garage my students might like. If they don't want them, I'll stop by Goodwill on the way home. :)

[Linea_Norway]

At least the give-away book and 2 library books are now in my car, so I can bring away the give-away book this afternoon. I need to drive a way around to the library, but will do that on Wednesday.

[Rowellen]

I removed a decluttering group from my facebook. I joined for inspiration but there were far too many people on there and most of them completely missed the point of decluttering and minimalism. An example: Someone put a post up with a poll. The question was should I get rid of this large and non-sentimental item that is never used and can find other solutions for if need be. Clearly the answer should have been "yes". More people had voted "no" than the "yes" and "replace with smaller item" options combined. Facepalm.

The final straw came today when I commented quite helpfully on a post and got a snarky comment back about hiw I should have read her other post that explained things differently. I almost made a snarky comment back (because why should I remember this one lady out of hundreds of posts that I may or may not have had come up on my feed) but I remembered why I have a general rule of not commenting on public posts and deleted my comment and the group instead. Should have done it weeks ago.

[Roadrunner53]

Bracken, I just don't get WTF is filling peoples' garages??  All the houses in our neighborhood are large, and actually most people do park in their garages, but I see some that are just chock full of... what, exactly?  When we moved into this big house, it just made me extra vigilant about accumulating crap. 

Tools. Yard/garden equipment. Car stuff. Sports stuff. Bikes. Kids toys and outgrown stuff - this is a biggie. Off season holiday decorations. Motor cycles. In advanced cases, out of season clothing/out grown clothing. General catchall of stuff that should go away and doesn't.

Hub has two tractors for mowing the lawn, snow blower, garden cart for the tractor, wheel barrow, tons of tools in mechanics toolboxes, rakes, hoes, shovels, workbench, upright freezer, refrigerator, cabinets with groceries, paper products. Our boiler and water tank and oil tank are in the garage. We have a generator and an air compressor. And MUCH, MUCH more! We also have two sheds full of crap.

I am making a trip to the Goodwill today to dump a bunch of crap there. I have a ton of books that are impossible to sell on ebay. I paid $35 to $40 for some of these books and I see them for sale on ebay for $3.99 and free shipping! How on earth can you sell a book for that with free shipping? I think I am finally on a roll to declutter. Hub is getting on board with it too. Lived in this house since 1975 and more stuff came in that went out. We have rented dumpsters many, many times and filled them up but still have so much stuff! We never had kids either! Clutter creeps up on you!

[formerlydivorcedmom]

I did a really big decluttering push in my home library a few months ago and got rid of hundreds of books.  That still left me 6 pretty full bookshelves.

On the No Gazingus Pin thread we've been talking about books and why we hold on to them, and I was inspired to go through one of the bookshelves again.  I pulled out 12 books I am sure I no longer want to keep and another 30 that I like but I never think about when I'm ready to reread a book.  If I'm not going to go look for it, do I really need to keep it?

I stacked those 30 on a shelf.  I'm giving myself one month to reread them.  If I don't read them, for whatever reason, they are going away.  If I do reread them, I can only keep a max of 5 from that pile.

Then I'll move on to the next bookshelf.

[MrsDinero]

Last week I donated 1 large bag of clothes and 1 small bag of kitchen stuff.  I have since filled another bag with baby toys that are no longer age appropriate.

Now I have my eyes on an old Ikea dressers that is filled with crap in our spare room.  The plan is go through the old Ikea one and move what we are keeping to older and nicer, but smaller, antique dresser in the spare room.  What is currently in the antique one are old DVDs and Playstation 2 games.

The spare room is kind of a catch all for a lot of stuff we don't know what to do with.  I also use it as my home office, I would like to clean it up and make it nice for guests and me. 

[I'm a red panda]

Got rid of the baby bouncer that someone gave us a few months ago. We really only needed a docking station for the baby when I was out of town (and DH said he only had her in it for about 10 minutes, we just don't use containers). Man that thing was a noisy eye sore!

Also got rid of a big pile of clothes from the pajama and workout drawer. Some, in rough shape, got turned into reusable tissues, but most went to consignment.

[Bracken_Joy]

Went through the "paper drawer" again. UGH it's endless. Especially with how much medical stuff I've had lately. The EOBs, bills, pharmacy receipts, etc, are endless. And I have to keep it all, because if we end up doing IVF this year, we'll be over that 7.5% medical spending. Anyway, everything I need to keep has been moved to the appropriate files, a bunch is in the bag to take to be shredded, a bunch in the recycling... feels good to occasionally hit "reset" on the pile. I'm really glad that drawer is space constrained, it forces me to deal with it more often, haha.

[shadowmoss]

Pulling out stuff from drawers I found the business and Rolodex cards that made it through the first purge.  These are folks I knew in the 90's.  Took a picture of the ones I might want to search for someday and will shred the rest.  Filed some paperwork yesterday so at some point it will be easy to decide what can then be shredded.  Some needs to be kept for awhile yet, bit having it filed by subject will make it all easier I hope.

[MrsDinero]

Went through the "paper drawer" again. UGH it's endless. Especially with how much medical stuff I've had lately. The EOBs, bills, pharmacy receipts, etc, are endless. And I have to keep it all, because if we end up doing IVF this year, we'll be over that 7.5% medical spending. Anyway, everything I need to keep has been moved to the appropriate files, a bunch is in the bag to take to be shredded, a bunch in the recycling... feels good to occasionally hit "reset" on the pile. I'm really glad that drawer is space constrained, it forces me to deal with it more often, haha.

I hate the paperwork!  We keep on top of all the incoming papers, but we are still working on going through drawers of old papers sorting what can be recycled, what needs to be scanned, and what needs to be shredded. 

[NoraLenderbee]

Started filling our nice new Ikea file cabinets. Decided it was probably time to go through old tax papers. We err on the side of keeping financial documents. However--bank statements from 2001, medical bills from 1999, records from when I had a freelance business in 1986 for heaven's sake, address books from the same era--I filled up the recycling container (32 gallons) and have two cartons more. Vet bills and records from two deceased cats--these are not precious memorabilia, bye-bye. 20 years' worth of service records for my now-gone car--out.

I won't mention my husband's and my report cards from elementary school.

[shadowmoss]

I did that paper purge last year.  Now I'm going back through what I kept that time.  Getting rid of some more papers, organizing the rest.  Yeah, I had tax papers, including the instructions for federal tax filing, from 1973.

[Happy Little Chipmunk]

I'm with you on the paper purge! Just shreded 2 boxes of 10 year old checks.

I know that one whole drawer of the file cabinet is FULL of more of these. I was so upset when the bank stopped sending back my checks.

Hmmm. Maybe that indignation was a bit misplaced!

[Fresh Bread]

I'm with you on the paper purge! Just shreded 2 boxes of 10 year old checks.

I know that one whole drawer of the file cabinet is FULL of more of these. I was so upset when the bank stopped sending back my checks.

Hmmm. Maybe that indignation was a bit misplaced!

It's already bizarre enough to me that the US still uses cheques, but I've never heard of a bank returning cheques to the account holder. It sends shivers down my decluttering spine...what on earth would be the purpose of keeping them once they've been cashed & processed? When did this practice stop?

[marty998]

I removed a decluttering group from my facebook. I joined for inspiration but there were far too many people on there and most of them completely missed the point of decluttering and minimalism. An example: Someone put a post up with a poll. The question was should I get rid of this large and non-sentimental item that is never used and can find other solutions for if need be. Clearly the answer should have been "yes". More people had voted "no" than the "yes" and "replace with smaller item" options combined. Facepalm.

The final straw came today when I commented quite helpfully on a post and got a snarky comment back about hiw I should have read her other post that explained things differently. I almost made a snarky comment back (because why should I remember this one lady out of hundreds of posts that I may or may not have had come up on my feed) but I remembered why I have a general rule of not commenting on public posts and deleted my comment and the group instead. Should have done it weeks ago.

Nice - In some respects our online profiles can become extremely cluttered.

A little bit of social media tidying up can do just as much good as a physical cleanup too!

[mustachepungoeshere]

I removed a decluttering group from my facebook. I joined for inspiration but there were far too many people on there and most of them completely missed the point of decluttering and minimalism. An example: Someone put a post up with a poll. The question was should I get rid of this large and non-sentimental item that is never used and can find other solutions for if need be. Clearly the answer should have been "yes". More people had voted "no" than the "yes" and "replace with smaller item" options combined. Facepalm.

The final straw came today when I commented quite helpfully on a post and got a snarky comment back about hiw I should have read her other post that explained things differently. I almost made a snarky comment back (because why should I remember this one lady out of hundreds of posts that I may or may not have had come up on my feed) but I remembered why I have a general rule of not commenting on public posts and deleted my comment and the group instead. Should have done it weeks ago.

Nice - In some respects our online profiles can become extremely cluttered.

A little bit of social media tidying up can do just as much good as a physical cleanup too!

@marty998, are you breaking up with us? :P

[Sibley]

I'm with you on the paper purge! Just shreded 2 boxes of 10 year old checks.

I know that one whole drawer of the file cabinet is FULL of more of these. I was so upset when the bank stopped sending back my checks.

Hmmm. Maybe that indignation was a bit misplaced!

It's already bizarre enough to me that the US still uses cheques, but I've never heard of a bank returning cheques to the account holder. It sends shivers down my decluttering spine...what on earth would be the purpose of keeping them once they've been cashed & processed? When did this practice stop?

Before internet, getting the canceled checked back was for record keeping purposes. Then many banks started scanning and including the images in the monthly bank stmt in lieu of the actual cancelled check. The next iteration was check images available online, and that's where we are now. Check usage is continuing to decline, but honestly until local governments and certain banks get their act together there will still be some checks needed.

FYI - Citizen One auto loans technically have online payments. It really sucked last I checked, so much so that it's easier to pay via check.

[Goldielocks]

I'm with you on the paper purge! Just shreded 2 boxes of 10 year old checks.

I know that one whole drawer of the file cabinet is FULL of more of these. I was so upset when the bank stopped sending back my checks.

Hmmm. Maybe that indignation was a bit misplaced!

It's already bizarre enough to me that the US still uses cheques, but I've never heard of a bank returning cheques to the account holder. It sends shivers down my decluttering spine...what on earth would be the purpose of keeping them once they've been cashed & processed? When did this practice stop?

Remember the statement: "Your canceled cheque is your receipt"?

[Linea_Norway]

One book given away. One crate of swimming gear put in cellar. Bag with bicycle stuff putin shed outside (there is over a meter snow outside and I won't be cycling for months). Tomorrow: 2 library books back to library, maybe all 3, although the third one hasn't reached the date yet.

[Fresh Bread]

I'm with you on the paper purge! Just shreded 2 boxes of 10 year old checks.

I know that one whole drawer of the file cabinet is FULL of more of these. I was so upset when the bank stopped sending back my checks.

Hmmm. Maybe that indignation was a bit misplaced!

It's already bizarre enough to me that the US still uses cheques, but I've never heard of a bank returning cheques to the account holder. It sends shivers down my decluttering spine...what on earth would be the purpose of keeping them once they've been cashed & processed? When did this practice stop?

Before internet, getting the canceled checked back was for record keeping purposes. Then many banks started scanning and including the images in the monthly bank stmt in lieu of the actual cancelled check. The next iteration was check images available online, and that's where we are now. Check usage is continuing to decline, but honestly until local governments and certain banks get their act together there will still be some checks needed.

FYI - Citizen One auto loans technically have online payments. It really sucked last I checked, so much so that it's easier to pay via check.

But... In the UK and Australia we just get a line on our paper or online statement "cheque no. XXXX". In our possession we have the cheque stub where we've recorded the payee and amount to cross check. I don't know why you'd need to see it I guess is my question?

[Fresh Bread]

I'm with you on the paper purge! Just shreded 2 boxes of 10 year old checks.

I know that one whole drawer of the file cabinet is FULL of more of these. I was so upset when the bank stopped sending back my checks.

Hmmm. Maybe that indignation was a bit misplaced!

It's already bizarre enough to me that the US still uses cheques, but I've never heard of a bank returning cheques to the account holder. It sends shivers down my decluttering spine...what on earth would be the purpose of keeping them once they've been cashed & processed? When did this practice stop?

Remember the statement: "Your canceled cheque is your receipt"?

No I've never heard that, I think that's a US thing. But then again, cheques died out in the 90s when I was only just adult. You'd be hard pressed to get anyone to accept a personal cheque in a shop in Australia unless you personally knew them! I got a refund cheque from the government - it had to be a cheque because it was a third party refund - and it caused much trouble at the bank...Took about ten minutes for the teller to figure out what to do!

[oneday]

Success in getting rid of stuff/clearing out the front porch.  I had disassembled an old cal king waterbed frame* & placed the pieces on the front porch.  The mattress was still inside, but massively in the way.  Had been stressing as nobody was interested in it even for free, but someone took all of it today! 

Also found another person to take a smaller cabinet.

Also was able to toss the plastic wrapping the new mattress came in...had used it to cover the bed frame from the recent rain.

I can't believe the last time I posted here was only 4 days ago.  Seems like an eternity!

In that time I got rid of another heaping box to donate*, some random lumber we had sitting around and a bunch of trash uncovered while packing/staging for the photos that will be in the real estate listing.  I even threw away my pillow, which I had such a hard time finding a replacement for. I had purchased 2 other pillows, and one of them feels good now that it is on a new mattress.  Winner!

*Including more ugly décor items that STBX never liked, either.  Including two pillow covers.  When I said, "Are you sure?  Your brother brought these all the way from Thailand", he responded, "I doubt that."  WTF, STBX?  How can you not remember that!!!  Also, would I lie about that? Really?

[Sibley]

I'm with you on the paper purge! Just shreded 2 boxes of 10 year old checks.

I know that one whole drawer of the file cabinet is FULL of more of these. I was so upset when the bank stopped sending back my checks.

Hmmm. Maybe that indignation was a bit misplaced!

It's already bizarre enough to me that the US still uses cheques, but I've never heard of a bank returning cheques to the account holder. It sends shivers down my decluttering spine...what on earth would be the purpose of keeping them once they've been cashed & processed? When did this practice stop?

Before internet, getting the canceled checked back was for record keeping purposes. Then many banks started scanning and including the images in the monthly bank stmt in lieu of the actual cancelled check. The next iteration was check images available online, and that's where we are now. Check usage is continuing to decline, but honestly until local governments and certain banks get their act together there will still be some checks needed.

FYI - Citizen One auto loans technically have online payments. It really sucked last I checked, so much so that it's easier to pay via check.

But... In the UK and Australia we just get a line on our paper or online statement "cheque no. XXXX". In our possession we have the cheque stub where we've recorded the payee and amount to cross check. I don't know why you'd need to see it I guess is my question?

You're assuming that the US financial system is logical. Stop that. ;)

[Poundwise]

Finally took a large bin of odd socks and wornout clothes from the garage to my car. This doesn't sound like much, but getting rid of textile recycling has been on my list for a long, long time.

[HappierAtHome]

I'm not sure who the dude living in my house is, but he CAN'T be my husband. Evidence: he has voluntarily gone through his shoes (not a hard task, he owns maybe six pairs) to get rid of the ones that are no longer fit for wear. He only kept one really crappy pair to use as painting shoes. This is just days after he voluntarily threw out some unwearable clothes. Who is he? What's happening?! I feel like years and years of setting a good example are finally paying off...

[Roadrunner53]

When I took my crap to the Goodwill store the other day I asked the attendant if they sell all of the stuff they receive in their store and he said they try to. However, he said that they get a lot of junk that has to be thrown out. He said people will donate shoes that are like 800 years old. So I thought I would throw in that if you are donating stuff, think twice about donating junk. Because, if they don't think it is worthwhile, they are going to toss it into the dumpster. Even charities have standards of what they will sell.

[Linea_Norway]

Don't remember whether I have mentioned this before, so I'll do it again...

We are sometimes discussing our plans for after FIRE. The plans involve making several long trips in a pleasant whether part of the year. And living far north for a whole winter. And after that relocation until we have found the perfect place to live in a LCOL area, hopefully after one try. We have been thinking about keeping our cabin to store our outdoor gear and use that place as a basis to go to between trips (despite not having running water/washing machine).

What to do with the rest of our house. We have a vague plan of selling all the stuff we are not very attached to and than at a later time buying similar stuff back second hand. We are planning to get rid of most of the big things, like sofa, guest beds, our own bed, closets, dining table and chairs, office chair. And then only keep some hobby stuff, some kitchen things and maybe some tools. Then we hope it will fit into a very small container/room that we can rent during that period.

But if I am only thinking about it, the thought does scare me a bit. What of the year of travelling is disappointing. Then it is not a simple matter of starting over again. It does require buying all this stuff again, second hand. In a low density area this might be more difficult than in a city.

[firelight]

This thread is such an inspiration! I'm visiting my parents and got a chance to clear out some of my college work (been 10 years since I finished) that I didn't know my mom had saved. Almost all went into recycling. I also found a box of my sentimentals I had stored that I'm working through. I want to be finished by end of trip so I can leave nothing at parents' place. Just glad I had the sense 10 years ago (before I left home) to go through everything, I mean everything, from my past 20 years of life and reduce it to one box of stuff. Doing it now would've been so stressful.

[oneday]

Don't remember whether I have mentioned this before, so I'll do it again...

We are sometimes discussing our plans for after FIRE. The plans involve making several long trips in a pleasant whether part of the year. And living far north for a whole winter. And after that relocation until we have found the perfect place to live in a LCOL area, hopefully after one try. We have been thinking about keeping our cabin to store our outdoor gear and use that place as a basis to go to between trips (despite not having running water/washing machine).

What to do with the rest of our house. We have a vague plan of selling all the stuff we are not very attached to and than at a later time buying similar stuff back second hand. We are planning to get rid of most of the big things, like sofa, guest beds, our own bed, closets, dining table and chairs, office chair. And then only keep some hobby stuff, some kitchen things and maybe some tools. Then we hope it will fit into a very small container/room that we can rent during that period.

But if I am only thinking about it, the thought does scare me a bit. What of the year of travelling is disappointing. Then it is not a simple matter of starting over again. It does require buying all this stuff again, second hand. In a low density area this might be more difficult than in a city.

I'm not good with emotions, but maybe some math can help your decision a little easier?

What % do you think that you will find travelling disappointing?  If it's low, then maybe you don't need to worry much about this problem, but if it's high, then more math.

What would it cost to simply store your large possessions for a year?  Are you willing to pay that amount as insurance against the probability that travel is disappointing?

What would it cost to store only some of these items for a year, maybe only the mattress, dining table & chairs?  That would make a bare-minimum functional home while you worked on acquiring the rest of the items you need/want second hand.  Are you willing to pay *that* amount as insurance against the probability that travel is disappointing?

What would it cost to purchase the bare-minimum items new while you worked on acquiring the rest of the items you need/want second hand.  Are you willing to pay *that* amount as insurance against the probability that travel is disappointing?

Maybe there are other scenarios you could consider?

[Roadrunner53]

Just threw out half a giant Rubbermaid full of paperwork and 3 ring binders. Have another pile of books for donation. So much stuff but it seems like very little new space has emerged. Very happy on my purging so far. But much more to go!

Do you think it is wise to stay in one room and purge it to the bones or go from room to room to get the massive clutter purged?

[Mongoose]

Don't remember whether I have mentioned this before, so I'll do it again...

We are sometimes discussing our plans for after FIRE. The plans involve making several long trips in a pleasant whether part of the year. And living far north for a whole winter. And after that relocation until we have found the perfect place to live in a LCOL area, hopefully after one try. We have been thinking about keeping our cabin to store our outdoor gear and use that place as a basis to go to between trips (despite not having running water/washing machine).

What to do with the rest of our house. We have a vague plan of selling all the stuff we are not very attached to and than at a later time buying similar stuff back second hand. We are planning to get rid of most of the big things, like sofa, guest beds, our own bed, closets, dining table and chairs, office chair. And then only keep some hobby stuff, some kitchen things and maybe some tools. Then we hope it will fit into a very small container/room that we can rent during that period.

But if I am only thinking about it, the thought does scare me a bit. What of the year of travelling is disappointing. Then it is not a simple matter of starting over again. It does require buying all this stuff again, second hand. In a low density area this might be more difficult than in a city.

Can you use the cabin as a storage shed while you travel? Is it large enough for you to disassemble and stack some of the items against walls but still have usable space for between trips? We have done this when we moved into a very much smaller space for awhile but knew it was temporary.

[CU Tiger]

Just threw out half a giant Rubbermaid full of paperwork and 3 ring binders. Have another pile of books for donation. So much stuff but it seems like very little new space has emerged. Very happy on my purging so far. But much more to go!

Do you think it is wise to stay in one room and purge it to the bones or go from room to room to get the massive clutter purged?

Do what works for you, but I prefer to do one room or one hot spot at a time. Focusing on one area and getting it done well satisfies some need for order I have.

Marie Kondo has a different method. Her method is doing all clothes together, then later all books, all paper, etc. no matter where they are stored.

The point is, all roads lead to Rome, you just have to pick a route that suits you.

[Fresh Bread]

The Marie Kondo method is good for finding out what you actually own, what's duplicated and then working out where to store it best, but it's an all at once type approach so you have to live with a lot of mess til you're done if you follow it to the letter. Of course you could just adapt it and do one category and then put everything away as best you can. Since its aim is minimalism I think it works best if you're not overwhelmed with stuff and just need to find a place for everything and so it worked for me but is still a work in progress - we realised we need a different living situation - less living space, more garage type space! (We have a bedroom full of stuff that should be in a shed or garage). Tackling a space at a time sounds more practical to me if you have a lot of stuff and that's what we did at my sister's place which was more of a hoarder situation.

[Goldielocks]

I bit the bullet and am now advertising a Freecycle event I am organizing next month... the first in our area.  A community group is donating their hall for 3 days so we can hold it.  BUT... I am having trouble getting volunteers...(to help receive goods and direct people on the day of).   Any suggestions?

[Linea_Norway]

Don't remember whether I have mentioned this before, so I'll do it again...

We are sometimes discussing our plans for after FIRE. The plans involve making several long trips in a pleasant whether part of the year. And living far north for a whole winter. And after that relocation until we have found the perfect place to live in a LCOL area, hopefully after one try. We have been thinking about keeping our cabin to store our outdoor gear and use that place as a basis to go to between trips (despite not having running water/washing machine).

What to do with the rest of our house. We have a vague plan of selling all the stuff we are not very attached to and than at a later time buying similar stuff back second hand. We are planning to get rid of most of the big things, like sofa, guest beds, our own bed, closets, dining table and chairs, office chair. And then only keep some hobby stuff, some kitchen things and maybe some tools. Then we hope it will fit into a very small container/room that we can rent during that period.

But if I am only thinking about it, the thought does scare me a bit. What of the year of travelling is disappointing. Then it is not a simple matter of starting over again. It does require buying all this stuff again, second hand. In a low density area this might be more difficult than in a city.

Can you use the cabin as a storage shed while you travel? Is it large enough for you to disassemble and stack some of the items against walls but still have usable space for between trips? We have done this when we moved into a very much smaller space for awhile but knew it was temporary.

The cabin is only 60 square meters, which is quite small. It has a low attic where we can pack a number of boxes if we stuff it in. I think that is where we would store our hobby stuff. No room for storing the sofa. Maybe we could fit our comfy chairs in the room, although they would be in the way.