Not quite a horder - decluttering

So great to have found this thread!!! I bought a house today.... Wow. 

Wren-Love the idea of minimalism. Feel good in clean simple spaces. I don't think I will ever get there, but I need a strategy. So like the idea of limiting what I keep by space of a container. Will empty a closet tomorrow and see how I do!

CCFW- Thanks for the welcome! And congrats for giving away some clothing. Yes, definitely celebrate any success!

Bunkie10- Sorry you had to go through that! I can't imagine grieving AND having to go through a house full of memories. How difficult for you. One of my biggest fears is if I die before my mom and she would see all my stuff that I have and sort through it. It will be great to start over in a new house and not bring most of my things!!! I already filled up 2 recycling bins:) going through papers. Now I need another garbage can. I have until the end of February to go through everything and move, so hopefully that is doable. Plus the less I have to move, the cheaper it will be.

Think I will start getting rid of my old clothing and cart off to Goodwill.

Thanks so much, everyone! Am going to try to go through one area each day, whether it is a shelf, corner or drawer.

Georgie - congratulations on the new house!

Do you do itemized deductions on your tax return? DH and I found that on TurboTax, we got TONS of money deducted for items we donated throughout the year.

We have a three-car garage, and between stuff we brought over from my mom's house (she passed in 2009), and combining two households when we married, the garage became a mini-storage. Only one car can park in there. And oh, did I mention we have an attic in the garage filled with holiday decorations? And a Tuff Shed in the back yard filled with, uh, I don't know?

For me, purging takes time.... I pick something up, look at it, start to remember stories about it... and put it back in the box. But after I've done that several times, I find I'm sick of looking at it, and out it goes.

Another suggestion: pick out the things that you absolutely can't live without.... like what would you take if you had to evacuate your home? You may have to get a mini-storage for a month or so.

Then call in someone who does Estate Sales. They go through your stuff, categorize, price, and set up a weekend sale. They get way higher prices than you ever would at a yard sale. And when the sale is over, they take all the unsold stuff, itemize it, and donate it to charity, leaving your house completely empty. We did that when we sold our mountain house.... what a relief to not have to do it ourselves!

Wishing you luck!!!

We went the auction route with my mother's house. The family took a few things they really wanted and the auctioneer did the rest. I think we'd have to move to the moon before DH would agree to get rid of enough stuff. He's in to poetry and I have no problem with him keeping those books, but abysmally outdated textbooks could go. And the stuff that was exciting in 1957 that would be hopelessly old fashioned for today's kids.

We moved 2000 miles in 2010. I was just a couple weeks after BC diagnosis and surgery, poor timing! When I look at the things that were moved at a cost of .50 a pound I shudder. How about a mismatched set of old beat up golf clubs that are NEVER used! There is so much that should not have come along but I was just too sick to speak up. I shudder to remember. 

Moving is stressful under the best of circumstances. and beyond stressful otherwise. 

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yikes!!! Teka, always so much to do. Found the sewer pipe is collapsing at the house I am hoping to buy. Too much drama so just went through two piles of paper. Nice to get much of it recycled. 

Appreciate the nudge. Have only 2 deadlines tomorrow LOL so determined to get a lot of decluttering accomplished! Will post progress tomorrow. THANKS!

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Mandy - You are doing very well. Keep going. I went down in the dungeon...I mean basement yesterday and I still have too much stuff. It is organized in plastic bins but need to go through it all to see what I really need to keep. I also found 16 posters I was saving to hang later on. Huh? When is later on? My current house is a cape cod and has no upstairs wall space that is not cut off from the dormers outside so I hate that. I will keep a few and the rest can go. I also need to shred.

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Blessings, It might be that your father wanted to get rid of things but felt like it would be giving up on his wife ever coming home. It's harder to go through things than you imagine. Did you read Stones for Ibarra? Wonderful book and based on a true story. I'm still sorting through things pertaining to me that my mother kept. I keep trying to think whether anyone else would ever be interested in this stuff.

I think we can be a blessing to our children by donating or trashing or selling things we can be sure they don't want. My parents lived in their house from 1950 on until 2007. My Dad passed away in 1996 my mom is 2007. My Dad had tried to dispose of some things but my mom went on an insane spending spree after my dad died and spent all of his savings on crap from QVC.   She had drawers and drawers of crap jewelry. I mean drawers and drawers, so much, beyond the imagination. She had clothing with tags on from QVC on top of a bed and it reached the ceiling, seriously the freaking ceiling. She ran up her credit cards until there was no limit left and used up the money that was still held by a brokerage to make payments and then spend them up again. She lied to my son that I was handling her money and to me that he was handling her money. She fell and her hip broke, and her shoulder. she never went home again and spent a couple years in a nursing home.

It took me and my DH 6 months to clear out the house. I don't have brothers or sisters. I started getting migraines each time we went over there. It was very upsetting. Also if you have any evidence of any secrets, for God's sake throw it out right now!!!!!!  I found disturbing absolute evidence of something and so did a friend of mine. Your kinds don't need that. I guarantee it!   For those who had wonderful parents, well that is amazing to me and wonderful for you.  I did not. The crap a rejecting parent can leave for their child to deal with is horrific and I wish I had just had a charity come directly in to take what they wanted and trashed the rest rather than personally going through it. While in the nursing home she even told me there was money hidden and all the places I needed to look for it. There was a bag of quarters, period.

Yes, I am still bitter, I have prayed forgiveness and did so with her before she died but it lingers on and erupts into full blown pain from time to time. I look around my house and I see nothing from her house except for one cabinet that a lady who took care of me and loved when I was little gave to me.  Again, please oh please discard your secrets.  I actualy had my DH go up to her room to throw away anything that would make me crazy and to never tell me about it. He did, he did however show me the loaded 38 gun in her night stand, inches from her bedside. We gave it to the police to destroy. She was 85 years old at that time. You can see this was traumatic for me and I encourage you not to do as I did by going through piece by piece unless that will help you to mourn. 

I hope this is enlightening in some way.