donna
New Member
Joined: July 2008
Posts: 17
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Post by donna on Dec 22, 2008 0:21:56 GMT -5
I hope I posted this correctly as this is my first post here. I have been a member for several months...silently lurking. I have lived in my apartment for 13 months. I still have boxes of stuff all over and it is good stuff. It is stuff, however, that has collected over the years. I do not have a dining table and the dining area where a table would go if I had one is full of boxes and piles of stuff. It is the first thing one sees when walking into the apartment.  I have a hat on a stand that I have no where to put. It is a pretty hat, flowers, lace, straw. It is doing nothing there. I have an old suitcase, a small cosmetic case (40 years old) storing my Barbie dolls. I will keep that, though. I have picture frames, pictures, fabric, and just stuff. I want to get rid of it. I envision a clean, neat orderly home. I have a table selected to purchase but I won't purchase anything until I have the area clean and clear. I want a clean slate, not a cluttered mess to add to with more stuff. Suggestions, please on what to do with the "good stuff." I think it is not the stuff but that I hold on to things too long, way past their useful date. Thank you. Donna  |
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Post by mariposa on Dec 22, 2008 0:29:36 GMT -5
Pass it on to someone who will love it. I've had to do this with a lot of things, and still have a few more that are waiting on me to set them free.
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Post by creativechaos on Dec 22, 2008 0:41:39 GMT -5
hi Donna, welcome! you're not alone in holding stuff long past their usefulness! And it is good to be thinking of passing stuff on before it gets ruined. also, once you have a big pile it leads to other big piles; i know all about that. Well, different people do different things with "good stuff". Most people donate it to some good cause, and they feel good that it can be useful to someone else. Sometimes if you have enough good stuff, people like the Kiwanis will even pick it up, depending on where you live, and they will write you a receipt for the declared value so that you can use it as a deduction on your taxes, if you take deductions on expenses. The donations that (Kiwanis) they sell helps children. It feels good giving to a charitable organization and knowing you are helping somebody else to have nice things they may not otherwise get to have. There is also craigslist and freecycle; people will buy or pick up stuff if it is free. craft stuff is often coveted by schools and church groups and after school programs, all of which have low budgets for arts and crafts. if you want to make money, it is a different thing.There are consignment stores for clothing and household goods.You can make some money when your consigned items sell. there is ebay if your items are valuable, but ebay can be a hassle. better to consign. yard sales are a LOT of work for little return, but they are fun and a good way to unload stuff! A lot of people can't resist yard sales. some people just toss good stuff! i am too thrifty for that,  ! but you seem pretty clear on what you're not using, have identified the problem and the goal, and that will give you the impetus to work toward that goal. |
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Post by dayeanu on Dec 22, 2008 0:42:49 GMT -5
First, let me say that I am very proud of your resolve not to buy a table until you have let go of some things.
I have read here, and at Flylady.net, that if you don't need it, don't love it, if it doesn't make you smile, let it go.
If it is useable, my suggestion is: Donate. Donate. Donate! There are people who really need, and would be grateful, to have some of your good things. A story I've told before: We kept boxes and boxes of my grandson's outgrown clothes, good things, many of them practically brand new. Finally, one day I donated several boxes of them to a local charity in our small town. Then forgot all about it. Months later on a bitterly cold winter day, I went to the doctor. Sitting there in the waiting room was a young girl with her little sick baby. The girl appeared to be poor, but her little baby was dressed very warm and snug - in my grandson's outgrown snowsuit! I almost cried. Now, when I have trouble parting with things, I remember that girl and her baby. There are so many people who have so little, and would be truly grateful and blessed by our excess. Many charities will pick the things up for you, so you don't even have to leave home to give. And of course, there is always the tax benefit, too.
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Blackswan
Banned
Joined: October 2008
Posts: 6,388
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Post by Blackswan on Dec 22, 2008 0:44:19 GMT -5
I was in the same situation. I moved into my new home in July, and did not make it livable until about October. The END of October. And I still have one unpacked box hanging around, just because. It probably says something about me not wanting to complete projects, maybe demand resistance/rebellion at its finest? What finally helped me, and it was extremely hard, was that I got rid of about half of my belongs. I called the Salvation Army to pick things up from my house about five times. I had to take deep breaths, and picture that somebody would be picking up those things that would really need/want them, instead of them sitting in my house, making me feel constant anxiety and depression. And you know what, even those things that I was most scared to give away, once they were gone, it was a huge sense of relief! Nothing that I can say will really convince you that you are better off without those things, because I know you must be attached to them, just like I was. But maybe you could try getting rid of a very small pile, and experience that relief for yourself..Maybe some items that are slightly easier for you to give up. Once I got rid of the first load, and realized how much better my life was without it all, it was so much easier to give up more. And it turned out a lot of my clutter was just boxes and baskets to hold clutter. . I must have turned the Salvation Army into a version of the Container Store! I really do suggest you try it though. You have tried living this way, and it is making you so unhappy. Don't you think you owe it to yourself to try, once in your life at least, to have a clutter free space? You don't have to do it all at once, but it would be so good for you to try to move out that first pile of stuff. HUGS |
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Post by notsomessyshell on Dec 22, 2008 0:54:08 GMT -5
I agree with donating them. If there is stuff left that is not donation material the free part of Craig's List works well.
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Post by moggyfan on Dec 22, 2008 1:05:59 GMT -5
I took quite a lot of the "good stuff" (mostly dishes, glasses, etc., but MANY decorative items as well) to work with me and put at least a sample of each on one of the tables in the faculty room--if somebody liked a glass or whatever, I'd bring the other dozen the next day. It was GREAT! Teachers are generally packrats by nature anyway, so I guess I contributed to their hoard. But you know what? It's all in their homes now, not mine, ! I got rid of a TON of stuff doing this bit by bit. I even made a little sign: "Moggyfan's Free Table" I was real popular for awhile :-) |
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Post by dayeanu on Dec 22, 2008 14:14:17 GMT -5
You have tried living this way, and it is making you so unhappy. Don't you think you owe it to yourself to try, once in your life at least, to have a clutter free space? That, blackswan, really, really, says it all. |
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Post by creativechaos on Dec 22, 2008 15:07:56 GMT -5
i don' t know how strict is it in your apt. complex, but at mine, it is a place where a lot of people walk by. in warmer or nicer weather, i often put out a freebox. you'd be amazed how many things get taken out of it.
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